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New Computer Build - Need Advice

addiesin

addiesin

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I'm planning on building a new computer very soon, and found a great website to choose the parts ( pcpartpicker.com ) and it shows the lowest price out of a bunch of vendors and lists any incompatibilities between parts.

So I picked some parts and think it looks good, but I've never built a PC before. So does anyone here have experience in this field? Any good advice for what not to do? My current laptop does not do well with graphically intensive stuff, hence why I haven't released any edits, it just gets too hot and ends up crashing and I can't export anything of reasonable length. Since I'm still new to the editing part of fanedits, I chose parts based on what would work with playing games in HD with a 32" 1080p tv as a monitor and I plan to eventually get a surround sound setup for the computer. I figure (though I might be wrong) that if it can handle flashy new games, then it should be able to handle HD editing.

So, can anyone help me figure out (or just tell me) if Sony Vegas will run smoothly with HD material on this setup?

The parts and specs I chose are:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks


CPU: AMD FX-4350 4.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($119.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Zalman CNPS5X Performa CPU Cooler ($17.98 @ Outlet PC)
Motherboard: Asus M5A97 LE R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($68.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Tactical 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($47.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Tactical 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($47.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Sandisk 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($89.99 @ Microcenter)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($85.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 7770 1GB Video Card ($79.99 @ NCIX US)
Sound Card: Asus Xonar DG 24-bit 96 KHz Sound Card ($27.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Gigabyte GZ-F5HEB ATX Mid Tower Case ($27.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 600W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($37.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Pioneer BDR-208DBK Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $802.84
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-06-26 13:19 EDT-0400)


If anything looks like a good or bad choice in particular, feel free to point it out. My budget is under $1000 and goal is to make some sweet edits. Currently the setup is ~$800 plus ~$150 for a fresh copy of Vegas. Many thanks for any input.
 
PC building is a fun and very rewarding activity. It's also pretty easy these days. The only thing I'm seeing is that you probably don't need the soundcard as your motherboard comes with it. Also, make sure you have all necessary cables. Sometimes it's not packaged with parts (i.e. SATA cables for hard or optical drive to motherboard) so it might be good idea to buy a couple extra just to be safe. Also research the motherboard for use with SSD. You may have to change a few settings in the BIOS.

That said, take your time and have fun.
 
addiesin said:
So, can anyone help me figure out (or just tell me) if Sony Vegas will run smoothly with HD material on this setup?
Click to expand...

Yes it will, with bags of room to spare.
 
Q2 said:
PC building is a fun and very rewarding activity. It's also pretty easy these days. The only thing I'm seeing is that you probably don't need the soundcard as your motherboard comes with it. Also, make sure you have all necessary cables. Sometimes it's not packaged with parts (i.e. SATA cables for hard or optical drive to motherboard) so it might be good idea to buy a couple extra just to be safe. Also research the motherboard for use with SSD. You may have to change a few settings in the BIOS.

That said, take your time and have fun.
Click to expand...

Onboard sound is notoriously shit.

Only thing you should need to do in the BIOS is change the sata from IDE mode to AHCI mode.
 
nOmArch said:
Onboard sound is notoriously shit.
Click to expand...

If you're going to be doing gaming or using your system as an entertainment center then yes, but if you're primarily going for a fanediting system then he could do without.

Only thing you should need to do in the BIOS is change the sata from IDE mode to AHCI mode.
Click to expand...

Exactly my point. :)
 
You guys are the best. I love this community.


That said, thanks for the advice. The sound card is more of a just-in-case accessory, because I may use the PC for gaming and bluray/netflix/hulu viewing as well. Like I said, I plan on getting a decent surround setup to complement it, so tossing an extra 30 bucks in now toward future-proofing is worth it to me.

Without you guys I don't think I would have known about the BIOS settings for the SSD hard drive. I figure if I can get Windows and Vegas on the SSD it should load up rather speedy and at least appear to be a huge upgrade from my current POS, so I definitely want it to work correctly.

So thanks, thanks, thanks! And take my likes on every post! :)
 
Q2 said:
If you're going to be doing gaming or using your system as an entertainment center then yes, but if you're primarily going for a fanediting system then he could do without.
Click to expand...

I see it differently, having good quality sound to me is more important for editing than gaming. But yes you can edit alright without one.

Exactly my point. :)
Click to expand...

Could of sworn you said a few things :p but that's me being slightly* pedantic.

*OK maybe a bit more than slightly.
 
I would step up to an AMD 6 core. The price difference is tiny.
 
Where are you getting Vegas for $150? Sounds too low for Pro and too high for Studio.
 
reave said:
I would step up to an AMD 6 core. The price difference is tiny.
Click to expand...

I agree, step up to a 6 core or an 8 core. I would also look into a 10,000 RPM drive and probably double the memory. Those aren't necessary by any means, but for the small price difference you will still be under budget and it will be a vastly superior build.
 
Doubling to 32 GB memory is more than a small price difference. I am editing HD just fine with 12 GB. Not sure whether doubling would effect gaming substantially, but in my experience years ago with that, it makes less difference than one might think. With gaming the bottleneck always seems to be about video card and video memory more than anything else.

I am more of an intel and Nvidia guy these days, but your system looks good to me.

Lastly, regarding the sound card, you probably need it IMO based on the pictures of the motherboard (that website doesn't give shit for specs!). There are limited plugs showing in the pic. Specifically I don't see a digital optical plug, much less a line-in, mic, or line-out. Depending on how fancy you want to get with sound, I have my computer running out to a receiver I bought for cheap at a pawn shop using digital optical, and then through that I have it connected to nice speakers and subwoofer, thus bypassing the computer speaker nonsense entirely.
 
One other comment. I have been using a 32" monitor for years now as a dual TV/computer monitor in my bedroom. It can be awesome, but it has a major drawback of drying my eyes out when I sit close to it for extended periods of time. Not sure if this is unique to my Samsung TV or not, but I am guessing no? There have been a couple binge gaming sessions where my eyes got super bloodshot to the point where I was uncomfortable and coworkers commented on them.

It tends to be not quite as bad with editing as it is with gaming where I am plugged in Clockwork Orange style.
 
I'm editing HD with 8gb. 16gb should be plenty.
 
TV's Frink said:
Where are you getting Vegas for $150? Sounds too low for Pro and too high for Studio.
Click to expand...

Oops, i was estimating, didn't have the tab open. 130 it is.


Also, I'll probably stick with 16gb ram, but I'll look into the faster hdd and prices for higher core processors, if the difference in cost isn't significant I'll upgrade setup.
 
jtm5118 said:
I agree, step up to a 6 core or an 8 core. I would also look into a 10,000 RPM drive and probably double the memory. Those aren't necessary by any means, but for the small price difference you will still be under budget and it will be a vastly superior build.
Click to expand...

10,000 RPM is overkill as is 32GB RAM.
 
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