Video editing PC - a long needed upgrade but limited budget

MikCal

Member
If any kind and knowledgeable soul would be willing to spare the time to review and advise if this spec is overkill, or lacking, for video editing I would really appreciate your input.
Case
CORSAIR CARBIDE SERIES™ 200R COMPACT GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 12-Core Processor i7-12700K (3.6GHz) 25MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® PRIME H610M-A D4: Micro-ATX, DDR4, USB 3.2, SATA 6GBs
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 2666MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GT 1030 - DVI, HDMI
1st M.2 SSD Drive
256GB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (2000 MB/R, 1100 MB/W)
1st Storage Drive
4TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 5400RPM, 256MB CACHE
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Memory Card Reader
USB 3.0 EXTERNAL SD/MICRO SD CARD READER
Power Supply
CORSAIR 450W CV SERIES™ CV-450 POWER SUPPLY
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 100 RGB V3 Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Extra Case Fans
2x 120mm Black Case Fan
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
Wireless Network Card
WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Supplied on USB Drive
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Microsoft® Edge
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 4 to 7 working days
Welcome Book
PCSpecialist Welcome Book - United Kingdom & Republic of Ireland
Price: £1,197.00 including VAT and Delivery

I edit videos, nothing fancy, 1080HD although it would be nice to be able to handle higher resolutions in the future.
Currently using HitFilm Express as my editor, and on my ageing AMD A8 pc with 8GB RAM that can be a major struggle and frustration at times, not surprising maybe as it's now 9 years old.
 

Aza

Rising Star
One of the biggest boosts to things like video editing can be RAM, have you considered adding more RAM to your current system? 8GB is very low.

Whats your budget limit? Theres a few things about the above spec that would concern me.
 

MikCal

Member
With a 9 year old PC I'm thinking that it would need more than just more RAM, especially a faster cpu to improve rendering speeds and with the age of my system I reckon a new PC is in order.
The above spec is just about within budget, but I'm reluctant to drop £1,200 unless confident I' not making some avoidable dumb mistakes!
 

Aza

Rising Star
£1200 is actually quite a modest spend for a video editing machine, I get its 1080p rather than 1440p or 4K, but there would still need to be a few elements you hold back on due to budget.

I'd be concerned about using a PRIME motherboard with that spec CPU, you need something more capable
PSU is going to be incredibly limiting on future upgrades, and at 450W i'm not convinced it would last particularly long even in the build you have above... been a few people recently who have had issues with low output PSU's
I'd reconsider the cooler choice, the PCS liquid coolers had issues when I looked at building mine, and they wont cope well with a 12700 you need something with real juice.
I'm assuming the 250GB Ms is a OS drive? Personally I wouldnt go less than 500GB, it will benefit from the space and allow the drive to operate at peak performance where its not full.

Are you able to put the reconfigure link in from the post to forum page? It helps a lot when suggesting alternative builds.
You're on a tight budget, so I'd also suggest seeing what the mods can put together or some of the most valued contributors, they really know their stuff and are far more familiar with current pricing so will get the most out of your money and be able to offer far better insight.
 
Last edited:

Aza

Rising Star
Got to be honest, only way I can spec something that is fairly balanced is by taking older generation parts... I think you really need a mod or valued contributor to have a look at it for you.

Spydertracks/Scott are really hot on stuff like this, you can try messaging them or use @ then username to tag them in and ask for advice
 

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
Many thanks Aza, really appreciate you taking the time to take a look
@SpyderTracks @Scott if you are able to advise as suggested that would be fantastic!
Basically, to be blunt, you're not gonna get anything worthwhile at that budget.

With any kind of video editing by todays standards, you basically need to have hardware acceleration with an RTX graphics card. It's just not possible at this budget.

For something absolutely entry level with an RTX3060, you'd be looking around £1500
 

sck451

MOST VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
Honestly I'd say you're going in the wrong direction with that build. You have a 1030: that's worthless for video editing. You might as well use the onboard graphics. Then you have slow memory, slow storage, cheap power...

I'd echo what @SpyderTracks says. Here, though, is the absolute minimum I'd consider for video editing. I've gone with AMD because a cheap AMD build is much better quality than a cheap Intel build, and Intel's lead for this kind of work is minimal to non-existent.

Case
LIAN LI LANCOOL 215 GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 5600 Six Core CPU (3.5GHz-4.4GHz/35MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B550-PLUS (DDR4, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3050 - HDMI, DP, LHR
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3500MB/sR | 2500MB/sW)
1st Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 256MB CACHE
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
STANDARD AMD CPU COOLER
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
Wireless Network Card
WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 2,400Mbps/5GHz, 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD + BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 11 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00003]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10/11 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Microsoft® Edge
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 4 to 7 working days
Price: £1,236.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/MaaWCXQCx3/
 

Scott

Behold The Ford Mondeo
Moderator
I may be able to push to that, really appreciate the advice!!

I would strongly advise you hold off and get a bit more budget together. The difference you could make with a little more investment right now would cover future upgrades to make it a much more powerful system overall.

Can you transfer your current windows license? That would save you ITRO £100 towards some parts. If you can push the budget out, it's worthwhile considering the following:

Note, this also hangs on you being able to transfer the Windows license.

Case
LIAN LI LANCOOL 215 GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i5 10-Core Processor i5-12600KF (3.7GHz) 20MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING Z690-PLUS WIFI D4 (LGA1700, USB 3.2, PCIe 5.0) - ARGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3600MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2060 - HDMI, DP - VR Ready!
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 6900MB/R, 5000MB/W)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3500MB/sR | 2500MB/sW)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair iCUE H100i RGB PRO XT Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
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 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Microsoft® Edge
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 4 to 7 working days
Price: £1,487.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-z690-pc/ZSFmr9s9FH/


I can't stress enough the difference in industry of the above system. If you decide to go down the higher resolution route you'll need to consider RAM & the GPU as future upgrades, for what you're doing just now though it will smash it out the park and you will be fully covered for those upgrades down the line.
 

MikCal

Member
@Scott
Many thanks! Can't say how much I appreciate all the help and advice!
I've tweaked your spec
The case is because I want (need!) front loading stuff due to where the pc sits and I don't have space to alter that unless I buy a different desk.
Due to the case, I couldn't go with the recommended cpu cooler
I've also done with a 4 TB hard drive as that would be a huge help with longer term storage (yes, I do back everything up to external drives)
Finally, doubled the RAM to 32GB - because more RAM is better? Right?

Case
CORSAIR CARBIDE SERIES™ 200R COMPACT GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i5 10-Core Processor i5-12600KF (3.7GHz) 20MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING Z690-PLUS WIFI D4 (LGA1700, USB 3.2, PCIe 5.0) - ARGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3600MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2060 - HDMI, DP - VR Ready!
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 6900MB/R, 5000MB/W)
1st Storage Drive
4TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 5400RPM, 256MB CACHE
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Memory Card Reader
USB 3.0 EXTERNAL SD/MICRO SD CARD READER
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H60 2018 Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
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 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Microsoft® Edge
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 4 to 7 working days
Welcome Book
PCSpecialist Welcome Book - United Kingdom & Republic of Ireland
Price: £1,555.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-z690-pc/76cyx8yPH7/
 

Scott

Behold The Ford Mondeo
Moderator
I wouldn't advise that case unfortunately. It's very much a hotbox. The cooler I selected is the level required for that CPU also, especially at full tilt.

32GB of RAM is a fine addition but I certainly wouldn't do any of it at the cost of a second M2 drive. The difference in throughput using a fast secondary drive for both fast storage and cache is just night and day compared to the conventional drive. Having the conventional drive, as well, is a good thing.... but not exclusively. You want to try and keep the primary drive around 50% capacity, or below.

To solve the issue with "front loading" I would simply get a USB DVD-RW drive. This way you could have it on top of the desk and remove it as you needed to. Most cases don't support optical drives now as they are very much redundant in the world.
 

MikCal

Member
Thanks - the DVD drive is a bonus (because I'm still old school and make up CD's for the car!!) however the main thing is an accessible card reader, headphone socket etc, with the PC inside the desk cupboard.
I'll take another gander at option tonight - and thanks again for your advice!
 

Martinr36

MOST VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
External DVD drive is the way to go if you want/need a DVD, just plug them into USB when you need them and chuck them" the cupboard when not in use, I've got 2, one for laptop and one for desktop
 

Scott

Behold The Ford Mondeo
Moderator
Thanks - the DVD drive is a bonus (because I'm still old school and make up CD's for the car!!) however the main thing is an accessible card reader, headphone socket etc, with the PC inside the desk cupboard.
I'll take another gander at option tonight - and thanks again for your advice!

I would have an external card reader too. These can typically be connected to the monitor USB hubs or etc. Much more convenient to use passthrough on the monitor etc, or have a connection hub on the desktop.... rather than via the case.

If it's in a cupboard though you're going to need to be really careful with the airflow of the chosen case.
 

Steveyg

MOST VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
The Fractal Define 7 has a DVD slot, it's an expensive case but it's best in class for acoustics while still having decent cooling at it's price range
 

MikCal

Member
New spec with a Fractal Focus gaming case..

Case
FRACTAL FOCUS G BLACK GAMING CASE (Window)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i5 10-Core Processor i5-12600KF (3.7GHz) 20MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING Z690-PLUS WIFI D4 (LGA1700, USB 3.2, PCIe 5.0) - ARGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3600MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2060 - HDMI, DP - VR Ready!
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 6900MB/R, 5000MB/W)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3500MB/sR | 2700MB/sW)
1st Storage Drive
4TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 5400RPM, 256MB CACHE
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Memory Card Reader
USB 3.0 EXTERNAL SD/MICRO SD CARD READER
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H60 2018 Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Extra Case Fans
2x 120mm Black Case Fan
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 11 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00003]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
NO RECOVERY MEDIA REQUIRED
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Microsoft® Edge
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 4 to 7 working days
Price: £1,869.00 including VAT and Delivery - OUCH!!

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-z690-pc/Ne2d6gZM7Y/
 

Scott

Behold The Ford Mondeo
Moderator
The case is fine, but it'll be noisier than the likes of the Define.

You're still way down on the cooler too, it's just going to be noisier if the cooler has to work harder.
 

Steveyg

MOST VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
Also the 4TB HDD is deathly slow at 5400rpm in this day and age. It's just not recommended here it's essentially buying a 20 year old drive at this point

7200RPM minimum on mechanical HDD's should be the mindset, I personally wouldn't want that cooler with that CPU it'll be running flat out to try and cool that CPU making it very noisy
 
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