Video Asylum

Posted by Joe Murphy Jr (A) on December 18, 2005 at 00:14:07

I have just upgraded my Pinnacle Systems video software to Studio 10 Plus Media Suite Edition. Damn big program, but it's got tons of cool features and it's very easy to work with for video capture and editing.

The problem that I have is the computer (eMachines T2792). To improve performance, I have installed a separate 200GB internal hard drive (video editing programs don't multi-task very well, so a separate drive should be used so that it doesn't have to compete with the main drive) and I have two 1GB 400MHz DDR PC3200 RAM memory on the way (the maximum RAM supported is 2GB, so it will soon be at maximum capacity). The most intensive part of video editing is the rendering and it really taxes many aspects of the processor. Unfortunately, my current processor is an Intel Celeron running at 2.7GHz -- not exactly a top-of-the-line CPU.

From what I have been able to obtain from the specs, the motherboard/chipset/FSB is capable of supporting either of the 3 following CPUs:

Intel Celeron D 3.06GHz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819112199

Intel Pentium 4 2.4GHz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819116178

Intel Pentium 4 2.8GHz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819116180

Which one will be the best upgrade over my current processor for video editing? If it's one of the Pentiums, will the 2.8GHz CPU make a discernable difference (ie; worth the extra $70) over the 2.4GHz CPU? Any help will be sincerely appreciated.