Mid range PC for video production

Trojan

I'm looking for recommendations for a new PC to replace my existing Dell XPS 420 (2.4GHz Q6600 Core 2 Quad). The 420 has 2 upgrades I'd like to move on the new machine if it's a self-build: the 6GB RAM (DDR2) and a Crucial M4 SSD. I also have dual 19" LCDs, mouse, keyboard etc.

I'd need it for general office use, video editing and production (about 5% of actual use, but the extra power when needed would be nice), and occasional gaming (not a priority but nice to have).

I'm looking at both options of self-build and picking something off the shelf. Budget: less than a grand - the cheaper, the better.

Any recommendations?

Overheal

rule out DDR2 carry over. DDR3 is long out at this point and supporting DDR2 severely limits your choices. 19" LCDs are small in today terms but still usable of course.

I'm a real whore for choosing to place a lot of emphasis on the motherboard. But it depends on how you really plan to treat your unit and do any future upgrades. Good balance of room and modesty, with good reliability I would think a Sabertooth board from ASUS: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131976R

The socket supports the latest 4th gen Intel CPUs. How high you want to go is up to you. Your stated usage would probably be suited fine by an i5 but looking back at your Q6600, it wasn't a cheap CPU then though it wasnt exactly bottom rung hardware. A Haswell i7 would be more appropriate as an upgrade. The SSD of course comes along for the ride, along with the case and PSU if you prefer. Alternatively consider that a newer case is probably going to be much quieter whether you go with air or water cooling and I currently combine both, using a build that pushes tons of air at relatively low (and quiet) RPMs.

Very easy to find a motherboard that supports the i5 haswel though and get the combo for cheaper than what Im speaking about, but I think in the long run cheaping out is going to come back to disappoint you in the long run. A grand is a perfectly suitable target thats going to favor performance and longevity.

Torqay

Trojan wrote: »

Budget: less than a grand - the cheaper, the better.

Any recommendations?

For 900 yoyos (ish), you'll get a Core i7 4770K, 16 GB RAM (DDR3) and a decent mid-range GPU.



With a 1 TB HDD and 550W Corsair PSU, €899 a PC Specialist (operating system not included).

Just to give you an idea... or save some more and order the bits and pieces from HWVS and build it yourself.

Black Swan

Yes, it may cost a bit more, but I would not buy another platter drive after experiencing the SSD I now have. The speed is breath taking, generates less heat, and because it has no moving parts, less failure risk than platters. Maybe look at Samsung PM841 series with 512 GB, SATA 3.0 interface, sequential reads 520MB/s, sequential writes 330MB/s. If later you exceed your 512 GB, then add another internal SSD (or SSD external through 3.0 USB). Not sure at this moment where to get the best price, but with a bit of research, it might be worth considering?

Torqay

Black Swan wrote: »

Yes, it may cost a bit more, but I would not buy another platter drive after experiencing the SSD I now have.

OP already has a SSD

The Crucial M4 may not be quite up there with the latest Samsungs but it is still a decent drive (transfer rate is still top, access time leaves a bit to be desired).

Trojan

Thanks for the recommendations.

I've had some experiences with SSD

The dual 19"s give me 2880x900 of real estate, I'm happy enough with that, although ability to add a 3rd monitor would be a "nice to have" option. What about the graphics card - I figure anything that's good enough for modern gaming will also process video production pretty decent. I do have a spare Radeon HD 6850 2GB which could do as a secondary graphics card for running a 3rd monitor.

Torqay

Trojan wrote: »

I do have a spare Radeon HD 6850 2GB which could do as a secondary graphics card for running a 3rd monitor.

That card alone should be able run 3 monitors (Eyefinity via HDMI, DV-I and Displayport). So you can save the money for a GPU.

BloodBath

Here's something with more graphics power. A standard 1gb 650 gtx is not good for gaming or video editing. The xeon is basically the same as an i7 3770 as well without the igp or overclocking and running 100mhz slower. Threw in a nice 1080p 22" ips monitor as well. You want something higher res with far better clarity for gaming and video editing. You can still use your other 2 monitors with this.

You have enough in the budget to upgrade the case if you want or the monitor to a 24" version for €25 extra.

Item|Price
Intel Xeon E3-1230v2, boxed, LGA1155|€201.67
Alpenföhn Sella - 92mm, AMD/Intel|€17.78
ASRock H77 Pro4/MVP, Sockel 1155, ATX|€72.44
16GB-Kit G.Skill RipJaws-X PC3-12800U CL10|€110.63
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 660Ti OC, 2GB GDDR5, 2x DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort|€179.00
WD Caviar Blue 1TB 6Gb's|€56.69
Cooler Master N300, ATX-Midi-Tower, schwarz, ohne Netzteil|€33.01
be quiet! SYSTEM POWER 7 500W - bulk -|€53.88
LG Flatron 22EA53VQ-P|€127.91
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€872.00

Lu Tze

BloodBath wrote: »

Here's something with more graphics power. A standard 1gb 650 gtx is not good for gaming or video editing. The xeon is basically the same as an i7 3770 as well without the igp or overclocking and running 100mhz slower. Threw in a nice 1080p 22" ips monitor as well. You want something higher res with far better clarity for gaming and video editing. You can still use your other 2 monitors with this.

You have enough in the budget to upgrade the case if you want or the monitor to a 24" version for €25 extra.

Item|Price
Intel Xeon E3-1230v2, boxed, LGA1155|€201.67
Alpenföhn Sella - 92mm, AMD/Intel|€17.78
ASRock H77 Pro4/MVP, Sockel 1155, ATX|€72.44
16GB-Kit G.Skill RipJaws-X PC3-12800U CL10|€110.63
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 660Ti OC, 2GB GDDR5, 2x DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort|€179.00
WD Caviar Blue 1TB 6Gb's|€56.69
Cooler Master N300, ATX-Midi-Tower, schwarz, ohne Netzteil|€33.01
be quiet! SYSTEM POWER 7 500W - bulk -|€53.88
LG Flatron 22EA53VQ-P|€127.91
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€872.00

Surely they should try and squeeze in one of those QNIX monitors, the two existing monitors will match the vertical resolution if they can be rotated into portrait. Would be a class set up

Torqay

Why not a 4770K for 80 yoyos more?

As for the GPU and video editing, it really depends on the software. If you're using AE CS6, you may not want to trouble yourself with a consumer GPU and Nvidia's notoriously unstable drivers. Also, their consumer GPUs are locked out from Adobe's Mercury engine. So if you're serious about it, think Quadro Pro (and big money of course).

Or save the money for the GPU altogether and go with the Radeon already have... it's still running circles around a GTX 650 and can feed 3 monitors.

BloodBath

Torqay wrote: »

Why not a 4770K for 80 yoyos more?

As for the GPU and video editing, it really depends on the software. If you're using AE CS6, you may not want to trouble yourself with a consumer GPU and Nvidia's notoriously unstable drivers. Also, their consumer GPUs are locked out from Adobe's Mercury engine. So if you're serious about it, think Quadro Pro (and big money of course).

Or save the money for the GPU altogether and go with the Radeon already have... it's still running circles around a GTX 650 and can feed 3 monitors.

Because it's €130 more for the z87 board + cpu and at least €20 more for a better cpu cooler to overclock it. Ideally a better case with better airflow then as well and big enough to accommodate a 140mm tower cooler.

The Qnix monitor wouldn't be a bad idea though.

yoyo

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