Custom PC - Calling the techies

[Mr_Jailer]

Hi,

I'm considering buy this PC for £421 delivered.

h**p://cgi.e**y.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200663363089

The main requirement is to take out the stress of HD Video editing.

As an alternative, I'm considering building a PC myself. Because the last time I built my PC was in 2005, I need help and suggestions from those that are tech savvy with a keen eye for a bargain in finding the right components to do the job. The budget is £450.

The items I would like are:

01. i7 Processor: £239 @ Intel Sandybridge i7-2600K Unlocked Core i7 Quad-Core Processor (3.40GHz, 8MB Cache, Socket 1155): Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories

02. Motherboard with USB 3 ports.

03. Motherboard with HDMI port.


The suggestions I need are as follows and should not cost more than £211 total (£239 allocated for the CPU).

04. Motherboard with at least 400w / 450w PSU, USB 3, HDMI, 1000 LAN.
05. 8GB RAM.
06. 1TB Hard Disk Drive - ideally 7200RPM.
07. DVD-RW (Or I could take this out of exisiting PC) (or Preferably BR Rom).
08. Video Card (not required for game play but nice to have if it helps with transcoding).
09. Wireless connectivity.
10. Tower / Case.
11. Anything else that may give the system a boost.

Let me know what works for you if you had a budget of £450. I'm prepared to acquire parts from Amazon, eBuyer, e**y, Scan, Dabs etc. Please include links of the components with the prices listed. Alternatively item model number will suffice - I will google them.

Ta.

 

[Exos]

Your gong to use the onboard CPU/Video for HD editing? how intensive are we talking here? I would be tempted to do away with that an offload it to an actual graphics card, something like:

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1gb-...ddr5-gpu-975mhz-shader-1950mhz-192-cores-hdmi

only issue you would most likely have to drop your CPU to an i5 to keep in budget (which i have and does me really well 3.3Ghz i5 - £160)

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/inte...-33ghz-hd2000-igp-850mhz-6mb-cache-95w-retail

 

[Mr_Jailer]

Your gong to use the onboard CPU/Video for HD editing? how intensive are we talking here? I would be tempted to do away with that an offload it to an actual graphics card, only issue you would most likely have to drop your CPU to an i5 to keep in budget (which i have and does me really well 3.3Ghz i5 - £145)

What graphics card do you have in mind. The i7 has a capable HD3000 graphics chips built into each of the 4 cores and can match low end PCIE video cards in terms of performance.

The e**y link above relies on onboard graphics too.

Will hyperthreading on the i7 CPU not greatly assist with Video editing moreso than a quad core i5 without HT?

 

[Exos]

Well again, it depends on how intensive your video editing is, your right that HT will assist or at least give a leg up over and above the i5, and my downgrade was based purely on budget, but I've only read on paper not seen real world capabilities of the on board graphics processing of the HD3000.

the other aspect is knowing the level at which the performance of the HD3000 starts to move below an actual card, which from what i understand is a ATI 5400 series or Nvidia 450 series and above.

 

[nara]

I've always understood that the amount of RAM available is more important to video editing than ultimate graphics performance.

You're on the right lines with that 8Gb RAM.

 

[Exos]

It contributes, but If he's just editing a few home videos 8Gb is fine, but if it's something more significant then might need to up that.

 

[little_pob]

I'm loathed to say this (for the reasons below), but get the ebay system. And the only reason is, at the moment, a 1TB mechanical drive alone will cost you over £100!

Be aware:
This isn't the "K" version of the i7 2600 - meaning it is not overclockable and only has the Intel HD 2000 on-die GPU.
It's the budget H61 chipset - no USB3 and no SATA 600 (aka SATA 3).
You really want 1600MHz DDR3 - and ideally 1600MHz CL7 @1.5v.

I know the i7 2600K is the CPU recommended for video editiing, but even before the hard drive prices shot up due to the Thailand floods, I doubt you'd have got that level of system for your budget. An i5 2500K system might have just been possible though.

 

[Mr_Jailer]

I'm loathed to say this (for the reasons below), but get the ebay system. And the only reason is, at the moment, a 1TB mechanical drive alone will cost you over £100!

Be aware:
This isn't the "K" version of the i7 2600 - meaning it is not overclockable and only has the Intel HD 2000 on-die GPU.
It's the budget H61 chipset - no USB3 and no SATA 600 (aka SATA 3).
You really want 1600MHz DDR3 - and ideally 1600MHz CL7 @1.5v.

I know the i7 2600K is the CPU recommended for video editiing, but even before the hard drive prices shot up due to the Thailand floods, I doubt you'd have got that level of system for your budget. An i5 2500K system might have just been possible though.

Hey Pob, thanks for your input. The e**y system comes in a Mini tower and I've noted the budget graphics. Is it possible to fit the Video card suggested by Exos from Scan onto the mATX motheboard? The video card looks beefy. I know the PSU on that system is 400w which should be enough?

I've checked the CPU spec (link below) and yes it is a HD2000. HD3000 and HD2000 both run at 850Mhz. Anything that renders the HD2000 inferior over the i7 2600k's HD3000 (other than a newer relsease date?

Intel® Core

- The USB 3 is a 'nice to have' feature. The PC (which will be for my sister) needs to perform well in terms of Video Editing. Its unfortunate that the price difference on amazon between the 2600 and 2600k is only £3. I understand the 'K' version can be overclocked. I doubt my sister knows how to spell 'OC' let alone use the facility.

 

[little_pob]

Hey Pob, thanks for your input. The e**y system comes in a Mini tower and I've noted the budget graphics. Is it possible to fit the Video card suggested by Exos from Scan onto the mATX motheboard? The video card looks beefy. I know the PSU on that system is 400w which should be enough?

Not all PSUs are created equal. Budget manufacturers often market their PSUs using the "peak power" rather than "sustainable power".

Saying that the TDPs of the i7 2600 and the 550Ti are 95W and 116W respectively. Also basic PSU calculator puts your peak power at just 320W, so you 'should' be ok. However, at the first sign of any stability problems I'd try swapping out the PSU.

I've checked the CPU spec (link below) and yes it is a HD2000. HD3000 and HD2000 both run at 850Mhz. Anything that renders the HD2000 inferior over the i7 2600k's HD3000 (other than a newer relsease date?

Intel® Core

The HD 3000 has double the Execution Units of the HD 2000 (i.e 12 vs 6). Effectively it means the HD 3000 benches better than the HD 2000, but in the real world it isn't going to be twice as good.

- The USB 3 is a 'nice to have' feature. The PC (which will be for my sister) needs to perform well in terms of Video Editing. Its unfortunate that the price difference on amazon between the 2600 and 2600k is only £3. I understand the 'K' version can be overclocked. I doubt my sister knows how to spell 'OC' let alone use the facility.

To be fair you can add a USB3 PCIe x1 expansion card at a later date.

As I hinted at, I'm reluctant to recommend the system just on the current prices of hard drives. The HDD problem could last 3 months, it could last 2 years. If your sister has an existing system you can pull a 1TB drive out of that then go for the self build option and chuck in an SSD as the boot drive (so far unaffected by the supply issue).

 

[Exos]

The card is a PCIe x16 and the board that comes with that PC has one PCIe slot x16 slot, so yes. The card was also just a suggestion but given that HD3000 is near or has almost equivalent performance to the 400 series cards/GPU as opposed to the 500 series card then it will be a jump from the HD2000 which comes with the pre-built from ebay (and if you are really budget conscious could drop to a 400 series) - If you are following what i mean.

EDIT: I do have to side with Pob on this one though and not just because it's from e-bay. a 1TB drive at the moment can set you back anything from £110 upwards.

 

[ManofScience]

yup, same here. That pre-built system with the 1TB, you won't be able to match that, in thess times anyway

 

[Exos]

Priced this up separately:

Intel Core i7 2600 3.4GHz Quad Core Processor
£230.60

8GB 1333Mhz DDR3 RAM
£40 (There are cheaper but giving the benefit of the doubt here)

1TB Hard Drive Storage Space
£110.00

Gigabyte H61-D2-B3 Motherboard
£53.53

DVD Re-Writer +/-
£20

Evo Labs Desktop Mini Tower
£35

Total:£489.13 (Excl Del)

 

[oneman]

Hi end video cards make very little or no difference in video editing. Sandybridge CPU come with a very efficient HD decorder/encorder called quicksync which offers up to 4x improvement in rendering speed. Though you will need to ensure that your video editing software is quicksync compatible.

The K version of the chips has a slightly better video chip and more importantly us unlocked for overclocking. I would rather pay for a 2500k then a 2600 if budget is tight.

 

[Exos]

Hi end video cards make very little or no difference in video editing. Sandybridge

Of course it does as it has to render the content given i doubt he will be using anything with quicksync compatibility, otherwise the likes of Quadro cards wouldn't exist. I would like to see any video editing outfit survive on an i7 HD2000.

EDIT: Arcsoft media converter and Mediaespresso are the only ones from a quick search i could find.

CPU come with a very efficient HD decorder/encorder called quicksync which offers up to 4x improvement in rendering speed. Though you will need to ensure that your video editing software is quicksync compatible.

The K version of the chips has a slightly better video chip and more importantly us unlocked for overclocking. I would rather pay for a 2500k then a 2600 if budget is tight.

Have to remember that the system he has or is purchasing from e-bay is an i7 HD2000 only, of which the graphics capabilities are no better than that of a Nvidia 300 Series card.

However, as yet I still haven't seen any indication of the extent of the editing being done.

 

[Mr_Jailer]

Priced this up separately:

Intel Core i7 2600 3.4GHz Quad Core Processor
£230.60

8GB 1333Mhz DDR3 RAM
£40 (There are cheaper but giving the benefit of the doubt here)

1TB Hard Drive Storage Space
£110.00

Gigabyte H61-D2-B3 Motherboard
£53.53

DVD Re-Writer +/-
£20

Evo Labs Desktop Mini Tower
£35

Total:£489.13 (Excl Del)

I've priced it up too Exos with the main difference that the price included is for an i7 2600k CPU rather than 2600 version on the ebay site:

01. Core i7 2600K: £238.99 delivered (£237.47 for non-k version) @
Intel Sandybridge i7-2600K Unlocked Core i7 Quad-Core Processor (3.40GHz, 8MB Cache, Socket 1155): Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories

02. 1TB WD HD: £59.99 delivered @ Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB SATAIII 6Gb/s 32MB Cache 3.5 Inch Internal Hard Drive - OEM: Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories

03. Evo Labs E6802B Micro ATX: £29.45 delivered @ NEW! Evo Labs E6802B Micro ATX Desktop PC Case 450W PSU | eBay

04. Gigabyte GA-H61M-D2-B3 H61: £53.33 (+ delivery) @ Gigabyte GA-H61M-D2-B3 H61 Motherbaord - Scan.co.uk

05. Corsair CMSO8GX3M2A1333C9 8GB: £36.42 @ Corsair CMX8GX3M2A1333C9 XMS3 8GB Two Memory Module Kit: Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories

06. Sony AD-7261S-0B 24x: £15.99 delivered @ Sony AD-7261S-0B 24x Internal DVDRWRAM SATA Black Lightscribe: Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories

Total = £434.00ish delivered

 

[Exos]

It's up to you, you have a few quid to play around with there if you max is £450. I didn't shop around and just kept to scan prices, although I just saw an (out of stock albeit) drive for £54.

BTW: That's SDRAM you have specc'd (laptop memory)

 

[Mr_Jailer]

However, as yet I still haven't seen any indication of the extent of the editing being done.

Exos, I would guess, maybe a maximum of 2 to 3 HD video creation of parties / events a year and more regular creation of high quality photo slide shows to DVD.

That said, there may be more reason to render home videos (add titles, cut / add footage / manipulate AVCHD / transition effects / add audio etc) with the capable hardware at hand. My sister has the footage on a hard drive but can do very little with it.

 

[Exos]

Just out of curiosity, did you also include software or is that covered already? and if so what was the intention there? I know I'm moving away from your initial intention, but its relevant in relation to onemans post.

 

[little_pob]

To be honest, the i5 2500K is good enough for home videos.

It will be slightly slower than the 2600K for the reasons you mentioned earlier, but it'll get the job done all the same. You are talking a matter of minutes of difference.

With the saving on the CPU you could then add a BD burner, graphics card or swap in a Z86 motherboard.

I do recommend the DDR3 1600MHz for a little bit more than the 1333MHz you've speced:
Either: G-Skill 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1600Mhz RipjawsX Memory Kit.. | Ebuyer.com
or: Corsair Memory Vengeance Blue 8GB DDR3 1600 MHz CAS 9 XMP Dual Channel Desktop - CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B - Scan.co.uk

 

[oneman]

Of course it does as it has to render the content given i doubt he will be using anything with quicksync compatibility, otherwise the likes of Quadro cards wouldn't exist.

I think you are confusing 3D rendering for HD encoding.

As for quicksync, we don't know what software OP is or will be using but as mentioned you do need software support for quicksync to offer any advantage.