New Machine Needed for Video Rendering, etc.

Hi all, I think I've got worked out what to get mostly, apart from the motherboard model and power supply. I need something that's not a bank breaker that will last me a good 5 years and lots of processing power is a must. I'd like to get a good solid B550 or X570 motherboard, and go with the 5900XT (As I understand it, it's just a slightly lower binned 5950x). as it is running around 300 clams and has the full 16 cores - and costs not very much more than the 8 or 12 core models. With DDR5 prices insane, it seems an AM4 is good value. Also, I have a 2x8 3200/16 kit which could be added, if needed.

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc

Video rendering for Youtube, etc., usually at 720p or 1080p, sometimes 2K, and 4K in future - usually longish videos from 1 to 3+ hours.

When not rendering and during cool/cold months, run WCG, with all 32 threads.
Also:

Audio manipulation: editing, stripping audio from video files, de-noising, cutting, pasting, EQing, encoding, etc., using Audacity, Acoustica, Demucs GUI, etc.

It'd be good to be able to do basic internet stuff while encoding (hours and minutes ticking by) is taking place.

I don't game.

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?

*~$700 to 1100 (absolute max) including tax/shipping.

3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.

Central Missouri, USA.

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.

*CPU, CPU Cooler, MB, RAM, Power Supply, M2 Drive, Case

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.

*Have a 2 x 8 GB 3200/CL 16 set from older build that could be added to the 32 GB as listed below.
*1050 TI video card (I don't use CUDA cores for rendering, aside from Demucs for splitting audio files into stems.)
*2 terabyte SATA SSD (for mass storage)
*Monitor (specs below)
*Keyboard/Mouse

6) Will you be overclocking?

No, in fact, I'd like to run it at a conservative power level for stability and longevity.

7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?

*1920/1080 27 inch Dell LED, plus older Dell 22 inch 16/10.

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?

*I plan on pulling the trigger on purchase by this Sunday at latest.

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video (as a backup or main GPU)? UEFI? etc.

Need maximum reliability and solid VRMs for stability/longevity. I doubt I'll add much, apart from an extra sata drive or two.

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If so, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?

*Windows 10 Home, 64 bit. - Will upgrade to 11 when/if necessary.

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Here's what I'm thinking:

CPU: 5900XT - $308

CPU Cooler: either the Peerless Assassin 140 or the Thermalright Frost Commander 140 - both about $45

Motherboard:

possibly: ASUS ROG Strix B550-A OR MSI MAG B550 TOMAHAWK Gaming ?? You guys would know best. This is where I need the most help.

RAM: Silcon Power GAMING 32 GB (2x16) 3200/CL 16 - $196

Boot drive: Samsung 980 M.2 PCIe 3 x 4 500 GB - $80

Case: Lian Li LANCOOL 216 - $99

Power supply: Rosewill VMG 750 W 80+ Gold Certified - $70 ??? I don't know much about current power supplies, and which MB I get could matter, due to cable length, number of 8 pin power slots for CPU, etc.
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Total (without motherboard) $796


Priced out an AM5 build, changing out the CPU for the 9900x 12 core, and 32 GB Silicon power value gaming DDR5 6000, that brings total - without any motherboard - to $1125

So for exporting / rendering video, you will be doing it with the cpu, not the nvenc encoder? Just an opinion here, but even if you source footage is 720p/1080p, I recommend exporting your final video at 4k. It will allow youtube to give it more bit rate, and be a bit more future proof on the platform.

Currently I have the render set to automatic, and yeah it fires up the paltry amount of Cuda cores in the 1050. Obviously, I could go for a better video card, but with prices... ughh. As far as output resolution, a higher resolution might help with future, but the file sizes are already large enough to be unweildy. Any resoluton, however, doesn't change YT's audio bitrate which is capped at 128 bps.

I have been looking at motherboards and have narrowed it down to three - all selling new for about 150 to 170 clams.

Asus ROG Strix B550-F Gaming WiFi II - has, unlike the other 2, a 4 pin CPU power input, in addition to 8 pin which alll have. Does having that extra 4 pin slot even really matter?
GIGABYTE B550 AORUS Elite AX V2
MSI MAG B550 TOMAHAWK Gaming


Anyone care to comment which of the three would be best?

Jherek said:

Anyone care to comment which of the three would be best?

Click to expand...

The extra 4-pin CPU power connector on the Asus is for overclocking. You're not planning on OCing, so don't worry about it. You probably don't even need to connect it.

Since you're not overclocking they'll all be fine. The biggest differences are often in slot & port layout. Also sometimes features. The one that jumps out at me is WiFi. Don't know if you care. I wouldn't. The Gigabyte has WiFi 6. The Asus has 6E. So if you care about 6GHz band support Asus would be better. Stuff like that. I can't find an MSI MAG B550 TOMAHAWK Gaming on MSI's web site. Sure that's the right name? Links are nice when asking us to compare parts. MSI has a MAG B550 TOMAHAWK MAX WIFI with WiFi 6e.

Between Asus, MSI, Gigabyte and ASRock I'm not inclined to worry about brand. They're all mostly fine. Had all of them at some point. Been a while for Gigabyte. Last time around I ended up with an ASRock board because I liked the slot layout and it has a thermal probe that can be used to control case fans. I love that thing. My case fans pull in enough air to feed a 360mm AIO top mounted as exhaust, so they don't need to ramp up for high CPU load. They do need to ramp for GPU load, and the probe lets me ramp them up based on GPU exhaust temps. Gigabyte ended up in the least preferred spot since for whatever reason they limited front 20Gb USB-C to higher end models. I liked the slot layout of the cheaper models better. Z890 basic models tend to have a 16X vid card slot, 4 M.2, and 2 4x slots. The higher end ones have more M.2, less 4x slots, and do that 16X or 8X/8X split thing with the vid card slot and cost a lot more. So that was my thinking last time around. Yours won't be the same, but I won't be a bit surprised if it follows a similar path - what features do you like on each board? They're all the same arch & chipset so it's not going to be a huge differennce, but WiFi 6 vs. 6e could be significant if you're not running wired. Or maybe something else. Even positioning of slots. For me a 4x slot for a 10Gb NIC is a hard requirement since I run 10Gb fiber, and I want it as far from the vid card slot as possible. So vid card slot in the usual top position, NIC slot at the bottom of the board. But that's just me. You might want something else.

Thanks for the reply, Zandor. Basically a thumbs up to both boards, so that's heartening. Sorry, got wrong skew of the MSI i was looking at, probably the one you mentioned is the one I was looking at. All in all, not bad prices for such decent boards. I'm inclined to go with the Asus, though I understand from others that they are terrible about RMA.