First build: NON-GAMING!!

[rollingstone89]

I recently moved out of my parents house, and they didn't let me take the computer :/ My life revolved around that thing. So I need a new one asap! This is going to be my first build ever, and I'm a total hardware n00b. I'm trying to gather as much information as possible for choosing components, but all I can seem to find is information on gaming pc's. I will be using it mainly for photo and video editing, audio recording, and storing my music/movie collection.

My budget is $1000-1500. Id prefer to spend closer to 1000, but willing to go higher if its worth it. I want to use a sandy bridge cpu and an asus mobo, other than that I'm still completely undecided. Any system recommendations or other information would be greatly appreciated!

Here are a couple other questions I had:

Is the 2500k worth the extra hundred over the 2600k?
Is it better to have two graphics cards or a single more expensive card?
How do I know how large of a power supply I need?

(Sorry if this looks weird, I'm posting from my phone...)

 

[crewton]

First the 2500k is 100 less than the 2600k.

Anyway, when you say video/photo editing is this casual editing or more extreme? If you are doing a lot of editing I'd opt for the 2600k for the hyperthreading and quick sync to edit faster.

I'd recommend not even getting a video card and using the HD3000 built into the 2600k.

That leaves an H67 motherboard which are also nicely priced.

Power supply you'd only need a little guy like http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139017&cm_re=corsair_psu-_-17-139-017-_-Product

The other big ticket item would be an SSD again for faster editing and program use. If you want to go real big http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227706

Then add a few http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185&cm_re=spinpoint_f3-_-22-152-185-_-Product for storage.

 

[rollingstone89]

I knew that, just a typo!

Amataur, but somewhat extreme. I am in school for graphic design and photography, and I work for a local music venue recording video and taking pics. I do light video editting, but the photography requires quite a bit of editting due to the venues low-lighting.

Also that isn't nearly enough memory I have over 500 gbs of music.

I was considering saving my programs, video, and photography onto a 100 gb ssd, and getting a wesern digital black caviar 2 tb for music and movies.

Good idea?

 

[rollingstone89]

Oops didn't see that like for the hard drive.. guess that's what I get for trying to do this on my phone!

 

[crewton]

Ooo also forgot ram, the boards are capped at 1333Mhz so get either 2x4GB or 4x4GB.

 

[crewton]

CPU: Intel Core i7-2600K $315...if you live by a microcenter you can get it for $280

Motherboard: ASUS P8H67-M PRO/CSM (REV 3.0) LGA 1155 Intel H67 $125

RAM: G.SKILL Value Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) $80 or $160 if you go for 16GB.

PSU: CORSAIR Builder Series CX600 (CMPSU-600CX) 600W $70

SSD: OCZ Vertex 3 VTX3-25SAT3-120G $300

HDD: SAMSUNG Spinpoint F4 HD204UI 2TB $80 a piece

That comes out to $970 add more for more ram and HDDs. The only other things you'd need would be case, keyboard, mouse, operating system (get it for student rate for 20 bucks). I think that will do you well.

 

[Evan20x]

Receive a $20 prepaid card by mail from Corsair! Expires on 5/4/11 for that PSU. He wouldn't receive the product before then to get it post marked by the 4th. I always check on stuff like that.

 

[doped]

storing the media on ssd will yield you nothing, go for some wd or seagate disks. as for video and image editing, you'd get nothing on that front either, as it's cpu and ram intensive. For all that, the main thing in you build is CPU power and RAM. graphics card has nothing to do with encoding video, or processing images in the sense you need it. So put all the money after an i7 monster CPU, and 8gb ram, go integrated graphics for that matter, unless you need multihead, then go for some cheap entry level, which supports it just as nicely as top end gaming card.

 

[doped]

oh, forgot audio recording. If it's serious, a normal desktop pc is entry level for that, you'd need a whole other different equipment for that. No point in jumping on some random "high-end" soundcard.

 

[crewton]

Receive a $20 prepaid card by mail from Corsair! Expires on 5/4/11 for that PSU. He wouldn't receive the product before then to get it post marked by the 4th. I always check on stuff like that.

Ah good call. I figured since it was a new month that those were the new MIRs not the old ones. Hate those things!

 

[kastraelie]

I respectfully disagree with the first reply--I feel you will need a GPU, especially since Adobe products are GPU accelerated now. CUDA has a few advantages for what you are doing so look into a cheaper Nvidia card, though you can't really go wrong with either boat.

You are only going to need to spend 120 to get a card that absolutely rocks socks for what your doing. A 450, 6750 or 6770 will be awesome.

If you are really into video editing and you want to capture vid in real time using HDMI or BNC from your camera using a capturecard like the ones from BlackMagic then you will need to look into some fast storage. I'm getting a hint that SSDs are out of your budget, but you are going to need at least three drives--a dedicated O.S. drive (while helpful to be fast as possible is not _necessary_ for videodumping) and two scratch drives in a performance raid, such as RAID0 or RAID5.

WD Cavair Black drives, of the 64mb cache variety, are relatively cheap and fantastic RAID performers (but there are certainly other models and brands that are good).

Finally, while ASUS makes great boards and there is no reason not to go with them, I can offer some advice: not being open to your best options is only going to hurt you. That is not to say that ASUS can't provide your best option, but at the end of the day, its a brand--not a religion.

 

[crewton]

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/310177-31-video-editor

quick sync > CUDA