Suggestions for computer build - Video editing, rendering, gaming

[TehCaucasianAsian]

I have a YouTube channel that recently hit 100 Subscribers and is growing decently fast, a few subs per day, so by 2015 hopefully I plan to upgrade my current rig to make better content, and hopefully be able to get my hands on a higher res monitor to have 1440P+ uploads. Anyway, my current build allows me to upload videos just fine, 1080P at 30 FPS is very possible in all games I play, but that's not good enough. I want my content to stick out, and not through being misleading or anything like that, but by legitimately being better quality than other people's content. So, with my decent knowledge of computer hardware (I built my current rig, it's a custom PC) I assembled a parts list on PCPartPicker. I don't know if something better could be made, so I chose to ask over on the forum to find out. There are certain things I require in a PC, which I will list now:

1. Air cooling for the CPU. Until radiators are as quiet as Noctua air coolers, I'm sticking with air cooling. My current build is whisper quiet and I plan to keep the next one like that as well.

2. At least 2TB of storage for videos, games, and other things like pics and programs. I included 3 since I have a single terabyte in my current rig that filled up halfway in a few months.

3. At least 256GB of SSD storage, I want to record with DXtory at 60 FPS and standard HDD's won't cut it. YouTUbe is going to support 60FPS soon, and when I edit videos, 60 Frames reduced to 30 looks smoother.

4. Preferably AMD GPU, I've had bad experiences with Nvidia, and AMD is cheaper anyway for equal or better performance. Power consumption and heat I don't care about, since the power bill will be affected by a few bucks per month (if that) and I live in a cold area, so the heat could actually be kind of useful lol. If there's a better Nvidia offering, I'm all ears, though.

5. I chose Windows Pro since I might upgrade RAM in the future past 16GB, I hate Windows 8.1, and I might end up using Data/File Encryption included in Pro to keep things safe

Here's what I got put together.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($339.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($59.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: MSI Z97-GAMING 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($149.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($148.50 @ Newegg)
Storage: A-Data XPG SX900 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($129.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($102.80 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 290 4GB Tri-X Video Card (2-Way CrossFire) ($389.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 290 4GB Tri-X Video Card (2-Way CrossFire) ($389.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Phantom 630 Windowed Edition (Black) ATX Full Tower Case ($139.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA 1000G2 1000W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($139.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($16.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($134.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $2143.19
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

 

[PandaBear270]

Go with AMD FX 6300, a good compromise between price, performance and core count. Two R9 270X would do the trick for less money.

 

[Calnin]

I feel like such a huge investment seems like a bit much.

A crossfire system would give you better performance for sure, but only if the game would support it.

Go with a samsung 250gb evo, it's a bit faster I believe.

Add on another card later on if you want to, single card setups would be good enough anyways.


Other suggestions: Check out the fractal design r4 cases, I personally like the aesthetic looks of that one and I believe the ones without a window is slightly cheaper.

You could lower the price of the build by getting windows 8.1, the transition into windows 8.1 from 7 isn't too bad anyways. It's just an operating system that does its job.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($339.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($59.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: MSI Z97-GAMING 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($149.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($148.50 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($129.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($102.80 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 290X 4GB Tri-X Video Card ($519.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Phantom 630 Windowed Edition (Black) ATX Full Tower Case ($139.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA 1000G2 1000W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($159.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($16.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($134.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1903.20

 

[TehCaucasianAsian]

Go with AMD FX 6300, a good compromise between price, performance and core count. Two R9 270X would do the trick for less money.

I have an FX-6300 in my current rig with an R9 270. I don't like the idea of Crossfiring two lower end cards since it makes upgrading later on a pain, and this CPU has somewhat weak cores