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Home office/Encoding computer build

C

Carisma

Weaksauce
Joined
Jun 28, 2007
Messages
109
Hello all, I am looking to build a computer to replace my Macbook so the girlfriend can use it instead.

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Blu-ray encoding, video editing, web/email, HD viewing online
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$628.80 not including monitors, tax or shipping
3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
USA; Lanham MD
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, Motherboard, RAM, GPU, Operating HDD, Storage HDD, Blu-ray drive, Case, PSU
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Monitors (ASUS VH226H), Keyboard (Rosewill RK-9000), Mouse (Rosewill RM-2400L)
6) Will you be overclocking?
No
7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
1920x1080
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Next 2wks
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video? etc.
Nothing special needs to be on the motherboard
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If so, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Windows 7 Professional 64-bit and it is a legit fresh copy

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance.
 
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Carisma said:
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Next 60 days
Click to expand...
Unfortunately, you're planning this build too soon. Whatever parts we recommend in the next 14 days may not be the same parts we recommend in 30 days let alone 60 days from now. Please come back when you're 2-3 weeks away from buying and ask for advice then. You'll get up-to-date advice and won't be saddle with an outdated parts list.
 
May I ask why $628.80 is your hard budget limit?

Which programs are you using for Blu-ray ripping and video editing?
 
Danny Bui said:
Unfortunately, you're planning this build too soon. Whatever parts we recommend in the next 14 days may not be the same parts we recommend in 30 days let alone 60 days from now. Please come back when you're 2-3 weeks away from buying and ask for advice then. You'll get up-to-date advice and won't be saddle with an outdated parts list.
Click to expand...
Alright, I can do that. I thought 60 days was a good timeframe since Bulldozer and Ivy Bridge were delayed. Thanks for letting me know.

tiraides said:
May I ask why $628.80 is your hard budget limit?
Click to expand...
Because I already know what monitors, keyboard, mouse and OS I want. So I took my total amount I wanted to spend and subtracted those 4 items and that was the number left in my budget.

tiraides said:
Which programs are you using for Blu-ray ripping and video editing?
Click to expand...
I'll be using Handbrake to encoding the blu-rays into a smaller format, DVDFab to rip the blu-rays. For video editing, I will probably use Adobe Premiere Pro.
 
Premiere Pro benefits from the use of Nvidia's CUDA technology, but you can't just use any Nvidia card. The lowest level card you can use is the GTX 460, though I've heard that you can use the non-Ti GTX 560 with little trouble.

That's a problem as a video card of that level would cost you around/over $200 new. That's nearly (if not over) a third of your remaining budget.
 
tiraides said:
Premiere Pro benefits from the use of Nvidia's CUDA technology, but you can't just use any Nvidia card. The lowest level card you can use is the GTX 460, though I've heard that you can use the non-Ti GTX 560 with little trouble.

That's a problem as a video card of that level would cost you around/over $200 new. That's nearly (if not over) a third of your remaining budget.
Click to expand...
The most editing I would be doing would maybe be once a year if not once every two years so that is the least importance of it all. Video encoding is the more important though.
 
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Since you plan on going to Micro Center, check to see what MC's in-store specials are. You should be able to save some (more) money by grabbing the motherboard and processor together in a combo deal.

I recommend omitting the SSD at this time. Use the "savings" to increase your RAM to 8GB and pick up a 1TB hard drive instead of the 500GB one. (Grab both components from NewEgg, which has a larger variety and comparatively lower prices than MC.)

Spend a little extra money on a beefier PSU, like the Antec NEO ECO 520C.

I still recommend a better video card for use with Adobe Premiere Pro. Given your relatively meager funds, however, you may want to use onboard for now and try to save money for a new GTX 560 or used GTX 460.
 
Since you're already buying from Microcenter, Go grab the Core i5 2500K + Asus P8Z68-V LX Motherboard combo for $270. Costs the same as your planned CPU + mobo purchase but gives you the option of overclocking past 3.6Ghz later on should you want to. Though the Core i5 2400 + Gigabyte mobo is a fine choice if you don't want that 2500K combo for whatever reason.

Case wise, ditch it. These cases are better choices for the money due to its better cablemanagement, extra fan and the fact that it can actually fit an ATX motherboard (The Fractal is a mATX Case):
$50 - NZXT Source 210 Elite Black ATX Case
$50 - NZXT Source 210 Elite White with Black Front Trim ATX Case

Hard drive wise, ditch it. Go with this faster WD instead:
$45 - Western Digital WD5000AAKX 500GB 7200RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

SSD wise, ditch it. That SSD is of fairly low quality, performance as well as age. If you actually want a SSD worth buying, I recommend this:
$107 - Crucial M4 CT064M4SSD2 2.5" 64GB SSD

Now I believe you are already over budget even without the above SSD change. So are you willing to A) Forgo the SSD and therefore free up cash for other better parts in the PC like Tiraides noted or B) upgrade to that Crucial SSD? Like I said, that Corsair is not worth buying.

If you do drop the SSD, definitely get the RAM, PSU, and hard drive that Tiraides recommended. Also, the freed up cash + new PSU should cover this Nvidia card for use with Adobe Premier Pro:
$100 - Gigabyte GV-N26UD-896M REV2.0 GeForce GTX 260 896MB PCI-E Video Card
 
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Count me as a vote to forgo the SSD. You can always buy it later (even though you'd probably have to go through the trouble of reinstalling everything).
 
I did both of your suggestions and still kept it below my $1000 budget (I got the Gigabyte & 2500k deal for $240 at Microcenter). Thanks for help. :)
 
Cool, but what does the final build look like?

(And don't forget to show us a few pictures when it's done.)
 
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-Z68MA-D2H-B3
CPU: Core i5-2500K
Video Card: GIGABYTE GV-N26UD-896M REV2.0
RAM: Micro Center 8GB DDR3-1333 PC3-10600
OS/App HDD: Crucial CT064M4SSD2
Storage HDD: SAMSUNG HD103SJ
Optical Drive: SAMSUNG SH-B123L
Case: NZXT Source 210 Elite
Power Supply: Antec NEO ECO 520C
Monitor: HP ZR22w
Keyboard: Rosewill RK-9000
Mouse: Rosewill RM-2400L
OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-bit

Total: $998.12 (before shipping and tax)
 
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I'd spend the extra cash for the faster and larger Samsung hard drive. But looks solid to me.
 
Thank you guys for all the help. I'll be sure to take pictures when it all arrives and when it is finished. :D
 
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