Good configuration for PC running PSP 7

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Good configuration for PC running PSP 7

Postby BAD » Sat Dec 26, 2015 5:17 pm

My older (5-6 years) Dell XPS 8100’s primary 1T drive has crashed. Yes, I have a backup. Currently I am working on a travel video using PSP that has about 500 slides. So the backup was my first panic. I’d like to upgrade my PC desktop with either another Dell or a Lenovo, if I can afford it. As I look at the various configuration I have many questions. And I don’t know if it’s worthwhile to upgrade to a Lenovo.

I don’t want to overpower the new PC. I’m not using it for gaming but I do create large travel shows on ProShowProducer 7 and edit my photos using Photoshop Elements 14. My expired Dell XPS 8100 PC is equipped with :
Intel Core i7-870 processor, 12GB RAM, nVIDIA GeForce G310 510MB DDR3, 16x Blu-ray disc rewriter and a DVD writer. I do run two monitors.

I thought I would continue with an Intel i7 processor, increase the RAM to a bit to 16GB (I was thinking about 32GB but that may be overkill), increase the graphic card to around a 745. I may be able to transfer my current Blu-ray writer from the old to the new computer, since I bought it about a year ago. I still burn my shows on a Blu-ray DVD.

Once I understand what specs I need I can do some serious shopping. I looked on Photodex for some suggested specs for a PC with PSP but didn’t find anything. I just don’t know how to get more bang for my buck.

Comments on PC desktop configurations will be appreciated. I’ve always received great information from this forum.
Barbara
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Re: Good configuration for PC running PSP 7

Postby gpsmikey » Sat Dec 26, 2015 10:24 pm

Not sure how much help I will be but here are a couple of considerations. 12GB for RAM should be find - Proshow is still a 32 bit app, so the memory really does not buy you much there, but it will help with the 64 bit apps assuming you have a 64 bit version of windows installed (I am running win 7/64 here on an older machine). As for the video cards, I think I would consider going down the Nvidia line - I saw something recently where basically the "war has ended" or some such title - ATI and NVIDIA were the big players and it looks like Nvidia has won and ATI/AMD is getting away from the main video card business. I have used the ATI/AMD cards in the past and while they worked well in general, I have had my issues - in one case it took me two days and I had to purchase another tool to remove the old drivers when putting in new drivers (following the ATI instructions). Turned out to be a real pain !!! There have been some other discussions recently about video cards here - you might want to search for them and see if any of that information is of use to you.

As for burning shows, what I have been doing recently (at least for my home shows) is simply create a 720p mp4 file, put it on a flash drive and plug it into my big screen TV. Most of the newer ones can play mp4 files direct from a flash drive and have USB connectors on the back of the TV. Haven't burned a DVD for quite a while although I do need to make a bunch of the memorial for my father in law we can send to the old Canadian relatives eh?

mikey
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Re: Good configuration for PC running PSP 7

Postby pd » Sat Dec 26, 2015 11:50 pm

gpsmikey wrote: . . . . .
As for burning shows, what I have been doing recently (at least for my home shows) is simply create a 720p mp4 file, put it on a flash drive and plug it into my big screen TV . . . . .
mikey


I have created a show and as it was going to be played on an HD 80 inch tv, I went for 1080p. The quality was superb. Apart from size, I wonder what made you go for 720p. I am sure you have a plausible explanation.
pd
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Re: Good configuration for PC running PSP 7

Postby Marie78 » Sun Dec 27, 2015 2:01 am

Hello

As far as I know the most important are
- the processor : I7. Fast and 4 process to encode the video fastly
- the video card : no need gamer card but a good one anyway
- the RAM : Proshow do not use more than 3 Go but it's important that other software and OS leave that 3 Go free for PS. Then 16 Go is good. Use 2 X 8 Go so if lateron you need tu upgrade, it's easier.
Photoshop Elements 14 is 64 bits I think and will use the RAM.

I do not burn DVD or BlueR but you can transfer it from one PC to the other one.
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Re: Good configuration for PC running PSP 7

Postby Tonel » Sun Dec 27, 2015 3:18 am

I recently thought about replacing my 6 year old self build i7-920 (12GB RAM) for a new 'off the shelf' PC but felt I couldn't justify the spend when in most ways I was still happy with it. So after some research I replaced three components at a cost of less than £400 instead of £1400+.

I swapped my i7-920 for a Xeon W3690, my AMD/ATI GPU for an Nvidia 2GB GTX 960 and my system 500GB Western Digital Caviar Black HDD for a Samsung 250GB 850 EVO SSD. (It has 3 other HDDs in it for media, projects, etc.)

The CPU change took it from 2.67GHz to 3.47GHz.

I reinstalled my system and apps (and am still doing it), and upgraded (free) from Win7HE to Win10H.

I am very happy with the result and expect it to last me a few years before the next major change.

So why throw away a PC just because a replaceable HDD has expired. Get another one and make it SSD.

Tony
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Re: Good configuration for PC running PSP 7

Postby gpsmikey » Sun Dec 27, 2015 7:29 am

Tony - last time I was looking at disk drives, I came across some disturbing information about Samsung disk drives (this was a couple of years back) - the ones I had (1.5TB) worked great, but the newer ones were apparently Seagate relabeled as Samsung. I don't remember all the details, but it seems to me Samsung sold their hard drive division to Seagate - the 2 newer ones I had purchased both developed issues within a year or so). Might want to check on that (I have had far better results with the WD Caviar Black drives than any Seagate drives over the years :evil: ) The drives in my system are spun up 24/7 (but well cooled).

Pd - as far as my choice of 720p vs 1080p, at the time, it a) makes the file much smaller and I could not really tell the difference on my 55" TV, b) being much smaller, it cuts the data rate down as to how fast the TV has to be able to read the data from the Flash drive. I do intend to experiment in the near future here with a couple of things now that I have several larger flash drives - 1080p again and see how it looks as well as going to 60fps instead of the 30 and see how much smoother it is (1080p 60fps will be significantly larger/faster data transfer than 720p 30fps).

My current configuration is an i7-930 @ 2.8ghz, 12GB RAM on a Asus P6X58D Premium Motherboard with a Radeon HD 6850 video card and about 8TB of hard drives spinning behind me. Running Windows 7/64.

One consideration for anybody considering replacing their system hard drive with a SSD - I don't remember the details, but it is related to the structure of the disk and sector sizes, but you can't simply "restore" your system from a disk image from a physical hard drive to a SSD and have it work right. You need to re-install the software (which in many cases, isn't a bad thing to do a completely fresh install again), but it is something to be aware of. Normally, if I replace a system disk (usually with a larger one), I image the partition, install the new drive then restore the partition and hey presto, back up and running again (with the advantage that the old drive is still bootable if I need to revert for some reason). Something to be aware of - if I was building a new system, I would definitely put in one of the better SSD for the primary drive and install things again.

mikey
You can't have too many gadgets or too much disk space !!
mikey (PSP6, Photoshop CS6, Vegas Pro 14, Acid 7, BluffTitler, Nikon D300s, D810)
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Re: Good configuration for PC running PSP 7

Postby heckydog » Sun Dec 27, 2015 3:36 pm

gpsmikey wrote:
One consideration for anybody considering replacing their system hard drive with a SSD - I don't remember the details, but it is related to the structure of the disk and sector sizes, but you can't simply "restore" your system from a disk image from a physical hard drive to a SSD and have it work right. You need to re-install the software (which in many cases, isn't a bad thing to do a completely fresh install again), but it is something to be aware of. Normally, if I replace a system disk (usually with a larger one), I image the partition, install the new drive then restore the partition and hey presto, back up and running again (with the advantage that the old drive is still bootable if I need to revert for some reason). Something to be aware of - if I was building a new system, I would definitely put in one of the better SSD for the primary drive and install things again.

mikey


I bought a 500GB Samsung SSD in February 2014 and it came with software to migrate your OS hard drive to the SSD. Worked very well for me. Here's a link that talks a little about it:

http://www.samsung.com/global/business/ ... per11.html

I clone the SSD to an HDD about once a month. If the SSD ever crashes I should be able to use the same software to get me up and running again with a new SSD. I don't know if other manufacturers offer similar migration software.

Joe

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Re: Good configuration for PC running PSP 7

Postby gpsmikey » Sun Dec 27, 2015 8:50 pm

Good to know Joe - I was just remembering the discussions in the Sony Vegas forums where people were saying you had to re-install stuff and they explained why. That was a couple of years ago - apparently they have worked the problem.

mikey
You can't have too many gadgets or too much disk space !!
mikey (PSP6, Photoshop CS6, Vegas Pro 14, Acid 7, BluffTitler, Nikon D300s, D810)
Lots of PIC and Arduino microprocessor stuff too !!

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Re: Good configuration for PC running PSP 7

Postby Tonel » Mon Dec 28, 2015 1:21 am

Mikey, thanks for the heads up but as I said, I've swapped out my 500GB WD Caviar Black HDD for a 250GB SSD. After 6 years of almost continuous working I thought it was time to give the HDD a rest and I'd read so many good things about SSD. It was also time to reinstall everything because of the amount of crud build up in the system despite regular housekeeping. This machine was also the last in my collection that needed to move off Win7 and on to 10. My 4 PCs and Apple Bootcamp are all running 10 now - but beware anyone that does the free Windows upgrade on Bootcamp and runs it with VM software, e.g. Parallels, as you can't activate the VM and Bootcamp.

I agree with Mikey re 720 vs 1080. I also find 720 is the better all round choice. In a sense it's the same with DVD vs BluRay. I've stayed with DVD because I'm happy with the upscaled pic on my TV, family and friends all have DVD players but only a few have BluRay, and I didn't need to spend more. Actually I've just burned my first DL disk so have doubled my output for very little cost.

Tony
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Re: Good configuration for PC running PSP 7

Postby BAD » Mon Dec 28, 2015 6:27 am

Thanks for all you comments. Very helpful. I think I will get an SSD and a 2T HHD. going to try burning to a thumb drive for my copy. DVD for gifts. I found a Lenovo at Costco that sounds good. I'll check it out. Thanks.
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Re: Good configuration for PC running PSP 7

Postby gpsmikey » Mon Dec 28, 2015 8:40 am

These are the drives I have been using for a while and been very happy with - not one issue with any of them so far (and I leave my system up 24/7). http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/9 ... e_for.html

mikey
You can't have too many gadgets or too much disk space !!
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Re: Good configuration for PC running PSP 7

Postby osharr » Tue Dec 29, 2015 6:56 am

Mikey, interesting that you leave your system up 24-7 . Had thought about this myself, but hadn't gotten enough info to start doing this . Is there a benefit to doing this ?
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Re: Good configuration for PC running PSP 7

Postby gpsmikey » Tue Dec 29, 2015 11:28 am

Yes - it eliminates the time to shut it down and boot time (and it helps keep my computer room warm). :twisted: Actually, in my case there is a bit of justification in that I run various backup tasks late at night and early morning from cron jobs. Otherwise, I guess just personal preference. I do have to remember to periodically blow the dust out - those cooling fins can get pretty covered with dust and stuff.

mikey
You can't have too many gadgets or too much disk space !!
mikey (PSP6, Photoshop CS6, Vegas Pro 14, Acid 7, BluffTitler, Nikon D300s, D810)
Lots of PIC and Arduino microprocessor stuff too !!

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