dvn Posted March 12, 2016 Share Posted March 12, 2016 Hey all, Helping my nephew Joe upgrade the base of his GoPro editing machine. Budget for cpu, mobo and ram is set at $500. I've been reading, but I'm really not up to speed on current hardware specs. It's been a long time since I've built anything (still rocking an i7-2600K system) so I could use your help. The CPU in Joe's current setup is very old so we're starting with that. We want something in the Core i7 series because it'll give him a nice performance bump and stave off obsolescence for a number of years. So which cpu? Something in the Skylake series, or do we go as far back as the 3770? This is our most important question because it defines what type mobo and ram we'll be looking at. Also, we don't expect to max out ram right away, mostly because we don't have the budget for it. I'm expecting the mobo portion of the budget to be around $100 because I'm expecting the cpu be around the $300+ mark. We'll purchase what ram we can with what's left over. I'm looking for specific hardware recommendations from the community. That said, please feel free to offer any insight you have on these items or on the topic of building a video editing machine in general. Thanks all! --Rich/dvn 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 Good to see you DVN. I hope this spurs some recommendations for a good budget build. I look forward to following this thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schoondoggy Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 Hello Rich! Are you going to use the onboard video or add in a card? Are you looking for a lot of slots or will a micro-ATX do? Here is a starting point for $510 ASRock H97M Anniversary LGA 1150 Intel H97 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard- $70 Crucial Ballistix Sport 32GB (4 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 Desktop Memory Model BLS4KIT8G3D1609DS1S00- $135 Intel Core i7-4790S Haswell Quad-Core 3.2 GHz LGA 1150 65W BX80646I74790S Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4600- $305 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HellDiverUK Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 (edited) Check out prices of the i7-4771 - it's a good chip for general workstation use. Use a H97 board and I think you'll have a relatively inexpensive machine. Or, if you don't want to build, then the Lenovo TS140 is an excellent machine, and well priced. It uses the Intel onboard video (P4600 for the Xeon version), which is more than adequate for editing video. At work I edit HD video using a machine with a HD2500 Intel chip driving two 1080p monitors, and I have no issues at all, it performs pretty well. The machine had a low-end Quadro in it which died, and I think the Intel GPU actually runs better. Edited March 13, 2016 by HellDiverUK 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 Nice Build! Links for ease of looking. Mobo - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157547&Tpk=N82E16813157547 RAM - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148666&Tpk=N82E16820148666 CPU - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116988&Tpk=N82E16819116988 Also, here is a TS-140 Comparison. http://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-ThinkServer-TS140-i7-4770-Computer/dp/B017MXVW7C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1457881983&sr=8-1&keywords=lenovo+ts140+core+i7 Scroll down a bit for all the models. I can't help but ask the age old question. For a few dollars more? What bang for the buck could we throw in this build? I know DVN had a set budget but it's fun to look. Or is it capped here? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dvn Posted March 13, 2016 Author Share Posted March 13, 2016 Thanks, Dave! Yes, the budget has been capped by Joe's mom (my sister). This is a gift for his upcoming birthday. Joe's been doing video for years and got his first GoPro about a year ago. Loves it. I handed down this PC about 4 years ago. A nice upgrade at the time, believe me, but well past due for a serious upgrade. I did a comparison between the E3400 (current cpu), i7-4771, i7-4790S, and i7-4790K: http://www.cpu-world.com/benchmarks/browse/1160_104,1161_104,1084_104,1084_96,631_20/ There are a ton of benchmarks here for you to click through. Whichever way we go, it's going to be one heck of an upgrade! To answer Schoon's question, yes, he has a Radeon HD. Exact model, not sure. But it is an upgrade to the Radeon HD 5770 that I included in the hand-me-down machine. As for other components, I'm afraid this is all we're doing at this point. He'll be recycling an Antec computer case and 500W 80 PLUS power supply along with the Radeon. HellDriverUK, your feedback regarding the adequacy of on-chip graphics for video editing is much appreciated. Reassures me that the upgrades we're targeting will be very nice. It's always helpful to hear the specifics of someone's real-life experience. Thank you! So if I could ask, Schoon, why the 4770S? I mean, I think I understand that you were trying to max out the RAM, and the 4770S is certainly a fantastic upgrade over a measly E3400. Were you also indicating something about power consumption as well? Heat? Fan noise as a byproduct of cooling that configuration? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HellDiverUK Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 I've had the S-series chips before, and they don't really have much of an advantage to me. I think the "race to finish" means the faster chip gets it's work done quicker and can spend more time idle. The S chips also sometimes have weaker GPU speeds, so you'd need to check that on ark.intel.com Just buy the "full fat" chip, or if you want cooler/power efficient then the T-series are the ones to go for. The S chips are pointless in my experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dvn Posted March 13, 2016 Author Share Posted March 13, 2016 Thanks for those thoughts. I understand your point. I've been tempted to buy an 'S' chip once before to the point where I had an i7-2600S in my cart, but I ended up going with the i7-2600k because its benchmarks were right near the top of the charts at the time. To me, lower wattage of an 'S' chip means easier cooling which means slower fan speed and a quieter system. And I put a high priority on quiet systems. So it's tempting. But I like power so I get around that by using a case with multiple large fans and installing a fan controller which I can leave on the lowest setting. I also replace the stock HSF with an after-market one using heat pipe technology and let the mobo control the fan. That works out well in my experience. Quiet, effective. Vaguely familiar with the 'T' series. If I understand it, 'T' is greater performance tradeoff in order to achieve greater power savings over the 'S' series? So if I really want power savings, I should go with that? I'll shoot a text to Joe and see what he thinks. I seem to remember that his PC is louder than mine, but I don't recall him ever mentioning it. I'll check it out. It may not be a factor for him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schoondoggy Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 No deep thoughts around my CPU choice, just trying to hit a price point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schoondoggy Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 Is the Antec case ATX or micro-ATX? What does he have for drives in his current PC? Does he have a Windows 7 or newer license key? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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