Spec: video editing, animation, games (ish)

[toonarama]

Hello there

I'm looking for a PC with the following requirements:

£750-£850
Quad Core
No overclocking

my uses will be

animation (Toon Boom and Iclone)
video editing (Premiere and After Effects)
plus using Muvizu which is an animation program which uses the Unreal 3 gaming engine

I came up with this and would welcome some advice particular in relation to upgrading to a 460 Graphics card (which I assume would require an upgrade to the power supply too)



Case
STYLISH BLACK/SILVER TRIDENT CASE + 2 FRONT USB
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5-760 Quad Core (2.80GHz, 8MB Cache) + Turbo Boost
Motherboard
ASUS® P7P55D-E: USB 3.0, SATA 6.0GB/s, CrossFireX™ SUPPORT
Memory (RAM)
4GB SAMSUNG DDR3 DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 2GB)
Graphics Card
1GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTS450 - 2 DVI,HDMI,VGA - DirectX® 11, 3D Vision Ready
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
500GB SERIAL ATA 3-Gb/s HARD DRIVE WITH 8MB CACHE (7,200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply
450W Quiet 80 PLUS Dual Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan (£29)
Processor Cooling
INTEL SOCKET LGA1155/1156 STANDARD CPU COOLER
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
ONBOARD 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs
USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Firewire & Video Editing
3 Port IEEE 1394a Firewire PCI Card (£9)
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)
Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
Monitor
19" Wide TFT Silver/Black 1440 x 900 5MS, D-Sub, DVI, 18.5" Panel (£89)
Keyboard & Mouse
Logitech® Wireless Desktop® MK250 Keyboard and Mouse Combo (£19)
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 11 to 13 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £788.00 including VAT and delivery.

Many thanks

Toonarama

 

[Tom DWC]

Your current spec is fine but pushing the budget a little further would save you the additional expense of upgrading later:

Case
STYLISH BLACK/SILVER TRIDENT CASE + 2 FRONT USB
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5-760 Quad Core (2.80GHz, 8MB Cache) + Turbo Boost
Motherboard
ASUS® P7H55-M SI: MICRO ATX VALUE MAINBOARD,USB 2.0 & SATA 3.0Gb/s
Memory (RAM)
4GB SAMSUNG DDR3 DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 2GB)
Graphics Card
1GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX460 - 2 DVI,HDMI,VGA - DirectX® 11, 3D Vision Ready
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
1TB SERIAL ATA 3-Gb/s HARD DRIVE WITH 16MB CACHE (7,200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply
450W Quiet 80 PLUS Dual Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan (£29)
Processor Cooling
INTEL SOCKET LGA1155/1156 STANDARD CPU COOLER
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
ONBOARD 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs
USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Firewire & Video Editing
3 Port IEEE 1394a Firewire PCI Card (£9)
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Monitor
22" Wide TFT Silver/Black 1920 x1080 2MS D-Sub, DVI, 21.6" Panel (£119)
Keyboard & Mouse
Logitech® Wireless Desktop® MK250 Keyboard and Mouse Combo (£19)
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 11 to 13 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £835.00 including VAT and delivery.

Configure Here: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/computers/intel-core-i3-pc/

 

[toonarama]

Tom

Thanks for your reply - that looks like a good spec and includes the 460 which Ireally would like. Obviously savings had to be made somewhere and you have opted for the

ASUS® P7H55-M SI: MICRO ATX VALUE MAINBOARD,USB 2.0 & SATA 3.0Gb/s
Memory (RAM)

rather than

ASUS® P7P55D-E: USB 3.0, SATA 6.0GB/s, CrossFireX™ SUPPORT
Memory (RAM)

I can see the differences in loss of USB 3.00 and 3.0GB/s on the SATA. Is it possible to explain in non-techie terms(!) what the major impacts would be of downgrading to this.

Also - and I am aware of the current issues - you did not suggest a Sandy Bridge; I assume this is because it is not feasible within my budget

many thanks

Toonarama

 

[Tom DWC]

The main differences are that the cheaper mobo is a micro, as opposed to full sized board. Unless you plan to add significant upgrades (such as an additional graphics card) further down the line then this makes no difference. The more expensive mobo has CrossFire support but as you'll be using an NVIDIA card you don't need this feature. SATA 6 will only be used by an equivalent hard drive so this isn't necessary. USB 3 is the only real omission but you could add an expansion card in place of your current PCI device.

A Sandy Bridge configuration is possible within your budget - but note:

On Monday 31st January Intel announced that a possible issue has been discovered on the chipset on the H67/P67 motherboards. This issue effects 8 million chipsets that have been shipped to every computer company worldwide, and unfortunately the motherboard that you have specified contains one of these chipsets. The official press statement can be read here.

The computer you have specified will not be directly affected by this issue, but the motherboard will be supplied with this chipset, and therefore at some point in the future it is possible that up to 4 of your SATA ports may degrade, or possibly even fail.

We will connect your hard drives to SATA 6GB/s ports or the first two SATA 3GB/s ports - all of which are not affected.

By continuing you acknowlegde that this issue will be present, and that you may not be able to use these ports.

Case
STYLISH BLACK/SILVER TRIDENT CASE + 2 FRONT USB
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5-2400 Quad Core (3.10GHz, 6MB Cache) + HD Graphics
Motherboard
ASUS® P8H67-M LX SI: MICRO ATX MAINBOARD, LG 1155, SATA 6.0Gb/s
Memory (RAM)
4GB SAMSUNG DDR3 DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 2GB)
Graphics Card
1GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX460 - 2 DVI,HDMI,VGA - DirectX® 11, 3D Vision Ready
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
640GB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD6402AAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply
450W Quiet 80 PLUS Dual Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan (£29)
Processor Cooling
INTEL SOCKET LGA1155/1156 STANDARD CPU COOLER
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
ONBOARD 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs
USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Firewire & Video Editing
3 Port IEEE 1394a Firewire PCI Card (£9)
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Monitor
22" Wide TFT Silver/Black 1920 x1080 2MS D-Sub, DVI, 21.6" Panel (£119)
Keyboard & Mouse
Logitech® Wireless Desktop® MK250 Keyboard and Mouse Combo (£19)
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 11 to 13 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £825.00 including VAT and delivery.

Configure Here: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/computers/intel-sandy-bridge-pc/

 

[toonarama]

Tom

That's an excellent explanation - very clear. I don't expect to be upgrading and do want to use a NVIDIA card therefore the micro mobo looks like a really good choice.

One final question - when I have used your site to spec a machine using the GTX460 it sometimes (depending on the rest of the spec I guess) suggests I need a larger power supply than 450 watt.
Would i be safer upgrading to 600w?

thanks again

Mick

 

[PCS]

If you plan on upgrading the spec in the future, then consider upping the PSU to 600W. Don't forget however that we already build in a 20% allowance. Therefore your PSU will be running somewhere close to 80% capacity. On a 600W PSU this would be reduced to only 60%.