My P4 2.8GHz is still going strong but... new build advice please!

[soundasleep]

I can't believe my old buddy is still running. Maybe 5 years now? Six? I can't even remember when I built it. Still running WinXP. Anyway, after buying a Panasonic camcorder that can record in 1080p and realizing that Ol' Silver can't even come close to playing the footage smoothly, I figured it's time for a new one (well, in the next month).

- Music production (Reaper), 1080p playback, light video editing
- No gaming, no overclocking
- Reliability and stability are key
- ~$1200 (keeping monitor, keyboard, mouse, media drives)
- Probably buying everything from Directron (I'm in CA)

Any room for improvement?

Intel Core i7-2600 $300
ASUS P8P67 REV 3.0 $160
Patriot G2 Series Division 2 Ed. 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1333MHz $65
WD Caviar Black 2TB WD2001FASS $140
ASUS EAH6850 Radeon HD6850 Video Card $163
Black Cooler Master CM690 II Case $80
Antec TruePower TP-650 v2.3 650W Power Supply $67
ASUS DRW-24B1ST DVD burner $22
Windows 7 Pro $140

TOTAL: $1137

 

[BoomerD]

You'll be happy as hell with the boost in performance. I upgraded from a P4 3.06 to an i5-760 this past December...whooooosh!

 

[DominionSeraph]

I don't know what Panasonic camcorders record in, but it's probably GPU offloadable. You don't need a gaming card like the 6850 for that, though -- Sandy Bridge integrated should be fine (need a H67 motherboard to use it). If that's missing a feature, a 5450 should be able to pick it up.
The i7 2600 is going to be overkill. An i5 2500k will be plenty. (k for the upgraded video graphics)
With the money you save by ditching the 6850 and dropping down to i5, pick up a 60GB SSD for your OS/apps. This will keep them separate from your video streams.

And do you need any of the additional features that Win7 Pro has over Home Premium? http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/products/compare

RAM, case, and PSU look good. (650W is way overkill for a SB integrated graphics build, though. That's under 130W under load)

Maybe something like this?

 

[soundasleep]

Yes, I'm getting all tingly thinking about a new system.

Dominion, you raise some good points. For one, it looks like I don't need Win7 Pro. I agree that I could probably get away with a 2500k and use the on-board video for most things I'm doing. My thinking is that, having used the same system for the last six years...I'm probably going to do that again (if it lasts). So maybe give myself a little more that what I need at the moment so that a few years from now I'll still be content.

For example, I may get more into video editing. And I know that VST plug-ins (for audio) get more and more CPU-intensive each year and I may want to delve into those more. (Are the multithreading capabilities of the 2500k similar to those of the 2600? That's important for the work I do.) Stuff like that. But I admit that the SSD idea sounds pretty cool too. I think I just need to do a mental cost/benefit analysis on the CPU & graphics.

The thinking behind the 650W was that I tend to cram a bunch of drives into my systems (like 3 or 4).

 

[VirtualLarry]

I don't know about dropping down to the 2500K. I thought that one of the areas in which hyperthreading provided a benefit, was in video editing and encoding. In that case, I would suggest to step UP to a 2600K. The reason for the 'K', is that you can overclock in the future if it ever seems too slow, and, it has the HD3000 graphics, which are only available on the 'K' editions on the desktop chips.

I might wait a month for the Z68 chipset, it allows you to overclock the CPU, AND use the onboard GPU, something that is not possible with either the H67 or P67 chipsets. (Need P67 to OC CPU, but doesn't support integrated graphics and thus quicksync, Need H67 to use IGP and quicksync, but doesn't support overclocking CPU.)

 

[DominionSeraph]

I don't know about dropping down to the 2500K. I thought that one of the areas in which hyperthreading provided a benefit, was in video editing and encoding.

He said "light" editing, and transcoding on the GPU will be much faster than the CPU, right? I don't think I'm missing anything there. (It's been a long time since I compressed any video, though, and it was never anything other than DVD rips.)

I might wait a month for the Z68 chipset,

Oh, snap, Z68 is on Newegg!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...on=z68&x=0&y=0

 

[soundasleep]

Ha! Now I have to consider the Z68 too. I think the hyperthreading can help with video editing, especially if I get more into it in the future. HOWEVER, I was just checking out the forums of my main recording software and apparently many recommend that hyperthreading be turned OFF. http://forum.cockos.com/showthread.php?p=276984 Argh.

If I used a 2500k with the GPU built in, PLUS a dedicated video card, I assume I'd be able to take advantage of both of their strengths?

 

[betasub]

If I used a 2500k with the GPU built in, PLUS a dedicated video card, I assume I'd be able to take advantage of both of their strengths?

See Anandtech first-up review of the Z68 for how the Lucid Virtu app handles this:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4329/intel-z68-chipset-smart-response-technology-ssd-caching-review

 

[aphelion02]

He said "light" editing, and transcoding on the GPU will be much faster than the CPU, right? I don't think I'm missing anything there. (It's been a long time since I compressed any video, though, and it was never anything other than DVD rips.)

According to Anand, transcoding with quicksync is much faster and higher quality than with a discrete gpu.

 

[tynopik]

get the 2600k + z68, that gives you the most future options

but don't get a graphics card yet, you can always add one later if you need it

my other thought is that i'm not sure if the caviar black is worth it over the samsung 2tb that's half the price

 

[DominionSeraph]

I think the hyperthreading can help with video editing, especially if I get more into it in the future. HOWEVER, I was just checking out the forums of my main recording software and apparently many recommend that hyperthreading be turned OFF. http://forum.cockos.com/showthread.php?p=276984 Argh.

I wouldn't worry about the hyperthreading. I have never said to myself, "You know what this computer really needs? Hyperthreading!"

The i5 2500k is a beast. It'll run right with a $1000 6-core 980X for most things. Does it really matter if occasionally the i7 2600 pushes 10% more through its four cores than the i5 2500 does through its?
The difference in price almost pays for a SSD, and THAT will give you more than 10% performance in general feel.

 

[Arglebargle]

If Audio is your main use, you need to do serious research on the motherboard you are looking at. Word I get from following the pros is that the Sandy Bridge motherboards vary wildly in suitability for consistant audio between different models from the same company and even between bios versions of the same motherboard. Stability is a big concern, as getting glitchy audio does not make up for getting the glitchy audio real fast. What's not so important in games can be real bad when your great take is recorded in stuttering fashion.

Also if you tend toward very heavy useage of sample based sets, the bandwidth on 1366 systems can actually be helpful.

 

[mfenn]

The thinking behind the 650W was that I tend to cram a bunch of drives into my systems (like 3 or 4).

That's not really an issue. A drive uses something like 10W. If you leave out the discrete GPU, a 4 drive Sandy Bridge system would only draw something like 150W maxed out.

 

[soundasleep]

This is all great info. I'm gonna price out a system with i5 2500k, lower wattage PSU (quiet one?)...and research which mobo works well with audio apps. And no video card, for now...