New Video Editing Build - AMD vs. Intel

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kg2010

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Jun 6, 2010
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I've always built my systems in the past, but the last system I built was like 5 years ago,
and it did very well for my needs, and then my current computer which is an HP 1600n and it
really SUCKS! It was given to me a few months ago, so I can't really complain about
what I spent on it. 😉 However, the wasted time and frustration with this computer,
has set back my productivity in many ways.

Anyway - it's time for a new computer, I have tried replacing ram 3 times, with Kingston,
generic brand, and no 2 sticks ever work together - only 1 Memory stick is recognized,
at any given time, and the motherboard only accepts 1 GB sticks, which makes everything
run SLOWWWLY - constant freezing, Premiere Pro won't even anymore.

I'm tired of trying to upgrade and troubleshoot this computer, and I'm just done dealing with it,
I have some projects that I'm working on now, and they involve video editing, as well as an overall
very well functioning computer that will not freeze and in turn slow me down.

I am looking for an overall well functioning computer that will perform when I multi task,
and will handle all tasks I throw at it quickly.

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: NOW

Budget: $1500 - $2000 MAX

Country of Origin: Canada

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Video Editing with Adobe Premiere Pro CS5, Photoshop and other office applications.

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, OS

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: Doesn't matter, willing to order online, or purchase at a
retail store. The quicker I can get my hands on a system the better.

PARTS PREFERENCES:
I need to have a Quad Core system, I'm looking into an i7 930,
6 GB - 12 GB RAM

OVERCLOCKING: Maybe

MONITOR RESOLUTION: I have a Samsung 323T - Currently i'ts running at 1280 x 768 -
I know I may need a true 1080p monitor, and will upgrade IF I have to, I really like my 32" screen now.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: I am looking at a few options right now.

Option 1 Now - UPDATED list:

The build has been purchased!
I have some final research to finalize, and it's in regards to upgrading to a better card now, instead of upgrading later. Considering a GTX 470 or a 5870 card, since they're around a $50 difference.

The GTX 470 seems to run way too hot - but is a way better performer than the 5850.

i7 930 + ASUS P6X58D-E

CORSAIR XMS3 6GB 1600c7

120 GB SSD OCZ Vertex Series - Boot Drive

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 TB

ZOTAC GeForce GTS 250

CORSAIR HX Series CMPSU-650HX ( If I upgrade - I'll need 750w )

NH-D14 Cooler + 2 x 140mm Noctua NF-P14 Exhaust fans + 120mm rear fan - will get 2 x 120mm fans for front intake.

Samsung DVD Burner

CM 690 II Advanced

----------

Additional Notes:

Gaming is not that important to me on the PC as I have an Xbox 360, along
with a 47" 1080p LCD where all the gaming is done in the basement, plus,
these days, I don't really have time to play games.

My time is better spent working, and taking care of my family.

Although it'll be nice to play games on it once in a while, this will NOT be the primary focus
for this computer.

My main focus is to have a powerful Computer that can chew through all tasks I throw at it,
where I can do video editing without a hitch, with room to grow and expand if needed.

Any suggestions, feedback, and opinions on which option I should go with are welcomed.

...........

Whoa, sorry about all this info guys, I am doing thorough research right now, as I need to get
my hands on a new system asap.

Thanks in advance!
 
BUT ... I think this is as good (or better) choice (if you are not shaving pennies).

Noctua NH-U12P SE2 120mm SSO CPU Cooler $79.99 CAD

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608014&cm_re=noctua_120mm-_-35-608-014-_-Product

This is the ONLY Noctua product that I would buy or recommend, for any modern build.

The third product (a distant third, only because of price) would be the Hyper 212+ with two Noctua fans or two Gentle Typhoons (the orig fan is too noisey).

Oh ... and lets not forget the most excellent (larger?) Megahalems sink with a matched pair of the Noctua fans or the Typhoons.

I would go with Megahalems and 2 "robust" Noctua fans (if cost was secondary) ... technically (if it fits, and it should ... short ram?), the Megahalems/Noctua option is the most superior AIR option available ... period.
[ both, for efficiency and for "noise-vs.-airflow" management.]

I would love to see these four sinks and run them all with the Noctua fans with and without LNA/ULNA ... Using Prime95 ... make a nice spredsheet and some graphs.
 


Do you mean the Noctua NH-D14 120mm & 140mm SSO CPU Cooler ?
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=47090

It's $89.99 @ NCIX.com - the reviews for this cooler are great, it's very quiet, and the only complaint seems to be that it's HUGE.

If I went with this, pretty sure I'll be ok, so long as it does not exceed 6.96 inches/177mm in height or it will obstruct the side panel.

Now that I'm pretty certain that I'm going with the MSI Big Bang XPower, getting the best cooler only makes sense.

I KNOW for my needs this is TOO MUCH mobo for me right now, however, I do plan on upgrading down the line, and this board will easily accomodate that, and who knows how creative I'll get with it.

It's a $90 difference between the UD3R, and only a $15 difference with the Asus Premium.

I haven't been fully sold on the UD3R, and was leaning towards the UD5, so for me, this makes more sense right now, and it's a $90 difference I can live with. 😉

The $90 difference



VS



------



vs



Worth $90? to ME, YES. :)

Does it make sense right now? probably not. :)

Final Build Specs - Final Answer?

MSI Big Bang-XPower LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard - $319.99
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130289

Intel Core i7-930 Bloomfield 2.8GHz - $298.99
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115225

Intel X25-M Mainstream SSDSA2MH080G2R5 2.5" 80GB SATA II (SSD) - $239.99
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820167023

CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V - $109.99
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" - $79.99
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185

G.SKILL ECO Series 12GB (6 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 - $346.47
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115225

ZOTAC ZT-20109-10P GeForce GTS 250 1GB 256-bit DDR3 - $139.99
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500152

Noctua NH-D14 - $89.99
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=47090


--------

The MSI board is calling my name... however - is it true the 1366 will become obsolote, and being replaced with LGA-2011 - these boards should still remain compatible with the newer hexacores right?
 
^ Well as far as the noise, I dont see many complaining but rather say those are pretty silent...
Noctuas are not doubt the best when it comes to low noise, but for about half the price, IMO these coolers are better...And mind you that even these are some of the best ones out there...
 
^ Well I currently use none 😛... I am laptop user now as I move a lot...
When I settle, then would build a desktop for myself...
If I were to pick one, then it would be the Dark Knight as I have used Xig's older coolers and they did a very good job and also have built a PC which had the Xig S1283 which is a very good performer...
But any of those that I had linked are very good...
 
Thanks Tecmo,

I noticed for your build, you went with XIGMATEK Intel Core i7 ...

Also, I noticed that you went with the i7-920, is it true that it overclocks better at lower temps than the i7-930?

Last but not least, your mobo choice, did you choose that primarily for the SLI benefits and your GPU choice?

As you can see from this thread, this is my 1st build in 5 years, and I've been out of the loop on all the up to date components, but I have learned TONS in the past week or so, and I'm still learning, and deciding on whether I should go with the MSI mobo for my needs.

My instincts tell me to get the MSI board for future proofing, where I will possibly be getting a 980x and couple high end GPU's down the road, but my immediate needs are video editing, and multi-tasking, and I'm sure the ud3R will suffice, butI'm just not completely sold on it for some reason.
 
Thanks for that recommendation Tecmo,

I found this review very useful - the Scythe got 2nd place in quieteness, and cooling performance.

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/lga-1156-heatsink,review-31796-15.html

It has the second-biggest sink in the comparison, and possibly interferes with the RAM, but I believe with the ECO RAM I've gone with, I should be ok.

Basically, it all boiled down to the MUX-120 & the Scythe, the MUX-120 is thinner and will fit in better in most set ups for the price / perfornamce.

The DH-14 is clearly the best overall, but at twice the price.

 


Thanks for that clarification Bob...

I found a few comments such as these....

If you plan to run stock, this is a fine choice for only 10 bux more then the 920. If you plan to overclock, save the 10 dollars. The 920 i7 overclocks to the same speed with less vCore. Why? IDK, it just does, esspecially if you go with the p6x58d-e asus board which is insanely awesome i might add.

Other Thoughts: Remember. Stock = 930. overclock = 920 but if you wanna buy the 930 to spite me for some reason that is fine also but dont say i didnt warn ya!


But overall, the concensus is to stick with the 930, and I shall leave it in my cart. 😉
 
At the time of my purchase, the DK was one of the best LGA Socket 1366 HSF for price and had the required brackets. Most still required an add on.

^+1... When I built my PC the i7 930 wasn't a thought for Intel :)

I choose EVGA at the time of my build because I was a fan of their graphics cards and heard good things about them. I mainly always run SLI and EVGA to me is still the best of SLI support.

If I were to buy new, I would buy the ASUS board or EVGA X58 FTW3 and CoGaGe Arrow for my HSF.
 


Other Thoughts: Remember. Stock = 930. overclock = 920 but if you wanna buy the 930 to spite me for some reason that is fine also but dont say i didnt warn ya!

That guy is a moron.

Did you find him on Newegg?

That seems to be a large gathering place for the morons, they herd there like sardines during a swordfish attack.

Also, the i7-930 is 200$ at Microcenter.

Also, stick to the DH-14.

DH-14=Best air cooler ever made.
 
Yes, I found that genius on Newegg. 😉

I'm in Canada, so there's no Microcenter here, but I'll see if my sister can buy it, and ship it down, it would still be cheaper. I wonder what else she could purchase for me? 😉

Now, I'd like to get some other opinions, am I going over board considering the MSI Big Bang-XPower? Right now, I won't get the FULL performance capabilities that it offers, but down the road I definitely will.

It's just such a solid board, at $90 difference then the ud3r, and about $40 from the UD5.

Plus, if I go with the DH-14, that's bringing this build closer to the $2k mark, but well worth it IMO having premium parts in there from the get go... I really want to future proof this as much as possible, and when it's all said and done, I dont' want to have any regrets by cutting un-necessary corners.

Even when Intel comes out with their next gen chips, the 980x will naturally go down in price, and that's such a SOLID processor worth upgrading to down the line. I could never justify spending $1000 on a processor, but I'm willing to budge in many other areas. 😉

Of course, I'm taking all things into consideration, for example:

Go with UD3R vs MSI = $90
+
Scynthe vs DH-14 = $50

That's $140 that could be used towards this:

ZOTAC ZT-40301-10P GeForce GTX 465 (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 - $299
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500163

vs

ZOTAC ZT-20109-10P GeForce GTS 250 1GB 256-bit DDR3 - $139.99
 


Unfortunately - it's not going to fly - there are only 2 Microcenters in Calofornia, and the closest one is like 2 hours away from where my sister lives. The gas money, trip there, then shipping to Canada don't seem to make it worth while. 🙁
 


Oh ok - honestly - it was just comparison purposes of what I could do with the extra $140. :)

i'm trying to justify getting the MSI board 'cuz I LOVE IT!

Getting the i7-930 for $200 would definitely offset that cost, however that ain't going to fly unfortunately, I wonder how they're able to offer it so cheap, while everyone else is @ $298 +

.......

On other news, my RAM is out of stock now:
G.SKILL ECO Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231321&cm_re=G.SKILL_ECO_Series_4GB-_-20-231-321-_-Product

So I'll have to keep an eye out for it.

I was looking at this RAM here:
G.SKILL PI Series 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 - $377.98 for 12 GB
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231335

This has identical timings and everything, however, it's pretty tall and not sure if the DH-14 will clear it.
 
Realistically - no store will ever sell anything and lose money - perhaps they cut down their profit margin, which gets made up on sales volume. Each store has a minimum of 200, at least the one I checked did.

Anyway, what ever the case is - unfortunately I'm not able to take advantage of that deal.
 
They lose money on them,

They make it up on toher stuff people buy once they get it in the store.

'Oh, I have a CPU, I might as well buy a mobo here, its only 50$ more and its in my hands now, no wait. Oh I might as well buy RAM, itd only 30$ more. Oh, the HDD is only 15$ more. ETC ETC. '
 
I hear ya - and it's a good way to get people into the stores, now, if they had more stores in the U.S. would be a bonus. :)

So your logic does hold true, since they won't ship the item, you HAVE to pick it up in the store, 'cuz once you're there, you'll likely end up buying something else, at least, they hope you will. 😉

Can you give me your opinion on the MOBO choice / decision?

MSI Big Bang vs UD3R