Under $1500 Professional Photo Editing/Video Editing and Gaming PC.

matthewh133 · Jan 22, 2015

Approximate Purchase Date: This week.

Budget Range: Under $1500 total.

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Photo/Video Editing, Gaming, Streaming

Are you buying a monitor: No, I have one.

Parts to Upgrade: All

Do you need to buy OS: No

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Anything but please factor in shipping costs if applicable.

Location: Boulder, Colorado

Parts Preferences: Whatever is best

Overclocking: Maybe

SLI or Crossfire: Maybe

Your Monitor Resolution: 2560x1440

And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: Just moved country. No longer have a computer.

TofuLion · Jan 22, 2015

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($319.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Nepton 140XL 122.5 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus Z97-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($136.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Mushkin Redline 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($108.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($104.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 970 4GB STRIX Video Card ($342.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($79.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24F1ST DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1323.90
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-22 00:36 EST-0500

mdocod · Jan 22, 2015

Assuming you are actually serious about the "professional" aspect of the machine; here's how to do that..

CPU: E5-1620V3 ~$300 (Superbiiz)
HSF: SilverStone AR01 ~$35 (Amazon)
MOBO: Supermicro X10SRA-O ~$280 (Superbiiz)
GPU: R9 290 ~$275 (pick best quality and price at time of purchase from Asus/MSI/Giga/Saphire)
RAM: 2 X 8GB ECC DDR4 RDIMM (2 X Crucial CT8G4RFS4213 ) ~$210 (Superbiiz)
SSD: Sandisk X110 256GB ~$90 (NCIX)
Storage: WD2000F9YZ ~$125 (Amazon)
PSU: SeaSonic SSR-650RM ~$95 (Amazon
Case: Phanteks PH-ES614PC_BK ~$90 (Nwegg)

matthewh133 · Jan 22, 2015

Thanks guys. Any other suggestions? I'm a little confused by the complete difference between the to posts. By professional I don't mean I'm working for a serious television company editing videos etc, I'm just editing photos and videos shot on my DSLR and Sony FS700 video camera. Most videos are only 10 minutes long or so. I also want something very capable for gaming as well.

mdocod · Jan 22, 2015

The difference is that tofulion is proposing a gaming/enthusiast/overclocking build which you could use to edit video and pictures on just fine. I'm proposing an enterprise quality workstation build as an alternative. Both leverage quad core hyperthreaded Haswell CPUs and powerful gaming GPUs. The i7 is clocked higher, the E5 supports ECC RDIMM's.... trade-offs... (similar price). The i7 will actually perform slightly better in most workloads, but both are abundantly qualified for your intended use.

In both builds, a "gaming" GPU is proposed. At this time I'm not aware of any video editing or image manipulation software that benefits from workstation GPU drivers, so gaming GPUs give you the most bang for buck. I chose the R9 290 because it provides superior openCL performance in Sony Vegas, but if you're using different software, a different GPU may be better.

If the budget could wiggle up a bit, I'd say throw an E5-1650V3 or E5-1660V3 into the build I've proposed (6, or 8 core options).

The E5-1660V3 would increase the cost of the build ~50%, but increase the potential performance in video editing and trans-coding by up to ~70%

You might also entertain the GIGABYTE MW50-SV0 as a motherboard option. It's only ~$35 more and is a bit more feature dense with built in IO options.

I obviously favor my own build recommendation because I believe it to be the superior quality choice. ECC system memory, WD SE storage, true workstation grade motherboard etc.

matthewh133 · Jan 23, 2015

Interesting, thanks Mdocod.

Darkbreeze · Jan 24, 2015

As discussed in your PM, and since you're NOT building for a professional capacity, this would easily satisfy all the requirements you've outlined as well as providing a PSU and motherboard that are capable of adding a second GPU easily later. If you have questions on any components, that I did not address in your earlier message, I'll be happy to provide whatever answers you require further clarification regarding.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1241 V3 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($263.95 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U14S 55.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($65.99 @ Directron)
Motherboard: Asus H97-PLUS ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($95.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($123.25 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($134.00 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital BLACK SERIES 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($119.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 970 4GB STRIX Video Card ($330.60 @ Directron)
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower Case ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA 850W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($89.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1323.74
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-24 02:28 EST-0500

Also, this is without any rebates. Actual investment may be less after redeeming any mail in offers.

matthewh133 · Jan 24, 2015

Darkbreeze :

As discussed in your PM, and since you're NOT building for a professional capacity, this would easily satisfy all the requirements you've outlined as well as providing a PSU and motherboard that are capable of adding a second GPU easily later. If you have questions on any components, that I did not address in your earlier message, I'll be happy to provide whatever answers you require further clarification regarding.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1241 V3 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($263.95 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U14S 55.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($65.99 @ Directron)
Motherboard: Asus H97-PLUS ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($95.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($123.25 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($134.00 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital BLACK SERIES 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($119.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 970 4GB STRIX Video Card ($330.60 @ Directron)
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower Case ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA 850W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($89.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1323.74
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-24 02:28 EST-0500

Also, this is without any rebates. Actual investment may be less after redeeming any mail in offers.

Thanks Darkbreeze! May I ask, what's the difference between the mother board and CPU you suggested versus the usual suggestions of the 4970k and Z97 etc?

Darkbreeze · Jan 24, 2015

The difference is overclocking. If you desire to overclock, which may or may not be beneficial depending on the task at hand, the Z series motherboards and K series CPUs should be used. The Xeon cannot be overclocked, but has a default turbo feature that automatically boosts the operational frequency and voltage of the chip up to as much as 3.9Ghz depending on the processing load.

If you want to have the option to overclock you could go with that same build and simply replace the CPU with the i5-4690k or i7-4790k and replace the motherboard with something like the ASUS Z97-A or Gigabyte Z97X-Gaming 5. The motherboard tier ranking can be found here to help you with selection based on your criteria:

Z97 motherboards (Overclocking): http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-2383187/motherboard-tier-list-z97-chipset.html

H97 (No overclocking but still allows the default turbo features of the chip): http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-2383217/motherboard-tier-list-h97-chipset.html

Keep in mind that the Xeon and the i7 both have, for all intents and purposes, 8 cores, while the i5 has four. For gaming only rigs, the i5 is sufficient on current titles although that's likely to change as time goes on and games become more optimized for additional cores. As you move up the scale of computational demand on applications, moving away from common computing tasks and towards professional applications, the additional cores and higher amounts of RAM become increasingly beneficial. I believe if you went with an E3 version Xeon or any of the i7 models, and a board suited for that chip, you would be fine for many years to come.

matthewh133 · Jan 24, 2015

Darkbreeze :

The difference is overclocking. If you desire to overclock, which may or may not be beneficial depending on the task at hand, the Z series motherboards and K series CPUs should be used. The Xeon cannot be overclocked, but has a default turbo feature that automatically boosts the operational frequency and voltage of the chip up to as much as 3.9Ghz depending on the processing load.

If you want to have the option to overclock you could go with that same build and simply replace the CPU with the i5-4690k or i7-4790k and replace the motherboard with something like the ASUS Z97-A or Gigabyte Z97X-Gaming 5. The motherboard tier ranking can be found here to help you with selection based on your criteria:

Z97 motherboards (Overclocking): http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-2383187/motherboard-tier-list-z97-chipset.html

H97 (No overclocking but still allows the default turbo features of the chip): http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-2383217/motherboard-tier-list-h97-chipset.html

Keep in mind that the Xeon and the i7 both have, for all intents and purposes, 8 cores, while the i5 has four. For gaming only rigs, the i5 is sufficient on current titles although that's likely to change as time goes on and games become more optimized for additional cores. As you move up the scale of computational demand on applications, moving away from common computing tasks and towards professional applications, the additional cores and higher amounts of RAM become increasingly beneficial. I believe if you went with an E3 version Xeon or any of the i7 models, and a board suited for that chip, you would be fine for many years to come.

Brilliant. Thanks a lot for the informative response!

Darkbreeze · Jan 24, 2015

Of course. Anytime.

matthewh133 · Jan 24, 2015

Darkbreeze :

Sorry, one last thing (hopefully lol). Someone else recommended the 5820K and Gigabyte GA-X99-UD4 ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard

The bundle special at Newegg makes this $606 ATM. Would this be a better choice than the above options with the bundle price for my needs or are the other options still better?

Darkbreeze · Jan 24, 2015

Unless you plan on using two or more GPUs in conjunction with M.2 devices that will be using up some of the PCI lanes, I don't see that the current prices on the X99 platform is justified considering you're going to pay through the teeth for RAM on top of the additional cost of the motherboard and cpu. There are some benefits to the platform and some benchmarks show gaming performance increases, but it's much more expensive for not that much increase in performance.

mdocod · Jan 24, 2015

darkbreeze,

The i7-4790(k) and E3 equivalent, does not have "for all intents and purposes 8 cores". The i7 in this context has the exact same 4 cores that the i5 has. The only difference is hyperthreading, which allows work from 2 threads to be scheduled within at core at the same time. It's a 4 core CPU no matter how you slice it. Some workloads scale with hyper-threading, some don't, depends on many factors.

--------

matthew,

If you build a quad core workstation on an H3 socket, you're at the end of the line for performance, there will never be a useful upgrade path for the system.

If you build a quad core workstation on an R3 socket, you're at the beginning of the available line for performance, with opportunity to scale up performance dramatically further as needed without replacing the board or ram.

Darkbreeze · Jan 24, 2015

Why don't you go build a server or something. I'm really tired of you bashing everything I say. And I'm not the only one around here who is.

Since an Intel 4 CORE chip with hyperthreading outperforms all of the AMD 8 CORE units, it IS, "for all intents and purposes", an 8 core. 8 threads, ok. Are you happy. Jesus.

mdocod · Jan 24, 2015

Darkbreeze,

If you're tired of being corrected, perhaps you should seize posting misleading, or, in many cases, blatantly incorrect information. You obviously aren't in a very well informed position, but insist on answering questions with a greater priority on the act of answering than the quality of information in the answer.

The build I proposed above is not a server. The motherboard is a purpose-built workstation motherboard. It has multiple PCIE 16X slots and RealTek ALC1150 7.1 built in audio. These are not server motherboard traits.

Apple, Dell, and HP make their premium workstations with Xeons, ECC memory, and workstation/enterprise class motherboards.

Professional system builders like PugetSystems, do the same thing.

Darkbreeze · Jan 24, 2015

I didn't imply that the build you posted was a server. I just said go build one. I'm not going to enable you to keep hearing your own voice by going on and on, so whatever dude. As I said before, nobody here seems to know anything but you, at least, if we ask you. But I guess that's ok too. Take care.

matthewh133 · Jan 25, 2015

Darkbreeze :

mdocod :

Thanks for the info. I'm a bit of a noob, what are the R3 and H3 choices we are talking about here?

mdocod · Jan 25, 2015

H3 = 1150 socket.

R3 = 2011-3 socket

matthewh133 · Jan 26, 2015

mdocod :

OK thanks.

Under $1500 Professional Photo Editing/Video Editing and Gaming PC.

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