dslreports logo
 
    All Forums Hot Topics Gallery
spc
Search similar:


uniqs
530

ITICharlie1
Ass Mode
Premium Member
join:2003-01-22
Saint Louis, MO

ITICharlie1

Premium Member

Best bang for the buck

I'm planning on building a new system. I currently have a system I built 5 years ago based on a P55 platform. The use of my PC is for photo processing, video editing and conversion and streaming, general office use and internet. I do occasionally play a few older games such as Unreal Tournament 2004 and some older military games. It's been a while since I've looked at computer components, so what I need is what would be the best bang for the buck on the CPU? I prefer to stay with Intel, and I only like Asus and Gigabyte motherboards. I do plan on using an SSD for the main drive. I know nothing of all the newer chips and platforms, so any help would be appreciated.

Octavean
MVM
join:2001-03-31
New York, NY

Octavean

MVM

I don't mean to confuse the issue but did your P55 based platform have a catastrophic failure? I have a quasi old Asus P7P55D Pro motherboard with an Intel Core i7 860 Lynnfield processor and its still going strong. It probably won't be decommissioned any time soon.

However, to answer your question.

The mainstream Intel platform is currently based on the Z97 express chipset. You can find a number of different such Z97 based boards from both Asus and Gigabyte. Such boards should support newer tech like M.2 SSD units as well as SATA-express. Z97 boards use an LGA1150 socket for the processor. Intel offers a range of processors with an array of price points. Popular options will typically range from Core i7 to Core i5 to Core i3.

What is your budget?

Krisnatharok
PC Builder, Gamer
Premium Member
join:2009-02-11
Earth Orbit

Krisnatharok to ITICharlie1

Premium Member

to ITICharlie1
I assume your video editing programs are multi-threaded? Something like an i7 with 8 GB of ram, 250 GB SSD + 3 TB HDD, and a GTX 750 Ti or GTX 760.

Raible
join:2008-01-23
Plainfield, IN

Raible to ITICharlie1

Member

to ITICharlie1
I'm sure plenty here will have you landing on the right i7 processor, great mobo, and plenty of RAM.

However, I was going to chime in and suggest you pony up the extra $150 for a GTX 970 and truly future proof your machine. Plus you can play Unreal Tournament 2014/15 and Arma3 like a boss.

ITICharlie1
Ass Mode
Premium Member
join:2003-01-22
Saint Louis, MO

1 edit

ITICharlie1 to Octavean

Premium Member

to Octavean
said by Octavean:

I don't mean to confuse the issue but did your P55 based platform have a catastrophic failure? I have a quasi old Asus P7P55D Pro motherboard with an Intel Core i7 860 Lynnfield processor and its still going strong. It probably won't be decommissioned any time soon.

The HD controller is getting flaky, and the USB header is also causing problems. I plan to scavenge as much as I can from the old system, like the HD's for storage (Two 1T WD Blacks), optical drives (1 each Bluray player and burner), power supply (Corsair 750 watt), and the 8 gigs of memory (2 sticks of 4 gigs GSkill F3-128000CL)9 , so I hope to just replace the mobo, CPU, and the video card, plus add the SSD for the OS and programs.
asdfdfdfdfdf
Premium Member
join:2012-05-09

asdfdfdfdfdf to ITICharlie1

Premium Member

to ITICharlie1
Best bang for the buck is going to be one of the $200ish i5 haswells.
Whether you should spend more for the i7 depends on the intensity of the video editing. If we are talking about casual use then the i5 should be fine. If we are talking about every day intensive usage then it will probably be worth moving to an i7. If it is for work and very heavy use then it might even be worth moving to the 2011-v3 socket 6 core.

ITICharlie1
Ass Mode
Premium Member
join:2003-01-22
Saint Louis, MO

ITICharlie1

Premium Member

Most of my video editing is for personal use that I do at most three times a week for about two to three hours at a time. Most of it is taking smaller clips of video I have taken and stitch them together to make a single video, then convert them to what ever format I need at the time, then burn to either DVD or Bluray disks. The conversion is what takes most of this time and CPU usage, using all the cores at 100% on the Lynnfield 860 CPU I currently have. For pictures I use mostly Photoshop and Lightroom.

norwegian
Premium Member
join:2005-02-15
Outback

norwegian to ITICharlie1

Premium Member

to ITICharlie1
On re-using the psu, I'd almost shelf it as a spare and get a new one for the new hardware.
Cpu, motherboard, psu and ram.
But then you did mention reusing as much as possible.
asdfdfdfdfdf
Premium Member
join:2012-05-09

asdfdfdfdfdf to ITICharlie1

Premium Member

to ITICharlie1
Then an i5 should be fine, such as the 4670

»www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 19116898

If you have a tight budget you could drop to the 4430 which is $30 cheaper.

You can couple it with a board like these H97 boards:

»www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 13128712

»www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 13132120

They have the latest features like m.2 support and so on.

If you want to overclock then you need to move to a z97 motherboard and a 4690K chip.

Either a z97 or H97 board is ok if you are not overclocking. You only need z97 if you overclock(and should combine it with an unlocked K processor) or if you are wanting to run multiple graphics cards for gaming, which isn't an issue in your case.