Help me choose- Which dual core desktop specifically for HDV editing?

I have an immediate need to pick up a faster pc for HDV video editing
to fit into my already exisiting standard definition digital video
post-production suite. I like Dell's and have great experience with
the three I own, so am looking at the Dell Outlet for the best and
cheapest basic dual core system with Win XP SP2 to get me started
quickly. Most of the available inventory look like XPS 400 models,
and some XPS 600 models wich are more expensive.

Mmy question- What is the significant differences between a Dual core
Pentium D 820, 830 and 840 models versus the Pentium D at the same
clock speed respectively with the 920, 930, and 940 designations? Is
it worth paying more for the latter to do HDV editing?

 

You may also want to try alt.sys.pc-clone.dell
..........................................

 

There's a comparison chart at
<http://indigo.intel.com/compare_cpu/default.aspx?familyID=1&culture=en-US>.

Main differnces are that the 900s have twice the cache, are made on the .65
micron process rather than the .9, and support ring minus 1 for
virtualization.

Bottom line is that all else being equally they'll run most code a little
bit faster and run a little bit cooler and consume a little bit less power.

There shouldn't be a huge price difference--some of the retail-boxed 900s
are going for less than the equivalent 800s.

 

J.

What is virtualization.. and ring minus 1? I have seen that elsewhere
and I am curious.

n

 

From the 80386 on, Intel approached the problem of backward compatibility by
giving the processor the ability to emulate itself inside a closed
"sandbox" whose properties the OS programmer could define. It took a while
to make this useful as it was necessary to write emulate the other hardware
that is part of the PC, but eventually success was achieved, with some
limitations.

The big difficulty was that to do this Intel designed their processors with
several different privilege levels, called "rings", with "ring 0" being the
highest. It was intended that Ring 0 be reserved for virtual machine
managers but it didn't work out that way, with OS developers immediately
grabbing it for the kernel. Nonetheless, Connectix (bought out by
Microsoft), vmWare, and another outfit whose name escapes me at the moment
managed to put out usable virtual machine managers that allowed a number of
operating systems to run simultaneously on a machine--for example on an NT
machine I've had Windows 98, Novell, and Linux all going at the same time.
I've also had Vista, OS/X, Plan 9, and other oddballs runnning in virtual
machines under XP.

Still, since there is contention for Ring 0, there are performance problems
occasionally and every once in a while something dies the death.

Intel and AMD have both come up with a solution to this--they've added an
additional privilege level for virtual machine managers, that's sometimes
referred to as "Ring Minus One", and all the major vendors of virtual
machine managent software have announced support for it.

For running Premiere and the like it's not terribly useful. For keeping
malware at bay it's lovely--do your Internet access from a virtual machine
and malware can't get out of the box--if the virtual machine gets
contaminated, you fix it by just copying one file. And for generally
dinking about with computers it's incredible--if you have one reasonably
fast machine with adequate RAM then you can emulate an entire network on
the one box.

 

I definitely like the XPS series from DELL - but software is important as
well for HDV. Just starting to get into HDV and was wondering about the
software end. From what I gather my current software from Ulead - Media
Studio Pro has the advantage over other HDV editing software as it
natively handles HDV - whereas the other software needs to do an
intermediate recode, slowing down the machine. You might try a free
trial of Media Studio Pro - fully functional for 30 days - at
www.ulead.com and see if their software will be a help and then save the
extra on a new machine.

 

great info! Thanks J. I now recall a discussion about rings a long time
ago.. barely understood it then either!

n

 

Cool, I just ordered a XPS 400 Pentium D 9300 model from the Dell
Outlet with 1 Gb of RAM (soon to be upgraded to 2 Gb) and a dual layer
DVD burner for a *very* good price. I already use Premiere Pro
1.5.1. and Adobe Encore 1.5 for DVD authoring in my editing suite and
I just purchased Aspect HD from Cineform , so I am all set software
wise.

 

An XPS is a wonder that I have experienced for quality - but with three
girls in Catholic School with uniforms, tuition, house payments, etc, it
is going to be purchased but I will need to wait till June, but honestly
about July.

I am so happy for you. You have a winner. But again, I would like you
to look at the Media Studio Pro Link I gave. The HDV argument reminds me
of old arguments over MPEG2. One could run software for MPEG2 capture -
or one could run hardware. I bought an MPEG2 Hardware card when I had a
P2 and it outperforms any software solution today.

The Media Studio Pro uses a proxy to create a low-resolution copy of what
you are editing - and then finalizes on the original after done - so no
recode required.

Just check this link - because even with a great computer - your software
could be dragging you down. With the computer you are buying - no proxy
is required with Media Studio Pro and just does native editing.

For a free trial of 30-days why not try. I know I would with a new
system just bought. But hope all well. I am just an old nanny.

cya and enjoy.

http://www.ulead.com/spotlight/hd/runme.htm

 

www.tomshardware.com -> latest CPU interactive charts.

Basically, AMD Athlon X2 duo core CPUs will kill just about any other
CPU out there today for the video editing/encoding/rendering tasks they
benchmarked. (individual benchmarks may vary, so choose depending on
what you find most important)

And, at the same price range AMD X2's are cheaper than any Pentium out
there for the same/better performance at current prices (www.newegg.com
and other price search engines).

 

I'm editing HD with Ulead MSP8. Just upgraded motherboard and cpu to
AMD dual core 3800 with 2 gig RAM. Works great. Instead of a complete
new computer, why not buy parts? Fry's at Outpost.com has frequent
sales of MB and CPU under $300 for dual core. Use your existing box,
all the drives, and maybe have to upgrade to newer version of RAM
depending on how old your existing is. Still, a complete upgrade at
half the price. I'd also recommend a upgraded power supply. Go to
infotechnow.com and get a $53 power supply that heavy duty with 420
watts. It's not only the wattage, it's the build quality that
maintains even voltage. I just had a 300 gig drive fried circuit board
due to voltage fluctuation. By upgrading you also don't need to pay
Microsoft for a new OS, if you're running XP now. Save on the case,
DVD burner, hard drives, OS, etc. Just use your existing. You only
need a cheap 128 meg video card, unless you want TV out or something.
Remember, video editing outputs 2D only, so no need for a heavy duty
video card. Those are for gamers with quickly changing 3D backgrounds.


My Ulead HD system is stable, scrubs in real time due to proxy file
system, and now with dual core I can use computer for internet, email,
and other operations while it renders. I couldn't do that without a
hiccup before. Also, I never drop a single HD frame with Ulead
capture. It's funny, captures mpeg2, Upper Field first (different for
me), but 25,000 bit rate for HD. HD files are still 13 gig/hour on the
computer, same as DV, but more info is compressed in that 13 gig.

Good luck. Hope this helps.
Jim McGauhey
Washington State

 

Thx for the comments. I work at a breakneck pace, I don't have time to
build or upgrade pcs. I am happy with Intels and I got a great
inexpesive deal at the Dell outlet. So the new dual core Pentium D 930
should serve me well. My existing Dell P4 2.6 Ghz pc will still be
heavily used for standard definition dv editing and encoding. I
don't intend to switch editing apps. I am already very handy with
Premiere Pro, Adobe Encore and Photoshop so no point switching to
another editing app now. Thanks for the advice.