Videoguys DIY Challenge II - Big Blue - Build an NLE Hot Rod for $2,000

Last year (Feb '04) we posted our first DIY article as a guidebook for digital videographers who wanted to build their own NLE computer on a tight budget. We set a $1,000 goal and while we got very close, there were a few areas we were not willing to cut back on and we ended up over $1,000. Six months later we revisited the challenge and re-configured our $1,000 NLE machine. We kept the same motherboard but changed the CPU and storage. While still over budget, the machine is a screamer for the money and even more powerful than we originally hoped for. More importantly, we're running Premiere Pro 1.5, Avid Xpress Pro with Mojo, Liquid Edition 6 Pro and Vegas 5 on it. All with great performance and rock solid stability. This new machine has to be the ultimate digital everything computer. Most of all, it has to be the best video editing machine possible for the budget. Not just for DV, but for the new HiDef HDV format as well. We're going to be getting a new Sony HDV camcorder and start shooting and editing HDV footage. In order to handle the increased demands of HiDef, my new computer is going to have to be tweaked out and configured to take full advantage of all the latest technologies: PCI Express graphics, DDR2 memory, SATA Raid, Hyperthreading and more. Click here for our DIY2 article and all the details on Big Blue!