Like to build a moderate computer for editing 720p footage.

Well my current computer is a Dell Dimension 4500 running a Pentium 4 @ 2.4GHz with 2gB of DDR ram. I have a Radeon x1300 with 512mb of memory. Yes it is quite old. But I have been getting by using Linux Mint 13 Cinnamon.

I currently use Kdenlive to edit videos. But when I try to edit 720p videos, there is simply stuttering.

Further, I can't even run Netbeans smoothly.

So I want to build a new one. This model will only be temporary. So I'd pike to gain information and then select the used components online by matching sockets.

I have read about bus speed, north bridge, south, front side... This is good stuff. I'm looking to build one @ $200 to $300. If possible, I could save by recycling my current power supply. I have heard of modular power supplies.

I would like to have Windows 8 partition as well as Lonux partition. I don't know how much space Windows 8 needs but that ought to factor into the smallest size HDD which if possible I would like to be solid state.

Are there any dangers to building your own case? I thought about later using a 3D printer to design/make my own. I actually wanted to gut a laptop and throw in a physical external UsB hard drive with a physical switch for backup. As well as a port for my phone. Nothing knew just some ideas I'd like for myself.

But the current task at hand is determining the absolute minimum parts I need. And how to be sure that the parts match.

Thanks for any help.

Btw what are current bus speeds?
 
$200 to $300 won't get you a complete system I'm afraid, if you're looking at that sort of money it would probably be easier just to buy a PC off the shelf and stick Linux on it.

What you could try to do if you wanted to save money would be to buy a new motherboard, CPU and set of RAM, and put that in your existing case if your existing case is a standard form factor such as mATX or ATX. Sadly not all cases from people like Dell are like that though, so we'd have to check to see if a standard form factor board would fit in your case first.

I'd say the absolute minimum space you want for Windows 8 is 60GB, so if you got a 128GB and split it in two with one partition for Windows 8 and the other for Mint that'd probably work out OK. You'd probably want another hard drive to save your videos onto though.
 
Hello Spirit (nice)

B2!!!

haha.

Anyway, I have two desktops, they are both antiquated but I was able to play Fallout 3 on medium settings at one point using this motherboard: E210882 using the same parts that I mentioned which I transferred to the Dell Dimension 2500.

You didn't mention video card at all. Isn't that a huge component / important part to look at?
 
The video card is important, yes, but most CPUs have pretty decent onboard graphics these days which are much better than the Radeon X1300 which you currently have.

If you're still on a $300 budget, I think you'd need to look at just upgrading your motherboard, CPU and RAM, but before you do that we need to know the form factor of your case.
 
Alright, I'm sorry to "keep you waiting" in regards to my responses. It is not a matter of I'm not constantly connected to the internet rather I currently at this point in my life work in a factory, so I am either sleeping, working or free in which case I try to stay up as late as I can and work on projects I have which I think about while working. Namely my Video Piloted Model Airplanes and Web Design (damn I love building stuff!)

Anyway, I don't know if that was necessary but I want you to know that I sincerely appreciate your help.

I looked up what "form factor" means and the motherboard I have is a Micro ATX

This is a link on the motherboard

Funny it is "Vintage"

I haven't looked at Solid State Drives yet and what is a standard "small" size, I wonder if in regards to my price range if I could afford one or if I ought to look at those deals on New Egg like a 2TB SeaGate HDD for $80.00 that seemed pretty great considering it is 100 times more space than what I currently use.

Yea I'm not sure if my computer is dying or if the linux I have installed is corrupt but sometimes I need to restart it at least three times before committing to doing anything "'heavy". It will completely freeze and an annoying sound will be stuck.

Any suggestions of places to buy from that are trustworthy? I guess NewEgg is an obvious one but can it be cheaper by personal buying maybe craigslist? Well...maybe I don't want to risk that.

It's not so much "cheap" don't get me wrong, I like quality and when I can I will spend for the quality but at this current timeframe (3 months) I need a moderate computer until I build myself a computer that I would really like (my own laptop with designed case via 3D Printer)

So let's continue I suppose.
 
Now to add some life.

This is the board and this is the board gone.






Gahh I dislike floppy drives... (I don't think I've ever used one) But they leave a hole in my desktop when I remove them...not sure what to do.
 
Yeah I'd grab a new power supply and a new CPU/board/RAM combo with an mATX board of course. You'll need to also get a SATA DVD drive and a SATA hard drive or SSD, since I see you're using IDE now which is not only slow, but not supported on many modern boards.

I'm a bit busy right now, but I'm sure somebody else can come up with something. :)
 
OK this all comes to $450 but if you can afford to spend that much this stuff below would be ideal for your video editing. If it's too expensive, we'll see where we can save money.

CPU: i3 3220 - great processor and will be fine for light editing which you want to do http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116775

RAM: 8GB RipJaws 1600MHz: 4GB may be enough for you but having more isn't a bad thing. I'd encourage you to get 8, will help with your render times http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231314 just make sure you download and install the 64-bit Linux Mint 13 so that all 8GB gets detected.

Motherboard: MSI B75: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130654 will fit in your case and work with everything else.

SSD: SanDisk Extreme 128GB: I've used a lot of SSDs now, including this one, and the price:performance is very good. 128GB is a nice size, but 64GB may or may not be big enough for you if you just want to run one OS on the SSD, 64GB may be big enough. Plug it into the SATA 6GB/s connectors on your motherboard to get the full speed advantage. Also make sure you have another hard drive to save your videos onto. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820171567

2.5" to 3.5" adapter http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811993005 you'll likely need this in order to fit the SSD into your case.

Power supply: Corsair CX 500 - just in case you upgrade to a graphics card later down the road. The CX 500 is ideal for anything up to a 7790 or 650 Ti. I'd advise replacing your power supply anyway, since it's always good to have clean, stable power. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139027

DVD drive: SATA LG DVD-RW - assuming your current CD/DVD drive is an IDE one, you'll need to replace it with a SATA once because virtually no motherboards out there support IDE anymore http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136259
 
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Well I don't want to cause any trouble here, that lower price seems appealing for a temporary build.

I live in New York State

What was the part about plugging the SATA drive into the motherboard to get the full speed? I have to catch up on my computer knowledge.
 
Plug the SSD into one of the SATA 6GB/s ports on the motherboard when you get them. Also make sure the SATA type is set to AHCI in the BIOS.
 
So I think by next week I can actually seriously look into building this thing but...
I am really looking for a video editing platform, as you guys have assembled within the constraints of budget.

I was thinking about portability as in laptop... Probably not going to happen based on my conditions right?

Also as a side note, I was interested in tablets, namely to use the stylus in conjunction with a 2D Animation software called pencil. If somebody happens to know something about stylus interface with tablets, that would be cool.

P.S. There are 'touch screens' that don't actually use touch screen's but rather some kind of grid layout where your fingers break a grid above the normal monitor. It was used in one of dell's studio computers. Pretty cool.
 
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