Upgrading my budget gaming build to an editing pc?

[mrcnarine]

Hello everyone, I was on here two months ago trying to build my first gaming pc on a 600$ budget. With the help and guidance of everyone on here I was able to come up with something very good for the price (see below). The Pc runs very good and I like it a lot. However, In the past two months (around 60 days) I have only used it 8 times, I guess i'm just not interested in pc gaming like I thought. However, I have always loved to edit in Adobe After Effects and Cinema 4D and Doing art in Flash, illustrator and Photoshop. My 18th birthday is on November 23rd and I may get somewhere between 200-300$ from my family, and I would like to put the money towards upgrades for my computer and get it to run efficiently for rendering.

Personally I wish I could do a new Intel build but it's to expensive and by law I am to sickly to work, plus my mom and aunt are the only family I have so whatever amount of money I get i'll have to make do with it.

I wanted to upgrade from the 6300 to the 8350 + a case fan since after using my pc as it is now for about 30 minutes it gets really hot. I will bump the fan up to 100% via MSI afterburner but it still gets hot. I also really want to get an SSD drive but I don't know which one.

What do you guys think? Should I do the upgrade or should I wait till I can build a brand new pc in the future?

**Case Fan** | [Corsair Air Series AF140 Quiet Edition 67.8 CFM 140mm Fan](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-case-fan-co9050009ww) | $17.81 @ OutletPC

**CPU** | [AMD FX-8350 4.0GHz 8-Core Processor](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/amd-cpu-fd8350frhkbox) | $169.99 @ Amazon

_______________________________________________________________________________

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($98.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus M5A78L-M/USB3 Micro ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($44.99 @ Micro Center)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($53.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 270X 2GB TWIN FROZR Video Card ($159.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Source 210 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($33.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $511.92
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-09 03:33 EDT-0400

 

[Skylyne]

I honestly doubt that you will have much luck cooling an 8350, if you're already having trouble cooling your 6300. That particular case isn't really designed for optimal airflow, and you'd be better off swapping it out if you upgrade to an 83xx CPU. Personally, I would swap out the case for a Corsair 300R (maybe the 200R), swap the CPU for the 8320 (the 8350 is good, but not worth the extra on your budget), throw on a CM Hyper 212 EVO, and double up on your memory.

Rough prices:
Case- $60
CPU- $140
CPU Cooler- $33
RAM- $80

You're looking at roughly $313 for all of that. You'll be pushing your budget, but it's well worth the extra for what you'll be doing. You might want to watch for special deals on the case, memory, and CPU cooler; and that will help with costs. You don't need to buy the exact same memory you already have, but I would definitely match up memory speeds (matching latency would be nice, but isn't entirely necessary). If you want to buy things over time, to try to catch certain sales, or to see if you come across extra money, buy the CPU last. It might go on sale, but no need to buy it before you have a new case and CPU cooler. You also want to be sure the CPU isn't DOA (rare, but could happen), and also not have to take it out after checking it because of a bigger heating problem. You'll also do just fine with the 6300 until you get the 8320, and you'll be able to OC better with the new cooler. Buying the CPU last, or at least after you have both the new case and CPU cooler, will help prevent exaggerated heat problems.

Take whatever fans you have from the old case, and use them in the new one. If you didn't add any fans to your current case, then you're probably running hot because there is a negative pressure (no intakes, only the one exhaust). Always try to keep a positive pressure in the case, as it will help with both dust and heat. Since the 300R includes one intake fan, and one exhaust, see about mounting your old fan on the front. If you can't do that, there are other spots to mount an intake, but you might want to DIY a dust filter. Worst case scenario, you pony up another $10-20 for an extra fan, or you run it with the stock airflow (which will be significantly better than what you already have). The NZXT cases just aren't designed for cooling, while Corsair cases have cooling a much higher priority.

If you stay with your current case, and buy a fan or two, you're more likely to have cooling problems than if you buy the 300R, and mount your old fan as an extra intake. If you don't mind sacrificing CPU power, you can spend that money on fans, and another HDD. Also, if you stay with the 6300, then adding another 8 GB of memory will not really give you too much of a benefit, unless you OC it really hard. Even then, you won't be pushing the same power an 8320 would; and you'd probably not benefit from the full 8 GB you added. In that scenario, you'd have even more spending money...

Working with your current tower, and upgrading with such a small budget, is pretty finicky. I'd rather know what you're willing to sacrifice, and to have a clearer idea of your budget, but this is the best I can give you for advice from what I see. Hopefully that helps a bit.

 

[DonkeyOatie]

SSD-wise, the Crucial MX100 256GB and 512GB are both excellent value for money and performance, with the Mx100 128GB a little less so.

You may be able to plan both, a later re-build using upgrade parts. Fans, SSD and RAM can be used in a new build and doubling your RAM and adding an SSD (and some improved cooling) should give significant performance improvements.

 

[Skylyne]

There's no point in spending extra on an SSD, since space is a valuable asset in a video editing rig. It would be much more economical to stick with mechanical drives, and sacrifice the read/write speeds. The cost/performance ratio of an SSD doesn't benefit video editing as much as it does gaming.

 

[DonkeyOatie]

The OP said they really wanted to get an SSD. It will help with boot times and some application loading, and some graphics uses scratch and temp files.

 

[mrcnarine]

I honestly doubt that you will have much luck cooling an 8350, if you're already having trouble cooling your 6300. That particular case isn't really designed for optimal airflow, and you'd be better off swapping it out if you upgrade to an 83xx CPU. Personally, I would swap out the case for a Corsair 300R (maybe the 200R), swap the CPU for the 8320 (the 8350 is good, but not worth the extra on your budget), throw on a CM Hyper 212 EVO, and double up on your memory.

Rough prices:
Case- $60
CPU- $140
CPU Cooler- $33
RAM- $80

You're looking at roughly $313 for all of that. You'll be pushing your budget, but it's well worth the extra for what you'll be doing. You might want to watch for special deals on the case, memory, and CPU cooler; and that will help with costs. You don't need to buy the exact same memory you already have, but I would definitely match up memory speeds (matching latency would be nice, but isn't entirely necessary). If you want to buy things over time, to try to catch certain sales, or to see if you come across extra money, buy the CPU last. It might go on sale, but no need to buy it before you have a new case and CPU cooler. You also want to be sure the CPU isn't DOA (rare, but could happen), and also not have to take it out after checking it because of a bigger heating problem. You'll also do just fine with the 6300 until you get the 8320, and you'll be able to OC better with the new cooler. Buying the CPU last, or at least after you have both the new case and CPU cooler, will help prevent exaggerated heat problems.

Take whatever fans you have from the old case, and use them in the new one. If you didn't add any fans to your current case, then you're probably running hot because there is a negative pressure (no intakes, only the one exhaust). Always try to keep a positive pressure in the case, as it will help with both dust and heat. Since the 300R includes one intake fan, and one exhaust, see about mounting your old fan on the front. If you can't do that, there are other spots to mount an intake, but you might want to DIY a dust filter. Worst case scenario, you pony up another $10-20 for an extra fan, or you run it with the stock airflow (which will be significantly better than what you already have). The NZXT cases just aren't designed for cooling, while Corsair cases have cooling a much higher priority.

If you stay with your current case, and buy a fan or two, you're more likely to have cooling problems than if you buy the 300R, and mount your old fan as an extra intake. If you don't mind sacrificing CPU power, you can spend that money on fans, and another HDD. Also, if you stay with the 6300, then adding another 8 GB of memory will not really give you too much of a benefit, unless you OC it really hard. Even then, you won't be pushing the same power an 8320 would; and you'd probably not benefit from the full 8 GB you added. In that scenario, you'd have even more spending money...

Working with your current tower, and upgrading with such a small budget, is pretty finicky. I'd rather know what you're willing to sacrifice, and to have a clearer idea of your budget, but this is the best I can give you for advice from what I see. Hopefully that helps a bit.

I sort of knew that would be the problem. The case is bad, I never liked it at all. The components take up so much room that there isn't any room to manage my cables or for any airflow. I originally wanted a new case but because of the budget I had to pick one or the other.

Lets "say" that my budget goes to 500$ since that is how much I got last year. I do want a better processor, and I do want a new case and will allocate money towards cooling too. As of right now I just want an editing pc that can handle 720p rendering in After Effects, Cinema 4D, and Flash Professional at least, as long as it can meet those requirements I am willing to spend the rest of the money in any way I can help my pc's performance

 

[mrcnarine]

The OP said they really wanted to get an SSD. It will help with boot times and some application loading, and some graphics uses scratch and temp files.

The reason I wanted an SSD was mostly for the boot time and app loading, currently from the moment I sign into my account on windows 7 and press enter, it'll take about 5 minutes for windows to boot up to my desktop completely. I don't have any heavy programs installed and only 1 game is installed as well. However, I can do without the SSD if it's to allocate more money towards my processor

 

[Skylyne]

The OP said they really wanted to get an SSD. It will help with boot times and some application loading, and some graphics uses scratch and temp files.

Real-world difference will be very minimal; and, as I said before, the cost difference is not worth it on such a limited budget. Also, there is a bit of an unnoticed problem with going the SSD route: SATA 2 connections on the MoBo. SATA 2 will put a damper on SSD read/write speeds. Will there be a noticeable speed increase for boot times? Possibly; but to really see a difference, a new MoBo would be a smart investment. In fact, a new MoBo would be a better investment overall, at a little less money; faster speeds from the HDD, more room for expansion, and so on. Even then, faster boot times are somewhat speculative. The only real gain would be in application boot times, which is relatively minimal for someone who isn't doing professional work, especially with the costs involved. There's also another issue...

The reason I wanted an SSD was mostly for the boot time and app loading, currently from the moment I sign into my account on windows 7 and press enter, it'll take about 5 minutes for windows to boot up to my desktop completely. I don't have any heavy programs installed and only 1 game is installed as well. However, I can do without the SSD if it's to allocate more money towards my processor

It sounds like you have a bunch of crapware installed on your computer. My old Core2 laptop will go from off to usable within 1 minute (I have it log straight in to my account). Yes, a Core2 Duo laptop, with only 4 GB of memory, and a 7200 RPM HDD, can be optimised to load up Win7 to a usable state within 1 minute. To me, it sounds like your computer has too many startup processes that need to be managed. An SSD won't really help in this kind of situation. If it does, it's just a band-aid on the problem; and an SSD won't actually fix your problem. If your computer is slow because of other software reasons, that's another issue. And no, SATA 2 won't be the big culprit here.

If my out-dated hardware can boot up in a fraction of your boot times, then there is something that needs fixing on the software end. I might be able to help with this, but that would be another thread entirely, or something you could PM me about. It could be startup processes, drivers, malware, anything... I won't know until I have a helluva lot more details.

I sort of knew that would be the problem. The case is bad, I never liked it at all. The components take up so much room that there isn't any room to manage my cables or for any airflow. I originally wanted a new case but because of the budget I had to pick one or the other.

Lets "say" that my budget goes to 500$ since that is how much I got last year. I do want a better processor, and I do want a new case and will allocate money towards cooling too. As of right now I just want an editing pc that can handle 720p rendering in After Effects, Cinema 4D, and Flash Professional at least, as long as it can meet those requirements I am willing to spend the rest of the money in any way I can help my pc's performance

Hate to be that guy, but it seems like too many people don't care about what case they use. It's pretty dumb, but I see it in so many build sheets- crappy case, and over $1,200 worth of components inside. Seriously? It's pretty surprising how often I see that.

Now, if you had $500 to spend, I would still stick with the part list I already gave you; CPU, cooler, case, and RAM. If you have the extra money to spend get the 8350; it's worth the extra $50. If you have a more restrictive budget, then the 8320 will give you more financial wiggle room without compromising performance. Use the rest of the money to buy extra fans, and hold off on spending more until you can see what you're getting from your build as it is. These basic upgrades will give you the best return on investment without overspending. Once you know where your performance mark is (which will be significantly higher), then you can get a better idea of what areas need improvement. If you think a new MoBo is in order, get an ATX layout. If you think more storage is ideal, get an extra HDD. If you still want the SSD, then you will have enough for a basic SSD to reap some minor benefits.

If you want to OC your 83xx chip (definitely a good idea), and you are OC'ing your GPU, get a new PSU. Your current PSU really isn't the most ideal for anything beyond stock clock speeds. If you upgrade the PSU, I'd buy the XFX Pro 650W 80+ Bronze; it will give you a much more stable unit, and will also give you more headroom for serious OC'ing.

However, as I said before, it isn't a bad idea to buy your case and CPU cooler first, and see what is needed from there. With your particular needs, you may be able to get away with your current 6300 to see if 83XX prices drop. OC your 6300, if you haven't already, and see where that gets you. More power will always help with rendering times, but it won't be too noticeable outside of that. If you're not going to be rendering 15+ minutes of video multiple times a day, and making a living doing it, then the 83XX chips are not going to give you too much of a benefit outside of faster rendering times.

Just like with gaming computers, there is a certain point where your initial investment becomes too much. Base your upgrades on what you will need for the job. If you were doing audio production, I would go with the 8350 in a heartbeat; but for 720p video rendering, and when you're not going to use it for serious editing, spending $170 for a CPU you may never really need is not a good ROI.