LIQUID 6 upgrade - $199 - Is it for You ?
      LIQUID 7 upgrade - $199 - Is it for You ?
      Magazine Reviews of Liquid

Note:  Liquid 7 will probably run fine on the same configurations that Liquid 6 runs on - although dual core / dual processor mother boards is a probable plus especially if you are editing HD. 1 gig mem needed, PCI express box with an ATI PCI Express card with at least 256 mb of memory highly recommended. 800 mhz front side bus, Hyperthreading - two drives - one for system/program files, the other for video data and rendering.  Better yet a separate (additional) rendering drive. Best of all it seems might be a system/program drive with a RAID 0 - with both video data and rendering done on the RAID 0 drives.

Liquid 6.1 is powerful and is definitely worth the upgrade from 5.62 IF you have the high end hardware needed to run Liquid 6.1 smoothly. Pinnacle recommends  3.0 ghz or better - with at least a 1 gig of memory. So do we. (Although Pinnacle does say it will run on a 2.4 ghz or bigger)  And you will need a DX9 video card, and an ASIO 2 compliant audio device. And a compatible USB2 port.  That combo will make your editing experience very enjoyable with Liquid 6.1.  If you are a 5.5x user, the new interface (or the optional classic interface) will either be very familiar to you or easy to learn. If you are new - GET A TUTORIAL - either free or buy one.

If you are upgrading, leave 5.62 on your machine and install 6.1 in it's own folder. That way, if you have issues, you can jump back to 5.62. I keep all my 5.62 projects in a folder named /_Project562 and all my 6.1 projects in a folder called /_Project61. (I use the underscore so the folders appear on the top of the directory structure).  If I am going to work on a 5.62 project in 6.1 (which I have done every time successfully), using XP's File Explorer, I first copy the project's folder and it's related .project file (both located inside the /_project562 folder) to the /_Project61 folder - so I can always go back to 5.62 if I run into problems.  In four months - I have not run into a problem...YEA !

And installation recommendations - the cleaner your system as far as no networking, no extra programs running, the more likely no issues will pop up. Many recommend a fresh install of XP and then install of Liquid 6.1  I have never done that and personally feel you should not have to - but many say do it.  I actually have two bootable drives on my machine - an IDE and a SATA. The SATA is a XP and Liquid only drive - the IDE has XP (original install)  and ALL my programs, is networked and has internet access. I have not had problems with Liquid on my IDE boot - but when something seems to not be working - I sometimes boot to the SATA to make sure I get the same result.  Check this WEB BOARD THREAD for the discussion on clean installs - and do a search for "clean install" for other threads on the related subject.

So back to your system and what items to look at for smooth performance.

Video Card - to make everything work right (GPU/CPU effects), you need a DX9 (DirectX  version 9) video card. Here's what Pinnacle recommends.  I got a ATI Radeon 9600 with 256mb from eastwarehouse.com for  $145 with shipping.  Another well recommended card is the APOLLO nVIDIA GeForce FX5200 Video Card for $80. Want to know if your current card will work with Liqiuid 6 - download the Check3d  program from Pinnacle.  And check the Pinnacle web board for other video cards that are recommended by users - do a search on "video card".

DirectX version 9.Oc - You need this version. If you don't know what is installed, run DXDIAG from the run command. Download 9.0c here.

USB ports -  make sure your USB port is on the recommended list.  Check out what chip set your current USB is by running Belarc Adviser - a free download.   And you probably should not be running a USB hard drive and the usb BOB on the same USB card.  If you need to put in another USB card, the Adaptec AUA4000 or Adaptec's AUA-3100LP is recommended (about $50).

Audio Card -  if you're using an on-board sound chip, it probably won't work well with Liquid 6 as. LE 6 uses ASIO 2 as the interface to the sound system. Liquid 6.1 can probably work with your existing card as there is an option Pinnacle has provided - a windows-supplied ASIO driver that wraps around your existing driver. If you don't have a card that supports ASIO 2, then it is used.  But I would suggest spending the $75 for a new audio ASIO 2 compliant card.  . This is one source of the time delays.  You probably will want stand alone audio card like the Audigy 2 that is ASIO 2 compliant.  $75 if not on sale somewhere.

To BOB or not - if you want output to a NTSC device, the $500 break-out-box (BOB) gives you that capability - as well as input from composite/component devices as well as audio functions.  There is an alternative to the BOB - the MovieBox Deluxe USB that can lower the cost to about $150 or less if on sale.   More on the subject