Some Help Needed. Gaming and video editing build 2k max

[TommyBarnez]

Hi all,

Hoping for some help as have spent the last week or so trying to work out what I need.

Requirement of system will be gaming (Star Citizen probably being the most demanding) and video editing. Editiing will be intitially just gameplay videos however will then increase to bigger projects when I can invest in better cameras etc.

Budget is 2k max however that includes everything. I'm also wanting this to be a system I am able to use for a long time upgrading items as I go. My background in PC gaming was in the early 90s on a 386 so I a have a bit of a learning curve to get back into things.

If people could post builds suggestions and the justification for parts I would really appreciate it. The other temptation is going into pc world and just buying something off the shelf however I think investing some time into working out what I am doing will pay off in the long run.

Just to add I think the Eglato capture card is pretty set in stone as something needed. I've used their device for console came capture and got on well with it.

Thank you in advance for help and sorry for any dumb questions that may follow from me!

Tom

 

[TommyBarnez]

Sorry forgot to post the build that I had come up with...


Case
FRACTAL DEFINE S BLACK GAMING CASE (Window)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Processor i7-7700 (3.6GHz) 8MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® PRIME Z270-P: ATX, LG1151, USB 3.0, SATA 6GBs
Memory (RAM)
16GB HyperX FURY DDR4 2133MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1060 - DVI, HDMI, 3 x DP - GeForce GTX VR Ready!
1st Hard Disk
240GB KINGSTON UV400 2.5" SSD, SATA 6 Gb (550MB/R, 490MB/W)
2nd Hard Disk
2TB SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W CS SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
CoolerMaster Hyper 212X (120mm) Fan CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
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 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 DVD & Licence
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365
Anti-Virus
BullGuard™ Internet Security - Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Monitor
Samsung LS27E45KBS/EN 27" Full HD monitor
Keyboard & Mouse
Corsair Gaming Bundle - Keyboard, Mouse, Headset & Mouse Mat
Game Streaming
Elgato Game Capture HD60 PRO - PCIe Card
Speakers
Microlab H30BT 2.0 White 20W Speaker System
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 2 to 4 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £1,810.00 including VAT and delivery.

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations//!ysjrsDhQn/

 

[Frank100]

Hi,

My only suggestions from your build is to swap the Kingston SSD for a Samsung M.2 SATA. Price difference isn't as much as you'd think but performance difference is remarkable. The other being to consider a slightly better board that has on-board USB 3.1 for future connectivity. Performance difference between 3.0 and 3.1 is big.

If you wanted to spend more money on graphics the GTX1070 is even more powerful for both gaming and GPU supported video editing. The GTX1060 will be very capable however.

Welcome back to PC gaming!

Frank100

 

[Oussebon]

Just to add I think the Eglato capture card is pretty set in stone as something needed. I've used their device for console came capture and got on well with it.

What are you using it to capture footage off?

If you mean you are buying an Elgato PCI-E card to capture PC gameplay, you could just use Shadowplay to save the footage rather than dropping £160 on a game capture card. Freeing up that cash would let you substantially improve the base build.

 

[TommyBarnez]

What are you using it to capture footage off?

If you mean you are buying an Elgato PCI-E card to capture PC gameplay, you could just use Shadowplay to save the footage rather than dropping £160 on a game capture card. Freeing up that cash would let you substantially improve the base build.

Thanks!! For some reason I had it in my head I needed a capture card!

Thanks Frank! I've added the points you mentioned and have a new quote as below. Couple more questions - Firstly do I need a disk drive? I've not got one selected and they aren't expensive but unsure if they are redundant these days with Steam. Also how is my case? My only judgement on them is how they look rather than anything else and the one I've picked is black so matches the rest however is somewhat boring looking compared to the others. Do LEDs bump up the visuals or will that look and? Does anyone have any experience with the keyboard and mouse I've selected? I'll have a quick look at youtube videos however if anyone here notices and could give feedback would be good. Finally, cables etc Do I have all I need?

Thanks again for help both, I really appreciate it!


Case
FRACTAL DEFINE S BLACK GAMING CASE (Window)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Processor i7-7700 (3.6GHz) 8MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® ROG STRIX Z270E GAMING: ATX, LG1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB HyperX FURY DDR4 2133MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1070 - DVI, HDMI, 3 x DP - GeForce GTX VR Ready!
FREE FOR HONOR or GHOST RECON: WILDLANDS with select GTX 10 Series GPUs!
1st Hard Disk
250GB Samsung 850 2.5" EVO SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (upto 540MB/sR | 520MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk
2TB SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W CS SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
CoolerMaster Hyper 212X (120mm) Fan CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
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 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 DVD & Licence
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365
Anti-Virus
BullGuard™ Internet Security - Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Monitor
Samsung LS27E45KBS/EN 27" Full HD monitor
Keyboard & Mouse
Corsair Gaming Bundle - Keyboard, Mouse, Headset & Mouse Mat
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 2 to 4 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £1,830.00 including VAT and delivery.

 

[Oussebon]

The SM961 isn't much more expensive than the 850 Evo and is a good deal faster, so you may want to go with that.

I would also go with the i7 7700k over the i7 7700 as it has a much higher base frequency, which would help performance when the CPU is under heavy load e.g. video rendering or certain games and also has faster single core turbo. Plus it's unlocked so you would at least have the option to put a bit of an overclock on there if you wanted to squeak out some extra performance in a few years.
https://ark.intel.com/compare/97129,97128

I'd say it's worth it for the price difference in the context of the overall build.

Some games will benefit from faster DDR4 as well:


So I added in the 3200MHz DDR4. It's £40 more than the 2133MHz (and £8 cheaper than the 3000MHz stuff for some reason, making it only £14 more than the 2666MHz RAM).

A word on the monitor - it's a 60hz TN panel with a 5ms response time. It's not an ideal match for a GTX 1070 as you may be wasting the card's potential somewhat. Some people also find that the pixel density of 1080p on anything above 24" is a bit low. You may want to look into 144hz 24" monitors, or even a budget 1440p screen to go with your GTX 1070.

For 1440p there are things like the AOC Q2577PWQ
PC Monitors review: https://tinyurl.com/hf7oe73
Kitguru: http://www.kitguru.net/peripherals/monitors/orestis-bastounis/aoc-q2577pwq-review/5/
Expert Reviews: http://www.expertreviews.co.uk/accessories/pc-monitors/1403416/aoc-q2577pwq-review


An for 1080p 144hz there are things like the AOC G2460pf -
PC Monitors: http://tinyurl.com/z9dpdwp
Tom's Hardware: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/aoc-g2460pf-24-inch-144hz-freesync-monitor,review-33663-6.html
bit-tech: http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/monitors/2016/10/12/aoc-g2460pf-review/7



Case
FRACTAL DEFINE S BLACK GAMING CASE (Window)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Processor i7-7700k (4.2GHz) 8MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® ROG STRIX Z270E GAMING: ATX, LG1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB HyperX PREDATOR DDR4 3200MHz X.M.P (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1070 - DVI, HDMI, 3 x DP - GeForce GTX VR Ready!
FREE FOR HONOR or GHOST RECON: WILDLANDS with select GTX 10 Series GPUs!
1[SUP]st[/SUP] Hard Disk
2TB SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
M.2 SSD Drive
256GB SAMSUNG SM961 M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3100MB/R, 1400MB/W)
1[SUP]st[/SUP] DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W CS SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
CoolerMaster Hyper 212X (120mm) Fan CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
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 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 DVD & Licence
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365
Anti-Virus
BullGuard™ Internet Security - Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Monitor
Samsung LS27E45KBS/EN 27" Full HD monitor
Keyboard & Mouse
Corsair Gaming Bundle - Keyboard, Mouse, Headset & Mouse Mat
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 2 to 4 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £1,909.00 including VAT and delivery.

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-z270-pc/5UuV6JRkx5/

Firstly do I need a disk drive? I've not got one selected and they aren't expensive but unsure if they are redundant these days with Steam.

You don't need one - unless you have discs you want to use As you say with Steam, and downloading / streaming movies and music these days it's not as essential as in the past. Many cases - like the Define S - lack space for optical drives. You can always use an external USB drive if you find you need one occasionally.

Also how is my case? My only judgement on them is how they look rather than anything else and the one I've picked is black so matches the rest however is somewhat boring looking compared to the others

The Define S is a good case. You can add LEDs to jazz up the lighting. If you just put Fractal Define S LED into google it will turn up some pics to show the kind of contrast between regular lighting and LED strips. Note that the Z270E also has some of its own RGB lighting.

No idea about the keyboard and mouse but as well as youtube there will be written reviews:
http://www.tech-critter.com/2014/01/corsair-raptor-k30-and-k50-gaming_4.html
https://www.hardwareheaven.com/2013/11/corsair-raptor-k30-gaming-keyboard-review/4/
from professional and/or enthusiast websites.

 

[TommyBarnez]

Thanks Oussebon!

I got a bit confused about the OS and which hard drive to put on. I've selected the SSD Samsung one that Frank had suggested - is that right?

Had heard a bit about overclocking and made a mental note that I need a 'K' to indicate it can be overclocked so thank you for that. Obviously no idea what it means yet however think I will be back on forums down the line checking that out.

Thanks for the monitor heads up as was a little unsure on that. Will spend a bit more time looking into it and reviews for the ones you suggested. Will no doubt post another final write up of what I'm getting when settled.

I noticed you removed the speakers I had put on - was this in error or do you think not needed? I've presumed in error.

And finally, when ordering does everything then arrive in boxes so I build myself? Kinda excited about that as looks fun! Though will probably make a mistake!

Thanks again for help

 

[Oussebon]

My only suggestions from your build is to swap the Kingston SSD for a Samsung M.2 SATA. Price difference isn't as much as you'd think but performance difference is remarkable.

I believe Frank was referring to the M.2 Samsung NVMe drives, such as the SM961, which are under the M.2 drive menu. The 850 Evo drives are great, but the SM961 / PM961 are about the same price and much, much faster.

I put the fastest ~240gb Samsung SSD in the spec I tweaked above, i.e. the:

M.2 SSD Drive
256GB SAMSUNG SM961 M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3100MB/R, 1400MB/W)

You want the OS on your fastest drive, i.e. the SSD.

Had heard a bit about overclocking and made a mental note that I need a 'K' to indicate it can be overclocked so thank you for that. Obviously no idea what it means yet however think I will be back on forums down the line checking that out.

Overclocking is making something run faster than its factory setting in order to improve its performance. However, even if you didn't do any overclocking the i7 7700k is 600MHz faster at base speed and also has a faster boost speed compared to the i7 7700 (non-k), which I would say is enough to make the k version worth getting.

As for the speakers, I was working off the spec in your 2nd post which didn't have the speakers - and I forgot you'd included them in your first post. You can change the spec I posted using the link below it so do go ahead and add them back in. I certainly wasn't recommending you against them

And finally, when ordering does everything then arrive in boxes so I build myself? Kinda excited about that as looks fun! Though will probably make a mistake!

What arrives is a ready-built, functioning PC that should have been throughly tested as working before it was shipped to you. You need to connect the power and monitor cables and plug in any peripherals of course, but you're paying PC Specialist to have done the building for you.

 

[TommyBarnez]

Ok so I've spent the last 2 days looking online getting excited about monitors... my budget has gone up, reluctantly, but still up a bit.

What do you think of this - http://www.lg.com/uk/monitors/lg-34UC79G-B

Having looked around it seems very well suited to AMG graphics though so not sure if I should be looking at something else or going with a different graphics card? Also saw a review on the monitor that mentioned the colours weren't perfect so really not sure. I like the ultrawideness of it, but not sure if I am being drawn down a path where I could do better for the money. Have found this one for 500 quid online.

Oussebon, sorry but need your help again

Also quick check on the SSD and Hard drive - If the OS and my software is on the SSD, when I am recording video will it record there or onto the Hard drive? I've not had two before and worried about space on the SSD but unsure if I can be using them both at the same time, a bit like a side dish at the dinner table (only analogy I can think of)