Squeezing video editing build down to $500

[dllest]

Approximate Purchase Date:
October 2012-December 2012

Budget Range:
450-600 USD

System Usage from Most to Least Important:
75% browsing, 25% video editing

Are you buying a monitor:
yes


Do you need to buy OS:
Yes

Preferred Website(s) for Parts:
Amazon because I have a prime account preferably- but if free shipping’s available I will use other sites
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hi everyone

basically, a friend of mine spoke to me about buying a pre-made computer from the store and I suggested he would get a better deal if it was a custom made computer.

He will be using the computer for roughly 75% browsing and 25% video editing.

I spent a bit putting a list of parts together, since the store-bought computers he was looking at are mostly mediocre for the price ($475 computer with a 20 inch monitor, etc…). i don’t have any experience with budget builds. Is it worth the cost to assemble a computer like this for him, or is there savings involved by going pre-built?

If custom-made is worth it, does anyone see ways I can cut costs to fit a ~$500 budget, while delivering good video editing performance with respect to price?

Here is the list I put together- any recommendations or changes are definitely welcome.

Thanks very much for reading

CPU - $128
Intel i3 3220 dual core
http://www.amazon.com/Intel-i3-3220-Dual-Core-Processor-Cache/dp/B0093H8HXS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1349317074&sr=8-1&keywords=Core+i3-3220

MOBO - $86
ASRock DDR3 1333 Intel - LGA 1155 Motherboard
http://www.amazon.com/ASRock-DDR3-1333-Intel-Motherboards/dp/B007OCJWTM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1349317110&sr=8-1&keywords=ASRock+H77


RAM - $60
G-Skill 8GB
http://www.amazon.com/G-SKILL-Series-240-Pin-Desktop-F3-1866C9D-8GAB/dp/B007GWMRL0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1349317136&sr=8-1&keywords=G.Skill+Ares+Series+8GB

HDD - $80
Seagate Barracuda 1TB
http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Barracuda-3-5-Inch-Internal-ST1000DM003/dp/B005T3GRNW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1349317151&sr=8-1&keywords=seagate+1tb

Case - $45
Antec One case
http://www.amazon.com/Antec-One-Computer-Case/dp/B006TVQU6C/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1349317158&sr=8-3&keywords=antec+300

PSU - $35
Cooler Master 460 watt
http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-Elite-Supply-RS460-PSARI3-US/dp/B002G1YPHK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1349317190&sr=8-1&keywords=450+watt+psu

DVD writer - $17
LG
http://www.amazon.com/LG-Electronics-GH24NS90B-Super-Internal/dp/B00632SB2I/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1349317198&sr=8-1&keywords=LG+GH24NS90
SSD - $60
Mushkin Chronos 60GB
http://www.amazon.com/Mushkin-Chronos-2-5-Inch-Solid-MKNSSDCR60GB/dp/B005INAEJG/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1349317223&sr=8-8&keywords=60gb+ssd

Windows - $90
Windows 7 Home 64bit
http://www.amazon.com/Windows-Premium-64bit-System-Builder/dp/B004Q0PT3I/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1349317238&sr=8-3&keywords=windows+home

Monitor - $160
Viewsonic VA2431WM
http://www.amazon.com/ViewSonic-VA2431WM-24-Inch-Widescreen-Speakers/dp/B003FP7OYM/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1349317249&sr=8-4&keywords=24+inch+monitor

 

[dingo07]

with regard to the video editing your friend will be doing - you mention 25% of the time... The big question is how much time does he want to spend DOING the editing. If he doesn't care whether the computer will take hours to render clips that are XX minutes long, then you don't have to worry too much about what hardware you get. If he wants the renders to be as fast as possible because of his quick deadlines, then you need good equipment. Those 2 scenarios can be $1000+ apart.

 

[dllest]

it will basically be casual home video editing. so i'm sure he would appreciate short 10-min videos taking less than 4 hours to render

if overall performance can be realistically sacrificed for cost, i'm ok with that (with the exception of the ssd. they are too good to pass up in my opinion)