$2k-3k Video Editing Machine Help

[Trionth]

My brother-in-law wants me to build him a video editing pc. He produces video as his full time job and has been doing it off an '09 iMac with 8gb of ram...

 

He was planning on spending $5k on a new iMac but I told him that was ridiculous as he has no real preference of OS, he just doesn't know anything about computers and thought that Macs were best (just incase there are any mac diehards reading, I'm not bashing macs, just trying to save him money.)

 

I know very little about video editing other than RAM is king. I was thinking that we could put together a really amazing rig for around $2,000 USD. My first thought was using a X99 board so we can really overload it on RAM, but since I have 0 experience, what are your thoughts/suggestions? What should I be shooting for spec-wise?

[tataklee]

7 minutes ago, TyrelOlsen said:

My brother-in-law wants me to build him a video editing pc. He produces video as his full time job and has been doing it off an '09 iMac with 8gb of ram...

 

He was planning on spending $5k on a new iMac but I told him that was ridiculous as he has no real preference of OS, he just doesn't know anything about computers and thought that Macs were best (just incase there are any mac diehards reading, I'm not bashing macs, just trying to save him money.)

 

I know very little about video editing other than RAM is king. I was thinking that we could put together a really amazing rig for around $2,000 USD. My first thought was using a X99 board so we can really overload it on RAM, but since I have 0 experience, what are your thoughts/suggestions? What should I be shooting for spec-wise?

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-5820K 3.3GHz 6-Core Processor  ($376.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
CPU Cooler: be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 3 67.8 CFM Fluid Dynamic Bearing CPU Cooler  ($89.90 @ Newegg) 
Motherboard: Asus X99-A/USB 3.1 ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard  ($263.98 @ Newegg) 
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($134.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($149.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Hitachi Deskstar 7K2000 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($55.95 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB FTW ACX 2.0+ Video Card  ($629.99 @ Amazon) 
Case: Fractal Design Define S w/Window ATX Mid Tower Case  ($79.99 @ Newegg) 
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($84.99 @ NCIX US) 
Total: $1848.77
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-03-14 18:00 EDT-0400

 

You could use this video as a reference.

 

 

 

[HKZeroFive]

Kept it simple - assuming he does little gaming but the R9 380 should any game he wishes to play - this, the storage and RAM can be changed:

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i7-5820K 3.3GHz 6-Core Processor  ($376.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
CPU Cooler: be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 3 67.8 CFM Fluid Dynamic Bearing CPU Cooler  ($89.90 @ Newegg) 
Motherboard: MSI X99A Raider ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard  ($182.98 @ Newegg) 
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory  ($64.99 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($149.89 @ OutletPC) 
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($49.89 @ OutletPC) 
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 380 4GB NITRO Dual-X OC Video Card  ($199.99 @ Micro Center) 
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower Case  ($89.99 @ Newegg) 
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA G2 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($78.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Total: $1283.61
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-03-14 18:02 EDT-0400

[Moonzy]

9 minutes ago, TyrelOlsen said:

 

black and red themed silent build

Spoiler

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/4sCLvK
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/4sCLvK/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i7-5820K 3.3GHz 6-Core Processor  ($376.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i GTX 70.7 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($109.99 @ B&H) 
Motherboard: Asus X99-DELUXE/U3.1 ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard  ($389.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 64GB (4 x 16GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($419.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Samsung 850 Pro Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($119.98 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Samsung 850 Pro Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($119.98 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Samsung 950 PRO 256GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive  ($181.95 @ SuperBiiz) 
Storage: Western Digital Blue 2TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($74.88 @ OutletPC) 
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB STRIX Video Card  ($666.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Case: NZXT H440 (Black/Red) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($118.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA G2 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($99.99 @ NCIX US) 
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit)  ($99.98 @ OutletPC) 
Total: $2779.70
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-03-14 18:04 EDT-0400

[DocSwag]

does he game at all? Cause if he doesn't you could get like a 100 dollar GPU and possibly fit a 5960x into the budget.

Otherwise 5820k.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/MsCLvK

that's with a 5960x.

[Trionth]

20 minutes ago, tataklee said:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-5820K 3.3GHz 6-Core Processor  ($376.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
CPU Cooler: be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 3 67.8 CFM Fluid Dynamic Bearing CPU Cooler  ($89.90 @ Newegg) 
Motherboard: Asus X99-A/USB 3.1 ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard  ($263.98 @ Newegg) 
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($134.99 @ Newegg) 

This build looks awesome. I'll definitely use it as reference. When I'm populating the slots in a board like this, is it okay to fill all 8? I remember watching one of Linus' videos where they had issues with all 8 slots full. Would 64gb of ram just be wasteful? I won't be needing a GPU that expensive since he wont be gaming with it so maybe the money is better spent on the CPU or RAM?

 

18 minutes ago, HKZeroFive said:

Kept it simple - assuming he does little gaming but the R9 380 should any game he wishes to play - this, the storage and RAM can be changed:

Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory  ($64.99 @ Amazon) 

Total: $1283.61
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-03-14 18:02 EDT-0400

No gaming. Is 16gb of RAM okay? Whats more important here CPU cores or RAM? 

 

12 minutes ago, DocSwag said:

does he game at all? Cause if he doesn't you could get like a 100 dollar GPU and possibly fit a 5960x into the budget.

Otherwise 5820k.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/MsCLvK

that's with a 5960x.

Absolutely no gaming at all. 

 

Thank you for the advice everyone!

[brob]

It is really important to establish the software he uses. Some software in this area is not even available for non-Mac environments.

 

16GB of memory is not sufficient.

 

The simplest way to configure a pc would be to establish the model Mac he was thinking of. Apple uses commercially available cpu and gpu.

[Trionth]

18 hours ago, brob said:

It is really important to establish the software he uses. Some software in this area is not even available for non-Mac environments.

 

16GB of memory is not sufficient.

 

The simplest way to configure a pc would be to establish the model Mac he was thinking of. Apple uses commercially available cpu and gpu.

Here is the information I have thus far from him:

 

Quote

 

The things that are are important to me are the ability to edit and render 4k video with speed.  Also I do work in After Effects and more recently learning Unity 3D.  I'm not much into games but Shelley's brother is trying to get me to learn game design and help him out with some projects on the side.  So maybe the better graphics card?

 

I would love to get some 4k monitors but have no idea price range there.  I would at least like a dual monitor system.

 

I also need lots of fast storage space.  I've been looking into the Thunderbolt Raid drives for Mac, not sure what the PC equivalent is. 

 

 

 

This was after I sent him this build: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/GKtpZL

 

If thats garbage please don't bash me too hard, I've only ever put together 2 rigs and one was from discount scrap parts (my PC.)

 

I didn't know he was doing anything with 3D rendering but knowing that I would definitely go with a top of the line GPU, perhaps 980 ti. It doesnt seem worth the $500 price jump for the 8-core CPU. I'm not sure if a full SSD drive setup is such a great idea $$ wise, perhaps an SSD for OS and programs with 4 7200 RPM drives for storage possibly in a raid-10 for backup and performance (overkill?) Are there any good guides around for configuring an SSD/HDD setup so that files are saved to the HDD automatically? 

[Trionth]

For video rendering, after effects, and 3D rendering is it better to get a single GTX 980ti or run 2 cheaper cards?

[brob]

1 hour ago, TyrelOlsen said:

Here is the information I have thus far from him:

 

 

 

This was after I sent him this build: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/GKtpZL

 

If thats garbage please don't bash me too hard, I've only ever put together 2 rigs and one was from discount scrap parts (my PC.)

 

I didn't know he was doing anything with 3D rendering but knowing that I would definitely go with a top of the line GPU, perhaps 980 ti. It doesnt seem worth the $500 price jump for the 8-core CPU. I'm not sure if a full SSD drive setup is such a great idea $$ wise, perhaps an SSD for OS and programs with 4 7200 RPM drives for storage possibly in a raid-10 for backup and performance (overkill?) Are there any good guides around for configuring an SSD/HDD setup so that files are saved to the HDD automatically? 

 

11 minutes ago, TyrelOlsen said:

For video rendering, after effects, and 3D rendering is it better to get a single GTX 980ti or run 2 cheaper cards?

After Effects uses a single gpu for accelerating editing work. I believe it can use multiple gpu for rendering.

 

Given the budget and requirement for a large amount of storage, I don't think a pure ssd build is possible. But a large main drive makes a lot of sense. 1TB is perhaps a bit out of budget, but I think you are right in picking a 500GB Samsung 850 Evo.

 

There are packages available that allow for automatic backup. Acronis has a feature called Non-Stop Backup that does this.

 

This is on the high end, but I believe it fits the wish list.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-5820K 3.3GHz 6-Core Processor  ($376.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U12S 55.0 CFM CPU Cooler  ($60.04 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-X99-SLI ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard  ($168.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Aegis 64GB (4 x 16GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($349.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($149.89 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Hitachi Deskstar NAS 4TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($159.88 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Hitachi Deskstar NAS 4TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($159.88 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Hitachi Deskstar NAS 4TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($159.88 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Hitachi Deskstar NAS 4TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($159.88 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB FTW ACX 2.0+ Video Card  ($639.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Corsair 330R Blackout ATX Mid Tower Case  ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA P2 750W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($109.99 @ Amazon)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit)  ($89.92 @ Amazon)
Monitor: Acer S277HK wmidpp 60Hz 27.0" Monitor  ($549.99 @ B&H)
Monitor: Acer S277HK wmidpp 60Hz 27.0" Monitor  ($549.99 @ B&H)
Total: $3775.28
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-03-15 16:54 EDT-0400

[Trionth]

1 minute ago, brob said:

 

After Effects uses a single gpu for accelerating editing work. I believe it can use multiple gpu for rendering.

 

Given the budget and requirement for a large amount of storage, I don't think a pure ssd build is possible. But a large main drive makes a lot of sense. 1TB is perhaps a bit out of budget, but I think you are right in picking a 500GB Samsung 850 Evo.

 

There are packages available that allow for automatic backup. Acronis has a feature called Non-Stop Backup that does this.

 

This is on the high end, but I believe it fits the wish list.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-5820K 3.3GHz 6-Core Processor  ($376.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U12S 55.0 CFM CPU Cooler  ($60.04 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-X99-SLI ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard  ($168.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Aegis 64GB (4 x 16GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($349.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($149.89 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Hitachi Deskstar NAS 4TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($159.88 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Hitachi Deskstar NAS 4TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($159.88 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Hitachi Deskstar NAS 4TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($159.88 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Hitachi Deskstar NAS 4TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($159.88 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB FTW ACX 2.0+ Video Card  ($639.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Corsair 330R Blackout ATX Mid Tower Case  ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA P2 750W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($109.99 @ Amazon)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit)  ($89.92 @ Amazon)
Monitor: Acer S277HK wmidpp 60Hz 27.0" Monitor  ($549.99 @ B&H)
Monitor: Acer S277HK wmidpp 60Hz 27.0" Monitor  ($549.99 @ B&H)
Total: $3775.28
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-03-15 16:54 EDT-0400

Thats amazing. Thank you! I'm going to keep bombarding you with questions, if its too much just ignore it

 

Is it better to run 4 slots of 16gb ram over 8 slots of 8gb?

 

Also, do you think its worth the cost increase to use a pcie ssd over the samsung 850 evo? Do you have much experience with those Hitachi drives? I've always been too scared to get anything but WD for HDD. Still, 4x 4 TB drives at 7200 RPM is tons of storage. Think it would be good to set it up as a RAID array? I've never done anything with RAID.

[brob]

Using 4 slots instead of 8 slots puts marginally less strain on the memory controller. It also leaves 4 slots free for an upgrade should that prove necessary. There is no real performance difference.

 

PCIe or M.2(M) ssd do offer significantly better performance. The problem is their cost relative to capacity. More ssd, even at SATA III speeds I believe provides for better overall performance. If there is more budget I would likely suggest putting it into a larger SATA III ssd rather than spending it on a smaller but faster PCIe drive.

 

I have successful used the Deskstar NAS drives in workstation RAID arrays. They offer very good performance and have so far been quite reliable. The 4 units included in my build suggestions were chosen based on the user's desire for a lot of storage in RAID 1+0. In my experience video editing stations eat storage. If 8GB is too much, one could start with 2x4GB in a RAID 1 array then add another two drives for RAID 1+0 when more storage was needed.