Re: What would make processing, rendering, and previewing faster?

Hi,

While cpu speed and the number of cores are a factor, the thing that gives you the biggest bang for the buck is memory. If you have a multi-core machine, try to install at least two gigabytes of memory per core. For example, I have a 8 core MacPro with 16 GB of memory. In AE CS3 or using Gridiron's Nucleo Pro rendering plugin, you can utilize all the cores and that extra memory will be useful.

Since AE can only access up to 3GB per core on a Mac or Windows XP (I think it can access up to 4 on Vista) There is little point in getting beyond 3GB per core.

A fast RAID helps, but probably won't give you a significant speed boost. It might help a little if you use it for your temp files, but my guess is the improvement won't be noticeable.

I hope this helps,

Lars