Want 4K monitor for only video/photo editing in $400-$600 range

[tpallred]

I'm in the USA and have roughed out this system build for 4K photo/video editing which will primarily render into 1080p video results until 4K displays are more common.
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/XvHr8d

I'm looking for a single 28" (or so) 4K display at 60Hz to pair with my GTX960 GPU from the list. Here is a list from Newegg that generally meets the requirements. Any comments on these, or better, suggestions in my price range?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=4k+monitor&N=100007617%204814%20600338147%20600560548%20600560547%20600554975%204019%204020%204021%20600030631%204114%20600030620%204115&isNodeId=1

Thanks

 

[tpallred]

no takers?

 

[Chayan4400]

no takers?

Here you go :

http://lifehacker.com/five-best-4k-computer-monitors-1712678664

Any one of those displays will be perfect for your needs!

However, keep in mind while the GTX 960 is deemed as the perfect starter video card for 4k video rendering, if you plane on playing any next gen games at 4k, then you will get horrible frame rates. For video editing though, you should be fine!

Also, why the multiple SSDs?

My advice would be to drop the 250 GB SSD and the 5TB HDD, and get the 8TB Seagate External HDD :

http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Desktop-External-Storage-STDT8000100/dp/B00R45V3SW

and since you are spending so much, why not upgrade to a GTX 970? If budget is a problem however, then the GTX 960 should be fine, however the 970 will offer better performance and better future proofing (i.e you will be able to use the system smoothly for longer.).

Also, don't go with the corsair CX series PSUs for such a high end build. You don't want to lose all your precious work if the PSU fails. I recommend :

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 620W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($68.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $68.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-28 03:03 EDT-0400

I hope this helps!!

 

[tpallred]

no takers?

Here you go :

http://lifehacker.com/five-best-4k-computer-monitors-1712678664

Any one of those displays will be perfect for your needs!

Thanks for the reply. I've previously looked at those. Maybe that 27" Dell IPS... I have an Acer 23" 1080p that's IPS and like that. Their 4K 27" is about $60 more than the Dell. Then again, that 24" Dell IPS is only $404 right now... I just need to get off the fence.

As for the SSDs, I was thinking the 500GB for the OS, the 240GB for applications, and the 120GB as a scratch drive to hold the files I'm editing. I was thinking that would give me the most speed in editing and rendering. The scratch SSD would be the most likely one to fail from excessive writes and therefore easy to replace without consequences. The 3TB internal HD should hold about a year's worth of video files and I was going to use the external 5TB to back everything up. However, it's been over 20 years since I did a system build and I only started with the photo/video editing in February. I could be worng.

I already have the GTX 960 and this system is only for video editing. Advice from the PowerDirector 13 (my editing software) forum was that it would be adequate for the task. I consider this a starter system, to be upgraded or added to based on future demands/income.

Damn, the CX PSU is on the way. No one has mentioned that as a potential issue before now.

 

[Chayan4400]

no takers?

Here you go :

http://lifehacker.com/five-best-4k-computer-monitors-1712678664

Any one of those displays will be perfect for your needs!

Thanks for the reply. I've previously looked at those. Maybe that 27" Dell IPS... I have an Acer 23" 1080p that's IPS and like that. Their 4K 27" is about $60 more than the Dell. Then again, that 24" Dell IPS is only $404 right now... I just need to get off the fence.

As for the SSDs, I was thinking the 500GB for the OS, the 240GB for applications, and the 120GB as a scratch drive to hold the files I'm editing. I was thinking that would give me the most speed in editing and rendering. The scratch SSD would be the most likely one to fail from excessive writes and therefore easy to replace without consequences. The 3TB internal HD should hold about a year's worth of video files and I was going to use the external 5TB to back everything up. However, it's been over 20 years since I did a system build and I only started with the photo/video editing in February. I could be worng.

I already have the GTX 960 and this system is only for video editing. Advice from the PowerDirector 13 (my editing software) forum was that it would be adequate for the task. I consider this a starter system, to be upgraded or added to based on future demands/income.

Damn, the CX PSU is on the way. No one has mentioned that as a potential issue before now.

My advice would be to return it ASAP. The CX series is a tier 4 PSU, which isnt suitable for specialist rigs of any king. I recommend getting a tier one or two PSU from this list:

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/id-2547993/psu-tier-list.html

Quoting from that article: Tier Four - No Japanese capacitors found. Only Taiwanese capacitors and may even include Chinese capacitors. Very basic safety circuits or even thin gauge wiring used. Not for gaming rigs or overclocking systems of any kind. Avoid unless your budget dictates your choice.

In my opinion, 500 GB is plenty for both the OS and programs, since after the OS install you should have about 450 GB left for applications (480 GB if you completely fill up the SSD, but this may decrease performance.). If 3 TB holds a year's work, then there is no need for the 8 TB I mentioned earlier. Instead, your plan now makes sense!!

I still recommend scrapping the 250 GB SSD, and if space is of concern then you can always move your my documents, pictures, videos, etc folder to the 3 TB following guides online. Leave the scratch disk SSD, that makes perfect sense to have a cheaper SSD on that.

The GTX 960 is a perfectly capable card, so don't worry then .

Having the 5 TB means that you wil be able to do a full mirror backup of your system without problems, so good call on that.

Finally, I noticed you are getting windows 7 64 bit. Don't. Get windows 8.1 64 bit and save some money, since both will get the upgrade to windows 10 anyway.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 OEM (64-bit) ($86.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $86.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-28 05:45 EDT-0400

And finally to answer your original question the Dell looks like a great option, go for it!! Dell monitors are known for being good for photo and video editing. And with 27 inches AND 4K, you will have a lot of screen real estate to play with!!

Also, why not spend a bit more on a good keyboard? Since you will spend the majority of your time at the PC, it would be good to have a quality mouse and keyboard instead of a cheap one. Something moderately priced like this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Keyboard: Logitech G105 Wired Gaming Keyboard ($39.99 @ Micro Center)
Mouse: Logitech M510 Wireless Laser Mouse ($24.31 @ Amazon)
Total: $64.30
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-28 05:55 EDT-0400

Will improve your experience and productivity, since you can assign those extra few G keys to specific functions, like save and cut and etc, basically macros. It will also be better at night, since those keys are backlit, and the mouse should be more ergonomic too.

I also reccomend checking out HID Macros - it is a program which allows you to reassign keys on an old keyboard to specific functions, so you can assign shortcuts like ctrl s to one button on an old keyboard and press it whenever you want to save something. I currently am building a keyboard like this:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Making-a-powerful-programmable-keypad-for-less-tha/

for flight sims. Just a suggestion you may find useful .

 

[tpallred]

Thanks for all the info. I'll return the CX. The keyboard, mouse and a couple of other minor items were just placeholders to fill out the list. I'll take a look at the ones you suggested.

I'm going with the 500GB for the OS because the Win 7 system it is replacing is currently using 318GB. Only 20GB is in the program directories. Figured I'd rather be looking at it than looking for it when it comes to the main drive.

As for the 250GB drive for programs, that could just as easily be a 120GB but the 250GB is faster. As for leaving it out, I'll probably take advice on that from the PowerDirector forum since that's the main thing the system will be doing. The three drive layout has been promoted as the standard for high performance/throughput/workflow there but I'll check about this specific configuration as most people may be using 7200 HDs. Separate drives for OS and programs seems the universal chant though, and the logic for a replaceable scratch drive still stands. It may be though that due to the speed of the SSDs they don't really benefit from separate SATA connections so I'll ask specifically about combining OS/programs there.

As far as Win 7/8 goes, I chose 7 primarily for convenience. I'm still using XP for general/legacy/productivity apps, although that system is slowly dying - slow being the key word. My current editing system is Win7 and I just didn't want to have to learn the kinks of a third OS, especially as Win10 has arrived. When the PowerDirector forum has certified that everything on that front is working smoothly I'll probably move both Win7 systems to 10, move my general/productivity stuff to the existing editing system, and close the XP system down so I only have one OS to deal with.

Finally, the only other component I'm dithering over is the case. I was considering the Deepcool Kendomen instead of the Fractal R4. The Kendomen seems to have everything I need - and is a little cheaper although $30 isn't a big consideration - and the R4 is a 30lb beast - twice the weight of comparable cases - with way more drive bays and fan mounts than this build calls for but it has its advocates. Any opinion on that?

Thanks for all your help and suggestions.

 

[Chayan4400]

Thanks for all the info. I'll return the CX. The keyboard, mouse and a couple of other minor items were just placeholders to fill out the list. I'll take a look at the ones you suggested.

I'm going with the 500GB for the OS because the Win 7 system it is replacing is currently using 318GB. Only 20GB is in the program directories. Figured I'd rather be looking at it than looking for it when it comes to the main drive.

As for the 250GB drive for programs, that could just as easily be a 120GB but the 250GB is faster. As for leaving it out, I'll probably take advice on that from the PowerDirector forum since that's the main thing the system will be doing. The three drive layout has been promoted as the standard for high performance/throughput/workflow there but I'll check about this specific configuration as most people may be using 7200 HDs. Separate drives for OS and programs seems the universal chant though, and the logic for a replaceable scratch drive still stands. It may be though that due to the speed of the SSDs they don't really benefit from separate SATA connections so I'll ask specifically about combining OS/programs there.

As far as Win 7/8 goes, I chose 7 primarily for convenience. I'm still using XP for general/legacy/productivity apps, although that system is slowly dying - slow being the key word. My current editing system is Win7 and I just didn't want to have to learn the kinks of a third OS, especially as Win10 has arrived. When the PowerDirector forum has certified that everything on that front is working smoothly I'll probably move both Win7 systems to 10, move my general/productivity stuff to the existing editing system, and close the XP system down so I only have one OS to deal with.

Finally, the only other component I'm dithering over is the case. I was considering the Deepcool Kendomen instead of the Fractal R4. The Kendomen seems to have everything I need - and is a little cheaper although $30 isn't a big consideration - and the R4 is a 30lb beast - twice the weight of comparable cases - with way more drive bays and fan mounts than this build calls for but it has its advocates. Any opinion on that?

Thanks for all your help and suggestions.

Hmmmmm I'm not really familiar with video editing rigs so you should probably take advice from the Power Directors forum for the storage, but I can tell you that for gamers, a small (250 GB ideally) SSD as a boot drive and a (1- 2 TB) larger HDD are currently the accepted config. Things are obviously different in video editing however, so I'll leave the storage up to the other forum . I agree, the logic for the scratch disk is very sound, so no problems there. Just asked about win 7 cause that might save some money, it is up to personal preference. Finally, the case is also personal preference. I personally like the R4 because of it's clean, minimalist professional look, but if you like the deep cool, go for it!! Both are good cases with plenty of ventilation, so you won't face any issues. Make sure that the deep cool has support for 4 drives though (1 HDD and 3 SSDs.). Let me know if you have any more questons .

 

[tpallred]

Pretty much decided on the Monoprice CrystalPro 4K 28" monitor for $400, used in a dual monitor setup with a lower resolution monitor I already have as the primary to display Windows desktop/apps without scaling while editing/viewing video/photos in the 4K screen . Was one day late making the decision and so missed their 15% off sale. Procrastination doesn't pay.