Are there any computer gurus here?

[Scot]

The last computer I built in 2010 just died. I haven’t kept up with the hardware specs for years so I’m at a loss when it comes to selecting a new set up.

I need a machine that will be able to handle heavy video editing work. I work with video on a regular basis now and my old machine was super slow when it came to editing/converting/rendering video from my camcorder.

Can anyone give me some advice on what to look for in a new machine with the specific intent on editing videos? I’d like to speed up this process greatly.

A few things I’m looking at for sure is a SSD drive at least for the operating system and video apps. Then as far as the CPU I was looking at either an i5-7400 of the i7-7700. I want between 12-16 gigs of ram. A 1tb non ssd for video storage. And my main question is about the video card

How much better performance would I get from a stand alone GFX card like a GTX 1050 as opposed to a basic integrated card when it comes to video editing? Does the gfx card make much of a difference in video editing or is it the cpu that makes the most difference in video editing?

I was planning on building the new machine myself again but with how low the prices are on prebuilt machines it just wasn’t worth the hassle to do it myself again.

Sorry for the long post, but I’d like to pull the trigger and get a Black Friday deal if I can either today or tomorrow.

Any and all recommendation/suggestions are welcome! Thx in advance

 

[Scot]

No one here knows shit about computers?

I’m surprised. I figured there would at least be a couple guys here still living in their moms basement who were deeply into computers and up all night on msg boards

But then again, most of us on here are of the older vintage and not a 20 sumpthin millennial who is useless to society. Those guys come and go and never stay long cuz they get their widdle feelings hurt with da truth

 

[ThoughtExperiment]

I wouldn't mind hearing this either. I think my last build was 2012 or so. PC has slowed down and is even randomly crashing the last few weeks, so I need to do something soon.

I was actually thinking about one of the AMD Ryzens with the video built in. Even the cheaper ones can run at least triple monitors with a decent motherboard. But I don't need a power setup like Scot.

BTW I know Dooms is a computer guy. He probably just hasn't seen this yet.

Also... Scot, you say prebuilt systems are cheap now. Where are you seeing these, online I guess? Somewhere like Newegg? I usually get my CPU/mobo combo deals at Microcenter in Dallas.

 

[Scot]

I’m looking online all over right now. Especially during Black Friday/cyber Monday

I priced out the system specs I want and it was in the $800-1k range if I buy it all separately and build it myself

I found one online with the specs I want for $700 right now. So I’m still searching cyber Monday deals before I pull the trigger

The $700 system I found wasn’t even on sale for Black Friday or cyber Monday

 

[Scot]

The system I found is a i7-8700 with a 500gig SSD HD and 16g of RAM.

The only thing it doesn’t have is the 1050gtx video card. I can find them online for $120. Or I can go with a video card that is a step or two down from the 1050 for about $70 and install either one myself.

I just don’t know how big of a difference the video card is going to make on the speed of my video rendering/editing

From what I hear it’s significant. But that came from a salesman. That’s why I wanted an unbiased opinion from a third party

Either way, this new system even without a video card is going to be 200% faster than my old one when it comes to video editing

So adding the video card would just increase that speed increase. I just don’t know if the bump in performance is worth the extra money for the video card

 

[Doomsday]

BTW I know Dooms is a computer guy. He probably just hasn't seen this yet.

Oh I've seen it, I just didn't reply because fuck Scot!




No... Just kidding heh. The real deal is I've never spec'd a gaming PC for video editing work like what Scot is looking for. He knows more about the specs than I do and it looks like he's on the right track. Especially with the SSD instead of the mechanical HD.

Scot, have you checked out TigerDirect yet?

 

[Scot]

No I haven’t yet

I’ll check em out
My main question at this point is if I need to add a video card to the build or not.

 

[Doomsday]

No I haven’t yet

I’ll check em out
My main question at this point is if I need to add a video card to the build or not.

The computers you're looking at are primarily gaming computers. The video card you're looking at is tailored to video editing. I'd add the card.

 

[Scot]

Thx for the input

 

[Scot]

I just checked the specs on the standard onboard gpu that is built into the new CPU’s vs my old video card that I had in my old machine

The standard on board gpu that comes with the new i5/i7 cpu’s is 434% faster than my old video card which was high end at the time I bought it.

That blows me away
I’m going to try the build without the video card to start with. Then if I feel it’s not fast enough I’ll add the GPU at that point

I have a feeling I’ll be blown away at the speed increase with this new machine for video editing over my old one even without the video card.

 

[Doomsday]

You're just a cheap bastard.

 

[Scot]

This is true

 

[Doomsday]

I think you're going to find, software matters. The card gonna have the software to make the hardware work greasy fast. Gonna be clunky without it, I imagine.

As it is, this new pc makes your old one look like stone knives and bearskins, so you're gonna have dazzling speed by comparison anyway.

 

[Scot]

After doing some research today it looks like I will be adding the video card after all

The software I use is designed to take advantage of the Nvidia chipsets on their video cards so it will be beneficial to add one

Plus for the type and amount of video editing I will be doing I can easily get away with an i5-8th gen CPU and not have to step up to the i7-8th gen CPU like I originally planned. So that will offset the cost of the video card.

I use Wondershare ultimate video converter to merge multiple clips together into one single video and to extract the date and time stamp to the video which is required when I have to testify in court. (This allows me to pull the video directly from the memory card instead of having to record the videos directly onto the hard drive using a capture card to get the date and time stamp. It speeds up the entire process drastically because I don’t have to wait as all of the videos play thru as they get recorded onto the HD)

Then I use Filmora to edit and do the final render of the video in a different format.

 

[Doomsday]

Well there ya go.

Why scrimp though, when we're only talking about 120 clams? Go big or go home. What, you have a spouse-dictated budget for this or something?

 

[Scot]

The increase in performance between the 2 CPU’s was minimal. Less than 13% increase in the i7 over the i5.

If I was using it for gaming it would be worth the difference. But for what I’ll be using the computer for it isn’t worth the additional cost. Plus adding the video card to the build with the i5 will gain me much more performance in rendering than the i7 without the video card.

The research I did today was showing that you only need an i7 if you are dealing with 4K video. (Even the i5 can handle 4K, but the i7 is recommended)

I don’t/won’t ever use 4K cameras because the file sizes are way too large for my clients on the end user side of things. So I have to stick with HD to keep the end products file size manageable.

The only thing this computer will be used for is writing case reports and video editing/rendering. That would be about 98% of its total usage.

 

[Doomsday]

The only thing this computer will be used for is writing case reports and video editing/rendering. That would be about 98% of its total usage.

The other 2 percent being, reading on and posting in the DCU!

Sounds like you've done your homework and made the intelligent choice. Aren't you glad you consulted the many computer nerds here?

 

[Scot]

The other 2 percent being, reading on and posting in the DCU!

Sounds like you've done your homework and made the intelligent choice. Aren't you glad you consulted the many computer nerds here?

Actually I only use my phone and tapatalk for this place.

I almost never use an actual computer for the internet anymore. It’s all cellphone and iPad to surf the web.

 

[InternetKing]

Actually I only use my phone and tapatalk for this place.

I almost never use an actual computer for the internet anymore. It’s all cellphone and iPad to surf the web.

lol i am computer nerd, I admit it... I even own the website business, use computers, phone, etc for everything!!!! clap:

 

[ThoughtExperiment]

Scot, so you're buying a pre-built system, right? Where are you finding the best deals?