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vhcosta

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Jul 18, 2014
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Hi guys,

I want to buy a computer for video editing and 3D render for example. I read some reviews and i have in mind this following components:

CPU - Intel CORE I7 4790 3.6GHZ 8MB SKT 1150 (274,60€)
SSD - SAMSUNG SERIES 840 EVO ULTRASLIM 250GB 2.5'' SATA III (129,90€)
RAM - CORSAIR PC3-12800 1600MHZ 16GB VENGEANCE PRO BLACK CL9 (2x8GB) DDR3 (162,25€) ou KINGSTON PC3-12800 1600MHZ 16GB XMP BEAST CL9 (2x8GB) DDR3 (159,90€)
MB - ASUS Z97-A SKT 1150 (139,20€) ou ASUS Z97-PRO SKT 1150 (173,90€)
GPU - ASUS GEFORCE GTX760 DIRECT CU II OC 2GB GDDR5 PCI-E 3.0 (228€)

Mu budget limit its about 1350$ (1000€). I will keep my case (Antec Three Hundred) and my power supply (Corsair 550W). Btw, im from Portugal.

Hope you can help me and suggest things.

Thanks,

My best regards
 
We need more information from you....

1) Where are you buying parts from? (Could you give us the URL?)

2) Which programs are you using? Are you also playing games on this machine? (If so, what?)

3) Do you plan on overclocking? If so, how high/far? When will you start?

4) What's the model number of the Corsair power supply? How old is it?

5) What (monitor) resolution are you using? Do you plan on buying a new or larger resolution monitor within the next six months?

6) Do you have a legit, unactivated (or retail) copy of Windows? If so, what?

7) What parts do you need for this build?
 
tiraides said:
We need more information from you....

1) Where are you buying parts from? (Could you give us the URL?)

2) Which programs are you using? Are you also playing games on this machine? (If so, what?)

3) Do you plan on overclocking? If so, how high/far? When will you start?

4) What's the model number of the Corsair power supply? How old is it?

5) What (monitor) resolution are you using? Do you plan on buying a new or larger resolution monitor within the next six months?

6) Do you have a legit, unactivated (or retail) copy of Windows? If so, what?

7) What parts do you need for this build?
Click to expand...

1 - alientech.pt

2 - Adobe PRemiere, After Effects, Audition, PHotoshop, Illustrator, SketchUp, EDius, DaVinci Resolve.

3 - Dont plan to oc.

4 - Corsair 550W (http://www.corsair.com/en-us/vs-seriestm-vs550-550-watt-power-supply).

5 - 1920x1080 (dont plan to buy another).

6 - Unactivated, but I plant to buy a legit one. Maybe Windows 8.1

7 - MB, RAM, SSD, CPU and GPU
 
Swap out the motherboard, RAM, and video card for the parts highlighted below:

274,60€ - Intel Core i7-4790 Socket 1150 quad-core processor
78,80€ - MSI H97 PC MATE Socket 1150 ATX motherboard
146,75€ - Crucial Ballistix Sport 2x8GB DDR3 1600 CL9 1.5V RAM
129,90€ - Samsung 840 EVO 250GB SSD
7,70€ - Silverstone 2.5 inch HDD/SSD bracket (holds two 2.5 inch drives in one 3.5 inch drive bay)
160,10€ - XFX Radeon R9 270 Core Edition 2GB video card
107,70€ - Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-bit OEM DVD
= = =
905,55€ - Total before VAT, shipping, and other charges

Since you're not overclocking, you don't need a Z97 motherboard or very fast RAM. (Actually, the Crucial Ballistix RAM is just as good quality-wise as the Corsair or Kingston RAM.) I was able to find cheaper alternatives that work just as well as your original choices.

As for the video card, I went for a cheaper alternative to the GTX 760. I also assumed that you weren't gaming at all; the GTX 760 is better than the R9 270 in most gaming benchmarks.

I added the costs of an OEM copy of Windows 8.1 so you could see how much of your budget is spent on the things you require. I also added the Silverstone drive bracket because you need it to mount the SSD inside your case.

If you're not factoring in the costs of Windows, I recommend that you spend some money on improving your storage setup:

74,90€ - Samsung 840 EVO 120GB SSD (for swap disk)
49,50€ - Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB HDD (for storage)

Many Adobe programs work well with a two-drive setup. One drive (in your case, the 250GB Samsung 840 EVO) works as the primary drive the program runs from. The second drive (the 120GB Samsung 840 EVO) serves as a separate swap disk. The 1TB Western Digital hard drive is (IMO) cheap enough to utilize as a storage drive for your nonessential data and programs.

Keep in mind that SSDs are like HDDs in that they slow down performance-wise the closer they get to full (storage) capacity. I recommend limiting the files and programs on your primary SSD to only the key things you use everyday. (If nothing else, buy the HDD and store everything else on that.)

Again, how old is your current power supply? The VS series isn't Corsair's best line of power supplies, and power supplies degrade in quality and output the longer (and harder) they've been used. (In other words, you have the money right now to replace the power supply, if you need to.)
 
tiraides said:
Swap out the motherboard, RAM, and video card for the parts highlighted below:

274,60€ - Intel Core i7-4790 Socket 1150 quad-core processor
78,80€ - MSI H97 PC MATE Socket 1150 ATX motherboard
146,75€ - Crucial Ballistix Sport 2x8GB DDR3 1600 CL9 1.5V RAM
129,90€ - Samsung 840 EVO 250GB SSD
7,70€ - Silverstone 2.5 inch HDD/SSD bracket (holds two 2.5 inch drives in one 3.5 inch drive bay)
160,10€ - XFX Radeon R9 270 Core Edition 2GB video card
107,70€ - Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-bit OEM DVD
= = =
905,55€ - Total before VAT, shipping, and other charges

Since you're not overclocking, you don't need a Z97 motherboard or very fast RAM. (Actually, the Crucial Ballistix RAM is just as good quality-wise as the Corsair or Kingston RAM.) I was able to find cheaper alternatives that work just as well as your original choices.

As for the video card, I went for a cheaper alternative to the GTX 760. I also assumed that you weren't gaming at all; the GTX 760 is better than the R9 270 in most gaming benchmarks.

I added the costs of an OEM copy of Windows 8.1 so you could see how much of your budget is spent on the things you require. I also added the Silverstone drive bracket because you need it to mount the SSD inside your case.

If you're not factoring in the costs of Windows, I recommend that you spend some money on improving your storage setup:

74,90€ - Samsung 840 EVO 120GB SSD (for swap disk)
49,50€ - Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB HDD (for storage)

Many Adobe programs work well with a two-drive setup. One drive (in your case, the 250GB Samsung 840 EVO) works as the primary drive the program runs from. The second drive (the 120GB Samsung 840 EVO) serves as a separate swap disk. The 1TB Western Digital hard drive is (IMO) cheap enough to utilize as a storage drive for your nonessential data and programs.

Keep in mind that SSDs are like HDDs in that they slow down performance-wise the closer they get to full (storage) capacity. I recommend limiting the files and programs on your primary SSD to only the key things you use everyday. (If nothing else, buy the HDD and store everything else on that.)

Again, how old is your current power supply? The VS series isn't Corsair's best line of power supplies, and power supplies degrade in quality and output the longer (and harder) they've been used. (In other words, you have the money right now to replace the power supply, if you need to.)
Click to expand...

what you say about the 4790K? if i dont want to oc you think the 4.0ghz base dont deserve the money face to 3.6 of 4790?
4/5 years I have this power supply...
 
vhcosta said:
what you say about the 4790K? if i dont want to oc you think the 4.0ghz base dont deserve the money face to 3.6 of 4790?
Click to expand...

If you aren't going to overclock, I don't believe that the i7-4790K is worth the extra money. All of the Haswell Core i5 and Core i7 quad-cores are very good at their stock speeds, but regardless of which processor you choose, your entire setup (with the faster DDR3 RAM and the SSD as your primary storage drive) will be notably faster than whatever you were using before.

If you change your mind and want to overclock, the i7-4770K is a better value for you. However, you'll also have to purchase a third-party CPU cooler, buy a (good) Z97 motherboard, and perform some research on overclocking to go beyond 4GHz.

vhcosta said:
4/5 years I have this power supply...
Click to expand...

I suggest that you buy a new one now. There's no way to guess when your power supply would fail on you; when it does, it could take your entire system with it.

The XFX TS Series 550 watt power supply is a good-yet-inexpensive power supply that can easily handle the load of your new system.
 
tiraides said:
Swap out the motherboard, RAM, and video card for the parts highlighted below:

274,60€ - Intel Core i7-4790 Socket 1150 quad-core processor
78,80€ - MSI H97 PC MATE Socket 1150 ATX motherboard
146,75€ - Crucial Ballistix Sport 2x8GB DDR3 1600 CL9 1.5V RAM
129,90€ - Samsung 840 EVO 250GB SSD
7,70€ - Silverstone 2.5 inch HDD/SSD bracket (holds two 2.5 inch drives in one 3.5 inch drive bay)
160,10€ - XFX Radeon R9 270 Core Edition 2GB video card
107,70€ - Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-bit OEM DVD
= = =
905,55€ - Total before VAT, shipping, and other charges

Since you're not overclocking, you don't need a Z97 motherboard or very fast RAM. (Actually, the Crucial Ballistix RAM is just as good quality-wise as the Corsair or Kingston RAM.) I was able to find cheaper alternatives that work just as well as your original choices.

As for the video card, I went for a cheaper alternative to the GTX 760. I also assumed that you weren't gaming at all; the GTX 760 is better than the R9 270 in most gaming benchmarks.

I added the costs of an OEM copy of Windows 8.1 so you could see how much of your budget is spent on the things you require. I also added the Silverstone drive bracket because you need it to mount the SSD inside your case.

If you're not factoring in the costs of Windows, I recommend that you spend some money on improving your storage setup:

74,90€ - Samsung 840 EVO 120GB SSD (for swap disk)
49,50€ - Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB HDD (for storage)

Many Adobe programs work well with a two-drive setup. One drive (in your case, the 250GB Samsung 840 EVO) works as the primary drive the program runs from. The second drive (the 120GB Samsung 840 EVO) serves as a separate swap disk. The 1TB Western Digital hard drive is (IMO) cheap enough to utilize as a storage drive for your nonessential data and programs.

Keep in mind that SSDs are like HDDs in that they slow down performance-wise the closer they get to full (storage) capacity. I recommend limiting the files and programs on your primary SSD to only the key things you use everyday. (If nothing else, buy the HDD and store everything else on that.)

Again, how old is your current power supply? The VS series isn't Corsair's best line of power supplies, and power supplies degrade in quality and output the longer (and harder) they've been used. (In other words, you have the money right now to replace the power supply, if you need to.)
Click to expand...

I agree with the changes for the most part. However, whether to use an AMD GPU or an Nvidia GPU depends on how much and how often the OP will use Adobe Premiere Pro, and which version of Premiere Pro is he going to use. The OP did not specify which version of Premiere Pro that he is going to use: If he's going to use CS6, stick with the GTX 760 because CS6 for Windows does not support OpenCL at all {and thus an AMD GPU or any other non-Nvidia GPU will force CS6 to become permanently locked to the software-only mode with no GPU acceleration outside of what little OpenGL (not to be confused with OpenCL) offers}. If on the other hand he will be using Premiere Pro CC 7 or CC 2014 (version 8), then AMD GPUs can be used for OpenCL GPU acceleration - but OpenCL is currently significantly slower than CUDA for Premiere Pro CC (only Nvidia GPUs support CUDA, and OpenCL is currently disabled with an Nvidia GPU installed as the primary GPU).
 
Tell me one thing. If the CPU does not support the ram speed is unnecessary buy higher? Or that is the MB who decide?
 
vhcosta said:
Tell me one thing. If the CPU does not support the ram speed is unnecessary buy higher? Or that is the MB who decide?
Click to expand...

Actually, we cited performance for the money when we generally don't recommend such "faster" RAM: It would cost you far more money than the performance benefit justifies. In this case, the faster RAM will raise the total cost of your new build by 3 to 5%, yet only give you less than a 1% improvement in performance.
 
vhcosta said:
just more 10€ thats why I choose it.
Click to expand...

Still not quite worth it: The current Intel platforms all have their memory controller on the CPU itself, not the motherboard. And on-CPU memory controllers have far lower latency than old-style on-motherboard memory controllers - so much that DDR3-1066 RAM delivers practically equal real-world performance as DDR3-1600 RAM, and that there is practically zero real-world overall performance benefit to any faster RAM.
 
very possible final setup:

INTEL CORE I7 4790 3.6GHZ 8MB SKT 1150
G.SKILL PC3-17000 2133MHZ 16GB TRIDENTX CL9 (2X8GB) DDR3
CRUCIAL SSD MX100 256GB 2.5" SATA III
GIGABYTE Z97X-UD3H RG SA SKT 1150
XFX PRO SERIES CORE EDITION 650W 80PLUS BRONZE
ASUS GEFORCE GTX760 DIRECT CU II OC 2GB GDDR5 PCI-E 3.0
and
ANTEC THREE HUNDRED (my current case)

1000€ with the 20€ of the work and tests.
 
The only things worth keeping are the processor and the video card. There is no need for you to stick with the remaining parts:

- You're not overclocking with the i7-4790, so there's no need to buy DDR3 2133 RAM.
- The Samsung 840 EVO is faster than the Crucial MX100.
- What does the Gigabyte GA-Z97X-UD3H has that you need? The MSI H97 PC MATE has most of what the GA-Z97X-UD3H has for a fraction of the cost.
- The power supply isn't so much a bad choice as it is unnecessary. Your system won't tax the 550 watt TS power supply.

Why did you choose those parts?
 
tiraides said:
The only things worth keeping are the processor and the video card. There is no need for you to stick with the remaining parts:

- You're not overclocking with the i7-4790, so there's no need to buy DDR3 2133 RAM.
- The Samsung 840 EVO is faster than the Crucial MX100.
- What does the Gigabyte GA-Z97X-UD3H has that you need? The MSI H97 PC MATE has most of what the GA-Z97X-UD3H has for a fraction of the cost.
- The power supply isn't so much a bad choice as it is unnecessary. Your system won't tax the 550 watt TS power supply.

Why did you choose those parts?
Click to expand...

Whats the problem of having 2133/2400 even if i dont overclock? For the same price of 1600mhz? No doubt Im going to the higher.

Is a little more faster but much more expensive and evo is TLC against MLC of crucial.

I need a Z97 board to support the 2133/2400 RAM. Any H97 doesnt support that.

In this case you're right, but makes me sad buy something with the same watts of the current psu. So i decided to buy 650w, dont have any problem. And the XFX is the brand more advised.
 
vhcosta said:
Whats the problem of having 2133/2400 even if i dont overclock? For the same price of 1600mhz? No doubt Im going to the higher.
Click to expand...

The problem is not quality or stability per se - but it's just that you'd gain practically no real-world (as opposed to benchmarked) performance improvement for the higher price that you'd be paying. In other words, even €10 is still way too much money for the "higher" speed when such an "improvement" is worth 1000 times less than that.

That is exactly why we don't recommend spending more money for practically the exact same level of overall real-world performance.
 
vhcosta said:
Whats the problem of having 2133/2400 even if i dont overclock? For the same price of 1600mhz? No doubt Im going to the higher.
Click to expand...

vhcosta said:
I need a Z97 board to support the 2133/2400 RAM. Any H97 doesnt support that.
Click to expand...

You don't need the faster RAM; you'll see no noticeable benefit in your tasks. Also, if you stick to the default motherboard settings, your "faster" DDR3 2133 RAM will run at DDR3 1066 or DDR3 1333 speeds. You have to manually adjust the RAM settings in the BIOS or UEFI to have the board recognize the RAM's rated speed.

You said earlier that the DDR3 2133 RAM is only 10€ more than my choice in DDR3 1600 RAM. That's not true. You're spending over 20€ more on the G.Skill TridentX RAM compared to the Crucial Ballistix Sport RAM, plus you're paying over 50€ more for the Gigabyte Z97-UD3H instead ofthe MSI H97 PC Mate.

That extra 70€ is enough to add on a second, smaller SSD to your system. That SSD is more beneficial for your needs -- Photoshop and Lightroom are two programs that benefit from it -- than faster memory or a Z97 motherboard.

vhcosta said:
Is a little more faster but much more expensive and evo is TLC against MLC of crucial.
Click to expand...

Samsung's TLC memory isn't bad compared to Crucial/Micron's MLC memory; in fact, many reviews and benchmarks showed that it takes years of repeatedly filling up the drive (and a bit of abuse) before any significant issues develop past the warranty period.

But since we're trying to cut costs, I'll concede to your decision to go with the Crucial MX100. I will say, however, that you could afford the Samsung 840 EVO if you didn't go with either the G.Skill RAM or the Gigabyte motherboard.

vhcosta said:
In this case you're right, but makes me sad buy something with the same watts of the current psu. So i decided to buy 650w, dont have any problem. And the XFX is the brand more advised.
Click to expand...

The power supply I recommended is also an XFX-branded model. Plus, the money you "saved" on the 550-watt TS power supply could have been used towards something that would have benefited you more....

Again, if you really want a noticeable performance boost, simply buy the second SSD. Don't go for the G.Skill RAM, the Gigabyte Z97 board, or the 650 watt power supply. Go with another SSD.
 
INTEL CORE I7 4790 3.6GHZ 8MB SKT 1150
CORSAIR PC3-12800 1600MHZ 16GB VENGEANCE PRO RED CL9 (2X8GB) DDR3
CRUCIAL SSD MX100 256GB 2.5" SATA III
ASUS H97-PLUS SKT 1150
XFX PRO SERIES CORE EDITION 650W 80PLUS BRONZE
ASUS GEFORCE GTX770 DIRECTCU II OC 2GB GDDR5 PCI-E
 
tiraides said:
Really?

Are you really going to ignore everything I said earlier?
Click to expand...

Am I ignoring? I choose the 1600 ram and the H97 board. But in otherwise I prefer to increase the GPU. What am I doing wrong now...? I win more than 50€ with the modifications and applied to GTX770 instead of 760.
 
Is your budget still 1000€?

Do you still have to buy a Windows license? If so, is that included in the budget?

Which Adobe program do you use most often? Second most?
 
tiraides said:
Is your budget still 1000€?

Do you still have to buy a Windows license? If so, is that included in the budget?

Which Adobe program do you use most often? Second most?
Click to expand...

1008€. And the liense never was included in the budget.
Premier and After Effects and Audition the most. Photoshop, Illustrator and Speedgrade second.
 
Last edited:
I'm a little confused about your parts selection. I have no problems with the i7-4790 and I won't argue against your choice in the Crucial MX100 SSD over the Samsung 840 EVO.

My real issue is with your choices in the Corsair Vengeance Pro RAM and the Asus H97-Plus motherboard. I reviewed their specs and saw no notable difference between them and my choices in the Crucial Ballistix Sport RAM and the MSI H97 PC Mate motherboard. I believe you're spending more money for virtually no performance boost. You would be better off (IMO) if you stuck with my choices.

I still stand by my earlier assessment that the XFX TS series 550 watt power supply is all you need for your build, even with the GTX 770 instead of the GTX 760. Speaking of which, I found a slightly cheaper GTX 770:

294,40€ - MSI N770-2GD5/OC GTX 770 2GB video card

What don't you like about my earlier choices?
 
Its only a question of brand trust and preference between asus and msi and corsair and crucial. Nothing more I know in that case im wasting money.

The psu I want that one but im affraid of 550 isnt enough.
 
Go with the 650 watt power supply if you can afford it.

I'm not going to argue with you any more.
 
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