Xeon E3-1231 V3 + 'what' GPU? for 4k video editing?

Manolito Mystiq

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Apr 11, 2015
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Dear forumers,

I just built the following:

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NZXT H440 Case
Asus H97-Pro MoBo
Xeon E3-1231 V3 CPU + Cooler Master 212 Evo
16GB Ballistix DDR3 RAM
1TB Seagate HDD
Cooler Master 600W PSU (can't remember the model right now)

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Asus EAH5770 GPU
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I know the GPU is really old, but I was naive, thinking it wouldn't be a problem since I'll be mainly doing video editing and music production.

However, watching a 4K video (I have a 4K-capable camera: the Leica D-Lux (Typ 109)) causes the PC to crash. I'm not so sure installing the most recent drivers will help (the PC currently has no internet, so I install everything offline).

What about this recent card?
Asus GTX 750 DirectCU Silent (or the Palit or Zotac version)
From what I gather, the max resolution is 2560 x 1600, but they describe: "Digital Max Resolution:4096x2160" *which is 4k, right?). What does that 'Digital' mean?

I'm sensitive to noise--the reason why I bought the H440 case and replaced the stock cooler CPU fan with the Evo. The EAH5770 was very noisy because the fan was dirty. I cleaned it, replaced the thermal paste (first removing the old paste, obviously) and now it's much quieter, but still quite a small fan, so noisy.

It's my very first build, so even with like half a year of carefully looking what to buy, I now just experience how things work, well, kinda.

 
If you're going to do anything with 4K resolutions, even excluding any gaming, I wouldn't go any lower than an R9 280 or GTX 960. There's also the issue of the PSU. Most of Cooler Master, Corsair and Thermaltake power supplies are pretty awful. They do sell a few good models but the units they do sell that are reasonably good are overpriced. I don't think Cooler Master currently or in recent memory, has any decent PSU models. Knowing the exact model number would be really helpful in knowing whether or not it should be used with a higher tiered card or not.
 
You guys are referencing gaming performance, which is not what the OP is looking for. For video editing and music production, and for watching 4K movies and video, you don't need a really high end GPU. An R9 280X or GTX 960 is more than enough.

Heck, if you're not gaming, you could use a much lower tiered card in reality, but I'd probably stick with one of those two. If you plan to game, at all, you want something bigger like the 290x or GTX 970 and if you plan to use more than one monitor at 4K, you want two cards.
 
Digital max resolution means the type of connection/cable used. Basicall you have to use a Displayport GPU/Cable/Monitor or a DualLinkDVI-I GPU/Cable/Monitor. VGA and DVI-D/SingleLink won't get to resolutions that high.

20hx85d.jpg
 
Yes, and no. Digital means some form of DVI, HDMI or Displayport. Max resolution mean, well, the maximum resolution. So Digital max resolution means the maximum resolution that can be used when using a digital connection.

HDMI 1.4, 2.0, DVI-I and DVI-D single and dual link and Displayport are all capable of different maximum resolutions and it depends on the refresh rate (Hz) you are running your monitor at. At higher frequencies most standards have a lower maximum resolution due to bandwidth restrictions.

Displayport and Dual link DVI-D and DVI-I are your best bets for high resolutions, unless you have HDMI 2.0 which is capable of 4k, but is less common than 1.4, so far. That is and will be, changing.

 



He's doing a lot of editing, I really think a high end R9 is the best way to go along since they came down a lot in price along with 16-32GB of 1600mhz ram.
 


Thanks for all your answers. But, so what about the Zotac GTX 750? It has a DP output and according to their site 4K @ 60Hz.

I bought a strong CPU and motherboard so that this PC won't be outdated way too soon (yes, PC's are already outdated after they are just came from the factory, but you know what I mean).

 



Asus, for 20 dollars more you can get the 750ti strix. The fans don't even have to come on it stays real cool.
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-video-card-gtx750dcsl2gd5

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-video-card-strixgtx750tioc2gd5

Gigabyte also makes good ones.
If you decide the amd route you can push a 4k with a r7 250 if you wanted to.
 
I think the 750ti Strix is a good card, for what it is, but since the GTX 960 is only about fifty bucks more, and has nearly twice the performance and capability, I think if it was me I'd definitely opt for the 960, even if I never intended to play a single game.