First Build: i7-5820k For 4k Video Editing & Light Gaming

[avfreedman]

<$2000 PC Great Video Editing PC (I think? First PC Build!) via Adobe CC and Gaming

As a professional videographer and part-time gamer, I was tired of leaving my shining MacPro (paid for by my employers) at work and coming home to my dated mid2011 mac mini for video editing. Plus, I had a second budget gaming pc for light gaming (MMO's like EVE, ESO, and FFXIV) and I was tired of going back and forth between them. So I decided to merge both my computing needs into one computer, despite the fact I've never built a computer before - What could possibility go wrong?! So, with mouse in hand and browser bookmarks ready, I shot down the rabbit hole of possibilities. After two-three days of researching, I think this "Little Cube That Could" is exactly what I've been looking for and within my $2,000 budget.

Quick List:
Intel Core i7-5820K 3.3GHz 6-Core Processor
Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler
EVGA Micro Micro ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard
EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card
Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory
Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 60GB 2.5" Solid State Drive
Update: [strike]Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive[/strike] Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive
Western Digital BLACK SERIES 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
Western Digital BLACK SERIES 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
Fractal Design Node 804 MicroATX Mid Tower Case
Corsair 750W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply
Noctua NF-F12 PWM 55.0 CFM 120mm Fan

See the builds here:

PC Part Picker List:
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/pkZ9Lk

NewEgg Wishlist:
http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=27843306

Let me know if I'm missing something here!

CPU: This was most important to me as video editing software pulls on the CPU for rending (unlike gaming software which pulls on the gpu) so I went for the best rated, bang-for-the-buck, pro-sumer level Intel processor - the Haswell-E i7-5820k. It's got 6 core / 12 threaded yummy goodness for my Adobe Premiere Pro to munch on and will certainly be a step-up from whatever is in my mid-2011 mac mini.

CPU Cooler: The Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler is well rated everywhere I look and seems to be simple to install. It's 240mm profile will fit in my case and still leave room for additional fans. It's a no brainer.

GPU: I'm currently using some budget AMD graphics card in my pre-built gaming rig and it runs my MMO's on high or max just fine, so my first thought was to save money and get a lower-grade gpu but I decided I'd try to target Adobe CC's Mercury Playback Engine technology and 4k video rending. To do that, I'd need a gpu with at least 4gb of vram and plenty of CUDA cores. Since I need CUDA, NVIDIA gpu's are my only choice. Though the GTX980 card is probably the most popular, I tried to shave some money off by going with the GTX970 which still offers the 4gb vram I need, but with a little less CUDA cores. Again, I'm ok with it as I'm sure it's a giant leap from my mac mini which doesn't even have a dedicated gpu.

RAM: Unfortunately, the i7-5820k requires the new DDR4 ram which was expensive at my 32gb wishlist, so I opted for 16gb in hopes I could add more later when it comes down more in price. My MOBO can take up to DDR-3000 so I was back and forth between the Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory and the Crucial Ballistix Sports. Crucial was $50 cheaper, but since I was already sacrificing from 32gb to 16gb, I went ahead and splurged on the Corsair Vengeances.

MOBO: This becomes a relatively easy choice since I went with the Micro ATX size boards. There are only a few (four or less I think) x99 chipset boards that match my cpu at the mATX size: This EVGA board just had the best ratings on NewEgg and fit my personal aesthetic tastes. A lot of people complained about the PCI or PCIe slot layout or number of available slots, but I don't plan to expand this cube or run dual graphics via SLI since gaming isn't my priority. What this board has, that I do need, is nice SATA III's for my storage and eventual RAID 10 configuration and I've read people having success with overclocking.

STORAGE: Video editing needs lots and lots of storage; thankfully, my workstation at work does most of the labor while my home PC is for personal projects, weddings, etc. - So I think 2x - 2TB WD Black drives in a RAID 10 configuration (which makes my effective media storage 2TB) will be enough for all my media files. There's the Samsung 250GB SSD for my OS and daily file uses, and a cheap Kingston 60GB SSD for the scratch files created from my editing software. I also have an old 2TB Raid 1/0 G-Tech external drive for back-ups.

PSU: PSUs seem pretty straight forward, I did a few psu calculators online at NewEgg, Corsair, and Cooler Master's website and got varying wattages from 375-500. Knowing that I might overclock this in the future, I thought I'd go with a little higher 750 wattage and the Corsair HXi line of psu seem to offer a nice balance between quality, quiet, and reliability. Plus, some guy named JonnyGURU recommended it (9.6/10), and apparently he's a big deal.

CASE: I feel like I might get some hate on this. To be honest, I was going for the Fractal Define R5 but there's just something about cramming so much power into such a small place - maybe the challenge of it - that interests me. Of course, the case is a personal choice, and there is always the concern of keeping it cool during heavy use and overclocking, but LinusTechTips and other reviewers on YouTube seemed to think keeping it cool shouldn't be too big of a problem with the potential for 10 fans, alongside a water-cooling solution and since I don't plan to do crazy PCI expansions, a think this case becomes a real option. I'm sure I'll be cursing myself when I'm trying to put this together haha.

Other than those, I'll be picking up a few Noctua fans which I'm told are as silent as they are ugly (which means they're very, VERY silent), along with windows and all that other jazz. PC Part Picker says the price is above $2,000 but I have all the items in my cart on NewEgg and it's only $1,800.

I hope I was clear on my reasonings for parts... now, tell me I've done this all wrong haha! I'm bracing myself... Thanks in advance!

 

[TNT27]

do 850 evo 250gb instead of the 840 series, faster more reliable and should be cheaper now.

 

[entropy4money]

Question: Why are you getting a micro ATX and a mid size tower? Also with such a budget. Why not go for full-size tower? I know you don't want to expand now, but it would run cooler and let you upgrade and expand more in the future.

 

[avfreedman]

Thanks TNT27, I don't know how I missed the 850 series. I'll look into that instead of the 840 SSD.

Entropy: As much as I hate to say this, I'm really just doing it because I like the look of it. Am I really shooting myself in the foot by going with the mid-size tower? As I said, I was originally going for the full-size Define R5 case, but I stumbled upon the Node 804 and got all starr-eyed haha. If it's really a bad choice, I don't mind going back to the full-size and switch out the MOBO for something like the ASUS Sabertooth x99, which is what I originally had in the build.

Thanks for you all's input!

 

[entropy4money]

I think that's a valid reason. I mean there are pros of getting a mid-size tower vs full-size. Smaller, lighter, easier to fit anywhere, and if you ever have to move easier to move. And a mid-size tower can fit everything you need. harder yes, but it still can. I personally prefer full-size towers as I think they're overall more practical than mid-size, but I am not trying to say you're making the wrong choice by getting a mid-size. I am building a computer for my brother now, and I am getting him a mid-tower, a full-size is just too big he is in college and has crammed space and has to move a lot. It is pretty cool to see all that power in such a compact chassis.

It might be challenging to fit the water cooler in the mid-tower, but if you already looked into it and it will fit then I don;t see any problem. I am not sure if the radiator would fit on top with the 24 pin and PCU power cables. And also the RAM's fins are big, so you might have to put the radiator outside, behind the mobo, which works, but it is not optimal. Have you thought about this?

 

[avfreedman]

Thanks for the guidance, Entropy.

I'll certainly agree that full-size towers offer more practicality and really are the best choice in just about every case (pun intended xD) - unless, like you said, you're cramped for space around your desk/workstation - then a mid-size would make more sense. I'll just have to think more on whether I want to do full or mid-size. I am still drooling a bit from when I first found the Node, though haha!

P.S. The 850 is actually cheaper than the 840 on NewEgg. Thanks for saving me money, TNT27

 

[entropy4money]

Thanks for the guidance, Entropy.

I'll certainly agree that full-size towers offer more practicality and really are the best choice in just about every case (pun intended xD) - unless, like you said, you're cramped for space around your desk/workstation - then a mid-size would make more sense. I'll just have to think more on whether I want to do full or mid-size. I am still drooling a bit from when I first found the Node, though haha!

P.S. The 850 is actually cheaper than the 840 on NewEgg. Thanks for saving me money, TNT27

read my update about the water-cooler. I just looked up your case. It is not a mid-tower case, it is a MicroAtx or Mini tower. It is a really cool design, and it will fit your water-cooler. it will be challenging but it fits. I say go for it.

 

[avfreedman]

Oh, you had me franticly looking for L/W/H dimensions of the Corsair Vengeance DDR4 haha! My fault though, I was using the wrong terminology about the case xD

I'll go for it then! But I've read enough of these computer build guilds/forums to know I'm not really out of the woods until she boots up. Fingers crossed!

 

[entropy4money]

Oh, you had me franticly looking for L/W/H dimensions of the Corsair Vengeance DDR4 haha! My fault though, I was using the wrong terminology about the case xD

I'll go for it then! But I've read enough of these computer build guilds/forums to know I'm not really out of the woods until she boots up. Fingers crossed!

Make sure everything fits. It might end up looking like this: http://benchmarkreviews.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Node804_FinalInstall.jpg
The only thing is that I don't know where the hard drives will go? but looking at other pictures it seems like you can fit everything!. And some people call it a mid-tower case, idk why. A mid-tower case generally fits ATX mobo, and this one doesn't, so it is really closer to the dimensions of a Mini tower. I think people call it MicroATX mid tower because it is slightly wider? definitely an unconventional design. Really really cool one.

 

[avfreedman]

Yeah, I feel like this is going to be one of those situations where I just have to order the stuff and try it out. There are vertical hanging racks (weird) for the WD 2TD HDDS and two pointing points for SSD's behind the front cover.

Check out this video highlighting the case by LinusTechTips:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1I86pabPZI

 

[entropy4money]

I wouldn't worry to much about the SSD's as they have no moving parts, you can place them virtually anywhere you want. The HDDS have to be tigth and properly placed. but the SSD's you can even use velcro and place whenever you want (using common sense of course, don't put an SSD on top of PSU or blocking any air vent).

I think you'll be able to fit everything, it'll just take some time. Also, get a lot of zip tie, you will need it.

 

[avfreedman]

Haha, thanks Entropy. Definitely will get a lot of zip ties XD

 

[JakeTheVideoGuy]

You should get 4 4GB memory sticks. The quad memory channel with the X99 chipset gets best performance when you use memory sticks in sets of four.

 

[entropy4money]

You should get 4 4GB memory sticks. The quad memory channel with the X99 chipset gets best performance when you use memory sticks in sets of four.

The performance gain is not worth it if eventually you will upgrade to 32gb. This is a good idea only if you are certain you are going to stick with 16gb for a relatively long time. It is usually cheaper as well.

 

[avfreedman]

Thanks for the input Jake - I didn't realize the chipset would better utilize memory sticks in sets of four.

Entropy does put on a good point - I do plan to upgrade to full 32gb (4x -8gb sticks) maybe a year or two later (or whenever they get cheaper), which is why I wanted to do the dual 8gb sticks but, Jake, you do give me a good point to consider.

My office MacPro is only running on 16gb and it's certainly fine for Adobe Premiere Pro. After Effects definitely struggles with only 16gb (and I usually have AE and PP open at the same time, meaning they're sharing RAM) so I'll have to pay more attention at work and see if I'm really comfortable with only 16gb. If I am, I'll take the 4x 8gb sticks but - if I think I'll have room in the budget in the future and can upgrade to 32gb - then maybe I'll just go with the two 8gb sticks for now.

Thanks as always for the input!