1st build - $800-900 budget - Vid Editing + Gaming (advice?)

[danielmcgrath]

Approximate Purchase Date: May 3 - 7 2012

Budget Range: $800 - $900 before tax, shipping, and rebates.

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Video Editing HD footage, Photo editing, Gaming, having my PC stream video to multiple consoles in the house.

Parts Not Required: Hard Drive, Mouse, Keyboard, Speakers, Monitor

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg.

Country: USA (California)

Parts Preferences: Preferably Intel for CPU...no real loyalty to any brand for any other parts.

Overclocking: In the future, yes.

SLI or Crossfire: In future, possibly.

Monitor Resolution: 1680x1050

Additional Comments: I'm not that huge on PC gaming (I dont play online games, but might get Guild Wars 2!) but I do enjoy my solo adventures from time to time. I'm not worried about maximum settings and maximum fps; just want something that'll hopefully let me enjoy games for the next 4-5 years. By this I mean they'll hopefully just boot up , and let me squeeze 30fps out of them on medium settings! I mostly need a PC capable of video editing, particularly in After Effects. Right now it takes me a couple hours to render 1 minute of footage that has hardly even been touched...Ouch. Being able to Ram-Preview very fast is important.

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My friend tried to make a Newegg wishlist within my budget.
This PC will be for myself.
He has (or claims to have!) a decent grasp on this, whereas I do not; I know how to use them and put some parts together, but that's about as far as my knowledge extends in the pc-tech world.

Here's what he has put together that he thinks will meet my needs(WISHLIST):

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=20495626

I'm mostly worried about the Power Supply and if its going to be enough power for the graphics card, as well as whatever future graphics card I may throw at it in 4 or so years...and if that graphics card is even reliable and worth getting. Some parts are lacking in hefty review count which concerns me, but I realize I can't judge a product negatively just because 300 people havent reviewed it!

I just want reliability within the budget, mostly. No products that are known to fail often after just a year. Most of all though, I just want to make sure everything is compatible with eachother.

Oh, and I'm not sure if a card-reader is included anywhere in this setup? I'd like a good one of those. My current one fails to read my cameras memory card half the time...

Well, thanks for the help!

 

[mocchan]

Your friend did pretty good, but since you said this is a video editing rig, I'm a bit concerned 8GB of ram is enough for you...I'll put together a parts list as well :lol:

 

[mocchan]

Alright, first off, I couldn't quite fit in all the hardware I wanted to in this rig, but I tried my best. I really wanted to squeeze in a GTX480 in here since you said you would be working with After Effects. I'm a real hard believer in CUDA acceleration :lol:

GPU - http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-GeForce-GTX480-Graphics-015-P3-1480-KR/dp/B004EHWMP6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1338760545&sr=8-1 - GTX480, from what I understand, it's a great card for CUDA acceleration, and it performs very well in games as well (for your casual gaming)

CPU - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072 - i5 2500k, I went with this CPU over a 3570k due to it being unlocked, and a very tight budget. I wanted to save every dollar I could.

Mobo - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128506 - Gigabyte Z68 Mobo. I went with Z68 over Z77 due to the rig using a Sandy Bridge part. I don't think Z77 is worth it if SB chips can't really take advantage of some of the features.

HDD - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148840 - 1TB Seagate 7200rpm HDD.

RAM - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233144 - I could only fit 8GB in this budget, unfortunately. I really wanted to squeeze in 16GB, but maybe if someone could tweak mine, or the list daniel already has

DVD drive - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204 standard CD/DVD burner for OS installation and whatnot.

PSU - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139021 - Corsair TX750v2. This PSU may be insufficient for a GTX480 SLI Set up, but since you said you won't be adding another GPU for another 4 years (?) I figured this would do you just fine until then. I'm sure there would be much better GPU's than the 480 when the time comes to add a second one.

Cooler - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099 - Hyper 212 EVO.

The total of these parts comes a little bit over $900.

Any suggestions/changes to this list is welcomed, of course

 

[aznshinobi]

What exactly is your friend planning to edit with. Unless he utilizes Premiere Pro and After Effects CUDA is pretty much not used in CS5. Perhaps some slight improvements but nothing that would seem to have a huge effect other than render times.

Check out my $850 build here:
http://www.squidoo.com/electronicandmore
Honestly I'd go with the 7850 instead of the GTX 560 ti or GTX 480 mainly because the 7850 performs better than the 560 Ti but also could match up with the 480 in gaming. (Seeing as the 7850 performs fairly close to the GTX 570 [essentially better than a 480])
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/549?vs=518
The 7850 does lose in some benchmarks, but keep in mind. The 7850 has a much lower power consumption (Crossfire of the two only requires a 650w, even lower possibly), MUCH lower heat especially in comparison to the GTX 480, it's quieter. And best of all with overclock, a simple slide of the bars in the drivers menu, @ 1GHZ it performs like a GTX 580.

Plus GCN has made a pretty large improvement in rendering and such.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-7870-review-benchmark,3148-17.html
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-7870-review-benchmark,3148-18.html
However, it's not exactly better than CUDA, albeit but performance wise, it's crazy good.

Just an option though.

 

[danielmcgrath]

Thanks for the opinions.
Just to clarify, this PC is for myself; my friend is the one that picked the parts out to help me.
Terms like "CUDA" are beyond me. If we're gonna be honest here, most tech-terms are beyond me...Thats why I needed his help

I only use After Effects right now, CS4. I have CS6 and I desperately want to use it, but can't until I investin a new PC.
My whole workflow is done there, mainly because my current PC is so mediocre that I don't have the willpower to use multiple programs. I have a Canon T3i and shoot at 1080p.

I'm a hobbyist, and will not be making any living on video editing or profit at all. So while maximizing efficiency would be nice, it isn't completely necessary for me; I have years to go before I've really learned my way around AE...
I only have 2gbs (gasp!) of ram right now and I manage to get by without wanting to kill myself. I think I'll have to settle for 8gbs now and upgrade in the future if I find it's really important to have 16gbs >_<

@Mocchan
Is this the videocard on Newegg?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130759&Tpk=EVGA%20GeForce%20GTX480%201536MB%20GDDR5

If possible I need to buy all my parts from there. I'll be using...ahem...credit; BillMeLater which Newegg supports, amazon doesnt *lowers head in shame*

@Azn
I'm looking over the url you gave me. Lots of good info! Thanks again, guys.
I'll have to keep tabs here for another day or so and see if there's any more agreed-upon builds, haha >_<

 

[aznshinobi]

OK Then definitely I'm in pretty much the same position as you. I have an i5 2500K @ 4.8ghz and edit with Adobe Premiere Pro CS5 and After Effects CS5. Honestly, it's fast enough with the CPU itself. I was editing footage from my T2i, 1080P and it was fine editing with no stutters and no need for extra help from a gpu. Render times are pretty fast actually. Since you're not making a living out of the videos really, you should just focus on a better video card for gaming.

To clarify. CUDA cores are basically extra processing cores that can help lower your render times. This is in the case of video editing.

The 7850 would honestly be a long lasting route in terms of FPS, you'll get way more frames especially once you overclock it slightly, the rendering from CUDA isn't needed as you're not exactly focusing on video as a career and the 7850 just has so many benefits.

 

[danielmcgrath]

@aznshinobi
I used your url and your "$850" build and compiled it into a Newegg wishlist(I think it's all correct?):

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=24276687

Total is $856, my friends original wishlist total was $784; not too bad of a price increase.

The only change I made really was the ram (I'm just really set on the Ripjaws because of the great reviews...)

I'm curious about the EVGA GeForce GTX 480, though. It's on sale for $219 for a few more days (I dunno if the price will jump up to $299 like Newegg suggests...) and the reviews for it are insanneee, on amazon and newegg. Like 100%'s all across the board.
Given its cheaper price, would it be an okay route to go instead of the pricier 7850?
I pretty much drool over my xbox360 graphics. I'm not sure if I'm the type of person that needs absolute perfect visuals in my PC games.

Also, taking into consideration "Mocchans" PSU suggestion:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139021

The reviews sound really great, sounds quiet and reliable. Is 750w overkill for me though? It has a nice MIR at the moment.
If I went with the gtx 480 would any of the mentioned PSU's be compatible? A review said your PSU "needs to have 6-pin & 8-pin connectors". Not sure if he meant needs both, or just one; on the newegg description pages it sounds like the psu's didnt have both, but im probably wrong; it's all technical-gibberish to my uneducated eyes >_<

 

[mocchan]

@ OP, yes that's the card on Newegg. I just knew for certain Amazon had it for that price so I didn't look on Newegg.

About your PSU question, the GTX480 is a very power hungry card, so the 750w is somewhat okay for you. It's definitely not enough for two GTX480's, but it's enough for one...about it being 'overkill'...that's up for speculation.

Also, the PSU I listed have TWO, yes TWO 6+2 Pin PCI-E power connectors. So you have absolutely nothing to worry about

And to clarify, the 6+2 are 6 pins, with +2 breakaway cables, so it'll be compatible.

 

[aznshinobi]

^ As stated, the 480 is a power consuming card. It runs hot, really hot. It performs decently enough so it's up to you. The 7850 would perform like a 480 without all the negatives. But the 7850 can also overclock to the performance of a GTX 580 which is something you may want to do and get all the eye candy.

With the 7850, you wouldn't need to go with the Corsair 750w or any Corsair PSU honestly. Why do I say this? As I stated, the 7850 can be Crossfired with a 650w PSU just fine, also Corsairs are great no doubt. But they also cost a lot depending on the model. Corsair has dropped prices as of late though, being $10 above the cheapest solid power supply providing the same rating and wattage. Still either options are nice.

 

[mocchan]

^ As stated, the 480 is a power consuming card. It runs hot, really hot. It performs decently enough so it's up to you. The 7850 would perform like a 480 without all the negatives. But the 7850 can also overclock to the performance of a GTX 580 which is something you may want to do and get all the eye candy.

With the 7850, you wouldn't need to go with the Corsair 750w or any Corsair PSU honestly. Why do I say this? As I stated, the 7850 can be Crossfired with a 650w PSU just fine, also Corsairs are great no doubt. But they also cost a lot depending on the model. Corsair has dropped prices as of late though, being $10 above the cheapest solid power supply providing the same rating and wattage. Still either options are nice.

Agreed.

The 480 is just my recommendation since I knew for certain of it's CUDA Acceleration. I haven't really been reading into a lot of GCN articles, so this was a great thread for me to learn as well .

 

[aznshinobi]

^ True yeah, The 480 is solid for a CUDA option no doubt. Crazy with the 480 Cuda cores. It would be as great card if it weren't for the heat and power consumption but that's what the 570 was for a I guess, though the 570 still had some heat and power issues. Less of it though.

GCN isn't FANTASTIC. But definitely a solid step forward but could use some more tweaking.

haha we learn something everyday don't we.

 

[mocchan]

^ True yeah, The 480 is solid for a CUDA option no doubt. Crazy with the 480 Cuda cores. It would be as great card if it weren't for the heat and power consumption but that's what the 570 was for a I guess, though the 570 still had some heat and power issues. Less of it though.

GCN isn't FANTASTIC. But definitely a solid step forward but could use some more tweaking.

haha we learn something everyday don't we.

Haha, definitely. Like this is off topic, but I didn't know there were kittens living under my house until today