Video Editing / Programming / Gaming - $1k-1.5K total

[w00dc4ip]

Approximate Purchase Date: 01/2012

Budget Range: $1K-1.5K Total System (After Rebates)

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Video Editing, Database / Web Programming, Gaming, Home PC / Media Center / Surfing

Parts Not Required: Need everything but mouse and keyboard

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Microcenter, NewEgg, Amazon, wherever the good gear's cheapest.

Country: USA

Parts Preferences: Prefer Windows 7 Pro 64 Bit or better (but can't wait for 8 to come out), Triple or Dual 20"-24" HD Monitor Display

Overclocking: Probably not, only if necessary

SLI or Crossfire: Whatever is better - Graphics performance and processing is the focus

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1280 Each (Each Screen)

Additional Comments:
Most important part of the build is graphics processing / performance for video editing. Anything that can handle video processing and modern gaming can handle the DB processing I'll be doing. Have been considering a 3 Screen System for programming and video editing purposes (and for Flight Simulator X and MS "Flight" when it comes out) but figure the price is going to limit me to a dual screen system for now. Would like the ability to expand to a 3 screen in the near future. Would like a system that can keep up with most recent 1st person shooters and anything that's going to come out over the next 2 years, as well as best level graphics for MS Flight (when it comes out), but computer will primarily be used for video editing and database/web programming.

 

[g-unit1111]

Parts Preferences: Prefer Windows 7 Pro 64 Bit or better (but can't wait for 8 to come out), Triple or Dual 20"-24" HD Monitor Display

I'm not really liking the way Windows 8 is shaping up right now (I'm tired of Apps and cloud storage... -blech). It's best to stick with 7 Pro for now.

SLI or Crossfire: Whatever is better - Graphics performance and processing is the focus

If you're going with a multiple monitor setup it would be best to go with something Eyefinity and a card that will allow you to setup multiple displays in HDMI.

Most important part of the build is graphics processing / performance for video editing. Anything that can handle video processing and modern gaming can handle the DB processing I'll be doing. Have been considering a 3 Screen System for programming and video editing purposes (and for Flight Simulator X and MS "Flight" when it comes out) but figure the price is going to limit me to a dual screen system for now.

That depends on the size of the monitor you want to use. If you want 24" displays then yeah they're going to be a bit pricey. If you want 21.5" displays there's plenty of good ones to be had for not a lot of money.

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Microcenter, NewEgg, Amazon, wherever the good gear's cheapest.

I don't get why people insist on buying parts from Amazon - they don't sell PC parts directly and they don't honor returns from said sellers when something goes wrong. Newegg has the best selection and customer service I've ever dealt with and they will almost always honor RMAs.

Try this:

Case: Corsair Carbide 400R - $99.99
PSU: PC Power & Cooling Silencer MKII 750W - $129.99
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD3P - $179.99
CPU: 3.30 GHz Intel Core i5-2500K - $219.99
Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212+ - $29.99
RAM: G.Skill Ripjaw X 8GB (2 x 4GB) 1600MHz 1.5V - $44.99
SSD: 64GB Crucial M4 - $104.99
HD: Seagate Barracuda XT 1TB 7200 RPM - $129.99
Optical: MSI DVD Burner - included with HD
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 6970 - $349.99
OS: Windows 7 Pro - $139.99

Total: $1419.90

 

[gregcky]

Microcenter has a pretty good deal on an i5 2500k + mobo, it's like 280 or something total, i'd go there if you get a chance.

 

[nevertell]

Well, if he wants to go SLI, he might as well take NVIDIA, since it offers multiple display support you have SLI.
And NVIDIA cards would help with video editing, although not as much as a faster scratch drive and more RAM. You really have to check what plugins actually use gpu acceleration.

1500 dollars wouldn't be enough to make a rig that does multiple monitors, video editing and gaming well. You'll have to compromise on something to make the experience enjoyable. And, if you're video editing, you must remember that you need to get good IPS panels, eIPS won't cut it.

 

[w00dc4ip]

A little clarity:
The monitor size is somewhat important to me, but not as important as my "working real estate" when video editing and programming. Performance specs of the monitor are more important than the extra 1" or 2". Current monitor setup is 2 x 21.5" @ 1920x1080, but the monitors are cheap ones I picked up a couple years ago as part of a deal. Looking to replace the current system completely, would rather go with same size and better performance over bigger and not as good.

I'm willing to spend the money on extra Ram (12G to 16G) and a faster HDD (6.0Gb/s + 64mp cache) rather than SSD if it will improve the video capabilities (essentially video speed to work faster) as I don't think the additional price of SSD justifies the HDD speed increase. Also, would go with 2 @ GPU if necessary to increase the video performance (or 1 now, 1 in a few months) as long as the Motherboard/Processor can handle it and utilize it well. The Eyefinity thing looks cool, will spend the next few hours reading up on it.

I'm pretty much a software guy, know a little about hardware, but not that much. I know some setups are better for video editing and some are better for gaming, so if there's a sacrifice to be made it would be on the gaming end. The majority of gaming I do is MS Flight Simulator (most recent, new one coming soon) and 1st person shooter (whatever is current). The Flight stuff shouldn't be hard to stay in front of, 1st person shooter I'm fine not having the ideal system, but would like to be able to keep up with decent graphics.

Thanks,
w00dc4ip

P.S. - As for the Amazon comment, I don't care where I get it, just want good gear at the best price.

 

[g-unit1111]

Microcenter has a pretty good deal on an i5 2500k + mobo, it's like 280 or something total, i'd go there if you get a chance.

I'm not sure I'd trust that if it's a $219 CPU and a $70 board (probably Biostar, Foxconn, or some other crap brand) on a $1500 setup - that doesn't seem like a good deal to me.

Well, if he wants to go SLI, he might as well take NVIDIA, since it offers multiple display support you have SLI.
And NVIDIA cards would help with video editing, although not as much as a faster scratch drive and more RAM. You really have to check what plugins actually use gpu acceleration.

I personally like Eyefinity better for using multiple displays. I've done quite a few of those and it really helps compared to setting it up on NVIDIA cards.

I'm pretty much a software guy, know a little about hardware, but not that much. I know some setups are better for video editing and some are better for gaming, so if there's a sacrifice to be made it would be on the gaming end. The majority of gaming I do is MS Flight Simulator (most recent, new one coming soon) and 1st person shooter (whatever is current). The Flight stuff shouldn't be hard to stay in front of, 1st person shooter I'm fine not having the ideal system, but would like to be able to keep up with decent graphics.

It all depends on what your real primary use for this system is going to be. If it's going to be a workstation first with gaming second, you might want to try a professional card like the Fire Pro or Quaddros, but those can run you quite a bit more money depending on what features you want out of it. There's no such thing as a "ideal" system as everyone's needs are different and everyone has different preferences when it comes to brands and hardware, and new things come along that eclipse the old.

I'm willing to spend the money on extra Ram (12G to 16G) and a faster HDD (6.0Gb/s + 64mp cache) rather than SSD if it will improve the video capabilities (essentially video speed to work faster) as I don't think the additional price of SSD justifies the HDD speed increase. Also, would go with 2 @ GPU if necessary to increase the video performance (or 1 now, 1 in a few months) as long as the Motherboard/Processor can handle it and utilize it well. The Eyefinity thing looks cool, will spend the next few hours reading up on it.

You won't get 12G on a dual channel system - that RAM is made for X58 systems and those are in the process of being discontinued. You'll either get 8GB or 16GB - and if you're using editing programs it's better to have the extra RAM.

As far as the hard drive goes, I personally think it's best to have the SSD. Hard drives have pretty much stabilized over the last few years, and anything that's rated at 10K, 12K, and the rare 15K RPM hard drives are very expensive for the capacities they offer, and they don't really offer the speed increases that having a good SSD will get you. If you're using this for editing and workstation applications, having that extra speed increase will make all the difference. You have to think of it in terms of time and money.

The monitor size is somewhat important to me, but not as important as my "working real estate" when video editing and programming. Performance specs of the monitor are more important than the extra 1" or 2". Current monitor setup is 2 x 21.5" @ 1920x1080, but the monitors are cheap ones I picked up a couple years ago as part of a deal. Looking to replace the current system completely, would rather go with same size and better performance over bigger and not as good.

If you're spending the money on displays - from my personal preference I'd rather have one or two quality displays than three or four that aren't as good. 21.5" is a good screen size, but having monitors that are 23 or 24" would be better. Asus makes some of the best monitors on the market - they have excellent greyscale capabilities and excellent color spectrum.

 

[w00dc4ip]

Best answer selected by w00dc4ip.