Advice for new pc please

[drgagx]

I am in the market for a new pc suitable for editing with Edius now and in the future.
Initially it will be SD only but eventually it needs to support AVCHD camera formats and output via BluRay discs.

At present I am looking at the specs for the Dell XPS420. I should appreciate receiving comments and advice on these specs.
In particular are the expansion slots likely to be adequate for future use?
I will not use my Storm card in this pc but await the appearance of a suitable card with HDMI input/output.

Dell XPS420 desktop
Processor; Intel core2 extreme
Chipset: X38 (Bearlake) with 800/1333Mhz FSB
OS: Windows Vista Ultimate or Home premium
Memory: 667/800 Mhz dual channel DDR2 SDRAM, max 4GB
Drive bays:2 x 3.5" for SATA up to 1TB, optional RAID 0 or RAID 1
External connection ports for eSATA, 1394 and USB 2.0
2 x 5.25" bays for optical drives
Optical disc option: BluRay Disc SATA (25GB or 50GB)
Graphics and video: nVidia Geforce 8800GTX/8600GTS or ATI HD2600XT/HD2400 Pro
Sound cards: Intel 7.1 HD or optional Sound blaster Audigy/X-Fi
Expansion slots: PCI 3; PCIex1 1 slot; PCIex16 (graphics) 1 slot; PCIex8 1 slot.

[STORMDAVE]

Thought about building your own?

I would look at a Quad Core machine (non Xeon) if you are going to be doing AVCHD, that format is very yucky and processor intensive.

As for the other stuff, 8800GTS is fine, GTX is overkill. If you need Xplode Pro support, then the ATI card "might" work, as someone mentioned here. If you don't need Xplode Pro, go with the nVidia.

BluRay is self describing, I think. Make sure it's 4x or more.

RAID0 is great, but there is no safety net. Raid 1 is better, at least you have a mirror, but you won't get good speeds. I recommend an external RAID5 via eSATA.

Onboard soundcards are efficient now days, so no worries on that. You don't need a sound blaster.

Windows Vista Ultimate, but if you plan to pop in an NX (or even your Storm, not sure if it will work) you will need Windows XP Pro.

Memory, you will need 2GB minimum. 4GB is better. Memory is very cheap, I grabbed OCZ PC6400 2GB RAM the other day for $30 after rebates! 4GB kits are going for $70 or so. Dell might overcharge you.

The chipset on that mobo is a very recent one, so you're good to go.

If I were in the market for a new PC, even if I was new at building computers, I would still take a chance and build it myself :)

[drgagx]

Thanks for those very helpful suggestions. The reason for looking at off the shelf solutions is an absence of confidence in my ability to go d-i-y. I regard it as a triumph of the first order just to get the Storm card inserted and working. But I will check out the costs of doing so.

[Imagine Video]

Hi

Building yourself is not as difficult as it may seem! there are lots of build instructions hints and tips on the web

BUT

There are drawbacks................if you get it wrong!

try a price comparison just see the saving then weigh that saving against the risk..........

with all the parts www.microdirect.co.uk

and your dell system

You may also like to considder the HP range I think GV use these for there turnkey NX systems