Budget video editing PC - $500

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cgipperich

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May 6, 2014
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Hey all! I recently took a position which will require me to do a loooot of editing this coming summer. I'm look for a machine that can effectively run all of the Adobe Creative Suite (less emphasis on After Effects - primarily Premiere and Photoshop). I need something that won't leave me sitting and waiting for hours for projects to render/export. And I'm hoping my budget of $500 will allow for that.

Now I haven't built my own computer before, and if it was mine personally then I may take a stab at it. But this is for my employer so I aim to impress within the confines of the limited budget they allowed for me.

Parts they have on-hand already to reduce the purchase cost include:
-Peripherals: monitor, keyboard, mouse, and even a case (though I don't know which one - just don't include in the build, I can add on later for cheap if need be)
-a "few sticks" of 4gb DDR3 RAM (assuming at least 8gb - so the MOBO would have to be compatible with multiples of those)
-also a "few" 250gb HDDs. I'm not sure if using several of these would beat out having a single 1tb 7200 RPM HDD or not.

So I would need everything else required to make this machine run, which I believe includes the following:
- CPU
- MOBO
- Video Card (1gb at least NVIDIA with CUDA)
- Power supply
- Optical drive
- Sound Card
- OS

If there's any other information I could provide to help my situation please let me know! And thanks a loooot in advance!!!
 
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PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor ($159.97 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock 970 Extreme3 R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($53.00 @ Newegg)
Memory: A-Data XPG V1.0 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($65.70 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R7 260X 2GB Video Card ($104.40 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 500W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24F1ST DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $528.03
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-05-06 16:23 EDT-0400)

No point with a Nvidia GPU at this budget since Photoshop doesn't take advantage of CUDA. Same goes for the sound card, the motherboard audio will be better than any sound card you can buy at this budget.
 
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Solution
Thanks so much for the reply! I wasn't sure if the sound card was absolutely necessary, so thanks for the information. Also, in my post I stated that they do have a "few" sticks of 4gb DDR3 RAM that I can include in the PC. Did you include more in the build for any specific reason? Just making sure =]
 
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GPU- GTX 750 at 120 dollars
CPU- Intel i3 4130 at 120 dollars
MOBO- Gigabyte B85 LGA 1150 MATX board at 80 dollars
Sound card- Asus Xonar DG 5.1 at 30 dollars
Optical drive- Plenty of 30 dollars or less drives
PSU- Startech 300w ATX at 35 dollars
CPU cooler- Cooler master hyper T4 at 30 dollars
Case- cooler master N200 MATX case at 50 dollars

These are all on Amazon and tax free and free shipping. I have built a computer similar to this and it is very powerful for you video needs. You won't regret it. This is probably the best you can get for 500. If you already have a case that will go with the MATX board you can upgrade the GTX 750 to a 750ti. Thats better. Or if your case is only full ATX then you can change the MATX mobo to a regular ATX board for a bit more.





 
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Oh sorry I didn't see you already have ram. In that case you can get a better GPU

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor ($159.97 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus M5A97 LE R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 270 2GB Double Dissipation Video Card ($159.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 500W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24F1ST DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $534.91
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-05-06 16:36 EDT-0400)
 
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I would try something like this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor ($159.97 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock 990FX Extreme3 ATX AM3+/AM3 Motherboard ($93.50 @ Newegg)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 750 1GB Superclocked Video Card ($119.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Antec EarthWatts Green 380W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($44.99 @ Mac Mall)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $523.42
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-05-06 16:32 EDT-0400)

I know it's slightly over, but the 8 core CPU will really help decrease render times. Motherboards have integrated sound and that will work fine.
 
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Actually, skip the case i said and the sound card and get a GTX 750ti and a intel i5 LGA 1150. This will make it more future proof. Then get a regular ATX board because i would imagine thats likely what the case is that you already have. gigabyte H87 LGA 1150 is a good board. This will give you a really really good computer for 500 dollars.
 
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Why do you guys not use Amazon? amazon has the cheapest prices.. even over newegg. And why an AMD cpu? those things run so hot. Trust me on the build I said.. I have nearly the same I have mentioned so I have used it and it would be good for your needs.
 
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An 8320 will blow away a core i3 when it comes to editing. And also the 270 is a better card for the price. As for amazon they do have some good deals, but the majority of the better deals can be found on sites like newegg, ncix, etc.
 
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None of what you just said is true.

OP, for your purposes, the FX-8320 is the a good balance of performance and value. An i7 would be best, but out of your price range, so the 8320 is the next best option.
 
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Well yeah. Just go look at benchmarks all over the internet. Heat, power are obvious.. thats always the case with AMD. Look at benchmarks and all say an i5 is way better then a 8230. AMD cpus are junk. Im just saying.
 
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Also by the way, Adobe uses CUDA.. so you guys are really leading this person away from the truth. I am a video editor and photographer myself and adobe photoshop most definitely takes advantage of CUDA. Also, intel has always worked way better for me.
 
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Once again you have been mislead through marketing techniques.

Here's adobe's cs6 official website and here's a quote pulled from there: http://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/kb/photoshop-cs6-gpu-faq.html

" MGE is new to Photoshop CS6 and uses both the OpenGL and OpenCL frameworks. It does not use the proprietary CUDA framework from nVidia."

Also the link you posted lead to an Nvidia quadro, which is far out of a $500 budget.
 
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Better performance for $50 less? You act like this AMD is going to catch his computer on fire... I don't quite think you understand the pettiness of your argument.
 
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Heat is less life. Also there are tons of plug ins for nvidia cuda for photoshop.. im just saying.. they would be limiting themselves using AMD. Have you guys ever even used this program? I have used it on both AMD and Nvidia.
 
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