It's Alive! (Another Supercomputer Lives)

(If you're not interested in computers or video editing, do yourself a favor and skip this entry).

My video production company was the recipient of a wonderful new toy the other day -- I finished building a new video editing computer. The construction process was a two-day process which resulted in a system that I hope will remain relatively cutting edge for more than a few months (although we all know how technology works...) Thanks to Eric for his building assistance as I called for parts the way a doctor calls for surgical tools ("Processor. RAM. SATA Cable. Zip-Tie").

For you geeks, here's what we put together:

-Cooler Master Centurion 530 Case
-Antec SmartPower 500W Power Supply
-Intel D915PBL Motherboard (with onboard IEEE 1394)
-Intel 3.4 GHZ P4 with Hyperthreading
-2 GB PQI DDR2 RAM
-Radeon X800 XL Graphics Card, 256MB, PCI Express
-Mad Dog MegaStor Dual-Layer 7-in-1 DVD/CD Burner
-Western Digital "Raptor" 74 GB 10,000 RPM SATA drive (boot)
-Maxtor 250 GB 7000 RPM SATA drive (video)
-Media Reader/Floppy drive combo
-Dual Samsung 19" monitors
-LG 17" HD-ready 16:9 widescreen LCD monitor
-Canopus AV-100 DV/Analog converter
-Wireless Mouse
-Editing Keyboard with Shuttle/Jog
-Belkin 1000VA UPS

I loaded it with Windows XP Pro, Internet Explorer, Adobe Premiere Pro, Canopus ProCoder, SoundForge Audio Studio, and a few miscellaneous utilities, and THAT'S IT. This computer will be pure, unadulterated, and solely dedicated to creating great sights and sounds. The Raptor drive is so fast that, during the installation of several software packages, the program's information screens, which usually help you pass the time by learning about the program, only remained onscreen for a couple of seconds -- far too short a time to actually read them in their entirety. This thing rocks. I can't wait to use it.

My other dedicated editor, built two years ago, is still going stong, but is slightly hampered by its use of IDE drives (8 of them, totalling 1.5 TB) instead of SATA drives and/or a RAID array. I'll continue to use it for updating past projects.

OK, it's time for me to snap out of this geek bliss. Sorry for dragging you along. :-)