Video and photo editing and office productivity PC

[BCW100]

Hi,

After too many years and with the end of Windows 7, I am looking to update my 8 year old PC. My main uses for the machine are video (HD but maybe one day 4k) and photo editing for personal purposes (i.e. using Premier Elements Pinnacle Studio and Photoshop Elements), and also use it for work based activities which can involve big excel workbooks and graphics heavy documents. Having had very noisy PCs in the past, I also have a bit of thing for quite machines.

I have tweaked one of the suggested video editing specs and come up with the following:


Case
CORSAIR CARBIDE SERIES™ 200R COMPACT GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Eight Core Processor i7-9700 (3.0GHz) 12MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® PRIME Z390-P: ATX, LGA1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 2400MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1660 - HDMI, DP - GeForce GTX VR Ready!
1st Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 256MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
256GB ADATA SX6000 Pro PCIe M.2 2280 (2100 MB/R, 1200 MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
16x BLU-RAY WRITER DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW & SOFTWARE
Power Supply
CORSAIR 450W VS SERIES™ VS-450 POWER SUPPLY
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H60 Hydro Cooler w/ PCS Ultra Quiet Fans
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 12 to 15 working days
Welcome Book
PCSpecialist Welcome Book - United Kingdom & Republic of Ireland
Price: £1,174.00 including VAT and Delivery

Big questions for me are GPU, do I really need this level of sophistication, do I need to add a sound card and, given my noise fixation, will this be quiet enough for me? In this later point I have speced a 'quite' CPU cooler, is this necessary and should I look at a quite PSU and/or a passively cooled (and hence lower spec) GPU?

I don't really have a 'hard ceiling' on budget, but was not really expecting to go above £1,200.

All thoughts, suggestions and comments welcome.

 

[Oussebon]

If optimising for quiet, Fractal R5, RMx series PSU (semi passive), and Noctua cooler are the go-to options.

The GPU won't be loud - many stop the fans on idle or the fans are sufficiently quiet you can't really hear them anyway. I keep my RTX 2060's fans at 15% minimum for reasons I won't bore you with, and I can't hear them.

A locked i7 CPU, with a Z390 mobo, and slow RAM isn't particularly good bang for buck - an AMD R5 3600 spec would be pretty well as good, if not a little better, and cheaper.

For the GPU, Elements doesn't make much if any use of the GPU. Pinnacle might, though a less expensive GPU is still viable.

e.g.

ase
FRACTAL DEFINE R6 BLACK QUIET MID-TOWER CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 3600 Six Core CPU (3.6GHz-4.2GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)

Get 3 Months of XBOX Game Pass for PC w/ select AMD Ryzen CPUs
Motherboard
Gigabyte B450 AORUS ELITE: DDR4, USB 3.1 - RGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
4GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1650 SUPER - HDMI
1st Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 256MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
256GB ADATA SX6000 Pro PCIe M.2 2280 (2100 MB/R, 1200 MB/W)
2nd M.2 SSD Drive
512GB ADATA SX6000 Pro PCIe M.2 2280 (2100 MB/R, 1500 MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
16x BLU-RAY WRITER DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW & SOFTWARE
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Noctua NH-U14S Ultra Quiet Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KK3-00002]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
BullGuard™ Internet Security - Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 12 to 15 working days
Price: £1,167.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/awkM4M8GAV/

Two SSDs so you can have one for OS + software, and another for scratch / cache or project files, or however your specific software prefers these things to be divided up.

 

[BCW100]

Hi,

Many thanks for the thoughts, all very helpful. I must confess that I have always stuck to Intel CPUs, not sure why, possibly brand loyalty! Having done a bit more reading, it does seem you get quite a bit more bang for your buck with AMD.

It had never occurred to me look at a second SSD, and in truth, I am not sure how to set things up to get the full value from one.

I like the idea of a lower spec GPU, and having checked the system requirements for Pinnacle Studio it does need around 250 Mb of video RAM, but doesn't need a gamming grade card.

I like the suggested idea of an ultra quite PSU, but at 750W it seems quite high, is this due to the use of an AMD CPU and associated mobo?

 

[Oussebon]

No, the AMD CPU's power consumption will be the same as Intel's, if not a bit lower.

I'm not suggesting the PSU because it's 750W, rather because it's RMx series, which is semi-passive. i.e. under many load conditions it can cool itself passively without needing to switch on its fan. 750W is the lowest capacity RMx PSU on offer in that configurator. It's not a problem that it's 750W though, as the PSU will only draw as much power as it needs for the components in the system depending on their load.

As for scratch disks:

Working with scratch disks

Learn about the scratch files and disk usage in Adobe Premiere Elements.

helpx.adobe.com

I'd probably have recommended an Intel CPU if AMD, thanks to their Zen architecture and especially the Zen 3000 series, didn't currently have the better product for your uses and budget

 

[BCW100]

Thanks, that all makes sense. If I was happy to go up a bit in budget, would I say much improvement by going to the Ryzen 7 3700X?

I note you have suggested a Gigabit mobo rather than Asus, they don't seem to have much of a price difference, but not sure what the real differences are?

 

[Oussebon]

The gigabyte motherboard has 2 M.2 slots, allow for 2 very fast SSDs. The Asus motherboard only has 1 M.2 slot, but does have USB 3.1. However, you might not use USB 3.1, whereas there is a case for you using 2 SSDs from the off, making the Gigabyte motherboard the one I'd recommend here.

If you can afford it, the extra cores of the R7 3700x would improve video encoding times, for instance.

 

[BCW100]

Many thanks or all your input. I think I am very close to placing an order.