Want to build a gaming/video editing pc

[boagz57]

So I'm thinking of maybe trying to assemble a pc. I want a pretty powerful pc for gaming and video editing and found that the only way that is possible for my price range is to try and do it myself. I was looking to build something around $1500 (or less if possible). Now after searching the internet for a bit I found a video on youtube for a $2000 video editing/gaming rig (ULTIMATE Build a Better $2000 Gaming & Silent Workstation PC Computer "How To" Guide - YouTube). I was wondering if anyone had any ideas on how to take down the price a little with some different options that might work just as well. I was already think on getting just the ivy bridge i7 instead of the haswell and maybe a smaller SSD. Any feedback would be appreciated! Oh, and here are the specs from the video if you don't want to watch it:

Intel Core i7 4770K "Haswell" CPU
Amazon.com: Intel Core i7-4770K Quad-Core Desktop Processor 3.5 GHZ 8 MB Cache BX80646I74770K: Computers & Accessories


Intel 520 Series 240GB SSD
Intel 520 Series SSDSC2CW240A3K5 - Newegg.com


ASUS Sabertooth Z87 motherboard
Newegg.com - ASUS SABERTOOTH Z87 LGA 1150 Intel Z87 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard


Fractal Design Define R4
Fractal Design Define R4 Black Pearl w/ USB 3.0 ATX Mid Tower Silent PC Computer Case - Newegg.com


GeForce GTX 780 video card
Newegg.com - MSI N780-3GD5 GeForce GTX 780 3GB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 SLI Support Video Card


WD Green 3TB hard drive
Western Digital WD Green WD30EZRX 3TB IntelliPower 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - Newegg.com


Corsair Vengeance 16GB DDR3 RAM
CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 Desktop Memory Model CMZ16GX3M2A1600C9 - Newegg.com


Seasonic G Series 550W power supply
SeaSonic G Series SSR-550RM 550W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply - Newegg.com


bequiet! Dark Rock 2 CPU cooler
Amazon.com : Dark Rock PRO 2 - Prozessorkühler : Computer Cpu Cooling Fans : Electronics


Beyerdynamic Custom One Pro headphones
Razer Deathadder 2013 gaming mouse
Filco Majestouch Cherry MX Brown 104 key Stealth printed mech. keyboard
ASUS Pro Art 248Q 24" monitor

 

[slh28]

My suggestions:

- Stick with Haswell, newer is always better.
- Stick with the 240GB SSD, a 120/128GB one will fill up very quickly especially when you consider overprovisioning.
- Downgrade the mobo to something like the ASUS Z87-A unless you know you'll need the extra features of the Sabertooth.
- The GTX 780 is obviously the quickest card out there but it is also very poor value for money, you might want to consider downgrading to a GTX 770. Your monitor is only 1920x1200 @60Hz so you might not even be able to notice the difference between those 2 cards.
- Get a 750-850W PSU in case you ever want to add another card in SLI in the future. It's always a good idea to invest in a decent PSU for future upgrades.

 

[LukeDJ]

I agree with above, except I'd also:

Upgrading to a WD caviar Black if you are going to be playing games off of it (especially RPG's). Downgrade to a 1TB if you want to save cash

Get 8GB of Memory instead of 16GB. You can always upgrade later.

 

[boagz57]

Thanks for your insights! Very appreciated. slh28 as far as the motherboard goes I guess I just want something that will last and have upgradeable options. Does the one you suggested have good potential for upgrades? Sorry if its obvious, I don't know what I need to look for in regards to mobo's and upgrade potential.

 

[boagz57]

So on another forum someone suggested for me to get a motherboard with the 2011 socket type. His reasons were as follows:

'Socket 2011 will be around for quite a while yet'

"Socket 2011 also one ups mainstream platforms with much greater PCI Express Bandwidth for the slots. It supports PCIe 3.0 spec, but they have much more PCIe lanes to transmit data.
Which is why a lot of systems allow for full speed x16, x16 SLI/Crossfire setups, or even x16, x16, x8 setups (40 lanes in all, socket 1366 has 36 Lanes total, mainstream setups are usually limited to around 16-24 I believe)"
I was looking to build a video editing/gaming pc and the motherboard he also suggested was this one:
ASRock X79 Extreme6 ATX Intel Motherboard - Newegg.com

So my question is do you guys agree with him? Should I go with motherboards with the 2011 socket type if I want i7 processors?

 

[slh28]

The 2011 socket is a different family of CPUs and to make it worthwhile you'll want to get a six core 3930K. You will see improvements over the 4770K when it comes to video editing but in terms of gaming they are pretty much on par. However the 3930K is significantly more expensive and so are X79 motherboards.

At the moment you're only running one GPU so the number of total PCI-E lanes is irrelevant. If you were to run two GPUs the Asus Z87-A will run them at PCI-E 3.0 x8x8 which is about a 1% difference to x16x16. So in terms of gaming you won't see any real world difference between socket 2011 and 1150.

If you use your PC a lot for video editing and encoding then it's up to you to decide if you want to go the 2011 route but if you do decide it's worth the premium then wait a month for Ivy Bridge E to launch.

 

[St1ckM4n]

Considering your budget and your peripherals:
- Just go with 16GB RAM.
- Keep the 3TB Green to store your archives, but purchase extra WD Black 1TB to install games on and keep active projects on.
- GTX770 for better performance/$
- PSU needs to be upgraded.
- That CPU cooler is ridiculously expensive, for a brand that isn't very well-known. Might as well get a Noctua.

 

[Jad Chaar]

Great rig. The PSU needs an upgrade and you can downgrade the GPU to a 770 since your monitor's resolution is not that high.

 

[boagz57]

What do you guys think of the GTX 760 with 4GB of ram? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130937. It was recommended to me by another user. Don't know how it matches up performance wise with the GTX 770 though.

 

[St1ckM4n]

Don't need 4GB RAM edition. Spend the money elsewhere.

 

[Jad Chaar]

Don't need 4GB RAM edition. Spend the money elsewhere.

Remember though, he is also doing video editing. But yeah, the 4GB will still not be used by any video editing software unless you are rendering at 4K resolution.

 

[boagz57]

That's the other thing I was wondering JC. So whats more important then for video editing, computer RAM or your graphics card's VRAM? or both?

 

[Jad Chaar]

That's the other thing I was wondering JC. So whats more important then for video editing, computer RAM or your graphics card's VRAM? or both?

Probably the RAM with todays software. But with hardware acceleration becoming a larger thing in modern software, that may increase the importance of VRAM rather than RAM.

I agree with above, except I'd also:

Upgrading to a WD caviar Black if you are going to be playing games off of it (especially RPG's). Downgrade to a 1TB if you want to save cash

Get 8GB of Memory instead of 16GB. You can always upgrade later.

He needs 16GB. It is not just a gaming machine.