ATX upgrade advice

[smack64]

Hi All. I have been out of the home built PC world for a while, so my knowledge is way out of date. I have a home built ATX rig that has some stability issues (without overclocking) and is a bit long on the tooth, so I need to do some upgrades. Essentially the only thing I can re-use is likely the case and power supply.

Current specs are:
Motherboard: Foxconn Bloodrage
CPU: Intel i7 920 2.66 Ghz
Graphics: (2) Gforce GTX GE460 in SLI
RAM: (3) 4GB DDR3 3600 (MB has three DIMM slots but is only recognizing 2 of 3 sticks)
HD: (2) WD VelociRaptor 256GB in RAID 0 config
OS: Windows 7 32-bit

Not to delve into the flaky issues of my current machine too much, but I want to run away from a RAID 0 config, preferably in favor of a solid state HD with larger capacity. Motherboard has lousy support and a host of issues, sometimes doesn’t post, etc.

I am a news photographer and pilot. I am currently converting years of work (my life’s work) to the first of probably several 16 TB NAS servers in RAID 5 configuration: converting from negatives (actively scanning), copying CD’s and DVD’s, and copying from external USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 drives. In addition, my priorities are:

A. Fast rendering and conversion of video files, and video editing for work
B. Running X Plane 10, and Microsoft FSX at high settings
C. Fast read and write to the NAS server,
D. USB 3.0 (and any other emerging standard I am unaware of: isn’t there a newer USB coming out?)
E. Some Call of Duty for fun


With this in mind, some specific questions, keeping in mind not unlimited budget, but best bang for the buck:

1. Intel or AMD? (Some say AMD is more bang for the buck, but AMD can’t match the higher end Intel processors)

2. Which processor would you recommend?

2. Which motherboard for my needs? I am an audiofile so I would like room for an audio card, unless the on-board audio is excellent. Right now I don’t because the only available port is blocked due to the dual video card configuration.

3. Should I go dual video card again or is that overkill?

4. How much RAM and what for my needs?

5. Significant read/write advantages for solid state HD’s?

 

[synphul]

I'm not sure what your budget is. Some general recommendations would be intel, an i7 6700/6700k, 8-16gb of ram, motherboard is a bit dependent on which cpu you choose. For instance if your budget allows an i7 6800k might be something to consider. It's a 6 core/12 thread cpu while the 6700k is a 4 core/8 thread cpu. Generally higher thread/core counts offer better performance in video editing depending on the program. The 6800k uses a 2011v3 motherboard and the 6700k uses an 1151 motherboard.

Which video card and for what purpose, are you using the gpu to aid in your video editing? Unless you're gaming at 4k resolution with triple A games dual gpu's aren't likely needed. A mid grade modern gpu like the rx 480 or gtx 1060 will likely crush the performance of your 460 sli setup several times over.

Ssd's are much faster than hdd's when dealing with large amounts of data like that, a single sata 3 ssd likely being faster than your raided velociraptors and an nvme pcie based ssd being even faster yet. There's a bit of a price premium there though so again depends on budget.

File copying speeds are going to largely be based off the media they're on. If on a usb 2.0 drive, it will run at those speeds. Usb 3.0, same thing. Cd's and dvd's can only be read so fast, the optical media will be what holds things back and using an ssd won't make that part any faster. You might be thinking of usb type c or usb 3.1, part making use of those things are the compatibility. Usb is backward compatible so if you have a usb 2.0 external drive it will work with usb 3.0 but it won't make an older drive somehow faster.

What may help if you have a lot of discs that need read/copied to the pc then transferred to the nas, consider multiple optical drives. Dvd drives can be had for around $20 or less. That way you can copy 2 cd's/dvd's at a time to the pc. (It would help to have a different physical drive for each one to output/save to so a single drive isn't trying to save data from 2 sources at the same time).

Onboard audio has come a long way, not sure how it compares with the audio you have. I'd look for a motherboard with a more advanced onboard option and try it. If it's what you're happy with, great, if not then consider an additional audio card.

Speed to the nas will be determined by what the nas itself can handle (is it limited to 100mbit? does it support 1000mbit/gigabit ethernet?). Most motherboards for modern cpu's like the 6700/6700k have network adapters that support gigabit ethernet (1000mbit). What type of cable you have will matter, is it cat5, cat5e, cat6? Cat5 (plain, older version) won't support 1gbps speeds, only up to 100mbit. Cat5e, cat6 etc will support the faster speeds. Everything has to be 'on the same page' though to get the faster speeds, a slower cable or an nas or drive configuration that won't sustain those kind of transfer speeds and you'll be moving data as fast as the slowest component. A single ssd should be able to handle pushing data to the nas just fine, no need to run the ssd in raid on the pc.

 

[smack64]

Wow, thank you. You answered a lot. I don't really have a budget in mind, but more likely I am willing to spend the right money in the right places to have a machine to do the things well I need it to do, for several years forward.

Video rendering and conversion can take a long time. I know my current PC handles the conversion tasks in MPEG Streamclip almost twice as fast as my company issued Macbook Pro. An even faster machine to shorten that time would be well worth the money (I can twiddle my thumbs for over an hour staring at a progress bar just for one project). So based on your advice I'm likely to go for the i7 6800k CPU. That makes the mobo choice a lot easier as well.

Would dual video cards help in video editing or would a combo of the i7 6800k and a singe GPU be fine? I don't know which one handles the load for video editing.

Also, same question for running Microsoft Flight Simulator X, and X-Plane 10 (they generate scenery and accurate terrain on the fly).

I definitely want SSD's. Would you recommend one larger SSD for the OS and files and programs, or two smaller with one dedicated for the OS and one for programs and storage?

I'll take your advice on the onboard audio. I imagine for a higher end motherboard for that higher end CPU, it will have decent audio. I forgot to mention I am slowly converting my vinyl and CD collection to digital. Would that have any bearing on whether I buy an external audio card or not? I have an ART USB Phono Plus interface for the turntable.

The NAS is a whole other story. I have a Buffalo Terastaion 3200 16TB server in the default RAID 5. I am finding its copy speeds painfully slow. It even has a direct copy function to bypass the PC completely, by plugging directly into the USB ports in the back, and it only partially completes the task, and only copies media files, no better than 20Mb/sec. Copy speeds from wither the Macbook Pro, my Mac Mini and my PC average only about 20 Mb/sec. Often gives errors while copying,etc. About to troubleshoot with Buffalo, but I am pulling my hair out with this NAS server that I am beginning to think my be defective. That having been said, all CAT 5e cables, server and motherboard have 1Gb LAN connections. At least with a new motherboard, processor, and maybe even brand new cables to complete the exorcism, I can at least isolate the issues to the server.

I've built my own machines for some time. I'm no expert, but I re-educate myself every time (every 4 or 5 years) through the great resources of this site. This machine, however, was built by a brother-in-law right when I was going to build one for myself. He was the one who set it up in RAID 0 (SSD's were a lot more money 5 years ago) and I have no intention of going that route.

Forums have plenty of folks agonizing over this motherboard, as its often finicky to post up, often doesn't read all three sticks of RAM, etc. The machine often freezes up and needs a hard reboot. I will be thrilled to start anew with a fresh start and clean OS install.

Thanks so much for your guidance! Looking forward to your thoughts again.

EDIT: Oh, forgot to ask: How much performance difference do you think I would see for video editing and conversion between the 6700k and the 6800k? Also, does AMD have anything comparable in performance for a lower price?

 

[logainofhades]

AMD does not have anything comparable, performance wise. It's 4yr old tech, after all. The 6800k seems to be a more sensible approach, given the work you are doing. This would work, and give you plenty of room, for extra storage. Hitachi/HGST NAS 7200rpm drives are pretty decent drives.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6800K 3.4GHz 6-Core Processor ($428.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG A80 128.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($123.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock X99 Taichi ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard ($219.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($145.26 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Samsung 950 PRO 512GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($315.62 @ B&H)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1080 8GB G1 Gaming Video Card ($624.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Rosewill THRONE-Window ATX Full Tower Case ($119.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA P2 850W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($130.49 @ B&H)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NSD1 DVD/CD Writer ($38.36 @ Amazon)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Pro OEM 64-bit ($109.98 @ My Choice Software)
Total: $2257.56
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-10-04 11:41 EDT-0400