Building an editing/multimedia machine!

[mobohobo]

Approximate Purchase Date: this month

Budget Range: 400-500 pounds

System Usage from Most to Least Important: video editing (after effects), photoshop, starcraft and other games like that, surfing web.

Parts Not Required:keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, OS, graphics card

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: scan/ebuyer/anywhere cheep

Country of Origin: (e.g.: Grand Fenwick)

Parts Preferences: by brand or type : anything... im thinking amd as their cheap maybe the 1055t?

Overclocking: Yes

SLI or Crossfire: eventually.

Monitor Resolution: 1080p 27" screen

Additional Comments: must have side window case.

im thinking of an am3+ mobo such as the crosshair iv or something like that, with an 1055t? i dunno

 

[mobohobo]

none can help me?

 

[striker410]

Hey there, got your PM. I have a few quick notes.
-What version of Aftereffects? Is it CS5?
-What graphics card do you own and intend to use?
-An i5-2400 with Z68 (for the encoding times) is where you need to start.
-Why not a silent case for a render rig? We can do a window, but I would think you'd want professional looking.....

I'll get back to you!

 

[mobohobo]

aftereffects cs5 ^.^, got a shitty 20 pound graphic card ill use for the first while untill christmas then ill get a gtx 570 or 560ti

hmm yeah, a silent case would be good... would the 2500k with ocing be much better than the 2400?

thanks ^.^

 

[striker410]

Ok, sounds good. I Have a preliminary build here....

HDD: http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1tb-samsung-hd103sj-spinpoint-f3-sata-3gb-s-7200rpm-32mb-cache-89ms-ncq $40

Ram: http://www.scan.co.uk/products/8gb-(2x4gb)-corsair-ddr3-xms3-pc3-10600-(1333)-non-ecc-unbuffered-cas-9-9-9-24-150v $64

PSU: http://www.scan.co.uk/products/750w-xfx-p1-750s-nlb9-pro-core-edition-80-plus-bronze-85-eff-sli-crossfire-eps-12v-135mm-fan $71

CPU: http://www.scan.co.uk/products/intel-core-i5-2500k-unlocked-s1155-sandy-bridge-quad-core-33ghz-gpu-850mhz-6mb-cache-95w-oem $160

GPU (optional): http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1gb-msi-gtx-460-oc-3600mhz-gddr5-gpu-725mhz-shader-clock-1450mhz-336-cores-dldvi-i-hdmi-d-sub $110

Case: http://www.scan.co.uk/products/coolermaster-silencio-rc-550-full-tower-full-black-silent-case-usb-30-with-35-x-dock-w-o-psu $64

Mobo: http://www.scan.co.uk/products/gigabyte-ga-z68a-d3h-b3-intel-z68-s-1155-pci-e-20-(x16)-ddr3-1866-2133-sata-6gb-s-raid-atx $110

Cooler: http://www.scan.co.uk/products/coolermaster-hyper-212-plus-4-heat-pipes-with-120mm-quiet-fan-lga775-1155-1156-1366-am2-am2plus-am3 $20

That comes $637 (Pound=dollar) with GPU (good deal) and $527 without.

And here's how to unlock CS5 for use with CUDA GPU's for the Mercury Playback Engine: http://www.studio1productions.com/Articles/PremiereCS5.htm

Let me know what you think!

P.S. The 2400 doesn't overclock; I was going with that for price.

 

[mobohobo]

ok, i think i may go for amd, so heres my build ^.^ it has sli compat mobo

 

[striker410]

Well seeing as it's pretty much the same price and you get WAY more performance with the 2500k (excluding OCing), I see no reason to go 1055t (no, I'm not an Intel fanboy ) http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/147?vs=288 Pay attention to higher/lower is better. the 2500k wins in EVERY SINGLE COMPARISON! The Phenom II x6 is not a good buy right now. And the Z68 mobo I linked is SLI compatible.

 

[jmills204]

If you are going to do CS5, editing, video editing..etc, go with the i5 Sandy bridge, not AMD.

 

[jmills204]

OP, you need to listen to Striker, he's right about the i5 2500k vs the 1055t. more cores does not mean better necessarily.

 

[mobohobo]

ok, here it is, i was wondering whether a gtx 570 will last me 3-5 years of playing rts games at ultra settings (like sc2) if so then ill keep that motherboard to keep cost down.

 

[jmills204]

Everything except the motherboard looks good. You said you wanted to eventually do SLI/xFire so you need a motherboard that can do x8/x8 when 2 pci-e slots are filled.

and why does that motherboard have firewire :O

 

[striker410]

^Agreed. By the way, don't get that PSU. Not SLI compatible for anything above GTS 450. Get the one I linked, it's decent for the price (XFX 750w pro)

 

[mobohobo]

i was wondering whether a gtx 570 will last me 3-5 years of playing rts games at ultra settings (like sc2) if so then ill keep that motherboard to keep cost down.

 

[striker410]

The short answer is no. There are soooo many variables, we cannot guarantee anything. If you sli in a year/2 years, maybe. MAYBE.

 

[mobohobo]

i have a problem now... the build is at 540£ but dont know how to make it cheeper :/

http://screensnapr.com/v/A431Q4.png

 

[striker410]

Getting a cheaper case/dropping to 4GB will fix the problem.

 

[jmills204]

a gpu lasting 5 years? that's a good one

The gpu is the one component i can GUARANTEE you it wont last more than 2 years and still play things on max settings.

 

[mobohobo]

well, rts's are hardly graphics intensive... so yeah, i like the case ^.^ and would 4gb memory make video editing much harder? :/

 

[striker410]

Not really. And while RTS's arent the most intensive games around, they still require quite a bit of power. The truth is, you won't be maxing anything in 2 years unless you SLI, let alone 3-5.

 

[mobohobo]

ok cool, tbh iv been playing on minumum settings for 3 years, and after 2 years i couldnt play any games ok, here is the FINAL BUILD tell me anything different!



http://screensnapr.com/v/VAQ8cs.png

 

[striker410]

Looks good! You might check out the CM silencio I linked. Same price, much quieter.

 

[mobohobo]

Looks good! You might check out the CM silencio I linked. Same price, much quieter.

i was thinking that but is the cooling as good?

 

[striker410]

It seems to have OK cooling. I think the CM 690 II looks better though. Anything else?

 

[mobohobo]

hmm, im debating how much better a 570 would be compared to a 560ti, could anyone tell?

 

[striker410]

Well there's a few advantages. One, more CUDA cores. 2, native support for the Mercury Playback Engine used in CS5. 3, it's just faster!

However if you are comfortable with modifying CS5 a little bit I would advise getting a well cooled 560 Ti and OCing it to 570 levels.