New Build for Video Editing, input is appreciated!

[limitzero]

Hi everyone, hoping to get your input on my build.

1. PC will be used for: Video Editing / Photography / Recording via external TV Tuner, occasional gaming (nothing crazy). This will more be a work Desktop, I work professionally as a Video Editor and need something fast!

2. Budget: $1400-1700

3. Country: CANADA, will be purchasing all parts from www.ncix.com (they allow price matching so I can price match parts via other competitors ala Newegg.ca, Tigerdirect.ca, etc)

4. Brand preference: Intel for CPU, Asus Mobo, WD hdd, Antec case

5. Using current parts: Just my Happaupage external TV Tuner


7. I will NOT be overclocking, system WILL RUN at default speeds.

8. What resolution will you be using? 1920x1080 I believe, the maximum my Dell 23 inch monitor allows me (sorry if this is too vague, might upgrade to a better monitor in the future but for now I am happy with what I have)

9. WHEN do you plan to build it? As early as possible, within the next 2 weeks.


Edit:

Here's what I ended up going with

- Intel Core i7 3770K Unlocked Quad Core Hyperthreading Processor LGA1155 3.5GHZ Ivy Bridge 8MB Retail
- ASUS Maximus V Gene mATX LGA1155 Z77 DDR3 CrossFireX SLI 2PCI-E16 1PCI-E1 SATA3 USB3.0 Motherboard
- Crucial M4 SSD Micron C400 128GB 2.5IN Solid State Disk Flash Drive SATA3 6Gbps
- EVGA GeForce GTX 550 Ti Fpb 951MHZ 1024MB 4356MHZ GDDR5 2XDVI-I Mini-HDMI PCI-E Video Card
- Mushkin Enhanced Blackline Frostbyte 16GB 2X8GB PC3-12800 DDR3-1600 CL9 Dual Channel Memory Kit
- Corsair Builder Series CMPSU-600CXV2 600W ATX Power Supply Active PFC 120MM Fan
- Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB SATA3 6GB/S 7200RPM 64MB Cache 3.5IN Dual Proc Hard Drive OEM
- Zalman Z11 Plus Mid Tower ATX Case Black 4X5.25 1X3.5 5X3.5INT No PS Front USB3.0 & Audio
- Noctua NH-D14 LGA1155/1156/1366/AM3 I7/I5/PHENOM Heatpipe Cooler W/ NF-P14 140MM & NF-P12 120MM Fan

 

[krnmastersgt]

CPU: Not sure if this is going to be worth it over a 2600K or 3770K but seems an alright pick.
CPU Cooler: Completely unnecessary for your build as you will not be OCing, stock cooler should be fine or a 212+ if you want it a bit cooler/quieter.
Case: I personally think people should pick cases they like as they have to look at it every day.
Drives: Not a fan of 5400 RPM drives, but the price is decent for the storage capacity so as long as you're fine with it being slower. For the price I'd say just opt for a Crucial M4/Samsung 830 for your SSD, bit slower in benchmarks but more thoroughly tested and reliable firmware/controller.
Video Card: You're dropping an awful lot on a video card for occasional gaming, do you play many modern/recent titles that might stress something quite a bit cheaper like the 6850 or the GTX 460?
PSU: This unit seems to be popping up a lot recently, it's an alright PSU but I'd rather just go with this XFX Core 450W for $45 AR.
Memory: Do you think you'll need 32 GB for your work?
Motherboard: Holy hell is this overpriced, you should be be just fine with this MSI X79 board for $265 AR, there's an even cheaper board in this other MSI X79 board but its limited to only 4 DIMM slots, not sure if that's an issue though (only $230).

1: The 550 isn't really worth it for how much it costs. I believe the performance is the same/worse than the 460 as well.
2: Way overpriced motherboard, doesn't actually get you anything.
3: Up to you, the Twelve Hundred is freaking massive though, why do you need such a large case?

 

[Ken g6]

Here's a question you can answer as a professional video editor: What is the normal output format you use? Do you always encode to MPEG2? MPEG4/H.264? Or are you almost always working with some proprietary intermediate format in whatever your video editor is? This determines whether you should get a few fast cores (3770K or even Xeon E3-1230 V2) or more cores (3930K or similar Xeon). And also whether you should possibly get more fast drives, either SSDs or RAIDed HDDs. (Or even RAIDed SSDs, but that's probably above your budget.)

Related to that, what software are you using? Adobe CS6? Something else? This affects what video card you need, if any beyond the onboard Intel graphics.

Edit: More questions. Do you need Windows? Did you know Windows Home Premium doesn't use more than 16GB RAM?

 

[DSF]

I agree with krnmastersgt, it would be nice to hear a little bit more detail about what games you play.

 

[limitzero]

First off, thanks for the replies guys.

I have Windows 7 Professional x64 DVD which I will be installing once done building the machine.

For my work, I mainly use Corel VideoStudio Pro X5, and Adobe CS5. I am encoding in variety of formats depending on the job, but safe to say a good chunk of it is in mpeg4/.h264

Right now only 2 games I am playing is Skyrim and Diablo 3, but I want to be flexible as there is couple new games that are coming out later this year (GTA V, Tomb Raider and Assassin's Creed 3) I would play occasionally for like couple hours on the weekend, nothing too crazy, and just whichever title catches my interests.

@krnmastersgt
Thanks for your inputs, I will change OCZ to Crucial M4
I am not too sure about the video card (one of the reasons I posted). I want flexibility going forward to play some of the newer games in the next 2 yrs I guess, but yeah, can always shift backwards if there's not much of a difference performance/need-wise.

How are MSI's compared to Asus? I've had some unpleasant experience with MSI boards way back in the 2003-04 era, ever since then I've stuck it out with Asus. I'll look into the cheaper Asus LGA2011 boards ($260) - http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=66020&vpn=P9X79&manufacture=ASUS&promoid=1207 what do you guys think of this mobo?

As for memory, I guess I can go 2x8GB for now ($110) , and if needed upgrade later on. (http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=68147&vpn=PGD316G1600ELK&manufacture=Patriot&promoid=1360)

As for the cooler, my room is very tight for space with poor air circulation, the heat is unbearable in the summer months and I always have my system running 24/7, I know this probably plays very little into it but I am not comfortable with the idea of a stock cooler, but don't mind downgrading, the 212+ looks like a good option, thanks.

 

[krnmastersgt]

My most recent MSI board basically killed itself but I haven't had issues with the others I've used. And that ASUS you just linked would be fine for the job, don't get suckered into that "thermal armor" gimmick as that does nothing for your system.

For the video card I think that a 560 or 560Ti would be alright for your system, maybe bumped up to a 7850 if you can afford it in the budget, but as this is system is meant to be used primarily for your job you should focus on making it as strong as possible for that purpose.

As for cooling, unfortunately even the best air cooler around will have trouble if the ambient temps in the room are very high. If you have money leftover later, maybe get a portable AC unit for your room?

 

[mfenn]

OK first standard disclaimer: DO NOT custom build a system that you rely on for work. Unless you can afford to have a ready spare of every single part (basically buy a duplicate system), you can't afford to custom build. Downtime when a deadline is coming up is death for your employment/business. Proceed directly to HP or Dell and have them sell you a nice system with next business day onsite service.

More generally, I'm not really seeing the point of the LGA 2011 platform unless you're going to buy a 6-core CPU or more than 32 GB of RAM. Since you're at a quad and 16 GB, save yourself a boatload of money and go 1155.

 

[limitzero]

I took mfenn's advice and ended up going with the following, just waiting for the parts to arrive now


- Intel Core i7 3770K Unlocked Quad Core Hyperthreading Processor LGA1155 3.5GHZ Ivy Bridge 8MB Retail
- ASUS Maximus V Gene mATX LGA1155 Z77 DDR3 CrossFireX SLI 2PCI-E16 1PCI-E1 SATA3 USB3.0 Motherboard
- Crucial M4 SSD Micron C400 128GB 2.5IN Solid State Disk Flash Drive SATA3 6Gbps
- EVGA GeForce GTX 550 Ti Fpb 951MHZ 1024MB 4356MHZ GDDR5 2XDVI-I Mini-HDMI PCI-E Video Card
- Mushkin Enhanced Blackline Frostbyte 16GB 2X8GB PC3-12800 DDR3-1600 CL9 Dual Channel Memory Kit
- Corsair Builder Series CMPSU-600CXV2 600W ATX Power Supply Active PFC 120MM Fan
- Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB SATA3 6GB/S 7200RPM 64MB Cache 3.5IN Dual Proc Hard Drive OEM
- Zalman Z11 Plus Mid Tower ATX Case Black 4X5.25 1X3.5 5X3.5INT No PS Front USB3.0 & Audio
- Noctua NH-D14 LGA1155/1156/1366/AM3 I7/I5/PHENOM Heatpipe Cooler W/ NF-P14 140MM & NF-P12 120MM Fan

Can't wait to build it!

 

[lehtv]

What's the point with 550 Ti...?

 

[mfenn]

I took mfenn's advice and ended up going with the following, just waiting for the parts to arrive now


- Intel Core i7 3770K Unlocked Quad Core Hyperthreading Processor LGA1155 3.5GHZ Ivy Bridge 8MB Retail
- ASUS Maximus V Gene mATX LGA1155 Z77 DDR3 CrossFireX SLI 2PCI-E16 1PCI-E1 SATA3 USB3.0 Motherboard
- Crucial M4 SSD Micron C400 128GB 2.5IN Solid State Disk Flash Drive SATA3 6Gbps
- EVGA GeForce GTX 550 Ti Fpb 951MHZ 1024MB 4356MHZ GDDR5 2XDVI-I Mini-HDMI PCI-E Video Card
- Mushkin Enhanced Blackline Frostbyte 16GB 2X8GB PC3-12800 DDR3-1600 CL9 Dual Channel Memory Kit
- Corsair Builder Series CMPSU-600CXV2 600W ATX Power Supply Active PFC 120MM Fan
- Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB SATA3 6GB/S 7200RPM 64MB Cache 3.5IN Dual Proc Hard Drive OEM
- Zalman Z11 Plus Mid Tower ATX Case Black 4X5.25 1X3.5 5X3.5INT No PS Front USB3.0 & Audio
- Noctua NH-D14 LGA1155/1156/1366/AM3 I7/I5/PHENOM Heatpipe Cooler W/ NF-P14 140MM & NF-P12 120MM Fan

Can't wait to build it!

Not a bad list, the only real weak point is that the mobo is much to expensive for what it is. For the purposes of this machine, something like the ASRock H77M would have been fine.

Oh yeah, and you did buy two of everything to self-insure, right?

 

[lehtv]

If you went with H77M, you wouldn't be able to OC... so 3770K and D14 would be pointless

 

[happysmiles]

system looks good
Surprised you didn't get a SSD though, video editing = a fat load of data!

 

[limitzero]

@happysmiles - I did get a SSD, its there, Crucial M4 120GB

@lehtv - wanted a lower end GTX card which can handle some rare gaming on my off times but did not want to dish out too much money as it was getting up there on my budget so I opted for the 550 GTX , got a good price on it

@mfenn - mainly went with the Asus V Gene after reading some good things about it and how its super easy to OC for a newbie like me. I figure I can easily push the i3770k with the DH-14 to 4.4ghz, according to couple reviews on Google.