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Author Topic: New PC build for photo and video - what do you think of the spec?  (Read 18310 times)

Dinarius

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I am looking at building a new desktop PC for photo and video editing.

Here is a spec I am considering.

Any feedback appreciated.

I want any software to run in the blink of an eye, and this should do that for me.

While the choice of most components is fairly clear cut, I find the choice in Graphic Cards mind-boggling.  ::)

Any views on my choice of card, in particular, appreciated.

Also, any views in terms of numbers of USB connections etc. appreciated also.

Thanks.

D.
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Bart_van_der_Wolf

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Re: New PC build for photo and video - what do you think of the spec?
« Reply #1 on: October 21, 2016, 08:18:36 am »

I am looking at building a new desktop PC for photo and video editing.

Here is a spec I am considering.

Any feedback appreciated.

I want any software to run in the blink of an eye, and this should do that for me.

While the choice of most components is fairly clear cut, I find the choice in Graphic Cards mind-boggling.  ::)

Any views on my choice of card, in particular, appreciated.

Also, any views in terms of numbers of USB connections etc. appreciated also.

Thanks.

D.

Hi D.,

On a cursory glance, it looks like a potent configuration. I'm not up to speed with the motherboard specifications, but I do know from friends that the Gigasbyte MBs are considered good, but you need to use well-tested up-to-date drivers. So for new boards, there may be more frequent changes in drivers than for more seasoned models. The benefit of a large brand is that issues (e.g. after OS updates, or cross component influences) will surface relatively fast due to a large number of users. So try and follow the discussions on trustworthy MB forums fpr the latest.

As for the SSDs, The Samsung 850 EVO uses "3d v-nand (TLC)" memory, which is considered more of a budget type of memory. Nothing wrong with it, but it will reach end-of-life sooner than the  Samsung 850 Pro version, which uses "3d v-nand (MLC)" memory, which is considered a mid-range type of memory. There is a reason why the EVO have a 5 year warranty and the PRO a 10 year warranty ... The Pro might also use a faster controller (but I'd have to double-check that). It has 6% faster random Read speed (according to the specs).  I'd go for the PRO rather than the somewhat cheaper EVO type.

As for graphics card, I'm a bit more fond of Nvidia, it seems like they have a larger market share and better connections with the software industry (like Adobe). Don't know how important 10-bit display drivers are for your situation, but it would take the Workstation version cards like the Nvidia Quattro or the AMD FirePRo series of cards, and you'd need to check for the proper number of connections to drive 10-b/ch (or 30-bit) displays. Also, looking to the future, take into consideration that High DPI and 4k/8k pixel resolution displays will become more common. For the short term, do check with you software maker's recommendations for supported cards (although that may be updated as time goes by). Adobe used to recommend Nvidia Quattro cards, maybe they now also support/recommend FirePros?

Also, make sure that the power supply has plenty of headroom (I haven't added the requirements fo the components myself, so I don't know if 550W is enough for the near future).

Just some thoughts.

Cheers,
Bart
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Dinarius

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Re: New PC build for photo and video - what do you think of the spec?
« Reply #2 on: October 21, 2016, 09:37:13 am »

Bart,

Thanks for a wonderfully comprehensive reply. I am extremely grateful.

It has set me doing a bit more research....

I've always regarded Tom's Hardware highly so, for starters, here is their take on graphics cards....

Back to the drawing board...  8)

Best wishes,

Denis

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Dinarius

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Re: New PC build for photo and video - what do you think of the spec?
« Reply #3 on: October 21, 2016, 10:22:11 am »

Bart,

I've made a new custom build taking on board your suggestions about wattage and memory and graphics.

The choice of graphics card was influenced by tests from Tom's Hardware which I think is well thought of.

Let me know what you think.

Thanks.

D.
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scyth

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Re: New PC build for photo and video - what do you think of the spec?
« Reply #4 on: October 21, 2016, 01:02:09 pm »

The choice of graphics card was influenced by tests from Tom's Hardware which I think is well thought of.


why tests from 2013 ? for example tests from 2016 = http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=gpu-pro-opencl&num=1
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Dinarius

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Re: New PC build for photo and video - what do you think of the spec?
« Reply #5 on: October 21, 2016, 01:24:13 pm »

why tests from 2013 ? for example tests from 2016 = http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=gpu-pro-opencl&num=1

Coz of its image processing bias.

If you have an affordable graphics card you'd care to recommend, I'm all ears.

Thanks for the reply.

D.
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Pictus

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Re: New PC build for photo and video - what do you think of the spec?
« Reply #6 on: October 21, 2016, 04:50:56 pm »

-The power supply is overdimensioned, calculate the right one with
http://outervision.com/power-supply-calculator

-The https://www.backblaze.com/blog/hard-drive-reliability-stats-q1-2016/
reports high failure rate for the HD Seagate ST3000DM001

-Blu-ray is faster and much more reliable than DVD

-The GPU AMD 7970 is good, but VERY old, newer cards have upgraded
OpenCL functions not available in the old models...
Get an AMD RX 460/RX 470 or Nvidia GTX 1050/1060
Some benchmarks:
http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/high_end_gpus.html
https://compubench.com/result.jsp?benchmark=compu15d&test=571&text-filter=&order=median&ff-desktop=true&os-Windows_cl=true&pu-dGPU=true&pu-ACC=true&arch-x86=true&base=device
https://compubench.com/result.jsp?benchmark=compu15d&test=583&text-filter=&order=median&ff-desktop=true&os-Windows_cl=true&pu-dGPU=true&pu-ACC=true&arch-x86=true&base=device
« Last Edit: October 21, 2016, 05:22:58 pm by Pictus »
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Dinarius

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Re: New PC build for photo and video - what do you think of the spec?
« Reply #7 on: October 22, 2016, 06:01:29 am »

Thanks for the feedback.

Based on your suggestions, I have made changes to PSU, HDs and Graphics Card.

The spec is here.

Regarding Blu-Ray: Can I burn DVDs on a BR drive? Thing is, ALL clients will have a DVD drive. Only some will have Blu-Ray. Haven't changed that in the spec.

Finally, should I consider a water cooler?

Thanks again.

D.
« Last Edit: October 22, 2016, 06:06:58 am by Dinarius »
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mcbroomf

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Re: New PC build for photo and video - what do you think of the spec?
« Reply #8 on: October 22, 2016, 06:25:13 am »

......
-The https://www.backblaze.com/blog/hard-drive-reliability-stats-q1-2016/
reports high failure rate for the HD Seagate ST3000DM001
.........


I agree on the Seagate 3TB drives.  I built 2 raid systems with them and lost 4 drives very quickly.  WD drives come to mind and 6TB are not too expensive, I'd put a pair in the system if it were me...

EDIT : I saw your update switches to 4TB which looks much better...
« Last Edit: October 22, 2016, 06:30:07 am by mcbroomf »
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degrub

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Re: New PC build for photo and video - what do you think of the spec?
« Reply #9 on: October 22, 2016, 10:44:33 am »


Regarding Blu-Ray: Can I burn DVDs on a BR drive? Thing is, ALL clients will have a DVD drive. Only some will have Blu-Ray. Haven't changed that in the spec.

D.

in general yes. Just verify the spec, it will state what it will burn. Some will even burn M-disc.

for photo editing which is not too heavily multi threaded, the 6700k should do fine. If you want more horse power for video editing, i would consider a mb that will support the low end Zeon CPUs which will handle highly multi threaded video processing software with more real cores, at least 8.

A M.2 drive will speed things up a bit as well. Particularly if you can put in a Intel 750 in the PCIe 3 X4 slot as well.
« Last Edit: October 22, 2016, 11:16:28 am by degrub »
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donbga

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Re: New PC build for photo and video - what do you think of the spec?
« Reply #10 on: October 22, 2016, 11:09:36 am »

I am looking at building a new desktop PC for photo and video editing.

Here is a spec I am considering.

Any feedback appreciated.

I want any software to run in the blink of an eye, and this should do that for me.

While the choice of most components is fairly clear cut, I find the choice in Graphic Cards mind-boggling.  ::)

Any views on my choice of card, in particular, appreciated.

Also, any views in terms of numbers of USB connections etc. appreciated also.

Thanks.

D.

I would recommend these changes.

850W power supply

1 additional 250 GB SSD for a Photoshop scratch disk and Lightroom catalog disk if you use LR.

I prefer ASUS mother boards though I have no negatives for the Gigabyte MB.

Substitute hybrid drives for the Seagates for even better performance.

Windows 7 instead of Windows 10.

Use plenty of case and chassis cooling fans, at least 3 of each.

Have fun.

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Pictus

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Re: New PC build for photo and video - what do you think of the spec?
« Reply #11 on: October 22, 2016, 02:02:48 pm »

Thanks for the feedback.

Based on your suggestions, I have made changes to PSU, HDs and Graphics Card.

The spec is here.

Glad to help, your config looks good to me.
If you want to take it a bit further can change the Samsung 850 Pro for the Plextor M8Pe(G)
http://www.guru3d.com/articles-pages/plextor-m8pe-512gb-m2-nvme-ssd-review,1.html
Plextor released the endurance values http://www.goplextor.com/Product/Detail/M8Pe(G)#/Download
and it is very good for the 512 GB model:
MTBF >2,400,000 Hours 
TBW = 768
Warranty = 5 years

Quote
Regarding Blu-Ray: Can I burn DVDs on a BR drive? Thing is, ALL clients will have a DVD drive. Only some will have Blu-Ray. Haven't changed that in the spec.

Yes, no problem.
I have the LG BH16NS40 http://www.cdrlabs.com/reviews/lg-bh16ns40-16x-blu-ray-disc-rewriter/all-pages.html

Quote
Finally, should I consider a water cooler?

IF you are going to overclock better get something more efficient(water or air) than the Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO
Better stay under 80ÂșC, this will give you a good idea https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EKWB/Predator_280_QDC/6.html

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Joe Towner

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Re: New PC build for photo and video - what do you think of the spec?
« Reply #12 on: October 22, 2016, 05:32:58 pm »

Why just a single SSD?  What is your backup plan?  What types of files / sources are you working with?  How do you store your archive files?

Honestly, you need 3 SSDs:
1) OS, app installs & page file (500gb)
2) PS scratch / render disk (500gb)
3) working images / files (1tb)

You'll want to ingress images to the (3) drive, and copy from there to a spinning rust backup drive.  Your OS needs to have room to page as it wants, and Photoshop will take any and all disk space you give it.  The only place standard hard drives have in a performance workflow is long term storage.  Want to work on some footage or files? Step 1 is to copy it to the SSD.

The M.2 drives are faster since it's PCIe 3.0 4x.
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Dinarius

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Re: New PC build for photo and video - what do you think of the spec?
« Reply #13 on: October 23, 2016, 06:45:32 am »

Thanks for the replies.

For the last couple of years I've been using these for backup. I've had no problems so far.

I'm not a high-volume shooter so, at the end of each year, in addition to the LaCie, I copy all RAW files onto external SSDs via USB. Thereby, worst case scenario, I have to re-save the TIFFs and (where necessary) do any Photoshop that is required. So far, I've never had to do this.

I like the idea of giving Photoshop (and maybe C1 too) its own SSD scratch-disk. That said, this computer will be used for nothing except digital editing, so Photoshop would be sharing the existing one SSD with Windows 10 Pro, C1 and very little else.

One of the spinning drives would be exclusively for RAW files and one for Edited files - this mirrors exactly what I currently have, along with all software on an SSD.

No intention to overclock.

I've made changes to the spec - Optical Drive, PSU, RAM - which can be seen here.

1. Any views on my choice of case?

2. I presume that I could add a Photoshop SSD disk later, if I change my mind?

Thanks.

D.
« Last Edit: October 23, 2016, 06:52:44 am by Dinarius »
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Pictus

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Re: New PC build for photo and video - what do you think of the spec?
« Reply #14 on: October 23, 2016, 10:42:10 pm »

You are welcome, the build is fine.

1- Sorry, no idea.
2- Yes
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B-Ark

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Re: New PC build for photo and video - what do you think of the spec?
« Reply #15 on: October 24, 2016, 06:30:35 am »

For the OS/Boot drive, I would seriously consider an NVMe SSD for the M2 socket. Costs a little bit more, but can give you 2x or 3x the speed.
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alatreille

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Re: New PC build for photo and video - what do you think of the spec?
« Reply #16 on: October 24, 2016, 03:24:46 pm »

G'Day Dennis,

Here's some confidence for you.  I am 2-3 months into almost exactly the same system. 
It's flying along stitching 5dsr and Credo files.

I feel that lightroom is now the bottleneck!  ;-)

I did put my OS and second PS Scratch disk on an Intel 480 PCIE SSD

This I am told is adding a lot to my speed.

My builder overclocked the CPU and added a watercooling system.
And I installed a Quadro K1200 for 10 bit colours

Let me know if you have any questions.

Cheers

Andrew
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JimGoshorn

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Re: New PC build for photo and video - what do you think of the spec?
« Reply #17 on: October 25, 2016, 06:15:37 pm »

Is there a noticeable difference between 8 and 10 bit display? I know technically there should be, but in day to day use, will you ever see a real difference?
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Erland

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Re: New PC build for photo and video - what do you think of the spec?
« Reply #18 on: October 26, 2016, 03:49:41 pm »

Thanks for the replies.

For the last couple of years I've been using these for backup. I've had no problems so far.

I'm not a high-volume shooter so, at the end of each year, in addition to the LaCie, I copy all RAW files onto external SSDs via USB. Thereby, worst case scenario, I have to re-save the TIFFs and (where necessary) do any Photoshop that is required. So far, I've never had to do this.

I like the idea of giving Photoshop (and maybe C1 too) its own SSD scratch-disk. That said, this computer will be used for nothing except digital editing, so Photoshop would be sharing the existing one SSD with Windows 10 Pro, C1 and very little else.

One of the spinning drives would be exclusively for RAW files and one for Edited files - this mirrors exactly what I currently have, along with all software on an SSD.

No intention to overclock.

I've made changes to the spec - Optical Drive, PSU, RAM - which can be seen here.

1. Any views on my choice of case?

2. I presume that I could add a Photoshop SSD disk later, if I change my mind?

Thanks.

D.

Hi!
If you intend not to overclock, you could save some money on the motherboard, since the Z line is mostly for overclockers, and add that money to an even better gpu. In a very solid system, like the one you have composed, the gpu is the main weakness.
The m2 ssd's are much faster, and depending on what you are going to use it for, it might give you an impact on the overall speediness of your system, but if the program is already loaded in your RAM, and you Photoshop file isn't big enough to be on the drive, it won't matter that much. LIkewise your movie-editing will mostly use the regular HDD I assume, and then the most speed is from the gpu, and somewhat the cpu.

On the 8 vs 10 bit display. Yes you can notice a difference if you compare them side by side, but not when you have one or the other at home. Atleast I couldn't.
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Dinarius

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Re: New PC build for photo and video - what do you think of the spec?
« Reply #19 on: November 03, 2016, 12:53:45 pm »

Thanks again for all the replies.

Black Friday around these parts is on November 25th.

That's when I intend to make my purchases.

So, if there are other suggestions that can be made now (particularly in relation to the GPU) that I can keep an eye on, I'm all eyes!

Thanks again.

D.
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