Web-browsing PC to Editing PC Upgrade

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MajesticBeardsman

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Hello all,

A year ago I built my first PC and at the time I was only interested in web-browsing and YouTube etc with the occasional session on games like Shellshock Live, which aren't very intensive. I decided on an A10-7870k with 8GB of 2400Mhz Ram.

Since then, I have taken up photography as a hobby as well as shooting short videos for a blog @ 1080/60 which are around 10 minute videos which on my PC take around 25/30 mins to render. As I said, my PC does ok but it does get a little sluggish especially when using Lightroom and Photoshop together or when rendering 1:1 previews in bulk.

I am hoping to start taking many more photos now summer is approaching and in terms of video, that could go either way.

I'm heavily considering the i5 7600k as I mostly do photo work but I'm also considering the i7 6700k just in case I ever need to work on more complicated videos which again, may or may not happen. I'd be happy venturing into OC'ing a little because it looks interesting to me and some extra performance is always nice. I currently use the Evo 212, would I be able to get a somewhat decent OC using this. I don't run my PCs too hard and not 24/7 so it shouldn't negatively impact the CPU lifespan too much right?

If i were to get the 7600k for example for lets say 70% photo 30% video, could I still get good results with that CPU and would it be a noticeable improvement in speed etc over my current 7870k APU? How much on top of the 7600K would the 6700k be in the above scenario considering the £100/150 price difference?

My CPU will be complemented with 16GB of 3000Mhz (or other?) RAM and an appropriate Z1/270 motherboard.

I've been told another good option for my needs would be the i5 7600k overclocked somewhat combined with the RX 460 4GB.

My dilemma is spending the extra money for the i7 now when I don't really need that power today but I might 12 months down the line and don't want to spend more money upgrading again.

I am of course aware of Ryen 5 coming soon but for now I'd like to focus just on the two.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
Lightroom and Photoshop don't need a Core i7 processor at all. You're better off performance-wise with SSDs for your primary and scratch disks and faster RAM (like the DDR4 3000 RAM you were considering).

Video rendering does improve with a Core i7, but the level of benefit you get depends on what type of video editing software you use. Consumer software like what you can buy at, say, Best Buy won't use multiple CPU cores or other resources as well as Premiere or other pro-level software.

Don't buy the i7-6700K unless it costs you considerably less than the i7-7700K. FYI, you can use the Haswell-based i7-6700K with a Z270 board, but a Z170 board needs a BIOS/UEFI update before you can use the i5-7600K or i7-7700K with it.

Before I recommend any specific parts, could you answer the sticky questions?
 
tiraides said:
Lightroom and Photoshop don't need a Core i7 processor at all. You're better off performance-wise with SSDs for your primary and scratch disks and faster RAM (like the DDR4 3000 RAM you were considering).

Video rendering does improve with a Core i7, but the level of benefit you get depends on what type of video editing software you use. Consumer software like what you can buy at, say, Best Buy won't use multiple CPU cores or other resources as well as Premiere or other pro-level software.

Don't buy the i7-6700K unless it costs you considerably less than the i7-7700K. FYI, you can use the Haswell-based i7-6700K with a Z270 board, but a Z170 board needs a BIOS/UEFI update before you can use the i5-7600K or i7-7700K with it.

Before I recommend any specific parts, could you answer the sticky questions?
Click to expand...

Of course!

1) As of right now 70% lightroom and photoshop 30% video editing on hitfilm 4 express and possibly some basic gaming. I'd like faster/smoother performance than the a10- 7870k currently gives me.

2) Budget could go up to £600 but would prefer lower is possible.

3) UK

4) I'm looking for a CPU, Motherboard and Ram with the possibility of a GPU later on (seperate budget possibly up to £200 for GPU)

5) Will be reusing my NZXT 340 case, my Evo 212 cooler, SSD & HDD, case fans. My PSU is the EVGA 500B 500W 80+ Bronze.

6) I'd like to dabble with overcloking

7) 1080p LG 23 inch IPS monitor.

8) Within the next 2-4 months hopefully, depending on how long it takes to save up.

9) I'd like USB 3.0, SATA 6 and onboard graphics until I buy the GPU

10) I bought windows 10 64bit and have it on a USB - I imagine I could transfer it to a new build?

Thanks!
 
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Looking at the system requirements for Hitfilm 4 Express, it seems that you don't really need a Core i7 processor.

With that in mind, I came up with a "first draft" using Ebuyer as the retailer. I call this build a first draft because you said that you don't have the funds to buy everything at once.

£226.02 - Intel Core I5-7600K quad-core processor
£114.99 - Corsair Vengeance LPX 2x8GB DDR4-3000 dual-channel kit
£139.95 - Gigabyte Intel GA-Z270X-Ultra Gaming ATX motherboard

£480.96 - Total before VAT, shipping, and other charges

With regards to your video card, you may have to pay over £200 for a decent card:

£218.98 - Asus Radeon RX480 8GB video card
£233.97 - Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1060 6GB video card

Out of curiosity, which specific SSD are you reusing?

As for Windows 10, yes, you can install it from a USB flash drive. Have you used the license yet?
 
tiraides said:
Looking at the system requirements for Hitfilm 4 Express, it seems that you don't really need a Core i7 processor.

With that in mind, I came up with a "first draft" using Ebuyer as the retailer. I call this build a first draft because you said that you don't have the funds to buy everything at once.

£226.02 - Intel Core I5-7600K quad-core processor
£114.99 - Corsair Vengeance LPX 2x8GB DDR4-3000 dual-channel kit
£139.95 - Gigabyte Intel GA-Z270X-Ultra Gaming ATX motherboard

£480.96 - Total before VAT, shipping, and other charges

With regards to your video card, you may have to pay over £200 for a decent card:

£218.98 - Asus Radeon RX480 8GB video card
£233.97 - Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1060 6GB video card

Out of curiosity, which specific SSD are you reusing?

As for Windows 10, yes, you can install it from a USB flash drive. Have you used the license yet?
Click to expand...


I bought windows 10 last year and it is currently installed on this PC. Does that mean I can't use it for my new build?

In terms of GPUs, I was told on another forum that for hitfilm, a RX 460 4GB would be sufficient as I only do straightforward editing?

So hypothetically, if I did buy the 460 purely to speed up rendering etc, would the above build offer a substantial performance increase over my current APU rig?

**EDIT** My OS and program drive is a Sandisk Plus 120GB SSD. I have a 1TB HDD for my storage as well as Lr catalog and Ps scratch disc etc.
 
You can reuse a retail Windows license key, but you might not be able to use an OEM (or a System Builder) key. That said, I've heard of many people who were able to recycle their OEM key, so it doesn't hurt to try.

I haven't used Hitfilm myself, so I can't tell you whether or not the RX 460 would be sufficient. For gaming, however, the RX 480 and the GTX 1060 are better options.

If you can afford to, I recommend that you replace your SanDisk Plus 120GB SSD with the Samsung 850 EVO 500GB SSD. The newer SSD is comparatively faster and gives you more space for your primary drive. (An SSD generally slows down the closer you get to full capacity.) You can reuse your SanDisk SSD as a scratch disk or for additional "key" programs. (If the 500GB EVO is too rich for your blood, even the 250GB model could give you a slight performance boost.)
 
No problem. Please revisit this thread when you're a few days away from making your purchase so we can work out any kinks with your final build plans.
 
Ok, I know you asked for answers focused on Intel CPUs, but your use is kind of textbook for what Ryzen is designed for.

If you are waiting a while, I think you could benefit in two or more ways by considering other options:

Improvements in the Ryzen platform over time, and you may also be upgrading to apps that will make use of more multi-threading.
In your shoes, I would be looking at a Ryzen 1700X system maybe 6 months down the road.

As far as GPU, I would not consider anything less than a GTX1060 6GB or RX480 8GB with your usage.
Then again, Vega is right around the corner. That may open up some options.

Also, I must post this pic in light of your user ID:

.
beard-meme.jpg
 
If you perform even a moderate amount of video editing (and that's assuming that you'd be using a professional-level software such as Adobe Premiere Pro CC rather than a cheapo consumer program like Premiere Elements), then I'd recommend the i7-7700K over the i5-7600K if you must choose between two quad-core Intel processors because in most rendering and export tasks involving mostly the CPU (as it occurs in most workflows), the i7 beats the i5 in real-world renders by a whopping 47 percent when both CPUs are at equal clock speeds. Otherwise, AMD Ryzen is an attractive alternative. The older i7-6700K is out of consideration at this present time because its current average street price is only a tad lower than the newer i7-7700K.
 
To follow up on what Spartacus and E4g1e mentioned earlier, the cost of the i7-7700K at Ebuyer is £328. The Ryzen 7 1700 costs a bit less at £310.72. Assuming that you went with the i7-7700K instead of the i5-7600K, you could build yourself an AMD Ryzen-based system for around the same price as the i7-7700K-based build.

For example:

£310.72 - AMD Ryzen 7 1700 eight-core Socket AM4 processor
£114.99 - Corsair Vengeance LPX 2x8GB DDR4-3000 dual-channel kit
£142.59 - Asus AMD PRIME X370-PRO Socket AM4 ATX motherboard
£23.97 - Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO Fan CPU cooler

£592.27 - Total before VAT, shipping, and other charges

(I forgot about adding the CPU cooler in my earlier build, and that's actually an important piece of the puzzle. Intel doesn't include a CPU cooler with the i5-7600K or the i7-7700K.)

Again, the benefits of using either the Core i7-7700K or the Ryzen 7 (anything) over the i5-7600K depends on you using professional-level editing software. I don't know about the paid version of Hitfilm, but I don't believe that Hitfilm 4 Express falls under that category.
 
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