"Hey Composite1,
I definitely caught some of that. And I don't mind dissertations. I have about a bazillion questions, and your responses are an answer to prayer.
From where I sit (i.e., knowing almost nothing), the main thing is to maximize my time. Dollars are limited, but time is critical. I am basically a "one man show" here, so I need to do whatever I reasonably can that will save time, and money, and maximize productivity all at once. However, your letter really set me back. I got the Videoguys' new DIY article (http://www.webvideoguys.com/newwebsite03-09/DIY7.html) right before I got your post, and I realized that for not much more than the cost of a Quadro CX card I could have a whole new box, with much faster architecture. Also, I guess they have a new class of video card out (GTX 260/280) that has multiple cores similar to the Quadro CX, so that would seem like the Quadro CX card is not the best use of cash (although I am not 100% sure about the Matrox).
Would you mind commenting on my new box? The old one crashed, and Dell replaced it. I just want to ease any potential bottlenecks, if it can be done for reasonable numbers.
Dell Precision T3400 Workstation, 575W PSU, CoreDuo 3.0GHz (2 cores), 8GM Crucial Ballistix RAM, 4GB ReadyBoost RAM, Vista Ultimate 64, Palit GeForce 8600GT Super +1GB (Only Gen 1.0 card, while I have two Gen 2.0 slots). C:\ is two 250GB WD Caviar 7200 RPM's in RAID 0, backing up to an external USB HDD via Symantec Backup Exec. D:\ is two 1TB Seagate Barracuda 7200 RPM drives in RAID 0, backing up via eSata to a 1.5TB Seagate HDD (which does not quite cover it, but I have not got started yet, so it is OK). I am thinking about upgrading to a Drobo for backup of D:\.
For video cards, I just chatted with Dell. They tell me I cannot run SLI, as this motherboard has an Intel Bearlake X chipset (which does not support SLI). So I can run with this video card for now, but I could probably get a GTX 260 for about $180 (or less if I wait until I am done learning HTML). I have no idea which manufacturers are best, but here is one from Tiger Direct: (http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4369730&CatId=1839). It comes with extra GPU cores, and it is a Gen 2.0 card, and it is a lot less expensive than a Quadro 1700 (and I am not planning on buying Boris Blue).
Would either of those things help speed up the system? And also, do you hyperthread?
Thank you very much for your help,
Norman"
I hear you on the 'One man show' thing. Fortunately now I have some good people working with me but I'm usually the guy who's the 'dot connector'. But I got that way from doing the 'one man show'.
Anyway, from what I've read in your last post you sound more than ready to start building your own systems. Your current Dell sounds pretty customized. I am concerned about you RAIDing your C: Drive. Despite what anyone says about a particular OS, there's always the potential of something stupid happening (operator error 90%, hard/software failure 9%, act of God 1%) and your OS drive goes down. In my experience it's far safer to just partition the OS drive for 2 reasons; first, to cut down on the time it takes to run maintenance programs like defrag, back-up, etc. Second, if the OS wigs out for whatever reason it's easier to just wipe it and fire up your back-up. If the drive's hardware goes down then it won't matter. Having it RAIDed will bring up 'unique' problems like your extended drive(s) getting corrupted if not ruined if the OS drive croaks. I've found it much safer to keep the OS drive available only for the OS and the programs to be used on the system.
But really the specs you spelled out suggest you should stand pat on that system and start turning your eye towards your next. All the money you're looking to invest in upgrading will get you going on building a new SLI capable system. Now, the advantage of having a pre-built NLE is the company has worked out the initial bugs already. The drawback is, when you start 'customizing' their gear you are introducing a whole new set of bugs most of which tech support will only be vaguely familiar with (if you are lucky.)
Building your own is another animal however. Hard on the one hand, but a lot easier than you would think. You mentioned Tiger Direct and I dealt with them for many years with only a couple of glitches. They are an excellent source for building your own rigs. The thing I stress more than anything is be excited about your build's potential, but not so much you blow money on stuff that is incompatible because you didn't research it. You'll have much to consider, what type of case, power supply, mobo, CPU(s), RAM, Graphics Card(s), Harddrives, Expansion Cards, Cooling, UPS and all will have to be tailored for compatablity with your intended software pipeline and expected output. Throw in the time for building / test and evaluation and you'll find you have a potentially daunting task ahead. Just make sure your first build is simple with the potential for complex. That, and don't blow a ton of cash getting the 'latest and greatest' right off the bat. You will find your first 'simple' build when complete (when bugs are worked out) will run so much better than you expected. After you have a few builds under your belt you'll be doing like so many of us who look at the stuff the 'big boy's' make and say, 'I can do that a lot cheaper!'
