Video Editing: i7-5820k vs i7-5960X || Separate PCs?

[Nervly]

Greetings!

I'm thinking of building a video editing computer, in which I'm still not sure of what CPU to use. I've looked into several benchmarks and there's a bit of a difference between the 5820k and the 5960X but I'm not sure if the 5960X would actually be worth the extra money. I'm not going to record or upload anything in 4K. My videos are usually around 15-20 minutes long at 1080p and in my current laptop, using Sony Vegas, it takes around 3 to 4 hours to render one video alone. With this new build I'm planning on getting, I'll be using Adobe Premiere, After Effects and Photoshop. I'd like to know which CPU would be the best choice in this case, considering I'll keep on rendering 15-20 minutes long videos at 1080p, and how long it'd take for each processor to render one video. Something around the 30 minutes would be perfect already, if it'd take less, even better. Also, considering I won't be rendering anything at 4K, which would be the best choice for a Graphics Card? Should I go for a 980, Titan X or 1080 anyway, or would a 970 be enough? I'd also like to know if it is recommended to overclock any of these CPUs and if so, up to how many GHz? I've never done overclocking before.

This brings another question: Is it a good idea to have two separate computers, one for gaming and recording and the other for video editing (using the aforementioned software) alone? Because I'm also torn between having two separate computers or only one where I'd do everything in. This is mainly because of another question about CPUs: i7-5820k vs i7-5960X vs i7-6700k. Since apparently the latter is the best one for gaming but the two first ones are best for editing and rendering, I don't know which one I'd choose if I were to build a single computer for all these tasks. I feel like in one hand it'd be good to have separate computers, it'd mean more storage exclusively for raw files and rendered videos (Ill be using 2 SSDs and 1 HDD) and it'd also have more free space which wouldn't slow it down. Plus, while it rendered, I could keep using my other computer. If I have everything in one, I'd probably need more space, rendering could take more time, it could slow down a bit more the computer and it might not allow me to do alot while it renders the video. Then again, I could be speaking utter garbage, as I never owned a powerful computer and I don't know its true limits. 

I'll also be using 16GB DDR4-2400 (4x4GB on the 5820k/2960X and 2x8GB on the 6700k). As for a motherboard, should I go for a Asus X99-A?


TL;DR - Rendering 15-20 minutes long 1080p videos, how long would it take using a 5820k and a 5960X? Is the latter worth the extra money? Should I OC any of them? And should I have two separate PCs, one for gaming and one for editing? Which CPU should I choose in that case? Should I use a Asus X99-A Motherboard?

Thanks in advance!

[DisconnectedYT]

4 hours ago, Nervly said:

Greetings!

I'm thinking of building a video editing computer, in which I'm still not sure of what CPU to use. I've looked into several benchmarks and there's a bit of a difference between the 5820k and the 5960X but I'm not sure if the 5960X would actually be worth the extra money. I'm not going to record or upload anything in 4K. My videos are usually around 15-20 minutes long at 1080p and in my current laptop, using Sony Vegas, it takes around 3 to 4 hours to render one video alone. With this new build I'm planning on getting, I'll be using Adobe Premiere, After Effects and Photoshop. I'd like to know which CPU would be the best choice in this case, considering I'll keep on rendering 15-20 minutes long videos at 1080p, and how long it'd take for each processor to render one video. Something around the 30 minutes would be perfect already, if it'd take less, even better. Also, considering I won't be rendering anything at 4K, which would be the best choice for a Graphics Card? Should I go for a 980, Titan X or 1080 anyway, or would a 970 be enough? I'd also like to know if it is recommended to overclock any of these CPUs and if so, up to how many GHz? I've never done overclocking before.

This brings another question: Is it a good idea to have two separate computers, one for gaming and recording and the other for video editing (using the aforementioned software) alone? Because I'm also torn between having two separate computers or only one where I'd do everything in. This is mainly because of another question about CPUs: i7-5820k vs i7-5960X vs i7-6700k. Since apparently the latter is the best one for gaming but the two first ones are best for editing and rendering, I don't know which one I'd choose if I were to build a single computer for all these tasks. I feel like in one hand it'd be good to have separate computers, it'd mean more storage exclusively for raw files and rendered videos (Ill be using 2 SSDs and 1 HDD) and it'd also have more free space which wouldn't slow it down. Plus, while it rendered, I could keep using my other computer. If I have everything in one, I'd probably need more space, rendering could take more time, it could slow down a bit more the computer and it might not allow me to do alot while it renders the video. Then again, I could be speaking utter garbage, as I never owned a powerful computer and I don't know its true limits. 

I'll also be using 16GB DDR4-2400 (4x4GB on the 5820k/2960X and 2x8GB on the 6700k). As for a motherboard, should I go for a Asus X99-A?


TL;DR - Rendering 15-20 minutes long 1080p videos, how long would it take using a 5820k and a 5960X? Is the latter worth the extra money? Should I OC any of them? And should I have two separate PCs, one for gaming and one for editing? Which CPU should I choose in that case? Should I use a Asus X99-A Motherboard?

Thanks in advance!

My Pentium G3258 4.6Ghz can render a 20 min 1080p videos in after effects (with GPU boost on) in around 30 minutes.

 

Legit anything better then my CPU will be great.

[Djole123]

Why not use a 6800K/6900K?

[Vode]

If you go for the 5960x or 5820k:

 

For video editing without gaming a GTX 750 Ti 2GB or RX 460 2GB would actually be enough if you don't have any crazy NVME storage solution. Past that you will rarely see better performance in most workloads.

 

The diminishing returns are real with GPUs in Adobe Premier. Since the most work is done by the CPU and the GPU is only helping with certain effects. It's important to get a GPU but not really that important to get a crazy fast one. 

[Nervly]

Thanks for everyone's replies! 

 

On 09/09/2016 at 0:56 PM, DisconnectedYT said:

My Pentium G3258 4.6Ghz can render a 20 min 1080p videos in after effects (with GPU boost on) in around 30 minutes.

 

Legit anything better then my CPU will be great.

Ah, in that case I should be fine with either choice! Then again, you do have a nice overclock boost there, though it's only a dual-core. I'm still not sure if I'll overclock my CPU or not, I've never done it before and I'm afraid of screwing up somehow. Thanks for your input!

 

On 09/09/2016 at 1:10 PM, Vode said:

If you go for the 5960x or 5820k:

 

For video editing without gaming a GTX 750 Ti 2GB or RX 460 2GB would actually be enough if you don't have any crazy NVME storage solution. Past that you will rarely see better performance in most workloads.

 

The diminishing returns are real with GPUs in Adobe Premier. Since the most work is done by the CPU and the GPU is only helping with certain effects. It's important to get a GPU but not really that important to get a crazy fast one. 

I've decided not to go for the 5960X since I won't be doing 4K and apparently, for 1080p, 6 core is way more efficient and alot cheaper. Now I just have another question: I looked up the i7 6850k, it has the same cores and threads as the 5820k but higher speed and more PCIe lanes (40 opposed to 28). Is it worth the extra 200€? I've also decided to go for a GTX 1000 Series, probably the 1070, since for now I'll build a 'hybrid' instead of a pure editing rig. Thanks for the help!

[done12many2]

13 minutes ago, Nervly said:

I've decided not to go for the 5960X since I won't be doing 4K and apparently, for 1080p, 6 core is way more efficient and alot cheaper. Now I just have another question: I looked up the i7 6850k, it has the same cores and threads as the 5820k but higher speed and mroe PCIe lanes. Is it worth the extra 200€? I've also decided to go for a GTX 1000 Series, probably the 1070, since for now I'll build a 'hybrid' instead of a pure editing rig. Thanks for the help!

 

You won't need the extra PCIe lanes.  If you don't already know how to use all of them, then you'll probably never need them.  

 

As far as Broadwell-E (6800k) vs Haswell-E (5820k), if you plan to run the PC most of the time at stock speed, go with the 6800k.  If you plan to overclock and leave it there as many people do, go with the 5820k.

[Nervly]

1 minute ago, done12many2 said:

 

You won't need the extra PCIe lanes.  If you don't already know how to use all of them, then you'll probably never need them.  

 

As far as Broadwell-E (6800k) vs Haswell-E (5820k), if you plan to run the PC most of the time at stock speed, go with the 6800k.  If you plan to overclock and leave it there as many people do, go with the 5820k.

I asked because someone told me to be aware of my PCIe lanes if I went for the 5820k because of the PCIe SSDs. I'm planning on getting two SSDs.

 

Is it difficult to overclock a CPU and to maintain its temperature at a safe level? I'm very undecided when it comes to overclocking. I read in Intel's website that the 6850k can go up to 3.8GHz as opposed to 3.6GHz of the 5820k, but I've seen alot of people overclocking the 5820k up to 4.5GHz. How recommended is doing this for a beginner to overclocking?

 

Thanks for your input!

[done12many2]

Just now, Nervly said:

I asked because someone told me to be aware of my PCIe lanes if I went for the 5820k because of the PCIe SSDs. I'm planning on getting two SSDs.

 

Is it difficult to overclock a CPU and to maintain its temperature at a safe level? I'm very undecided when it comes to overclocking. I read in Intel's website that the 6850k can go up to 3.8GHz as opposed to 3.6GHz of the 5820k, but I've seen alot of people overclocking the 5820k up to 4.5GHz. How recommended is doing this for a beginner to overclocking?

 

Thanks for your input!

 

Even with 2 PCIe M.2 SSDs, you'll still have plenty of lanes.  One GPU will only use 16 lanes and is even fine if you run it with 8 lanes.  Each PCIe SSD will use 4 lanes.

 

Overclocking is very easy, but if you plan to stick with air cooling, just get a 6800k (not 6850k) and do a mild overclock.

[Nervly]

1 hour ago, done12many2 said:

 

Even with 2 PCIe M.2 SSDs, you'll still have plenty of lanes.  One GPU will only use 16 lanes and is even fine if you run it with 8 lanes.  Each PCIe SSD will use 4 lanes.

 

Overclocking is very easy, but if you plan to stick with air cooling, just get a 6800k (not 6850k) and do a mild overclock.

I see, there shouldn't be a problem with 28 lanes then. 

 

Ah, I looked up some comparisions between the 6800k and the 6850k and it really doesn't seem to be worth the 200€ difference just for a very slight faster speed. As for the cooling, I'm still not sure. Is the risk of water cooling leaking or stop working high? What about setting it up, does it require special attention to something or is it simple? I'm guessing if I go for the 5820k and overclock it, water cooling would be the best choice.

 

One other question, seeing as all these CPUs are Quad Channel, would going for 4x4GB RAM be the best or would 2x8GB still make a difference?

 

Thank you!

[done12many2]

11 minutes ago, Nervly said:

I see, there shouldn't be a problem with 28 lanes then. 

 

Ah, I looked up some comparisions between the 6800k and the 6850k and it really doesn't seem to be worth the 200€ difference just for a very slight faster speed. As for the cooling, I'm still not sure. Is the risk of water cooling leaking or stop working high? What about setting it up, does it require special attention to something or is it simple? I'm guessing if I go for the 5820k and overclock it, water cooling would be the best choice.

 

One other question, seeing as all these CPUs are Quad Channel, would going for 4x4GB RAM be the best or would 2x8GB still make a difference?

 

Thank you!

 

The price difference between the 6800k and 6850k is absolutely not worth it unless you absolutely needed the extra lanes, which you don't.  They will both overclock to the same max overclock, so if you decide to go with a Broadwell-E chip, just get the cheaper 6800k and set an extremely low overclock to match that of the 6850k or go higher if you want.

 

Water cooling via a AIO (All in One) water cooler is just as easy as installing an oversized air cooler and in some configurations even easier.  The risk of failure is not high at all with AIO.  Even if you decide to run the CPU at stock to begin with, using an AIO from the beginning give you the options of overclocking later down the road.  

 

A 5820k and a AIO is a perfect combo as most high quality AIO will allow you to reach higher overclocks than you would have on air.  This is the combo that I would be going for instead of the 6800k or 6850k.

 

As far as quad channel, absolutely.  The 4 x 4 configuration will be a much better option than the 2 x 8 configuration.  You'll still have 4 DIMM slots remaining so you have the ability to expand in the future.

[Vode]

3 hours ago, Nervly said:

Thanks for everyone's replies! 

 

Ah, in that case I should be fine with either choice! Then again, you do have a nice overclock boost there, though it's only a dual-core. I'm still not sure if I'll overclock my CPU or not, I've never done it before and I'm afraid of screwing up somehow. Thanks for your input!

 

I've decided not to go for the 5960X since I won't be doing 4K and apparently, for 1080p, 6 core is way more efficient and alot cheaper. Now I just have another question: I looked up the i7 6850k, it has the same cores and threads as the 5820k but higher speed and more PCIe lanes (40 opposed to 28). Is it worth the extra 200€? I've also decided to go for a GTX 1000 Series, probably the 1070, since for now I'll build a 'hybrid' instead of a pure editing rig. Thanks for the help!

You most like won't need the extra lanes unless you have a >2-way SLI and/or a lot of SSDs and HDDs. The extra 200 bucks are probably not worth it solely for the CPU power.

[Sintezza]

The 28 lane 5820K / 6800K are fine for most scenario´s.

Unless you ever concider something like Sli or Crossfire two cards, and then want to use 2 pci-e ssd´s.

In that case the 40 lane cpu can come handy.

But with just a single video card and 2 pci-e ssd´s, you are basicly fine with the 28 lane cpu.

I would personaly save the €200,-  cause you could allmost buy a nice RX480 for that.

Or you could invest the €200,- into 4x8GB G.skill TridentZ DDR4 kits.

[Nervly]

On 14/09/2016 at 5:42 PM, done12many2 said:

 

The price difference between the 6800k and 6850k is absolutely not worth it unless you absolutely needed the extra lanes, which you don't.  They will both overclock to the same max overclock, so if you decide to go with a Broadwell-E chip, just get the cheaper 6800k and set an extremely low overclock to match that of the 6850k or go higher if you want.

 

Water cooling via a AIO (All in One) water cooler is just as easy as installing an oversized air cooler and in some configurations even easier.  The risk of failure is not high at all with AIO.  Even if you decide to run the CPU at stock to begin with, using an AIO from the beginning give you the options of overclocking later down the road.  

 

A 5820k and a AIO is a perfect combo as most high quality AIO will allow you to reach higher overclocks than you would have on air.  This is the combo that I would be going for instead of the 6800k or 6850k.

 

As far as quad channel, absolutely.  The 4 x 4 configuration will be a much better option than the 2 x 8 configuration.  You'll still have 4 DIMM slots remaining so you have the ability to expand in the future.

Thank you so much for all your help, it really helped me clearing up all these doubts.

 

I'll be going for the 5820k + AIO combo, it seems to be the best option. Which AIO Water Cooler would you suggest? I looked at the Corsair H110 and the Corsair H105 but I'm not sure if there's a different one that would be ideal or if one of these would be enough. If I do end up overclocking the 5820k, what frequency would you recommend boosting it to? Intel's website says its maximum turbo boost is 3.6GHz if I'm not mistaken but I've seen people overclock it to 4.5GHz, which is a really tempting clock speed. Also, what'd be a safe temperature for the CPU?

 

Great, 4x4 it is then, thank you!

 

 

On 14/09/2016 at 7:56 PM, Vode said:

You most like won't need the extra lanes unless you have a >2-way SLI and/or a lot of SSDs and HDDs. The extra 200 bucks are probably not worth it solely for the CPU power.

 

On 14/09/2016 at 10:52 PM, Sintezza said:

The 28 lane 5820K / 6800K are fine for most scenario´s.

Unless you ever concider something like Sli or Crossfire two cards, and then want to use 2 pci-e ssd´s.

In that case the 40 lane cpu can come handy.

But with just a single video card and 2 pci-e ssd´s, you are basicly fine with the 28 lane cpu.

I would personaly save the €200,-  cause you could allmost buy a nice RX480 for that.

Or you could invest the €200,- into 4x8GB G.skill TridentZ DDR4 kits.

 

It really seems like I'll be fine with the 28 lanes then! I'll be running a single GPU and probably 2 PCIe SSDs along with 1 HDD.

I'll definitely save those 200€ and go for the 5820k. Thanks for both of your inputs!