Video editing PC - should I reconfigure for better GPU....?

[rfisher]

Hello,
I've posted before and received excellent advice, but I'm getting very close to buying now so I just wanted advice on a couple of things before pulling the trigger.
The machine will mainly be used for editing 4k video using Premiere Pro.

Primarily, I want to know if I should be reaching for a better graphics card? The rest of the machine is top or near top spec choices, and at the limits of my budget, so due to cost I've selected a relatively lowly graphics card. Should I be lowering the other specs in order to bump up the graphics card choice? Or is CPU king? Will I notice the difference if I get the cheapest ROG GPU?

Also, I'd appreciate any words of wisdom regarding quiet power supplies and CPU cooling. I'm prepared to spend some money keeping my PC relatively cool and quiet, but I've been surprised in the past what some things people think they can call 'silent'. Are silent fans really worth the money?

Thanks in advance for your help!


Case
CORSAIR CARBIDE SERIES™ 200R COMPACT GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i9 Eight Core Processor i9-9900KS (4.0GHz) 16MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® ROG STRIX Z390-F GAMING: ATX, LGA1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs - RGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (4 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2060 - HDMI, DP - VR Ready!

Get Call of Duty: Modern Warfare with select NVIDIA GeForce RTX GPUs!
1st Storage Drive
8TB SEAGATE IRONWOLF PRO 3.5", 7200 RPM 256MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB INTEL® 660p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (upto 1800MB/sR | 1800MB/sW)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply
CORSAIR 550W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H60 Hydro Cooler w/ PCS Ultra Quiet Fans
Thermal Paste
COOLER MASTER MASTERGEL MAKER THERMAL COMPOUND
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
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
Genuine 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 - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
BullGuard™ Internet Security - Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
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 10 to 12 working days
Price: £2,154.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-z370-pc/tTtJXwbuHk/

 

[Scott]

That's a really poor combination of choices IMO. The CPU you have selected is an absolute toaster. To put an H60 on it is like throwing a deckchair of the titanic and hoping that it stops it from sinking.

To answer your question though, with premiere pro the GPU will do very little actual video rendering/processing. It purely handles effects such as transitions. The processor is undoubtedly the king when it comes to rendering video. With that in mind the 3900X (or the 3950X if you can wait) would be my recommendation.

Was that build recommended on here? I would be surprised if it was.

 

[rfisher]

Hello, thanks for the reply.

No, this isn’t a recommended build, I started again as there were new options since I last took advice, and I‘ve upped my budget a bit too

And it’s fair to say I’m pretty much trying to buy the best I can afford, rather than through any deep understanding of the individual components.

When you say it’s a poor combination of choices though, did you just mean the processor/cooler? Or literally everything?

But either way you’d recommend going AMD rather than Intel, yes?

 

[Scott]

Hello, thanks for the reply.

No, this isn’t a recommended build, I started again as there were new options since I last took advice, and I‘ve upped my budget a bit too

And it’s fair to say I’m pretty much trying to buy the best I can afford, rather than through any deep understanding of the individual components.

When you say it’s a poor combination of choices though, did you just mean the processor/cooler? Or literally everything?

But either way you’d recommend going AMD rather than Intel, yes?

Is your budget around £2k as per your selections? Just for the Tower/PC as well? You can certainly get a VERY powerful system for this sort of budget, just be sure you're going to use the power effectively and it's not wasted.

I would definitely go with an AMD build for professional applications. The Intels are still the king of gaming.... barely.... but for a workhorse, AMD knocks spots off of them.

Examples of the imbalance of your current selections:

9900KS is a toaster of a CPU. It needs very good cooling and airflow is always key. The case selected is a competent case for mid range enthusiast builds but you would be looking for something significantly better with professional use in mind (Professional will put the CPU under higher utilisation than almost all gaming scenarios).

The ROG motherboard is a waste of money.

I'm not convinced the IronWolf is the best storage option. You either want mass storage or fast storage, the Ironwolf does the mass storage very well but is massively overpriced compared to other options. It's not particularly fast.

The 660p is a poorly optimised M2 selection. If you want proper high end you need to look at the Samsung or WD options.

The PSU is an OK selection but with high utilisation in mind I would either call PCS and ask for a lower rated RMx PSU or go for the 850W RMx PSU off of the configurator. You don't need 850w, or close to it, but it's a premium PSU that will give clean power output and run almost silent most of the time.

The H60 cooler is completely pointless nowadays. There are better air coolers. You want a high end cooling solution for this chip so I would recommend the H100i RGB Platinum as a minimum, the H115i Platinum is what I have running a 5GHz all core OC on the 9900k (Ks is similar, only a specially selected bin).

With any corsair cooler the mastergel is wasted. Corsair coolers come with a pre-applied high end paste that takes away any pasting concerns or requirements for other brands.

Wireless card is pointless for anything other than the odd bit of surfing. If you need wireless the 5Ghz option would always be best. The motherboard you had selected may even come with it built in, but I would ditch that motherboard regardless.

I would opt for the silver warranty at the absolute minimum. It's £5 and allows for free returns for any RMA issues.

If you want the absolute best performance you can get for your cash then hit us with an upper limit budget and we will give options. £2k will smash your requirements and then some so you may want to save money with a spec that meets your requirements rather than greatly exceeding them.

 

[rfisher]

Fantastic, thanks for the reply.

Firstly, as far as the case goes, this is my biggest compromise that i need to inflict onto the machine. I really need it to be as small as is reasonably possible. (My first ask on here a few months ago was for a mini atx machine to do this job and I was very quickly told it would be a very poor choice for what are now obvious reasons...)
My flat is simply not very big and my old PCS Coolermaster full tower made my wife very cross indeed! I also own a perfectly good PCspecialist laptop, but it sounds like its trying to take off when I render three hour videos on it, which is why I ought to put those duties back on a desktop.

Around £2k is my limit. Which is a stretch, but I’ve never regretted spending as much as I can on a computer. They’ve always lasted much longer and performed much better than cheaper alternatives.

Your help with things like cooling is especially valuable as the PCspecialist website doesn’t/can’t give the sort of insight you are providing.

As far as storage goes, I simply picked an M2 that fitted my budget. I like the idea of the core/OS drive of the machine being as good/fast as possible. (And reasonably big as I’d like to stick the odd game on there too).

Beyond that, I’d like secondary storage that is big rather than particularly fast. When I’m actually editing, the footage will probably be left on external USB type C drives. I just want the machines hard drive to hold the final rendered versions.

So yes, I’d be very grateful for your recommendation of a suitable AMD build.
Do i need to give you any other info...?

 

[Scott]

That all sounds fair. As per the advice previously, never compromise on the case with a professional work station. Interestingly for you though, I've selected a slightly smaller case that has known good airflow thanks to its layout and fan setup. The RGB can be switched off so don't worry about that

The 3900X is out of stock for now. The ETA is December but the 3950X should be out this month which will be VERY interesting. If it fits within budget (currently £1965 with the 3900X) and you're willing to go for it then it will be an absolute monster of a system.

Below is a no-compromise build. You could save money if you wished. You don't need the X570 board, the X470 is more than enough, but it brings with it good future potential that you may make use of. It fell within budget so I stuck with it.

The 2060 Super is available but it's more a gaming solution than a working solution. The 2060 is a fantastic gaming card, even up to 1440p, and it will handle coding transitions very well.

Storage I've gone with the SX6000 and standard SATA drive to save you some cash. I doubt you will ever use more than 1tb given your information above. If you do, there's space for another M2 drive if you want to expand at a later date. 1TB will house the OS, any programs, a handful of games and leave ample storage for working from the desktop etc.

The 850W RMx is overkill power wise. Its nearly silent though (fanless most of the time). As is the cooler I have selected. It comes with ML (Magnetic levitation) fans, has the best cooling plate in class and runs almost silent.

FWIW the 3700X would smash your requirements IMO so you could go with the system as it is. The 3900X is just the go-to processing beast.

Case
CORSAIR iCUE 220T RGB AIRFLOW MID TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 3700X Eight Core CPU (3.6GHz-4.4GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)

Get 3 Months of XBOX Game Pass for PC w/ select AMD Ryzen CPUs

The Outer Worlds -OR- Borderlands 3 w/ select AMD Ryzen CPUs
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF X570-PLUS GAMING (USB 3.2 Gen 2, PCIe 4.0, CrossFireX) - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (4 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2060 - HDMI, DP - VR Ready!

Get Call of Duty: Modern Warfare with select NVIDIA GeForce RTX GPUs!
1st Storage Drive
8TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 5400RPM, 256MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB ADATA SX6000 Pro PCIe M.2 2280 (2100 MB/R, 1500 MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H100i RGB PLATINUM 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)
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
Genuine 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 - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
BullGuard™ Internet Security - Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
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 10 to 12 working days
Price: £1,788.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/EZVjPzpckZ/

 

[rfisher]

Amazing. Thanks so much. This is incredibly useful and at a price that is most appealing.

I just need to ask myself if I go for this spec now at this price or wait and pay more for the more powerful options you’ve mentioned.

I think I’m leaning towards the former....

But either way, thank you so very much for your time and knowledge!

 

[Scott]

Personally I would hold off. The 3950X is a very exciting CPU, it's worth holding out to see what November brings. When it is released the 3900X may in fact become more affordable.

Regardless, the 3900X nor the 3950X are an option right now so the only sensible option left is the 3700X. There is a large working difference between these CPUs even if the gaming difference is very slight.

 

[rfisher]

Okay, I’ll probably wait then, and I’ll come back and bother you once the 3950x is released!

cheers

 

[rfisher]

Hello, can I bother you with this again please, The_Scotster now that the 3950x is out….?

Sadly it appears that the case that you had recommended is no longer available, and maybe other things have changed too?

Is it just a matter me using what you specced last time and then just picking the processor that fits my budget, or are there knock-ons like beefier heat management that I need to consider? And maybe other things have changed too?

Again, any help you can give would be most gratefully received!

Cheers

 

[Scott]

I would probably stick with the 3900X. It's an absolute monster of a CPU.

It's not available right now though, ETA is 15th of December. I would hold off until then and see which cases are available as there are no great alternatives right now IMO. Not sure what's happened to all the case options, I'm hoping that there is going to be an influx of new options or something.

 

[rfisher]

Brilliant, thank you. I can wait.

 

[rfisher]

Hello, sorry to bother you again...!

Still no sign of new cases, or at least not Corsair ones. I’ve had a rough go at a spec though and picked a smallish Corsair case that still seems to have three big old fans all down the front. Do you think it might be up to the job?
If not, do you have any suggestions of how to proceed? Does PCS read the “What cases do you want?” Section of the forum, or maybe I should give them a call.
Also a few other things seem to have changed or become unavailable since last we spoke so I’ve made some fairly arbitrary choices here. It would be brilliant if you could steer me in the right direction if any of those choices are total garbage...?!

As always, your time it really appreciated!


Case
CORSAIR SPEC-DELTA RGB MID TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 9 3900X 12 Core CPU (3.8GHz-4.6GHz/70MB CACHE/AM4)

Get 3 Months of XBOX Game Pass for PC w/ select AMD Ryzen CPUs

The Outer Worlds -AND- Borderlands 3 w/ select AMD Ryzen CPUs
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF X570-PLUS GAMING (USB 3.2 Gen 2, PCIe 4.0, CrossFireX) - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2060 SUPER - HDMI, DP - VR Ready!
1st Storage Drive
4TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 5400RPM, 256MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB CORSAIR MP600 GEN 4 PCIe NVMe (up to 4950MB/R, 4250MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply
CORSAIR 550W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H100x Hydro Cooler w/ PCS Ultra Quiet Fans
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
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 [KK3-00002]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
BullGuard™ Internet Security - Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
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 12 to 14 working days
Price: £1,848.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/8CtjBQxH9g/

 

[Scott]

The main of the spec looks really good. There are just a few changes I would make.... case (R6 is very high end), better cooler and better wifi. The cooler has ultra silent fans as standard and is more efficient than the H100X. Wifi depends if you will use it or not. It's the new standard though, if you want to use Wifi this is the card you want.

Case
FRACTAL DEFINE R6 BLACK QUIET MID-TOWER CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 9 3900X 12 Core CPU (3.8GHz-4.6GHz/70MB CACHE/AM4)

Get 3 Months of XBOX Game Pass for PC w/ select AMD Ryzen CPUs

The Outer Worlds -AND- Borderlands 3 w/ select AMD Ryzen CPUs
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF X570-PLUS GAMING (USB 3.2 Gen 2, PCIe 4.0, CrossFireX) - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2060 SUPER - HDMI, DP - VR Ready!
1st Storage Drive
4TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 5400RPM, 256MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB CORSAIR MP600 GEN 4 PCIe NVMe (up to 4950MB/R, 4250MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply
CORSAIR 550W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H100i RGB PLATINUM 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)
Wireless/Wired Networking
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 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KK3-00002]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
BullGuard™ Internet Security - Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
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 12 to 14 working days
Price: £1,924.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/q3AGS20ecF/

 

[rfisher]

Brilliant, thank you!

 

[rfisher]

Order placed. Again, thanks for your help!

 

[Scott]

No worries, if you get the chance a little review would be nice once you have put it through its paces