Building my dream RT2500 editing system, need your help please!

[Standard Cell]

Hi there. I'm building a dream video editing system to do two things - archive all my old VHS tapes to MPEG-4 encoded files burnt onto CD-ROMS, and edit between nearly any two video sources that get read in and output to either S-VHS. Eventually I'd like to buy a DVD burner so I can take my MPEG-4 archives and convert to MPEG-2, but I don't think they're mature enough yet for me to splurge.

I have done a LOT of reading over the last four days - MURC, Anandtech, Tom's Hardware, Ars Technica, Storagereview, you name it, and came up with a list to build, as follows:

Processor: AMD Athlon 1.53GHz (Palomino Core) + Heat Sink/Fan
Memory: 512MB ECC PC2100 DDR SDRAM (2x256MB)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-7DX (necessary for RT2500 compatibility)
Case: Full-Size ATX tower case with 300W Power Supply
Monitor: Samsung SyncMaster 950p 19" .26mm DP (professional monitor)
Hard Drive: IBM Deskstar 60GXP IC35L060AVER07 (60GB applications) + Western Digital WD1000BB (100GB capture)
Video Card/Editor: Matrox RT2500 + Millenium G450
Sound Card: Creative SoundBlaster Audigy Platinum eX
Speakers: Logitech SoundMan Xtrusio DSR-100 Dolby 5.1
Network Card: Intel EtherExpress PRO/100+ 10/100Mbps
CD-RW Drive: Plextor PX-W2410TA 24x10x40 IDE CD-RW
DVD Drive: Lite-On LTD-163 16X DVD
Keyboard/Mouse[/b]: Logitech Cordless iTouch Keyboard & Mouse (USB)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 2000

I'm not too concerned about things like the speakers and keyboard, but what I am concerned with is the stability and compatibility of the whole system with the RT2500. I don't want to blow $3500+ for nothing here. I know MPEG-4 encoding is much better on a P4 but I hate Rambus and I hate Intel, so I want to avoid them if I can (though I will switch if I have my arm twisted and can keep things compatible). I'm also not happy with the performance of the AMD760-based GA-7DX motherboard but it seems like it's the only choice I have (i.e. I'd like an nForce or VIA KT266A, or even a multiprocessor Tyan but they're neither available nor confirmed stable yet). Finally, is XP a good choice for an operating system yet, or will I get hung out to dry by Matrox?

I know it's a lot, but I'd appreciate your help and knowledge. Thanks in advance!

[Steve Long]

I hope you get a response. I've made a similar post, and just got pointed to websites that I'd already been. I've been researching now for 5 weeks, and still can't get difinitive answers. I'm looking at, amoung other things...:

7-Bay P4 ATX Mid Tower Case
S423 i850 400MHz - ATX
Socket 423 CPU Fan
P4 1.8 GHz/256K/400FSB/423 pin
1GB 800MHz Memory
2 each 80 GB UDMA/100 7200rpm HD
Riva TNT2 M64 32MB AGP
SoundBlaster PCI 128
Samsung 52X CD
16x10x40 Internal IDE CD-RW
Windows 2000 Professional
and a couple of monitors and speakers, etc.

So, if anyone answers your post, maybe I'll get a hit too ;-)
If I knew what I was talking about, I'd comment on your system.
regards
Steve

[Standard Cell]

Originally posted by Steve Long
I hope you get a response. I've made a similar post, and just got pointed to websites that I'd already been. I've been researching now for 5 weeks, and still can't get difinitive answers. I'm looking at, amoung other things...:
<SNIP>
So, if anyone answers your post, maybe I'll get a hit too ;-)
If I knew what I was talking about, I'd comment on your system.
regards
Steve

Well, the CD-RW, DVD and the hard drives are the top picks from Storagereview.com. The sound card is based on new reviews. The processor is my choice mainly because I hate Rambus (they have near-zero support for those designing chips with their crappy core). The GA-7DX motherboard is because the Matrox RT2500 will NOT work with many motherboards/chipsets, including the KT266 apparently. So, rather than screw around with it, that's what I'm going with. BY THE WAY, the i850 chipset is currently not compatible with the RT2500 according to the NVIDIA website, so be aware of that. The Riva TNT2 is OLD. I want the Millenium G450 for two reasons: because I don't care about 3D, and because you can use a ribbon cable to connect between the RT2500 and G450 so the PCI bus doesn't get saturated during captures (I wish the G550 had that connector, but I don't think it has it). I'm about 90% there but I really would like to get a response. My suggestion is to go with the storage devices I suggested in my original post, particularly the WD HD and the Plextor burner. Good luck!

[Steve Long]

Thanks for the help. As I said, I'm not an expert in the technical field. The P4 I thought was ok http://www.matrox.com/videoweb/suppo...rec/compat.htm
Maybe I'm reading that wrong.
I have the Matrox Graphics card down as a possibility. I was wondering if it does anything for 3D. I do a lot of Mapping for games for PC Gamer magazine. I guess I'll just hang on to my old system for that.
Why the Plextor burner ? Something special about it?
I'll checkout the sites you listed. Have you checked out videoguys.com?
Thanks again

[wkulecz]

I think XP is a horrible choice for an editing system where you may have to swap a lot of hardware to get everything working correctly because of Windows Product Activation (WPA) unless you like calling Microsoft and writing 50-digit numbers down correctly and can convience them you are not a pirate when you need to do this more than four times a year.

I'd get W2K while you still can!

YMMV

On a notebook where the hardware won't change XP has definite advantages over W2K and WPA shouldn't be an issue.

--wally.