~$800 Video Editing / Photoshopping Build

[apark301]

Hey Everyone,

Creating an ATX Mid-Tower build for my friend for video editing and photo-shopping. The person using the computer is pretty tech. savvy, so there will be some overclocking done on the processor. There won’t be much gaming other than the occasional LoL or DOTA2, just for your reference. Please let me know if there are areas that could have more efficient allocation of $$$, and don’t mind spending a couple of extra dollars to optimize performance. Also, have some quick niche questions if anyone could answer at the bottom. Thanks again for reading!

Approximate Purchase Date: Now till Thanksgiving

Budget Range: $700-900

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Video editing, photoshop & after effects, games, movie-watching, regular computer use (surfing the interwebs, Microsoft office, etc).

Are you buying a monitor: No

Parts to upgrade: N/A

Do you need to buy OS: No

Preferred website for parts: Newegg & Amazon

Location: MD

Parts Preference: Intel Processor, Caviar black HDD

Overclocking: Yes (CPU only)

SLI or Crossfire: No

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080

Additional Comments: See intro paragraph above

Why are you upgrading: Friend’s laptop is ancient, time for some desktop computing.

Current build:
CPU: Intel Core i5 – 3570K
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116504
$230

CPU Fan/paste: Cooler Master Hyper 212+
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065
$30

Motherboard: ASRock Fatal1ty P67 Performance 1155 P67 Sata 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835100007
$100

Ram: G. Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2X4GB) DDR3 1600
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231428
$40

GPU: Radeon 7770 HD GHz Edition HIS iCooler
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161402
$135

SSD: Samsung 830 Series 128GB SSD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147163
$110

HDD: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 7200RPM
http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-Caviar-Internal-Desktop/dp/B0036Q7MV0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1351043392&sr=8-1&keywords=caviar+black+1TB
$90

Optical: ASUS 24X DVD+RW Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204
$20

Case: Rosewill Redbone BLACK Steel ATX Mid-Tower
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147159
$45

Power Supply: Corsair Builder Series 500W Certified Active PFC 80 Plus Bronze
$60
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139027

Total: $870

Quick niche questions:
• Since this computer build is for video editing/photoshopping, I heard CUDA based programs run better on Nvidia. In saying so, does anyone know if Sony Vegas, Adobe Photoshop, and Adobe Aftereffects use CUDA? Also, heard a rumor that the Geforce 6xx series have driver issues with CUDA based programs, if anyone could please dispel/clarify these rumors would be greatly appreciated
• Does an SSD increase video editing/photoshopping performance? Heard that I/O speeds matter when doing video editing, but wasn’t 100% sure. Also, does video editing/photoshopping degrade the SSD quickly because it read/writes a lot more times than an average user?
• Does the power supply fit this build?
• Does it help to have more than 8GBs of ram (or have ram running faster than 1600mhz?) for vid editing / photoshopping?

Thank you all for reading and responding!

Best,
Apark301

 

[Emerald]

I would recommend to up it to 16GB since it will almost eliminate using the swapfile when working on bigger projects and therefore it should be faster.

extra $40 should be worth it

 

[zared619]

Three things. I would hold back on the 16GB. You can always add RAM.

You can't use that mobo with a 3rd gen i5. You need a z75 or z77. This will get the job done.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157297

Lastly, get low profile RAM so you don't interfere with the CPU cooler
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231546

Other than that, you should be golden.

 

[jmsellars1]

All looks fine except for the mobo, I'd get Z77 instead. Much better suited to Ivy bridge.

Another thought as well, the FX-8350 would be another great choice. It would be better for the work while still being more than fine for games. It's a tad cheaper too.

16GB of RAM would be nice as well, it saves you using the page file which keeps your SSD running faster for longer. I'm sure it wouldn't do any harm for the work as well and it's only like $30 more even for 1866Mhz stuff (which I would recommend for AMD but not Intel.)

Although your build is fine, this is another good alternative:

AMD FX-8350 - $219.99
16GB (2x8GB) G.Skill Sniper 1866Mhz - $79.99
ASRock 970 EXTREME3 AM3+ - $84.99
MSI GTX 650 1GB - $119.99 OR MSI HD 7770 1GB - $124.99
Crucial M4 128GB - $99.99
Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB - $84.99
SeaSonic S12II 430B 430W - $59.99
Antec Three Hundred - $54.99
Coolermaster Hyper 212 Evo - $34.99
Samsung DVD Burner - $20.99

Total - $860.90 before shipping and $20 of rebates (or $865.90 with the HD 7770.)

Gives you much better performance in the workstation stuff (especially if the CPU is overclocked) while still being fine for games. That GPU won't be enough to make the most of that CPU in games anyway, even if the i5 is better at that kind of thing. Gives you a nicer case and PSU as well for basically the same price.

EDIT: Lastly and least importantly, 8 cores at 4Ghz+ with 16GB RAM sounds awesome haha

EDIT2: Also, just to try and answer some of those questions:

- Not too sure on the CUDA stuff, sorry.
- The SSD will improve performance in certain aspects of it and will generally make the system feel a lot faster. Definitely worth it.
- The PSU is fine there, that build would pull like 200W max under load. Maybe 250-300 with overclocking. The one I quoted will pull more, more like ~250W or 300-350 with overclocking. Seasonic PSU's are excellent quality though, I'd take that 430W Seasonic over the 500W Corsair CX series for almost any build.
- Anything over 8GB and 1333Mhz isn't going to make a massive difference. I think there will be a benefit for this build in particular but nothing huge. RAM is cheap though, you pay like $30-40 more to go from 8GB 1333Mhz to 16GB 1866Mhz.

EDIT3: Just realised the GTX 650 1GB is $5 cheaper and is a slightly better card I beleive. Also you will then have CUDA.

 

[maestro0428]

That p67 board will not work with that cpu. Like already said, get a z77 board like the ASRock extreme 4. I would go with a comparable Nvidia graphics card so you get CUDA, like the 550ti. 16GB of memory should be good, but get 2*8 sticks so you can upgrade in the future. I always recommend Seasonic for a power supply and the 520w modular unit should fit the bill nicely. The rest of your build looks very well thought out.