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New build - any suggestions appreciated

J

jbbrown

Member
1. What YOUR PC will be used for:
Streaming video (Hulu, Espn3), recording OTA channels using HD Homerun Dual, viewing/editing pictures and video (1080p).

2. What YOUR budget is:
$1,100-$1,300 USD

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from:
USA. Leaning towards building computer on eCollegePC.com

4. IF YOU have a brand preference:
Intel

5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are:
No, I will need all new parts.

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds:
Will not overclock right away, but plan on doing it as some point.

8. What resolution will you be using:
1080p

9. WHEN do you plan to build it:
In the next couple of weeks

10. Do you need to purchase any software to go with the system, such as Windows or Blu Ray playback software:
Looking at video editing software like Cyberlink PowerDirector 10 Ultra.
Also, I do not have a Blu Ray player of any kind, so I was thinking of getting a Blu Ray player (should I buy one with a burner as well?). I have no idea how what software is recommended for playback or how much it cost.


My current build:
CPU: Intel Core i7 3770k (also considering i5 3570k)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 (Intel Z77 HDMI, 2xPCI-E, 8xSATA, 4xDDR3)
RAM: 8GB (4GBx2) Corsair Vengeance 12800 DDR3 1600Mhz
Hard Drive: 1 or 2 TB 7200RPM - also considering an SSD (roughly 120 GB)
CD/DVD Drive: 12X ASUS BC-12B1ST Blu-ray / 16X DVD+/-RW DVD Burner SATA Lightscribe w/Nero
Video Card: 1GB ATI Radeon HD7770 GDDR5
Case: Antec Black Three Hundred Two
PSU: 500watt Cooler Master Extreme Power Plus (will this be enough?)

Logitech MK 260 USB Wireless Keyboard and Mouse
Internal All in 1 Card Reader
3 Port IEEE1394 Firewire Card

Let me know what suggestions you have on this build or if I am forgetting anything.

Thanks!
 
So, no gaming then? In that case, you won't be using a discrete video card except to accelerate encoding if your software supports it.

You don't need a high-end system for streaming video, recording OTA channels most ways (not sure about HD HomeRun), or viewing pictures or 1080p video. It can help with editing pictures and especially with encoding video in a different format.

I would get a 2TB HDD - you'll be amazed how fast those videos fill your drive!
 
Ken g6 said:
So, no gaming then? In that case, you won't be using a discrete video card except to accelerate encoding if your software supports it.

You don't need a high-end system for streaming video, recording OTA channels most ways (not sure about HD HomeRun), or viewing pictures or 1080p video. It can help with editing pictures and especially with encoding video in a different format.

I would get a 2TB HDD - you'll be amazed how fast those videos fill your drive!
Click to expand...

No gaming. It will be used for either streaming video from the internet or viewing/encoding 1080p videos. I thought the video card would help with the encoding and viewing of videos. If that is not the case, maybe I don't need one and the integrated HD Graphics 4000 will be enough?

Good call on the hard drive, I'm sure I will use up 2TB in no time. 😀
 
Apparently PowerDirector 10 supports OpenCL acceleration of effects generation during the NLE part of the process and AMD APP, Nvidia CUDA, and Intel QuickSync acceleration of the encoding portion. So a graphics card could possibly help encoding, but then again QuickSync will give a comparable speedup on its own. I don't know that that justifies a GPU because you need to get a pretty powerful compute-oriented one (i.e. not a 7770) to beat out what QuickSync gives you.

As for the build, why not put it together yourself? Picking out parts is the hard part, actually assembling the machine is rather simple.

Parts-wise:
- CPU: The i7 is good, but unless you will be editing and encoding very heavily, it's probably not worth it over the i5.
- Mobo: No multi-GPU gaming means there's no reason to get a Z77 Extreme4 over the Z77 Pro3.
- RAM: Vengeance is typically overpriced and has tall heatspreaders that block many coolers. Try this Ballistix 8GB set instead.
- SSD : Definitely get one on your budget. The Samsung 830 128GB is excellent.
- HDD : Get a 2TB drive (or a couple) as Ken said. Something like this Seagate 2TB for $110.
- ODD : BD-RW drives are not much more expensive than BD-ROM drives these days, so you might as well get the burner.
- GPU: Use the IGP
- Case: Good
- PSU: I would avoid Cooler Master in general. The CX430 is a good basic unit for builds that don't need much power like yours.
 
Thanks for all the suggestions mfenn! After thinking about it, I think I will build the computer. It will be fun and save me a good chunk of change. 🙂
 
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