Computer Spec/Parts Help

99% of the time using a DAW you will be dealing with ASIO Sound card drivers during recording AND mixing anyway (Which nearly all ASIO interfaces have Outputs on them) So Onboard sound isn't a factor. And is thus a waste of money to buy a seperate PCI Soundcard with the same inputs/outputs as an ASIO soundcard if he already has one.

1000$ isn't much of a budget, and corners need to be cut( hence why I recommended a lot of the parts used that most of the time come in great condition)
having Onboard sound when and if he has an ASIO interface/soundcard already will not be an issue.



Also, you can pit someone with on-board sound against someone with an insanely expensive soundcard and in the end the person who knows how to use their equipment the most will prevail.

Higher quality equipment /= automatically that you are going to sound better unless you know how to use it in the first place.

 

If he has a decent external sound card then obviously the on-board is irrelevant. Disable on-board sound in the BIOS, use the external solution, job done.

What exactly are you saying?

edit: ok, I get it. You're reading too much into me saying he'd want a PCI-E card. Anything that's of decent quality will do, the interface is not that important. Certainly a cheap PCI-E sound card would have little or no benefits over the on-board (and might even use the same chipset).

 

oh, man. great stuff guys. i REALLY appreciate all the help!

i've got a good monitor, speakers, keyboard, mouse etc. i do have a good case in the mail a friend is sending me. so i won't be needing one of those.

eventually I'll get a second monitor as it would seem ideal for editing. i basically use my laptop as a desktop computer.

Thing is, I had Final Cut Pro on the family computer back home in Washington. But I'm in a different state and all I have is my laptop and I wouldn't dream of running FCP on this. I'm currently using an old version of iMovie. So you can see why I need an upgrade.

I'll definitely look into the HD PVR. I've seen plenty of videos that use them and everything looks really nice.

I'll probably end up getting one of the cheaper versions of Avid.


@Vosse Thanks a ton, dude. So helpful!!!

 

No problem dude, just trying to help as much as I can. As I would hope people would do for me.

Post more if you need more help any time

 

Hi my motherboard has a 478 socket i know a old one
its a asrock p4i65g whats the fastest chip for this socket and i am sort on sata ports.
any ideas would be cool thanks.

 

I don't think Avid do "cheap" versions any more... and they were crap when they did!

Avid and FCP have their differences - you're probably best off using whichever one you know. In the UK, Avid is favoured in the broadcast industry. FCP is often favoured in the US. Again, if you're going to be going into the industry, use whichever solution you'll need when you do. If you're a student, Avid's student package is WAY better. Apple really screw students with theirs - pathetic discount and limited license vs. decent discount and license to use long after college. Hard choice, there! ;-)

Motherboards - top end is nice, but by no means necessary. Likewise, you don't have to get the latest all-singing, all-dancing i7 when an i5 is still a decent processor.

On-board sound - yup, it's shite. Don't touch it with a barge pole. It doesn't matter what you're doing with it - just because you install different drivers to get the latency down doesn't mean it's a good product. There's a saying in the industry - shit in, shit out. It applies here. Personally, I'd go for an external interface nowadays - Firewire or USB2 (or 3). MOTU, Pro Tools, whatever. Even the cheaper ones are better than on-board sound. Hell, I've got an E-MU and it did the job. It even had XLR inputs - hell, I'd rather have proper inputs than shitty unbalanced 3.5mm jacks any day. You could even go for a control surface and make use of its desk functionality, too.

As for PCs being better than Macs, that's bullshit. They're both great at what they do. It's really personal preference, which pretty much comes down to what software you'll use. You'll find that Macs are more common in the broadcast industry, though... and in pro studios, too.

 

Software choice is always subjective, but in terms of performance (and how much that performance actually matters) I'd say that video editing is one of the few areas where a PC can still be said to be objectively, noticeably superior to a Mac costing the same amount - especially if that amount is around or under the $1k mark. CPU performance is what counts and cheap Macs will be noticeably less powerful than a PC for the same price. I'm not talking about software choice or personal preference, just raw performance.

What chip are you on at the moment? With a board that old it's probably not worth spending much money on it, for a small amount more you could get a newer mobo/cpu combo instead that'll wipe the floor with any 478-based chip.

To answer the question, it'll be a P4EE 3.something GHz. Be careful with those chips though as they're absolute monsters for heat production.

 

mine is 3.06GHZ.

 

It won't be cost-efficient to upgrade. If you were on a 1.4GHz it'd be a different story.

 

The reason I'm interested in Avid is because I took a tour of the film school down here at Chapman University and that's all they use. I saw all their editing suites and rooms with rows of computers and students editing video and there isn't a Mac in sight. I know there are still motion pictures that are edited with FCP but basically all tv production is Avid now.

Here's what I was looking at to get me started...

http://shop.avid.com/store/product.do;jsessionid=5211D14DF1DD8891367897C6599AE436.ASTPESD2?product=307190015825088

 

Just on the debate on mac/windows;
Mac's can't even cut files, if it's missing such a basic feature, what else is it missing? Switch to windows and use a real PC.

 

Hold down the option button when dragging and dropping. Same thing.

 

You don't know what you are talking about.

ASIO Drivers aren't JUST Drivers. They are 99% of the time(unless you are using ASIO4ALL) Tied to an external device that has it's own output ,via anything from 1/4" TRS Jacks,SPDIF to Stereo-RCA Jacks. Meaning On-board sound is NOT USED AT ALL.
The only way it would be is if you are routing the signal from your ASIO Device's Monitor/headphone outputs into say a Line-in jack on your Soundcard and using that as the output device which would then be using onboard sound.
(Even when I use my onboard sound, I have to turn my volume up from 30-35% ;which is pretty loud most of the time; to all the way up to 80-100% to even hear interference/noise and I never in my life use them at that volume.)


this is how it goes in the signal chain.

ASIO Device like an Interface>computer>ASIO Driver and your interface is used as your sound device>Sound is then sent back and out of your interfaces outputs , Not the onboard sound >Whatever Stereo Monitors/desktop/hometheater or what you want to use as an output with your interface , which commonly has adjustable volume on both your monitors or interface itself.

Examples

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/FastTrkUSB2
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/AudioExpress
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/PTMboxProLE8
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/UltraLite3Hy
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/GuitarPort/
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/PodStuUX1/
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/PodStuUX2/


And there are PCIE/PCI interfaces/soundcards that do nearly the exact same things except they are internal.


So again, onboard sound is not a factor if he already has an ASIO interface via USB/Firewire or a PCI/PCIE interface/soundcard