Build Advice New Build - - do I need a graphics card ?

[dragomaster]

And if so, how much VRam?

I do primarily solar system simulations that demands high usage of the power supply and CPU. I also do light video editing using Adobe Premier and Power Director 365. I do some image editing using Photoshop. I run a lot of astronomy software like SkyTools Pro, C2A, Cartes du Ciel, Stellarium and MegaStar. Use Office Pro, etc. Some browsing and watching movies online in 4k. No gaming.

Is there any reason I really need anything more potent than the on-board integrated UDH 770 GPU ?

My thinking is a system like this would work:

PC Build with 7 Components by Guest on 12 Jul, 2025 at 07 AM - PC Builder

This PC Builder rig is created using Intel Core i7-14700K Processor, ASUS TUF GAMING Z790-PLUS WIFI Motherboard, be quiet! Dark Rock Slim CPU Cooler, NZXT CC-H61FB-01 Case, Corsair CMK64GX5M2B5600C40 RAM, along with Corsair Force MP510 Storage, and Cooler Master MPE-8501-AFAAG-US Power Supply.

pcbuilder.net

 

[Lutfij]

I also do light video editing using Adobe Premier and Power Director 365
Please define what you're classifying as light video editing? Yes, you would cut down time required by your apps to finish your tasks on Adobe's suite, preferably Nvidia GPU's would be the route to go since Adobe optimize their app's to work best on said GPU's.

For your ram, the sweet spot for any DDR5 platform is a dual channel, DDR5-6000MHz with tight latencies.

Comp Aided Astronomy - doesn't need a discrete GPU
Cartes du Ciel - recommended is a GTX1060
Stellarium - https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/183008-best-free-planetarium-software/#entry2524437

 

[Why_Me]

https://www.intel.com/content/www/u...-30m-cache-up-to-5-50-ghz/specifications.html

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: *Intel Core Ultra 7 265K 3.9 GHz 20-Core Processor ($259.00 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: *ID-COOLING FROZN A620 PRO SE 58 CFM CPU Cooler ($29.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: *MSI MAG B860 TOMAHAWK WIFI ATX LGA1851 Motherboard ($159.99 @ MSI)
Memory: *Patriot Venom 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory ($157.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: *MSI SPATIUM M461 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($89.99 @ MSI)
Video Card: *Zotac GAMING Twin Edge GeForce RTX 3060 12GB 12 GB Video Card ($256.98 @ Newegg)
Case: *Montech AIR 903 BASE ATX Mid Tower Case ($64.98 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: *MSI MAG A750GL PCIE5 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($79.98 @ Amazon)
Total: $1098.90
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-07-12 18:06 EDT-0400

 

[dragomaster]

I also do light video editing using Adobe Premier and Power Director 365
Please define what you're classifying as light video editing? Yes, you would cut down time required by your apps to finish your tasks on Adobe's suite, preferably Nvidia GPU's would be the route to go since Adobe optimize their app's to work best on said GPU's.

For your ram, the sweet spot for any DDR5 platform is a dual channel, DDR5-6000MHz with tight latencies.

Comp Aided Astronomy - doesn't need a discrete GPU
Cartes du Ciel - recommended is a GTX1060
Stellarium - https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/183008-best-free-planetarium-software/#entry2524437

Light video processing is in my current desktop, ( i5-4590 @ 3.30GHz Installed RAM 16.0 GB NVIDIA Quadro K620 2Gb DDR3), editing 4k GoPro video, trimming, adding sound tracks, etc. In Photoshop, removing people, tweaking colors, saturation, etc. It has served well with the K620 2Gb card so far. TDP 45 watts. My son can supply an AMD Radeon Pro WX 3200 4GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCIe 3.0 x16 (x8 Electrical) TDP 65 watts. So I can simply use either card in the new build.

If I purchase/add a video card to the mentioned build, I'll need to know the needed PSU wattage to employ. Any suggestions?

C2A runs fairly well on a Toshiba L505D AMD Athlon II dual core M300 3Gb DDR2. As does Cartes du Ciel.

 

[dragomaster]

I also do light video editing using Adobe Premier and Power Director 365
Please define what you're classifying as light video editing? Yes, you would cut down time required by your apps to finish your tasks on Adobe's suite, preferably Nvidia GPU's would be the route to go since Adobe optimize their app's to work best on said GPU's.

For your ram, the sweet spot for any DDR5 platform is a dual channel, DDR5-6000MHz with tight latencies.

Comp Aided Astronomy - doesn't need a discrete GPU
Cartes du Ciel - recommended is a GTX1060
Stellarium - https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/183008-best-free-planetarium-software/#entry2524437

So, I think you are saying look for Ram with a a speed of 6000MHz and the lowest CL??
It looks as if the I7 can handle up to DDR5 5600 MT/s

 

[Misgar]

Light video processing is in my current desktop, ( i5-4590 @ 3.30GHz Installed RAM 16.0 GB NVIDIA Quadro K620 2Gb DDR3), editing 4k GoPro video,

Hats off! I admire you for coping with such an old GPU in 4K editing. What version of Premiere Pro are you using, if you don't mind saying?

I have a Quadro K620 2GB in an old rig which I recently upgraded from 2-core Pentium G3258 to i7-4770K, but there's no way I'd edit my GoPro Hero 11 4K footage in Premiere Pro with a K620.

My son can supply an AMD Radeon Pro WX 3200 4GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCIe 3.0 x16 (x8 Electrical) TDP 65 watts. So I can simply use either card in the new build.

As @Lutfij says, NVidia cards are more commonly used in video (and photo) work due to their CUDA support. As a result, I switched from an AMD RX580 8GB to an NVidia RTX 3060 12GB back in 2022.
https://cybertechnosys.com/does-amd-gpu-have-cuda/

The Minimum and Recommended specifications for a GPU in Premiere Pro on the Adobe web site are quite modest (2GB VRAM minimum, 8GB VRAM recommended).
https://helpx.adobe.com/uk/premiere-pro/system-requirements.html#windows

This is borne out by Puget Systems' recommendation for Premiere Pro:
https://www.pugetsystems.com/soluti...be-premiere-pro/hardware-recommendations/#gpu

Sequence Resolution	1080p	4K	6K	8K+
Minimum VRAM capacity	4GB	8GB	12GB	16GB+

DaVinci Resolve is a lot more demanding of Video RAM according to Puget, although some might see 20GB+ as excessive:
https://www.pugetsystems.com/soluti...davinci-resolve/hardware-recommendations/#gpu

Timeline Resolution	1080p	4K	6K/8K
Minimum VRAM capacity	8GB	12GB	20GB+

In Photoshop, removing people, tweaking colors, saturation, etc.

After processing nominal 50MB RAW files in Photoshop, I run Topaz DeNoise AI to "improve" digital noise. Topaz makes big demands on the GPU and it used to take 25 to 30 seconds per image on my RTX 3060.

I switched to an RTX 4070 last Black Friday and Topaz Denoise now takes 15 seconds per image. It makes a difference when processing hundreds of images. The main reason for buying the RTX 4070 was to improve transcoding, upscaling and stabilzing old DAT videos in Topaz Video AI.
https://www.topazlabs.com/denoise-ai
https://www.topazlabs.com/topaz-video-ai

You might find this article of interest if you're considering an Intel 265K.
https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/intel-core-ultra-200s-content-creation-review/

Alternatively, if you're getting a 14700K, read this:
https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/a...amd-ryzen-9000-series-vs-intel-core-14th-gen/

Regardless of what CPU you choose, a modern (admittedly expensive) GPU will make the system a pleasure to use. Modern photo/video apps can make huge demands on both CPU and GPU. My CPU uses 210W and my GPU up to 200W during long video transcodes.

For the time, if a new GPU is out of the question, use your son's 4GB AMD GPU, but if finances allow, buy a GPU with at least 8GB RAM (preferably 12GB+) at a later date.

Don't skimp on the PSU. Buy a "quality" product with a decent warranty (at least 7 years). Avoid cheap PSUs with a 3 year or shorter warranty. If they go bang, they may damage the rest of the computer.

 

[dragomaster]

Misgar, I misspoke. It was not Adobe Premier Pro. I recall futzing with it and finally after a lot of driver stuff, I got it working just barely. It is in fact Adobe Premier Elements version 18. I switched to using Power Director 365 and it made a huge difference. When I want heavy photo editing, I use Affinity Photo. Otherwise I use Adobe Photoshop Elements or IrfanView.

I may turn to the AMD Ryzen 9 9700 due to its strong igpu and see how that works. I can then try the k620 2Gb or the AMD Radeon Pro WX 3200 4GB card. Then and only then would I purchase an under $200 card similar to the NVidia RTX 3060 12GB.

Clearly I'll need to figure in the correct size PSU but not knowing the system wattage can make that difficult. Something in the 450-550 watt size. A reputable version of the Corsair - RMX550x

 

[helper800]

Misgar, I misspoke. It was not Adobe Premier Pro. I recall futzing with it and finally after a lot of driver stuff, I got it working just barely. It is in fact Adobe Premier Elements version 18. I switched to using Power Director 365 and it made a huge difference. When I want heavy photo editing, I use Affinity Photo. Otherwise I use Adobe Photoshop Elements or IrfanView.

I may turn to the AMD Ryzen 9 9700 due to its strong igpu and see how that works. I can then try the k620 2Gb or the AMD Radeon Pro WX 3200 4GB card. Then and only then would I purchase an under $200 card similar to the NVidia RTX 3060 12GB.

Clearly I'll need to figure in the correct size PSU but not knowing the system wattage can make that difficult. Something in the 450-550 watt size. A reputable version of the Corsair - RMX550x

@Why_Me's suggestion works perfectly for your use cases.

 

[logainofhades]

They IGP of the Ryzen 9700 is not all that strong. You want strong IGP, you want an 8700G. CPU side is not as fast, but at the end of the day, it is a massive upgrade over what you have been using.