Video Editing/Graphics PC

Hi, I put together a system here on Digital Storm and wanted some input as to what changes (if any) you think would be beneficial. I will be using this system mainly for heavy video and graphics work (photoshop, adobe premiere, other CS programs) as well as webdesign and some minimal gaming (nothing over the top as far as gaming).

I am still debating between the i7 Extreme Edition 4960X 3.6GHz Processor or going with a XEON processor with more cores? Do you think a XEON would be that much better for what I plan on using it for? Also, if I should stick with the i7 processor, is there really a big different between the Extreme Edition and the lower models (to save some money)? Is there anything I chose which is over the top for what I need where I could save some money? I do want a very powerful machine that will last for years before I need to upgrade any of the parts.

Here is what I put together ($3,943)

Chassis Model: Special Deal Hot Seller - Hailstorm II Edition
Exterior Finish: - Standard Factory Finish
Trim Accents: - Standard Factory Finish
Processor: Intel Core i7 Extreme Edition 4960X 3.6GHz (Six-Core) (Extreme Performance)
Motherboard: ASUS Rampage IV Black Edition X79 (Intel X79 Chipset)
System Memory: 32GB DDR3 1866MHz Corsair Vengeance Pro (High-Performance)
Power Supply: 750W Corsair CX
Expansion Bay: - No Thanks
Optical Drive: DVD-R/RW/CD-R/RW (DVD Writer 24x / CD-Writer 48x)
Storage Set 1: 1x (256GB Solid State (By: Samsung) (Model: 840 Pro Series)
Storage Set 2: 1x (1TB Western Digital Caviar (7200 RPM) (Model: Black Edition)
Storage Set 3: - No Thanks
RAID Config: - No Thanks
RAID Card: - No Thanks
Internet Access: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections)
Graphics Card(s): NVIDIA Quadro K2000 2GB (Outputs: 1x DVI-I ; 2x DisplayPort 1.2)
Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio
HPC Processor: - No Thanks
Extreme Cooling: H20: Stage 2: Digital Storm Vortex 120mm Radiator Liquid CPU Cooler (High-Performance Edition)
H20 Tube Color: - Not Applicable, I do not have a FrostChill or Sub-Zero LCS Cooling System Selected
Chassis Fans: Standard Factory Chassis Fans
Internal Lighting: - No Thanks
Airflow Control: - No Thanks
Chassis Mods: - No Thanks
Noise Reduction: - No Thanks
LaserMark: - No Thanks
CPU Boost: Standard Intel Turbo Boost 2.0 Automatic Overclocking
Graphics Boost: Option Not Available
Memory Boost: - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my memory
OS Boost: - No Thanks, Please do not tweak the services on the operating system
Windows OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional (64-Bit Edition)
Recovery Tools: Windows Recovery Toolkit (Bundled with Windows CD)
Virus Protection: - No Thanks
Office: - No Thanks
Game: - No Thanks
Display: - No Thanks
Surge Shield: - No Thanks
Speakers: - No Thanks
Keyboard: - No Thanks
Mouse: - No Thanks
Portable Gaming: - No Thanks
Exclusive T-Shirt: - No Thanks
Priority Build: - No Thanks, Ship Within 10-15 Business Days After Order Is Successfully Processed
Warranty: Life-time Expert Care with 3 Year Limited Warranty (3 Year Labor & 1 Year Part Replacement)

What is length and resolution of videos are you going to be working on? What is the resolution of the monitors? Do you plan on playing games using all 3 monitors?

With answers to the above questions we could give you better advice.

The more help the merrier.  

I just put this build together as fstcvc and danjw1 chimed in with, as usual, great advice.

I went with the Hafx case, the best for air cooling,  but the ODE works .  The Hailstorm 2 is a great case but not needed unless you do full water setup and multi gpu.

The 4930k chip is $500 cheaper and only has a bit less cache than the 4960, 12mb vs 15mb.  The 4960 does allow higher oc, but water cooling would be needed for hundreds more.

The mobo you picked is great for those into extreme overclocking.  If not, the Sabertooth gets it done for cheaper. 

I put in  the gtx 780 for a few bucks more.  You for sure know what you need for the apps, but the gt x780 has 5x CUDA, parallel computing  and 2.4x the memory bandwidth.  The quadro might have better driver support and built in programs to drive many more monitors, but for the 3 monitors, the 780 might work for you.   

Config # 912970   Cost $ 3380

Chassis Model: Special Deal Hot Seller - Cooler Master 942 HAF X
Exterior Finish: - Standard Factory Finish
Trim Accents: - Standard Factory Finish
Processor: Intel Core i7 4930K 3.4GHz (Unlocked CPU for Extreme Overclocking) (Six-Core)
Motherboard: ASUS Sabertooth X79 (Intel X79 Chipset) (Features USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gb/s)
System Memory: 32GB DDR3 1866MHz Corsair Vengeance Pro (High-Performance)
Power Supply: 850W Corsair RM
Expansion Bay: - No Thanks
Optical Drive: DVD-R/RW/CD-R/RW (DVD Writer 24x / CD-Writer 48x)
Storage Set 1: 1x (256GB Solid State (By: Samsung) (Model: 840 Pro Series)
Storage Set 2: 1x (1TB Western Digital Caviar (7200 RPM) (Model: Black Edition)
Storage Set 3: - No Thanks
RAID Config: - No Thanks
RAID Card: - No Thanks
Internet Access: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections)
Graphics Card(s): NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 3GB (Outputs: 1x DVI-I ; 1x DVI-D ; 1x DisplayPort ; 1x HDMI)
Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio
HPC Processor: - No Thanks
Extreme Cooling: H20: Stage 2: Corsair H100i 240mm Radiator Liquid CPU Cooler (Extreme-Performance Edition)
H20 Tube Color:- Not Applicable, I do not have a FrostChill or Sub-Zero LCS Cooling System Selected
Chassis Fans: Standard Factory Chassis Fans
Internal Lighting: - No Thanks
Airflow Control: - No Thanks
Chassis Mods: - No Thanks
Noise Reduction: - No Thanks
LaserMark: - No Thanks
Boost Processor: Stage 1: Overclock CPU 4.0GHz to 4.4GHz
Boost Graphics Card(s): Option Not Available
Boost Memory: - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my memory
Boost OS: - No Thanks, Please do not tweak the services on the operating system
Windows OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional (64-Bit Edition)
Recovery Tools: Windows Recovery Toolkit (Bundled with Windows CD)
Virus Protection: - No Thanks
Office: - No Thanks
Game: - No Thanks
Display: - No Thanks
Surge Shield: - No Thanks
Speakers: - No Thanks
Keyboard: - No Thanks
Mouse: - No Thanks
Portable Gaming: - No Thanks
Exclusive T-Shirt: - No Thanks
Priority Build: - No Thanks, Ship Within 10-15 Business Days After Order Is Successfully Processed
Warranty: Life-time Expert Care with 3 Year Limited Warranty (3 Year Labor & 1 Year Part Replacement)

Hope this helps and good luck.

As for Xeon vs i7-4930k... The xeon does have 8+ cores, depending on how you go, but they are not overclocked.  The 4930k can be overclocked easily to 4.4+GHz.  I guess the question would be, do your programs like more cores at a slower clock or a couple less cores at much higher clock speed? I would think the higher clock speed, but you know your needs better than us. 

I put in the h100i sealed liquid cooler.  You could go with the Noctua d14 air cooler.  Tops in dependablility , quiet and cools great.  DS does sometimes request the H100i for the 6 core chips, so you'd have to ask them. 
 


Edited by bprat22 - 04 Jan 2014 at 10:42am

AS a second part to my question. Do you think it is worthwhile for me to upgrade at this point from my current setup? In other words, will a rig like the one I am building make a considerable difference in terms of performance over the one I currently have?

Here is my current setup:

Model: Dell XPS 435t/9000
Processor: Intel Core i7 920 (7MB L3 Cache 2.66GHz)
Motherboard: Dell 0x501H (Intel X58 Chipset)
System Memory: 12GB DDR3 (PC3-8500/1066MHz)
Power Supply: Not Sure
Graphics Card: ATI Radeon HD 5870
HardDrive: 1TB Serial ATA 2 7200 RPM

Whenever you're dealing with HD video editing, the more power you can throw at it the better. Short of 3D rendering, this is one of the toughest things to process through a system. Even the most current "best" systems could use more of everything so as newer stuff comes out over the next few years those systems will always be improvements over any current system. As Alex has already brought up, you are getting faster everything/increased everything so you will notice a considerable increase in your edit/rendering capabilities.

I would still recommend a Stage 1 OC on the CPU though. Should give you 10-25% improved performance.

Thanks again for the feedback.

Another question, what's the difference between the Intel Core i7 4930k 3.4 GHz (Unlocked CPU for Extreme Overclocking) (Six Core) VS the Intel Core i7 Extreme Edition 4960X 3.6GHz (Six-Core)(Extreme Performance) - which is $578 more expensive.

Is it worth keeping that upgrade or would scaling it back to the former be just as good for my purposes?

Your paying another $578, 4960x vs 4930k, for another 3MB cache 3 and 0.1 peak clock speed.     Here's a link that shows some comparison.

Edited by bprat22 - 05 Jan 2014 at 9:58am

bprat22, thanks for that great comparison between the 4960x and 4930k, I agree I don't think the $578 difference is worth it either for the small performance variation.

...and thanks for clearing up the Stage 1 Overclock CPU option fstcvc mentioned.