PC spec for gaming and analogue video editing

[Chris_Von_Bron]

Hi there,

I was hoping you may be able to offer some feedback on my next PC spec that would be ideal for the oncoming Black and White 2 etc. I have held off playing Doom 3 and HL2 until doing the upgrade. I will be using www.scan.co.uk for the components (as I have for all previous specs).

Criteria:-
To run HL2, Doom3, Black and White2 etc with all the effects running (or near to)
analogue video editing (potentially upgrading to digital at some point)
not silly £££. It is counter productive to buy top end stuff now as it will depreciate faster than potentially going for a different spec which is going to cost less to buy and offer less depreciation when I come to sell in the future.
I have already highlighed most of the spec (see below, and please suggest any improvements to it) apart from I am really struggling on what socket set (CPU and MB) to go for. I have always used Intel but now starting to think about AMD as Intel seem to be applying a lot of pressure to convert from AGP to PCI-E. I purchased a top end ATI AGP card a few months ago and would like to keep it, but if the overall recommendation to change to PCI-E is there then I will sell the AGP card and change to PCI-E.

I am keeping my existing monitors/keyboard,mouse and 120GB SATA Seagate Barracuda. I am looking at a new system built by SCAN:-

LN9458
Asus Vento 3600 Blue Case Hi Performance Gaming w/o PSU £76.00 £89.30

LN11084
580W Tagan 2Force T580-U22 SLi U-Quiet 21db Also support 12v EPS/SATA/XEON 3 Years Warranty ATX/BTX £69.99 £82.24

LN10460
Sony DRU-800A Ivory/Black Bezels 16x16x4 DVD±RW 8x8 Dual Layer Retail £39.63 £46.57

LN5889
Sony Black 16x DVD-ROM + 48x CD-ROM IDE £12.89 £15.15

LN5291
1.44Mb Sony Black Floppy Disk Drive OEM £3.69 £4.34

LN9461
250Gb Seagate Barracuda (7200.7rpm, 8Mb) - SATA NCQ £74.19 £87.17

LN4296
512Mb PC3200 (PC400) DDR Memory (Major) Retail £24.89 £29.25

LN4296
512Mb PC3200 (PC400) DDR Memory (Major) Retail £24.89 £29.25

£383.27 so far
The memory above may change depending on the board/processor chosen...
Obviously I need extra fans (at least 2x80mm case fans), a heat sink, plus speakers etc.

Another big question:-
SOUND
The sound system will only be used for games. Is 7.1/6.1 over kill or should I just go for 5.1 (I currently have 4.1 that I was planning on selling on Ebay)?
Whatever the speaker system chosen, is the on board sound good enough these days or is it still best to buy an Audigy 2 such as:-
LN8280
Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS 71 THX OEM UK £38.69 £45.46


This is the part of the system that I am unsure about.
I am currently on S478 2GB. I first thought about the below:-

LN8125
Asus P4P800-E Deluxe i865PE, ATX, DDDR400, Gbit Lan, USB 2.0, 1394, 8Ch Audio, SATA, Raid, WiFi Port £64.60 £75.91

LN6905
3.2GHz Intel Pentium® 4 S478 CPU "Prescott" (800FSB) HT 1MB Cache *Retail* £124.32 £146.08


then I found that this is supposed to be quicker (but could it handle my analogue video editing):-
LN7266
Gigabyte GA-K8NS Pro NF3 Pro 250, ATX, DDR400, Gbit Lan, USB 2.0, AC'97 Audio, 4 x SATA, Raid £53.75 £63.16

LN7531
AMD Athlon 64 3700 32/64bit CPU S754 Clawhammer Retail inc Heat Sink Fan & 3 Years Warranty £127.37 £149.66

What do I go for based on my needs (listed earlier and budget as per below)?
My budget is £1,000 including 5.1/6.1 or 7.1 speakers. If I do need to change to PCI-E then this has to fit within the budget as well as the related motherboard and CPU choice. Obviously, both of the above socket sets will allow me to keep my ATI AGP card. I don't want to buy technology that is so new that it is both silly money and not supported by enough available software to make full use of it's capabilities. Nor do I want to need to upgrade again in another 6-12 months....

Can cooling still be adequate with fans etc or should I go watercooled. I doubt I will be overclocking as I want stablility for my video editing.

Can you offer any help with the specification?

[iranu]

Welcome to Hexus.

CASE - The Asus Vento case whilst looking superb has some issues with the way it is configured for cooling imho and the lack of space for future drives. I looked at this for a future case and decided against it after reading many a review. I think there are better cases out there for the money - findout what price Scan do the coolermaster centurian on their site.

PSU - 580w Tagan is overkill imho - the 480w version will be fine especially as it looks like you won't be overclocking - see RAM. The only reason to go with 580w sli is if you plan to do that in the future, in which case make the switch to PCI-e now with an SLi board, it will save you money.

DVD writer - I would go for an NEC 3540 - cheaper with same if not better performance - been a fav of many for good reasons.

RAM - generic ram is ok and you certainly don't need to go crazy with really tight timings unless you intend on overclocking it but I would look for branded RAM - maybe a value series. BSOD caused by faulty RAM is a real pain in the rear. 1Gb of Corsair value RAM is £63.16 at Scan.

If you have an x800 pro or above then it's up to you whether you build a gaming system round it or sell it now and go PCI-e. Any future gfx card upgrade will require a new motherboard PCI-e is well established and will be around as long as AGP.

Air cooling is fine unless you plan to overclock to the max. Even P4 Prescotts aren't that hot

Socket 754 is not really the way to go for an AMD64 system unless on a tight budget - better to go S939 as this will give you more flexibility in future and an easier upgrade path.

As for Intel v AMD, what's the proportion of gaming to video editing that you do? If gaming is more then the swingometer goes toward AMD, if it's video editing then the pendulum swings toward Intel.

I'm sure there will be others along to advise on the cpu side of things.