- Dec 3, 2013
- 11
- 0
- 18,510
I'm building a pure editing workstation primarily for use with Adobe Premiere and After Effects. I will be processing greenscreen footage, color-correcting, layering footage and rendering 4K and 1080 videos for Youtube etc. I'm not a pro editor, I'm just a guy starting a business which involves content creation, maybe 1 or 2 videos a week and I want a computer that won't cost too much but will roll smooth through tasks and keep my workflow efficient.
I basically have my build down, however I mostly want advice on storage and related motherboard issues. For reference, the proposed build is:
-Ryzen 1700x
-ASRock X370 Taichi (AM4 socket)
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157757
-1060 GPU
-32GB RAM
I probably want to put 3 SSDs in here:
Drive C: for OS and Programs
Drive D: for Media and Project Files
Drive E: Scratch Disk
I already have a 512gb Sandisk 2.5" SSD (Extreme Pro) from a previous build that I can use, probably as my scratch disk (E) and spare storage. For my project disk (D), I've read I should use an NVME drive to optimize speed while editing, so let's say Samsung EVO 250GB, should be enough space for working even on a few Youtube videos at a time. Then of course I need the OS drive. I thought about just getting another NVME. It might be slight overkill but 250gb is big enough for an OS drive and NVME for that size is reasonably priced compared to 2.5" options. However I'm not sure if the mobo will be able to get effectively higher speeds with 2 different NVME drives, so maybe it's a pointless buy. I don't fully understand the abilities of my motherboard (pcie lanes and buses etc) in relation to NVME drives and I don't want to spend more money if a SATA SSD would work just as well.
So, the questions are basically:
1. Can the Taichi motherboard run 2 NVME drives at appreciably higher speeds than I would get from SATA SSDs? Or should I just run 1 NVME and 2 SATA?
2. Supposing I am only using 1 NVME, is there even any real point to getting a Taichi? Maybe I should drop to a cheaper B350 if it gives me all I really need. I can use the money saved to invest in a 500gb project drive or upgrade to a 1070 GPU rather than 1060. However, it could also be that a solid motherboard is a good investment if AMD sticks with the same architecture for the next Ryzen. The processor is probably the most important part of any editing machine so that's likely the first thing that could be upgraded, for example in 2 years if I see a purpose.
3. Another possibility if I can't or shouldn't do 2 NVME is just get one big NVME (500gig maybe) and use it for project plus scratch (D plus E). If it's on the fastest PCIE bus, maybe it's perfectly okay to combine them and the machine will still be blazing. In that case, I could even just use the existing Extreme Pro for drive C and I only have to buy one more SSD. (I suppose answering this question might require knowledge of Adobe CC or similar programs, ie. whether separating the scratch drive provides genuine benefits).
I should mention that I will probably add a 4TB 3.5" spinner to the system just for video file backup, but I doubt this will matter for mobo choice because I should have plenty of SATA ports either way.
Sorry if my questions are a bit diffuse but I'm really trying to set up the most solid workstation I can with a somewhat limited budget so I'd appreciate opinions very much. You could say I have money to invest if spending it will really save me time and trouble while editing and rendering, but I've quit my job to start this business so I don't want to burn cash for no good reason. If I spend more, I want to get better speed, stability, or longevity/future upgradability.
Thanks a lot for reading.
I basically have my build down, however I mostly want advice on storage and related motherboard issues. For reference, the proposed build is:
-Ryzen 1700x
-ASRock X370 Taichi (AM4 socket)
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157757
-1060 GPU
-32GB RAM
I probably want to put 3 SSDs in here:
Drive C: for OS and Programs
Drive D: for Media and Project Files
Drive E: Scratch Disk
I already have a 512gb Sandisk 2.5" SSD (Extreme Pro) from a previous build that I can use, probably as my scratch disk (E) and spare storage. For my project disk (D), I've read I should use an NVME drive to optimize speed while editing, so let's say Samsung EVO 250GB, should be enough space for working even on a few Youtube videos at a time. Then of course I need the OS drive. I thought about just getting another NVME. It might be slight overkill but 250gb is big enough for an OS drive and NVME for that size is reasonably priced compared to 2.5" options. However I'm not sure if the mobo will be able to get effectively higher speeds with 2 different NVME drives, so maybe it's a pointless buy. I don't fully understand the abilities of my motherboard (pcie lanes and buses etc) in relation to NVME drives and I don't want to spend more money if a SATA SSD would work just as well.
So, the questions are basically:
1. Can the Taichi motherboard run 2 NVME drives at appreciably higher speeds than I would get from SATA SSDs? Or should I just run 1 NVME and 2 SATA?
2. Supposing I am only using 1 NVME, is there even any real point to getting a Taichi? Maybe I should drop to a cheaper B350 if it gives me all I really need. I can use the money saved to invest in a 500gb project drive or upgrade to a 1070 GPU rather than 1060. However, it could also be that a solid motherboard is a good investment if AMD sticks with the same architecture for the next Ryzen. The processor is probably the most important part of any editing machine so that's likely the first thing that could be upgraded, for example in 2 years if I see a purpose.
3. Another possibility if I can't or shouldn't do 2 NVME is just get one big NVME (500gig maybe) and use it for project plus scratch (D plus E). If it's on the fastest PCIE bus, maybe it's perfectly okay to combine them and the machine will still be blazing. In that case, I could even just use the existing Extreme Pro for drive C and I only have to buy one more SSD. (I suppose answering this question might require knowledge of Adobe CC or similar programs, ie. whether separating the scratch drive provides genuine benefits).
I should mention that I will probably add a 4TB 3.5" spinner to the system just for video file backup, but I doubt this will matter for mobo choice because I should have plenty of SATA ports either way.
Sorry if my questions are a bit diffuse but I'm really trying to set up the most solid workstation I can with a somewhat limited budget so I'd appreciate opinions very much. You could say I have money to invest if spending it will really save me time and trouble while editing and rendering, but I've quit my job to start this business so I don't want to burn cash for no good reason. If I spend more, I want to get better speed, stability, or longevity/future upgradability.
Thanks a lot for reading.
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