Thanks JJK. I'm not an o'clocker so I'm hoping that the Core Duo 2 running at 3.16GHZ along with 4Gs of the DDR3 RAM will get it done.

I'm with JJK. Ditch the Quadro (I have the 1500 and it too is serious overkill) unless you work with Maya, CAD or something else that'll utilize it. Channel the video card savings into a quad. Power supply calculators are a crapshoot. Run those specs on three different calculators and you're likely to get three different recommendations. Power overhead will leave you flexibility to add more drives if you want to build a RAIDzilla!

Cool. Thanks goshep. I've been talking with guys over at the Lightwave forum and they suggested the same thing. So I'm switching to a geforce 8800 (GT or GTS); an Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600. They also suggested going with DDR2 RAM instead of DDR3 ($$ isn't worth thge difference) and SATA drives (I didn't realize I had spec'd out IDE....DUH).
By the way, Vegas will take advantage of the "multi-processors" of the Intel quad...right?

Yep, Vegas will take advantage of all four cores and the difference is quite noticeable to put it mildly. I'm running the Q6600 with DDR2 ram and I'm loving it. There are a few people here reporting problems with Vegas on quads but I think they are the exception. I opted for DDR2 because I got a great deal on a solid (albeit memory picky) overclocking motherboard so I can't speak to the cost effectiveness of DDR3.

If you're on the Lightwave forum, I assume you are putting in time on that app as well? If they suggested the 8800, it sounds like Lightwave doesn't support GPU acceleration but I'm sure the 8800GT is a solid card. I run an older 6800GT OC in another rig and it has been the best cost/performance card I've owned. If you suddenly develop a gaming addiction, you'll be well supported as well. :)

FrankLP,

The FX1700 is fantastic (I use one at work) & it includes DirectX 10 in hardware. I did not see which OS you're going to run - if you're going to run Windows XP you won't be using DirectX 10, but with Windows Vista you will be able to make use of DirectX 10 hardware.

Why get a low resolution 22" monitor when you can get one or two 1920x1080 24" Westinghouse L2410NM for $350.00 each at Newegg?

I've retired my 22" LCDs to my admin computers.

When you work with creative stuff, there is no such thing as too much resolution.

And "the graphics card doesn't matter?"

For Vegas 8, it doesn't. I expect for Vegas 9 it will, as I don't see how SCS can stand being the only only vendor left in the non-GPU accelerated ghost town.

And After Effects and Lightwave? I would agree that you don't need a workstation card though, they are still overpriced (the high price forces a low volume which forces a high price...).

Great to hear goshep, and yes I do put in some time on LW...very cool app but it does take some horsepower. Hence the need for an upgrade.

Himanshu,
I was planning on running Win XP...haven't heard naything compelling enought to move me to Vista...yet. Thanks for the info.

Coursedesign,
I"ll take a look at that monitor again. I thought I had picked out a high-res monitor. Thanks for pointing that out.

I'm sure you can do better with more money, but right now you can get a base Dell Inspiron 530 for about $600 with Q6600 Quad, 4Gb ram and a 500 GB hard drive. Add another $200-$300 for another 500G drive and a decent graphics card, and this looks like a pretty decent video edit machine. You can Google "dell 530 quad core" to get links that lead to Dell's special deal page.
You'll have plenty left over for a big monitor.

For this application, woudl it be better to buy 1 x TB HDD instead of 2 x 500GB drives?

Pros and Cons??

Bit

Not to hijack this thread, but the issue I had with the Inspiron 530 is that it has only two PCI slots. Since it doesn't have any onboard FireWire I'd have to use up one slot for that, and another for wireless networking. That leaves no room to install my PCI TV tuner card, or any other PCI card for that matter. That was the only reason why I didn't get that system.

The mobo the OP mentioned includes onboard FireWire and although it has only 2 PCI slots (v2.2, better than the DELL), it has more PCI Express slots (all x16 to boot).

Getting back to original post......:

For this application, woudl it be better to buy 1 x TB HDD instead of 2 x 500GB drives?

Pros and Cons??

Bit

For me, I think the seperate drives work best. I archive my projects by hot-swapping drives once they get full and/or at the end of a project.

Here's another question related to this build (from previous suggstions regarding the monitor choice). Does anyone have expereince with this the EIZO FlexScan S2201WE? I've come to learn that EIZO is well known/respected for their monitors, but this one is in their "lower price" range. This is the last thing I need to decide for this build. Thoughts/comments welcome. Thanks.

For those you don't want to build their own machine and are looking at Dell, you should go to the Small Business section at look at the Precision workstations. The entry model one is $550 and it will have better parts than the consumer versions. They are usually pretty quiet too.

I wonder why nobody usually suggests getting the 10k rpm hard drives instead of the standard 7200? Does the extra spin not make a difference because that isn't the bottleneck?

A 10k drive isn't really going to gain much, if at all. They provide faster access times, but not much in the way of faster transfer rates. Some of the newer 7200rpm SATA drives have a sustained transfer rate as high as the 10k Western Digital Raptor drives. You can get a 750gig 7200 drive for the same price as a 150 gig Raptor.

The biggest return in editing efficiency in Vegas is a faster CPU.

Not to hijack, but I notice that MicroCenter is selling the Intel quad Q9450 for $300 after in-store rebate or $350 on line with a $50 gift card. How does this processor compare to the 6600 since they are now only $100 apart street pricing?

Thanks John. That is a big price difference.

I've built all my systems (and systems for others) for running Vegas, AE etc. Here's what is most important in order:

(1) Monitors. You can't upgrade 'em, only sell and replace. Get the next model up over the most you can afford, you won't regret it. With LCDs, make sure you understand input lag (not screen lag, input lag vs. CRT which is an issue for editors) and wide gamut issues with sRGB and Rec709 before buying if using them for color grading. Dual monitors really improve your speed, more than CPU etc. Been using them for 10 years now and could never go back.

(2) Processor speed. Buy a Quad. Vegas, CS3 and Lightwave love extra cores. A Quad 2.66 with run Vegas, AE and Lightwave faster than a 3.0 Dual. Also, the new 45nm have some changes that are worth it.

(3) Quiet. If you are going to edit with the box, you will be working with audio and music. Unless you are a skilled builder, it's easy to end up with a very noisy rig. Either buy a Dell Precision workstation (usually quiet) or spend some time assembling a system that is cooled well, but quiet. I just built a Quad Core with 6 hard drives, overclocked and it runs pretty quiet. I have two other Core Duo machine with a couple of drives that are nearly silent.

(4) Quality Power Supply - you seem to have the covered

(5) The other guys are right, Quadro is way overkill. I am a fan of the XFX 7950GT cards - have to get them on eBay. now. About $100 or so, 512MB, silent (no fan) but run cool. Faster than most 8000 series budget cards.

You can easily build a good system for $2000 but consider a few more bucks for quality dual monitors.

Stephen,

Your take on single TB HDD or dual 750GB HDD for your applications?

Bit

Thanks for the advice stephen. I've just started ordering my system and decided on a Samsung Syncmaster 244T. All the reviews I found on it were great (especially trustedreviews.com), and I picked one up for about $650.00.
I've opted for the Quad Core Q6600 and the Geforce 8800GTS .
Fortunately for me, my PC sits in the office next to my studio's control room so noise is not a factor.

I'm totaly psyched about this new build and can't wait. I'm moving from an AMD 64 4000; Radeon 9550; system with a Sony 19" LCD...which actually will become a secondary systsem.