Question $ 700 for a CPU - GPU - MB combo for light video editing and heavy office work

Robomcd

Distinguished
Nov 27, 2013
45
0
18,530
My 12-year old DIY video editing PC (i7 2600K, Asus P8Z68-V Pro Gen3 MB, 16GB Ram) really is getting too old and the original graphic card (also Asus) is kaput. I will start video editing again, so I need a new rig and started to look into today’s DIY builds for our non-profit.

The combo of Asus ProArt Z790 with a i5 14 600K and a Asus RTX 4070ti looked nice … until I saw the prices here in the Czech Republic: only those three components set you back well over $ 1000. And I realized that for what I want to do, this is probably serious overkill.

Start look a bit further, and got crazy from all possibilities. Now looking for the optimum combo of MB (Z790, H770, B780?), CPU (Intel i5 14th gen) and GPU (Intel Arc B850 or RTX 4060?) with upgrade possibilities if we have more money. Budget for those three components around $ 700, the rest of the stuff I will cannibalize from our other PCs or buy later.

I have stand-alone Adobe Premiere Pro CS6, Dreamweaver, Chief Architect, Office pro.

I have a lot of unused video footage from both phones and dedicated video camera’s. Now I am partly retiring and finally want to go through that and make some nice videos for our non-profit center and for our family. Sometimes I play games, but not fanatic and not high-speed or multi-player stuff. More trucks (I have a 1965 M51A2) than F1 if you get my drift.

But for my daily work and as news junk, I often have 30+ tabs open in a browser, with four Pegasus Mail clients running and several files in Word and Excel open as well, and listening to music (streaming or from my collection) if I am not on zoom meetings. And I don’t like slow or loud PCs.

The CPU will be a i5 14th gen, a 14 600 would probably (?) be ideal but maybe the lower 14 400 or 14 500 is enough, I am not into over-clocking.

Motherboard: I was looking into Asus again, wondering if a ProArt B760 would be a good choice or a Prime Z790?

Now I came across two reviews that might make an interesting alternative: Intel Arc B850 GPU and the Gigabyte Z790 Gaming x ax MB.

What would be the best balanced combo of these components, or is there a serious cheap and better alternative?

For the rest, every combination would be in put together with 16 RAM DDR5 (can always add later) and one M.2. SSD for OS and programs.

Approximate Purchase Date: within four weeks

Budget Range: € 700 (in Czech Republic!)

System Usage from Most to Least Important:

Office work (four email clients running, word, excel, zoom meetings)
Photo work, light video editing, and design work
Web browsing (often 30+ tabs open at the same time)
Occasional gaming (not high-speed or multi-player).

Parts Not Required: keybord, mouse, monitor, speakers, OS, case, PSU, additional SSDs for data storage.

Country: Czech Republic, Europe

Parts Preferences: ASUS or Gigabyte.

Overclocking: No

Monitor Resolution: Full HD or higher, 4K not necessary
 
Most would probably point you to 32 RAM now rather than 16 now and 16 more later.

Are you averse to MSI? It seems Asus isn't getting as many favorable mentions as it did 10 or 15 years ago when you last built.

I'd at least consider a mid to upper range micro ATX board rather than a full ATX board in the same price range. And B series rather than Z. All intending to allow you to direct the spending elsewhere (RAM, CPU, OS drive; video card).

Performance differential on a common benchmark between 14500 and 14600K is about 7 percent on single thread and 22 percent on multi-thread.

14400 versus 14600K is about 53 percent in favor of 14600K on multi-thread and 13 percent on single thread.
 
First, thanks for the replies.

Not fixed on Asus, but got very good and long-time results with both Acer (laptops) and Asus (components). As you said, that is over 10 years ago. At that time, msi was ok for middle of the road, but most reviews did not include them in the top.

That was why I also included this Gigabyte MB, looked like a cheap but good Z790 board, which later could be changed for a better MB.

Case type: I have space enough, so an ATX is no problem and allows for more cooling (bigger fans + better air flow = less noise) and old drives installed.

Difference between 14 600k and the 14 400: is that with the 14 600 K in max overclock or is it betwen the basic versions, so the 14 400 against the 14 600?

Actually, the 14 600 version is more expensive than the ..K version. The only reason for getting the non-K versions would be the lower temps.

Sites: I alwyas check heureka.cz and alza.cz

Heureka.cz, a site which checks all other sites for you. the link goes directly to the PC components.

Alz.cz is a large chain also in Germany, and I get some VIP discount there (very small).

Prices here:
i5 14600: 7 nm $ 350 (??)
i5 14 600 K: 10 nm (?) $ 245 (without cooler)
i5 14 400: $ 185 in discount (not mentioned if cooler is included)
i5 14 400 F: $ 161 including Intel Laminar RM1 Cooler

Gigabyte z 790 gaming x ax MB: $ 255

Asus Tuf Gaming H770: as of $ 235
Asus Prime Z790: as of $ 235
Asus ProArt B760: $ 255
Asus Rog Strix B760: as of 275
Asus Tuf Gaming Z790: as of $ 290
Asus ProArt Z790: as of $ 510!

Intel Arc B850 Limited Edition : $ 320
The Asrock version is similar priced. All on pre-order but that is no problem for me.
Amazon.DE has a WEELIAO Gunnir 3 fan version with 2580 MHz for a shocking $ 470 already in stock.

Gigabyte RTX 4060 windforce 2xfan: $310
Asus RTX 4060 dual evo OC 2xfan: $ 325

The better versions and those with 3 fans are at least around $ 50 more expensive.

The cheapest 4060 Ti is the Gainward Ghost 8 Gb at $ 425
The 4070 starts at $ 590, and the 4070 Super at $ 650