First Time Builder - $1500 - Gaming And Video Editing - Final Build

[ModernCreed]

Long time reader, first time poster on these forums. As I have gone through this journey of building my first desktop pc, the threads and responses on this forum have been very helpful and hopefully I will be able to help others in the years to come.

I have spent a lot of time considering this build and I am nearing my final specs.

Approximate Purchase Date: This week, probably today or tomorrow

Budget Range: $1500 MAX after taxes and rebates and shipping

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Heavy Gaming, Moderate to Heavy HD Video editing, Audio editing, General Multitasking (web and office)

Parts Not Required: Mouse, Keyboard, Monitor, OS (Windows 7 Ultimate - Non OEM - Off friend)

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg.ca and tigerdirect.ca

Country of Origin: Canada

Parts Preferences: I prefer Nvidia GPUs and Intel CPUs, but I am willing to budge if given good reason to

Overclocking: Maybe (not right away, possibly down the line)

SLI or Crossfire: Maybe (most likely in a few years when my GPU shows some age

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080 (22 inch HD LCD TV with HDMI)

Additional Comments: Would like it to be relatively quiet, but doesn't need to be silent (will be in my room)

Current Build (all off newegg):

Case: CM 690 II

PSU: CM GX Series RS750-ACAAE3-US 750W

CD Drive: SAMSUNG CD/DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-S223C - OEM

HDD: SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 1TB 7200 RPM

GPU: EVGA GTX 570

RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4 GB)

CPU: Intel Core i7 2600k

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper N 520

Motherboard: Can't Decide Between the three new P67 ASUS motherboards: PRO or EVO or Deluxe? (I'm leaning towards the EVO

So thats my build, but I have a few questions:

How much power do I really need for video editing? Am I going way over on my specs? I am going to be editing fairly lengthy clips, sometimes upwards of 15 minutes in length in HD and would like to render them pretty fast. (I'm getting into "Let's Plays" on youtube along with general editing for other projects)

Because this is my first build, I feel I am getting a little greedy with my specs. Do I need this much power or am I going a little overboard? I think it's fine and I am willing to pay $1500, but I also don't want to waste it.

Thanks in advance!

 

[MadAdmiral]

You're right in line with what you'd need to maximize performance. Typically, the i7 is overkill, but the hyperthreading will help a lot in video editing. The high-end nVidia GPU will also help in that regard.

As for the actual parts, they're mostly all good. I wouldn't touch that Coolermaster PSU though. How about an excellent XFX 750W instead? It's a lot higher quality. Other good options are the 750W from Corsair, Antec, Silverstone and SeaSonic.

I'd also change the HSF. I'd look at Coolermaster's Hyper 212 Plus or Scythe's Mugen 2 Rev. B instead. Both are much better coolers at roughly the same price.

I've also got a case recommendation, though the 690 II is good. I like the Rosewill Challenger, as it's another great case for less. Or even better, the HAF 922 is dirt cheap in Canada. It's easily one of the best performing cases on the market, and it's only $90 (with shipping and rebate).

As for the board, I'd go with the Pro model. Both the Deluxe and Evo models feature a third PCIe 2.0 slot, which by itself is pretty useless, as tri-SLI is absolutely horrible (check out Tom's article of the day). Not only that, but the slot only runs at 4x, which handicaps anything you'd put in it. So save the case and go with the Pro. Or even better, take a long look at the ASRock P67 Extreme4 (not re-released yet). It's very similar to the P8P67 Pro in terms of features and performance, but it's $40-50 cheaper because it's not from Asus. I know it got a number of recommendations from reviewers when it was originally released.

 

[steven0724]

As for the actual parts, they're mostly all good. I wouldn't touch that Coolermaster PSU though. How about an excellent XFX 750W instead? It's a lot higher quality. Other good options are the 750W from Corsair, Antec, Silverstone and SeaSonic.

Totally agree with Admiral here. Check out the ranked PSU list. Your CM is almost at the bottom of the list with rank 5. XFX is a great alternative at a nice price

http://rankedpsulist.dabbledb.com/publish/rankedpsulist/b3f26178-9bd4-4084-8495-cba3efb4a192/55-64amps.html

Edit: Added the original sticky from Toms for reference
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/278567-28-ranked-list-guide