Advice on budget video editing rig

[NeoMoses]

I could use some advice on a relatively low budget PC to edit and compress home videos in 1080p resolution and compress DVDS to a size that will fit on a phone. Right now I'm using a quad core i5 and it's sufficient, but a bit on the slow side. Other usage will be some 3D modeling in Fusion 360, office apps, web browsing, family photo editing..... boring old person stuff.

Question 1: I'm torn between the i7 9700 and the Ryzen 7 2700x. It seems I can build a system around either at a similar price. Unless there's a compelling reason, price will likely be my deciding factor. Should I consider dropping down to an i5 again?

Overclocking isn't the main goal with this machine, but I might go after easy gains if available.

GPU question: I'm not a gamer. Will the Ryzen plus a mediocre GPU give me any benefit? Right now, I'm ignorantly happy with my i5 onboard graphics.

Target hardware budget is around $700 or less, excluding the OS. I do have a microcenter close, so that's an option.

Other specs I'd like:
1 TB SSD
16 GB RAM
Decent mobo, leaning toward ATX but open to ideas
New power supply
New case, front USB access appreciated
DVD burner
Legit copy of windows

Any thoughts or comments would be helpful. Help me find the best value machine

 

[UltraTaco]

Ryzen will give you more for less. More cores.
Intel will overclock higher, but since you're not overclocking(maybe?), won't matter. Ryzen doesn't go much past boost.
From past experience on video editing, get the most cpu you can get.

 

[trents]

For $700 or less, you'd need to go with Ryzen. You can get a 2700x for $180 right now on Amazon. The stock cooler that comes with it is pretty decent and adequate for stock operation as long as your case ventilation is adequate.

Pickup a used Nvidia GTX 1060 GPU. Or a used GTX 1050 Ti https://www.ebay.com/itm/Asus-Phoen...sh=item5b6d2d01fc:g:ErAAAOSwXM5dKoIL&LH_BIN=1

PSU: https://www.newegg.com/evga-supernova-550-ga-220-ga-0550-x1-550w/p/1HU-00J7-004V3?&quicklink=true

Mobo: https://www.newegg.com/asus-tuf-b450m-pro-gaming/p/N82E16813119224?&quicklink=true

1TB SSD: https://www.newegg.com/western-digi...=1TB SSD&cm_re=1TB_SSD-_-20-250-088-_-Product

RAM: https://www.newegg.com/g-skill-16gb-288-pin-ddr4-sdram/p/N82E16820232767

Case: https://www.newegg.com/p/N82E16811353171

DVD Burner: https://www.newegg.com/lite-on-mode...r&cm_re=DVD_Burner-_-17D-001H-00002-_-Product

That comes in at just under $700 including shipping but not tax with the Nvidia 1050Ti option.


Note: You don't want to go cheap on the mobo and the PSU. They are foundational components.

 

[NeoMoses]

Thanks for the tips guys. Here's what I ended up going with, all from MicroCenter:

Ryzen 7 2700x - $140
Gigabyte B450 AORUS PRO WIFI AMD AM4 ATX Motherboard - $95 ($20 CPU combo savings)
Crucial 1 TB SSD - $95
MSI Radeon RX 580 Armor X Overclocked Dual-Fan 8GB - $150 after rebate
Crucial Ballistix Sport LT 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 - $68
ThermalTake 600 Watt Power Supply - $50
Case: $0. I just reused an old case I had laying around to save some cash.

Total Hardware was $635 (the 5% microcenter credit card discount pretty much offset the tax).

New OEM DVD copy of Windows 10 - $120, bringing this build up to $755. Not too shabby of a price for this much power, and I'm happily writing this post on the new machine. As always, I knew I could count on this forum for great advice!

 

[trents]

Can the software you will use for 3D modeling use a Radeon video card for rendering? That is why I was recommending used Nvidia cards. Historically, creative software has favored the use of Nvidia GPU products.

Having said that, looks like you made some smart choices. My only hesitation would be with the Thermaltake PSU. Typically, that is not a brand name associated with PSU build quality. I hope it gives you good service.

I wish I lived near a MicroCenter.

 

[NeoMoses]

Thanks for the clarification trents. I didn't understand you originally, and I might have bought a sub-optimized (for my usage) video card. I just did a quick test in Fusion360, the CAD program I use most of the time. When using the "Render" options, it looks like my CPUs peg at 100%, but not the video card. Very light usage on the video cards. However, in the "Design" part of the program, there was very little usage on either.

I have a feeling that a better graphics card could help the rendering, but I don't render photo realistic models very often. I'm usually using the Design and Toolpath part of CAD, just to support manufacturing an actual part on my CNC. This is good advice for others, though. I might have to do some more digging to see if I can get this GPU to do some of the work while rendering.

Thanks again!

 

[trents]

Creator software traditionally has used an NVIDIA proprietary API technology called "CUDA" to utilize the GPU in rendering activities. More recently, AMD has developed a counterpart API called "VULKAN". VULKAN is pretty new so it is not as widely implemented as CUDA. I believe AMD VULKAN is licensed as open source so I expect we will see it more widely used with time. But if you're using software that is several years old it would be tied to CUDA.

 

[NeoMoses]

I did a bit more searching and it looks like Fusion 360 does not use the GPU for rendering while in the "render" mode, only in modeling mode. It is CPU only rendering for the detailed rendering mode. Seems like this is a program limitation, not something specific to a video card brand, so I lucked out here.

 

[trents]

Will it be a significant handicap in modeling mode?

 

[NeoMoses]

I don't think it will be a handicap at all, at least not for the level of modeling I'm doing. I have been very successful running this on my old i5 laptop with integrated graphics and 8 GB RAM. I never ran into modeling problems on that machine, and this new machine is MUCH times faster. Perhaps if I was modeling full engines or some large vehicle, it would be a problem. However, my modeling is focused around woodworking so it's mostly furniture, cabinets, boxes, and small pieces that are cut on a CNC router. I think my computer usage is pretty light on the processing end, with the exception of encoding videos. That's about the only thing that is less than instantaneous. I'm almost 1 week in on the new machine and still loving it, so I think it was a well timed upgrade.