Editing/Gaming Rig Specs

[adamcool]

This has been in pre-processing for about 3 weeks not (which is fine I know they're busy) but considering it hasn't been built yet, I was wondering if there are any parts I could upgrade/swap out, love to hear everyones feedback!

[I'm a full-time video editor so editing is my main focus however I do play games and create content on the side]

Case	CORSAIR CRYSTAL SERIES 680X RGB GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)	AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3960X 24 Core CPU (3.8GHz - 4.5GHz, 142MB CACHE)
Motherboard	Gigabyte TRX40 AORUS PRO Wi-Fi 6: ATX, USB 3.2 - RGB Ready
Memory (RAM)	64GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3600MHz (8 x 8GB)
Graphics Card	11GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2080 Ti - HDMI, 3x DP GeForce - RTX VR Ready!
1st Storage Drive	NOT REQUIRED
2nd Storage Drive	4TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 5400RPM, 256MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive	1TB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 3300MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive	NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply	CORSAIR 1200W HX SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® PLATINUM, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable	1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling	Corsair H150i PRO Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste	ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
LED Lighting	2x 50cm RGB LED Strip
Extra Case Fans	NONE
Sound Card	Asus Xonar AE 7.1-Channel Gaming Audio Card
Wireless/Wired Networking	10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
USB/Thunderbolt Options	MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System	NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED
Operating System Language	United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media	NO RECOVERY MEDIA REQUIRED
Office Software	FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus	NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser	Google Chrome™
Warranty	3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Insurance	Simplesurance Purchase Protection inc. Accidental Damage & Theft
Delivery	SATURDAY DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (BEFORE 2PM)
Build Time	Standard Build - Approximately 12 to 14 working days
Welcome Book	PCSpecialist Welcome Book - United Kingdom & Republic of Ireland

 

[SpyderTracks]

Couple of points, you don't need the thermal paste as the cooler actually comes pre applied with some high quality paste.

The HDD, depending on what you're going to be using it for, it may be worth upping it to a 7200rpm Pro drive. 5400rpm is fine if you're just putting files on there for long term storage, but if you'll be accessing it fairly regularly, then it would be worth upping it.

I'd also up the warranty to at least silver which is only £5er, extends the return to base postage for up to a year from 1 month.

Other than that though, for both gaming and editing, it will rock!

 

[SpyderTracks]

That is a beast of a system

Only question I have is whether the audio card is necessary? I can't work out how many channels the motherboard supports, audio-wise so not sure if it's the standard 5.1 or whether the codecs support 7.1 or even 8.1?

I think on a build like this a soundcard is warranted, reason being, it takes the processing powers away from the PC as everything is done on the soundcard.

On an every day gaming or office system, then yes, I’d always recommend motherboard audio, but on a system like this that needs every last drop of juice, I’d say soundcard is warranted.

 

[adamcool]

Couple of points, you don't need the thermal paste as the cooler actually comes pre applied with some high quality paste.

The HDD, depending on what you're going to be using it for, it may be worth upping it to a 7200rpm Pro drive. 5400rpm is fine if you're just putting files on there for long term storage, but if you'll be accessing it fairly regularly, then it would be worth upping it.

I'd also up the warranty to at least silver which is only £5er, extends the return to base postage for up to a year from 1 month.

Other than that though, for both gaming and editing, it will rock!

Amazing feedback and insight, thank you for your time and will probably go with the IRONWOLF drive at 6tb along with upping the warranty

 

[SpyderTracks]

Amazing feedback and insight, thank you for your time and will probably go with the IRONWOLF drive at 6tb along with upping the warranty

This is the wonderful thing about threadrippers, on an intel, an HEDT would suck for gaming, but with Threadripper, it’s perfectly viable. Amazing CPU’s!

 

[adamcool]

This is the wonderful thing about threadrippers, on an intel, an HEDT would suck for gaming, but with Threadripper, it’s perfectly viable. Amazing CPU’s!

I was told from a friend that I could potentially render a video and play a game while I wait for it with little to no performance issues ingame, which will be so much better than sitting there starring at my render

 

[SpyderTracks]

I was told from a friend that I could potentially render a video and play a game while I wait for it with little to no performance issues ingame, which will be so much better than sitting there starring at my render

They are just monstrous CPU’s, compared to what we’ve all been used to with intel for so long, they just completely changed the whole landscape.

I can’t wait to get one in my rig!!!

 

[Scott]

Couple of things I would definitely change...

The RAM - I would personally aim for 4 slots over 8. That leaves you room for upgrades. Spreading 64GB over 8 slots is an awful waste IMO. It's also a resource hog as you are on a shared channel, this means that each channel has 2 slots, to switch between slot 1 and 2 is a resource. The most optimal way of filling the RAM with these boards is to have 1 slot in each channel filled (I normally write maximise the channels, minimise the slots as a rule of thumb)

Storage - You really need a scratch drive on a system like this. It's built for proper heavy lifting so you want at LEAST another drive on there as a scratch. Personally, with your gaming in mind, I would actually have 2. This is a massive splurge but with the PC cost it's probably a drop in the ocean. I think you can have multiple M2 drives with this system? (No link for me to check and I'm getting lazy). If that's the case my personal choice would be 1TB Firecuda primary, 500GB 970 Evo Cache/Scratch and 1TB Firecuda secondary (or 2TB if you're feeling you would use the game storage).

PSU - The 1000W RMx would more than have you covered, 1200HX is nice though so fair enough of the price difference doesn't bother you

 

[Scott]

I think on a build like this a soundcard is warranted, reason being, it takes the processing powers away from the PC as everything is done on the soundcard.

On an every day gaming or office system, then yes, I’d always recommend motherboard audio, but on a system like this that needs every last drop of juice, I’d say soundcard is warranted.

Believe it or not the onboard sound has its own chipset and audio processor etc. It won't use any more CPU grunt than if the card was in the PCI-e slot. Won't need to consider the PCIe lanes or the PCIe chipset either so it may even be benificial.

It's very similar to the LAN controller, it's all on-board and should in theory not interfere at all

The issue in years gone by was that the signal wasn't very clean with on-board audio and there were limited channels. The tech has came so far now that other than an external DAC you're pretty much at the limit of what can be achieved in the case. I think the few limitations are channels and all out power.