Video Editing Desktop PC w/existing main parts

[steve.r]

Hello fellow PCS members hope you are all doing well, I hope someone can help me out and share some light and hopefully we can get a top notch desktop PC.

It's been almost 10 years in the making I almost had my dream desktop pc for both professional and personal use until it stopped working. I managed to salvage some parts including case and CPU.

I'm in the process of receiving refunds for the parts where I can hopefully add more funds and this time get experts to install the parts. But there's a slight problem...

I have two components I wish to use on my PCS build.
The case:- Cosmos II & CPU:- Intel i7 4770k

My budget would be £2,000 excluding the components I mentioned.

Would it be possible to send the components to PCS?

I hope someone can recommend some builds for me as I don't have much knowledge on this type of stuff, also I would like to connect 4 monitors for Eyefinity and perhaps play 3D movies.

Thanks

 

[mantadog]

I had believed it would be possible to send in components, but recently I saw someone was refused because it would not be covered under the PCS warranty. So I believe PCS now don't fit customers own parts, but you can always double check.

You can certainly send in your own case though, just not the CPU. Though that's only a probably at the moment as im not 100% sure on the policy PCS are operating.

 

[steve.r]

Hello mantadog thanks for your reply, yea I had feeling PCS won't be covered by warranty if i was to send in the parts. Damn could have saved few hundreds £'s.

I will contact them hopefully on Monday.

Would you happen to know much about system builds mate?

 

[Edd1e]

What are your professional and personal uses for the machine? I see monitors and 3D movies noted in your OP but if you can give a breakdown of all tasks then I am sure someone will be able to advise, and with a £2K budget you will get a pretty sweet rig.

 

[mantadog]

Yeah I can knock you up a spec.

Something like this as a starting point would be alright.



Case
Send In Your Own Case
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Six Core Processor i7-5820K (3.3GHz) 15MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® X99-S: ATX, HSW-E CPU, USB 3.0, SATA 6 GB/s
Memory (RAM)
16GB CRUCIAL DDR4 2133MHz (2 x 8GB) depending on your needs you could even up this to 32, though only you will know how much you multi task etc to need more than 16GB
Graphics Card
4GB AMD RADEON™ R9 290X - DVI, HDMI, DP - DX® 11, Eyefinity 4 Capable personally not a fan of this card due to noise and power issues, but if you really want an eyefinity setup its the only real option. I would recommend the GTX 980 myself if you plan to do any gaming.
1st Hard Disk
250GB Samsung 840 EVO SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (upto 540MB/sR | 520MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk
1TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD1003FZEX, 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
CORSAIR 750W CS SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET (£79)
Processor Cooling
Super Quiet 22dBA Triple Copper Heatpipe Intel CPU Cooler (£19)
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND (£9)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 8 CHANNEL (7.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
USB Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Operating System
Genuine Windows 8.1 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365
Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
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 7 to 9 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £1,441.00 including VAT and delivery.

Unique URL to re-configure: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/quotes/intel-x99-pc/_zE0h60rWV/

 

[steve.r]

Hello Edd1e sure mate I should have mentioned it in the OP would have been a good idea.

When it comes to video editing I tend to use:-
Sony Vegas
Adobe After Effects
Adobe Media Encoder
Adobe Encore
Nero
Plus other applications for encoding, transcoding.

I would like to play games on the new system build but it won't be something for everyday use. So it won't be any intense gaming. Perhaps gaming once every week, but I wouldn't mind spending extra money for future proof.

Eyefinity is something I've always wanted to do, connecting 4 monitors together for both gaming and editing. But I'm not sure if 3D movies can be played across 4 monitors?

I have 3 components in which I was hoping to salvage and use on the new build. But I will be contacting PCS.

I hope I've covered all the important stuff.

 

[steve.r]

Thanks mantadog I will look into more detail later in the evening. But the I think RAM will need.to be upgraded upto 32gb as I do quite alot of multi-tasking.
When it comes to Eyefinity, would GPU play an important role?
Also softwares like Sony Vegas & Adobe use GPU for full optimisation?

 

[Edd1e]

As mentioned eyeinfinty limits you to AMD options. GTX 980 would be better for gaming but not an option if this is a requirement. An R7 GPU is great for Vegas as hardware acceleration is open cl. Adobe products are optimised for Cuda but do now support open cl. Can't comment on wheather 3D movies will playback through eyeinfinty.

Manta's suggested build is pretty perfect for your needs. Bit left in the budget to save for upgrades or could get larger SSD. Depending on gpu choice if nvidia could get motherboard that supports sli so can add second gpu but would need to check psu requirememts for the gpu's.

 

[steve.r]

@Edd1e, I don't have much knowledge on GPU's so I would need to leave that on the experts such as yourself and mantadog. I would be doing abit of gaming but mainly editing and I think for that RAM will need to be upgraded upto 32gb. I already have 250gb SSD along with other 2 TB's Western Digital Green.

Can you please help me on the GPU and motherboard as I want them to be future proof.

 

[steve.r]

Just an update:- I won't be allowed to send any parts due to warranty issues I understand PCS decision and I am more than happy. Hopefully I can sell the parts on some third party website.

Anyways, let's continue with the system build. Since I wont be able to send in my own case then I would like to have a case that has side window and LED lights. Personally I like a case that's "lighty" for me it adds those extra little features.

Can someone please help me out.

 

[Edd1e]

Casewise I would look at something like a COOLERMASTER CM STORM ENFORCER or if you want to go bigger a Coolermaster HAF-X Gaming Case, both seems to be highly recommended and have all the attributes you asked for. One thing to watch out for the the WD Greens is they are an efficiency drive prioritised for energy saving so they are good for storage, but not so good for something like media storage for video editing.

Unsure as to to GPU as the eyefinity things means you have to have an AMD card. You could always look at crossfire as a future upgrade path but you would need a motherboard that would support this.

 

[steve.r]

Thanks mate, I will look into the case into detail later in the evening.
In regards to the GPU I'm really struggling. As it has to be Eyefinity and also best for editing purposes.

 

[Edd1e]

Well the eyeinfinty makes your mind up for you really. The 290x is a very capable card and should as I understand it be supported by Sony Vegas hardware acceleration so you are ticking all of your boxes. I understand it to be a very capable card and not sure about any power or noise issues but a read around the Web should get you any and all answers around that.

If you were editing in Adobe premiere then a GTX card would be better but for Sony Vegas the AMD option is just as good if maybe even a bit better. The other recommendations for one of the newer GTX cards would be gaming side of things which doesn't seem to be your priority.

You can get a crossfire compatible motherboard (think the gigabyte option off the top is the one in the PCS site but a call to them would confirm), and a larger psu and then you can always chuck in another GPU if you got heavily I to gaming and wanted more grunt, or you can always swap over to nvidia later on if you decide to go that way. You can add the stuff into the configuration now to check it all works.

 

[steve.r]

If I was to opt for AMD GPU would I be able to play games without any lagging issues? I had GTX 780 before and it worked like a charm, no lagging when it came to gaming. But since gaming won't be my number 1 priority then looks like I will need to look into AMD? What type GPU would you recommend mate, as honestly I have no clue and most likely will go for your option.

Also, I've been looking into:- Processor cooling & Fan controller

I don't want to get into liquid cooling for processor cooling as it would require maintenence. I prefer air cooling. I've always wanted fan controller perhaps the latest option available, what do you think mate?

 

[steve.r]

What do you think about the following build:-

Case
COOLERMASTER HAF-X FULL TOWER GAMING CASE

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Processor i7-4790k (4.0GHz) 8MB Cache

Motherboard
ASUS® SABERTOOTH Z97 MARK S: USB 3.0, SATA 6.0GB/s, THERMAL ARMOR

Memory (RAM)
32GB KINGSTON HYPER-X BEAST DUAL-DDR3 2133MHz X.M.P (4 x 8GB KIT)

Graphics Card
4GB AMD RADEON™ R9 290 - DVI, HDMI, DP - DX® 11, Eyefinity 4 Capable

2nd Graphics Card
4GB AMD RADEON™ R9 290 - DVI, HDMI, DP - DX® 11, Eyefinity 4 Capable

1st Hard Disk
500GB 3.5" SATA-III 6GB/s HDD 7200RPM 16MB CACHE

1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM

2nd DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
16x BLU-RAY WRITER DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW

Power Supply
CORSAIR 1200W PRO SERIES™ PLATINUM AX1200i DIGITAL MODULAR PSU (£239)

Processor Cooling
CoolerMaster Hyper 212 EVO (120mm) Fan CPU Cooler (£29)

Fan Controller
NZXT Sentry LX Fan Controller with upto 5 Fitted Case Fans

Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)

Wireless/Wired Networking
ASUS PCE-AC68 AC1900 802.11ac Dual-band Wireless PCI-E Adapter (£69)

USB Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 4 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS

TV Card
HAUPPAUGE QUAD TUNER HYBRID TV CARD (WinTV-NOVA-HVR-4400)

Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)

Operating System
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED

Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE

Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE

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 6 to 8 working days

Quantity
1

Price: £2,091.00 including VAT and delivery.

Unique URL to re-configure: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/quotes/intel-haswell-pc/E2fM05MpDE/

In regards to the Hard Disk, I already have Samsung SSD 250gb.

 

[steve.r]

Case
COOLERMASTER HAF-X FULL TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Processor i7-4790 (3.6GHz) 8MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® SABERTOOTH Z97 MARK S: USB 3.0, SATA 6.0GB/s, THERMAL ARMOR
Memory (RAM)
32GB KINGSTON HYPER-X BEAST DUAL-DDR3 2133MHz X.M.P (4 x 8GB KIT)
Graphics Card
4GB AMD RADEON™ R9 290 - DVI, HDMI, DP - DX® 11, Eyefinity 4 Capable
2nd Graphics Card
4GB AMD RADEON™ R9 290 - DVI, HDMI, DP - DX® 11, Eyefinity 4 Capable
1st Hard Disk
500GB 3.5" SATA-III 6GB/s HDD 7200RPM 16MB CACHE
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
2nd DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
16x BLU-RAY WRITER DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W CS SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Processor Cooling
Corsair H80i Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Fan Controller
NZXT Sentry LX Fan Controller with upto 5 Fitted Case Fans
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
DUAL-BAND WIRELESS 802.11N 450Mbps PCI-E CARD
USB Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 4 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Operating System
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED
DVD Recovery Media
NO DVD RECOVERY MEDIA REQUIRED
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 6 to 8 working days
Quantity
1

 

[Edd1e]

Sorry not replied before now busy time of year. Both your listed builds look pretty decent. I don't think you need hydro cooling unless you overlcock (which only the first build would be capable of), and arguably fan controls unless you want to have greater control of the noise the machine will make. I would swap the Wifi card for homeplugs as you will get better performance, could look at a lower spec motherboard to save money and maybe up the GPU's to the 290x's. Was looking at the R9 295x2, don't know much about this GPU but it is the latest offering from AMD and so will be the best you can get at this time but comes with a price tag that reflects this. Essentially it looks like 2 GPU's build into a single board. Ultimately I think would give less heat and noise than an XFire setup but costs more but would pay to read a bit more around this if you were to consider it.

Hope that is of some help.