Home brew workstation

[MaxVal]

I've been considering building a non-linear editing system. After reading the reviews of the Pinicle DC-1000 MPEG-2 based card on the Videoguys site, I am seriously tempted to break the bank and utilize it.
However the author of the review seems biased toward the Dell NT solution, probably for safeties' sake.
While I realize that Dell makes quality hardware, I am concerened about propritary solutions that constrain upgrading.
I have put together about a dozen windows machines, and even a small NT Server client LAN, and I would prefer building my own platform here.
Am I being foolish for thinking I could build a quality NT machine for less? Are there pitfalls I haven't thought about? The bottom line- is it crazy trying to skimp on the platform hardware after spending $2000 on the capture card and software!
As for hardware I was thinking-
Abit BP-6 w/2 Cellron 366's (don't know if the present software supports it, but it might down the line).
IBM 14GB EIDE system disk (7200 RPM)
Promise FasTrack set for striping on two IBM 14GB 7200RPM. I like IBM drives!
128mb ECC Sync DRAM.
I'm not sure which video card and sound card make the most sense. Suggestions?
Generic IDE CD-ROM
IDE ReWriter
Any thoughts, even "your out of your mind!" would be apreciated.
MAX

[Stan]

Hi

Well I like Dell PC: good and reliable.
But, I still think that a self-built PC is better for future upgrade, even if it will cost you more money.

Your hardware choice seems really good, specially your disk sub-system.
I am currently using the Promise FastTrack with 2 IBM 22Gxp 9.1Gb (7200rpm, 2Mb cache) in RAID0 config. It is FAST.
Check this link for details and benchmarks:
http://www.sysopt.com/forum/Forum1/HTML/001130.html

You might consider 256Mb RAM. It DOES make a difference if you using NT4.
Suggestion for sound card: sb Live Value
Graphic card: Matrox G400 MAX... too good...

Stany

[Joel Kleppinger]

I agree with Stan on a lot of his suggestions. I've always felt that the TLC [sic] I give my machines is far better than any "professional" system builder would do.

And go for the Live! Value and G400 MAX like Stan said, tho the MAX could be a bit of overkill. Toss in a 4-speaker speaker system and you're good to go.

As long as the software is multithreading, it can take advantage of two CPUs. And if it can't then start up a one-CPU rc5 client and set it to work on CPU #2 http://www.sysopt.com/forum/wink.gif

Definitely get 256 MB. You don't even have to be on NT to notice - I wish I had 256 MB right now in Win98.

One thing which Stan didn't touch on is the IDE vs. SCSI CD writer. DEFINITELY get SCSI. You will actually be able to use your PC vs. having to go away and let it spend 20 minutes burning a CD while you can't touch it for fear of buffer underruns.

Other than that, you're good to go.

[MaxVal]

Thanks for the quick response!
Ram will be upgraded!
I am concerned with the Promise fasTrack's compatibility with a SCSI card. I used one in an NT server and had a conflict with a Syquest Spar-Q (one gig parallel port). NT would not boot after installing the driver. Had to install the backup device on a client.
MAX