[Build Help] Old man trying to figure out all the latest stuff

[Dorjan]

Hey guys, I'm not that old but in computing terms I've been out of the loop a long time.

The last time I was heavily into computers SATA was uncommon and new, DDR2 was the ram to have and USB2 was the bees knees.

I've been looking around for the latest gadgets but am still unsure. Mainly about graphics cards and the monitor. I want to edit videos and stream video of games (or things as intensive as games) at great quality, is there something you can recommend or amend to my current setup?

I don't want the very latest cards as in a few years I'll have to upgrade anyway but for now, I need something solid.

If I had to set a budget it would be around £1k (English Pounds) for the whole thing including a monitor.

If it has to go over slightly to be perfect then so be it.

Many thanks, I read Toms Hardware articles a lot but they rarely make much sense to me, I just like feeling that I'm keeping up but now I have to actually buy my own I feel like a lone sheep in a field wondering which wolf is going to eat me first.

Usually I go for nVidia since in the past Radeon's drivers have always caused me issues but things change ofc.

Cheers again!

TLR?

What? Please help me pick parts for a new PC (inc tower) and Monitor.
Budget? 1k English Pounds ish
Main Tasks for PC?
■Rendering and editing videos in 720p
■Streaming video games at 720p
■Importing footage from cameras


PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-3770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£242.94 @ Amazon UK)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£26.65 @ Scan.co.uk)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H ATX LGA1155 Motherboard (£151.97 @ Dabs)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£53.83 @ Scan.co.uk)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£57.59 @ CCL Computers)
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (£109.98 @ Amazon UK)
Case: NZXT Source 210 Elite (White) ATX Mid Tower Case (£39.98 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Power Supply: Corsair Enthusiast 650W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply (£70.16 @ Ebuyer)
Total: £753.10
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-11-29 12:56 GMT+0000)

 

[darth pravus]

Your setup seeings pretty good to me. You just need a GPU of course.

Maybe stretch to a gtx 670. I recommend the Asus DCUII as its very cool and silent but would but you at £1080 for your build I think.

 

[Dorjan]

My main issue is that I also need a decent Monitor :\

 

[darth pravus]

Maybe drop to an I5 then. GPU muscle is much more important for gaming.

What about a 7950? its better than a 660ti and cheaper (I'm an nvidia man myself but they do have some power behind them this round).

 

[coolermaster_72]

Its pretty solid

all you need is a decent GPU and a monitor.

here you go :

GPU : http://www.amazon.co.uk/Asus-GTX660-TI-DC2-2GD5-Graphics-PCI-Express/dp/B008X3CMSE/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1354195708&sr=8-4

Monitor : http://www.amazon.co.uk/ASUS-ML239H-23-inch-LED-Monitor/dp/B004SORE8K

This will suit your need

EDIT : Total price would be 1128 pounds.

 

[Dorjan]

Thank you for your recommendations!

Is there an advantage to all these 3GB versions of GFX cards?

I've heard some monitors are really good for video editing with the colour etc is this one of them

Sorry for the silly questions!

 

[darth pravus]

The dell u2412m is awesome ansd you can pick one up for £170 if its on sale.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0071LP5ME/ref=asc_df_B0071LP5ME10798221?smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&tag=googlecouk06-21&linkCode=asn&creative=22206&creativeASIN=B0071LP5ME

That's better than a 660ti. No difference really. As long as 2GB or above it's fine

 

[Dorjan]

What things make a good monitor then? I'll be doing it for work so it needs to be good!

 

[darth pravus]

An IPS panel is a must from a colour accuracy point of view and Dell have a very good offering in that professional sector.

Look at some review and see how much or the adobe srgb they can produce.

Find a monitor that is IPS in your price range and don't consider it until you have read at least 5 review on a variety of sites.

 

[Dorjan]

Regarding the GFX card, is there much difference in performance between the Chip Clock: 900MHz and / 1050MHz models?

The price point difference is around 20£

 

[Sumukh_Bhagat]

Get a GTX 660 (Non Ti), you'll not need a high end Gpu for 720p rendering.
Check out benchmarks, maybe Radeon series is better than nvidia in rendering.

 

[Dorjan]

Get a GTX 660 (Non Ti), you'll not need a high end Gpu for 720p rendering.
Check out benchmarks, maybe Radeon series is better than nvidia in rendering.

I'm not sure I understand the benchmarks. I just read the one that pits the GTX 660 TI against the other 660s and the Radeons and in some the Radeons won and in some the 660s won... I'm really not sure which ones helped with rendering though :lol:

Any help there?

 

[darth pravus]

You're more likely going to be using the i7 for rendering as opposed to a GPU.

 

[Dorjan]

Ah! OK well that makes sense.

 

[unoriginal1]

If your doing professional work. 3d graphics / rendering etc.
You want to be looking at nVidia's Quadro or AMD's FirePro series.

The desktop cards recommended are more for gaming etc...
Yes an i7 is best for video rendering but there are cards that are optimized for it too. It shares the load and the cards end up with a lot of the work in 3d modeling / rendering.

 

[Dorjan]

True but I do need to game with it too. It won't JUST be video rendering I'll be streaming games too.

This is what I've come up with atm:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-3770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£242.94 @ Amazon UK)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£26.65 @ Scan.co.uk)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H ATX LGA1155 Motherboard (£151.97 @ Dabs)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£53.83 @ Scan.co.uk)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£57.59 @ CCL Computers)
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (£109.98 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7950 3GB Video Card (£232.55 @ Scan.co.uk)
Case: NZXT Source 210 Elite (White) ATX Mid Tower Case (£39.98 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Power Supply: Corsair Enthusiast 650W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply (£70.16 @ Ebuyer)
Monitor: Dell U2412M 60Hz 24.0" Monitor (£221.62 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £1207.27
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-11-29 16:03 GMT+0000)

 

[djscribbles]

When you say "steaming video games at 720p" do you really mean streaming? As in having a game rendered on a server farm (such as OnLive) and streamed to your PC? If you do, you don't really need a GPU (the intel HD4000 will be plenty).

Otherwise, how important is gaming quality to you? It sounds like gaming is lower priority vs your other stuff, getting something like a 7770 (or an nvidia equivalent price/perf) may be a more budget friendly option.
I would suggest getting a current gen GPU, as they are a solid step up in performance and efficiency compared to last gen.

edit: If you really intend to play games at a reduced resolution (720p) then you need significantly less GPU power. A fairly mid range card would work well.

 

[geofelt]

Your build is very good.
The 3770K is very good for video rendering, and the other parts are appropriate.

I might change from the WD caviar blue to a black which is a touch faster.

On the video card, stick with a Nvidia card.
First, because your experience with the drivers is good, an opinion that many others share.

But also, your editing app may be able to take advantage of the CUDA capabilities of a Nvidia card.
I think up to 96 CUDA cores can be used, and that is present on even lower end cards like a GTX650 which has 384.
Stick with a GTX6xx card because they are based on the newer 28nm technology and run cooler and need less power.
No need for faster/more expensive/ cards which are favored by gamers who value the ability to refresh a screen very quickly.
Ignore benchmarks which measure FPS(frames per Second), a factor important only to fast action gamers.
Any modern discrete card will be able to display HD movies well.

On the monitor, consider busting your budget here.
It is what you see and touch every day.
It is one pc component that comes close to being "future proof"
I would suggest a 27" 2560 x 1440 display.
Yes, they cost twice as much, but the panel quality is tops, and you get more display pixels.
Here is one example: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-LS27A850DS-EN-inch-Monitor/dp/B005CYXNVW/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1354204969&sr=1-1
There are other similar brands so do some research.

 

[unoriginal1]

Fair enough.

The build looks solid then. Well done.

 

[Dorjan]

When you say "steaming video games at 720p" do you really mean streaming? As in having a game rendered on a server farm (such as OnLive) and streamed to your PC? If you do, you don't really need a GPU (the intel HD4000 will be plenty).

Otherwise, how important is gaming quality to you? It sounds like gaming is lower priority vs your other stuff, getting something like a 7770 (or an nvidia equivalent price/perf) may be a more budget friendly option.
I would suggest getting a current gen GPU, as they are a solid step up in performance and efficiency compared to last gen.

http://twitch.tv/dorjan24

that form of streaming

 

[Dorjan]

Your build is very good.
The 3770K is very good for video rendering, and the other parts are appropriate.

I might change from the WD caviar blue to a black which is a touch faster.

On the video card, stick with a Nvidia card.
First, because your experience with the drivers is good, an opinion that many others share.

But also, your editing app may be able to take advantage of the CUDA capabilities of a Nvidia card.
I think up to 96 CUDA cores can be used, and that is present on even lower end cards like a GTX650 which has 384.
Stick with a GTX6xx card because they are based on the newer 28nm technology and run cooler and need less power.
No need for faster/more expensive/ cards which are favored by gamers who value the ability to refresh a screen very quickly.
Ignore benchmarks which measure FPS(frames per Second), a factor important only to fast action gamers.
Any modern discrete card will be able to display HD movies well.

On the monitor, consider busting your budget here.
It is what you see and touch every day.
It is one pc component that comes close to being "future proof"
I would suggest a 27" 2560 x 1440 display.
Yes, they cost twice as much, but the panel quality is tops, and you get more display pixels.
Here is one example: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-LS27A850DS-EN-inch-Monitor/dp/B005CYXNVW/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1354204969&sr=1-1
There are other similar brands so do some research.

Hmm... I know the monitor is very important and the bit that can really move from one PC to the next but 500 of the 1k being monitor... it'll be something I will have to look at.

Your advice on the GeForces is interesting. Is it true that the nVidia cards are better for video rendering? If that is true then I will 100% go GeForce

 

[Sunius]

Depends on software used. For Sony Vegas and Adobe programs it's the truth for sure.

You seem to have chosen unreasonably expensive monitor. If you're reaching your budget limits, you might want to swap it for this one:

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/23-dell-s2340l-led-ips-monitor-full-hd-hdmi-vga-1920x1080-250cd-m-10001-7ms-black

 

[geofelt]

Hmm... I know the monitor is very important and the bit that can really move from one PC to the next but 500 of the 1k being monitor... it'll be something I will have to look at.

Your advice on the GeForces is interesting. Is it true that the nVidia cards are better for video rendering? If that is true then I will 100% go GeForce

I am no expert on video rendering. But, I would do some google searches on how to optimize processing with the particular app that you will use. It is my recollection that many can use CUDA.
Also, ram is cheap. If your app can use ram instead of hard drive workfiles, you can speed up processing.
If you go to 32gb, you will need windows 7 pro or ultimate to be able to access >16gb.

Looking at your ram, I would change to low profile ram. Tall vengeance heat spreaders are mostly marketing and can interfere with some coolers, including the hyper212.

On the monitor, the price paid will hurt for a bit, but the satisfaction of daily use will last much longer.

If you are willing to take a bit of a chance, consider a catleap monitor, available on ebay.
They are half the price(buy two )
Google "catleap forum" where a surprising number of users are very happy with their purchase.

 

[Dorjan]

Depends on software used. For Sony Vegas and Adobe programs it's the truth for sure.

You seem to have chosen unreasonably expensive monitor. If you're reaching your budget limits, you might want to swap it for this one:

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/23-dell-s2340l-led-ips-monitor-full-hd-hdmi-vga-1920x1080-250cd-m-10001-7ms-black

Hmm... This is something I'm getting conflicting advice over.

A lot of people are saying "spend more on the monitor" and others saying "you really want a good monitor for video editing" and the like.

 

[Dorjan]

I am no expert on video rendering. But, I would do some google searches on how to optimize processing with the particular app that you will use. It is my recollection that many can use CUDA.
Also, ram is cheap. If your app can use ram instead of hard drive workfiles, you can speed up processing.
If you go to 32gb, you will need windows 7 pro or ultimate to be able to access >16gb.

Looking at your ram, I would change to low profile ram. Tall vengeance heat spreaders are mostly marketing and can interfere with some coolers, including the hyper212.

On the monitor, the price paid will hurt for a bit, but the satisfaction of daily use will last much longer.

If you are willing to take a bit of a chance, consider a catleap monitor, available on ebay.
They are half the price(buy two )
Google "catleap forum" where a surprising number of users are very happy with their purchase.

That's certainly a good option with regards to the monitor.

Ram wise, can you suggest a set for 32megs of ram without compromising their speed and effectiveness with the mobo I have. Or if I need a better one?