Hi, I have a matrox RT 2000 capture card, with Adobe premiere front end. i have been using an IBM 40 GB IDE HD with 10000 rpm for capturing the video. Recently it crashed and i have sent it for exchange. Right now i want to purchase a new hard disk and found that 10k rpm HDD r not available. Someone advised me to go for 7200 rpm HDD. i cant get SCSI because of economic constraints. can i go ahead and get 7200 rpm. Will it be enough? Another doudt is, i used a Quamtum 10 GB HD(5000 or 6000 rpm) on my system. it passed the Matrox benchmark test, but when i used it for capturing, matrox reported dropped frames. does it mean the test is just an eyewash? Experienced matrox users, please comment. Thanks a lot. Ramaseshan

-- Ramseshan (rseshan@rediffmail.com), September 17, 2001

Answers

I'm using an ADSTech Pyro 1394 card for DV transfer to an HDD, which is a Western Digital WD800BB (UltraATA100, 7200rpm, 80GB). I don't have dropped frames, even in analogue capture (full 704x480, 6:1 compression) using Matrox h/w MJPEG codec that came with the Marvel G200 capture/VGA card. If you can't get SCSI, the next best thing is UltraATA100 interface, which should be supported across all levels: your motherboard/chipset supports it (Intel 815(PIII), 845, 850 (PIV),etc); your HDD; your IDE cable (should be an 80-conductor IDE cable designed especially for UltraATA100; a conventional 40- conductor cable won't do, and your system will detect this); and of course appropriate drivers in your system/OS. Generally, steer clear off any HDD less than 7200rpm.

-- Mehmet Tekdemir (turk690@yahoo.com), September 17, 2001.