Build for Editing / Gaming

[deskloner]

So I’ve just started working as an editor, primarily using Davinci Resolve 16 with plans to integrate After Effects at a later date.

I’ve been using a Surface Pro up to now, but it just isn’t cutting it (lol). I was hoping you guys could recommended the best build for handling 1080p footage, but with the possibility of cutting 4K stuff in the future.

I’d also love to get back to PC gaming, so if the build can handle games like Monster Hunter, Borderlands 3, Far Cry, etc, that would be ideal!

Thought about trying my hand at streaming at some point, but I’m aware my budget doesn’t have much room for every situation.

I don’t mind having a huge case to fit as much cooling as possible, either

Monitor: Samsung S27D850T

Budget: £1500

 

[eeek]

The specifications recommends cores and memory so this spec is based on that - and a lot of things aren't available at the moment so this is very much what is around

Case is supposedly quiet, cpu heatsink has a 14cm fan for similar reasons..

I suspect you could save a bit by shopping round.

My basket at Overclockers UK:

• 1 x MSI B450 TOMAHAWK MAX (Socket AM4) DDR4 ATX Motherboard= £119.99
• 1 x AMD Ryzen 9 3900X Twelve Core 4.6GHz (Socket AM4) Processor - Retail= £458.99
• 1 x Corsair Vengeance LPX Black 32GB (2x16GB) 3600 MHz AMD Ryzen Tuned DDR4 Memory Dual Kit= £169.99
• 1 x be quiet! Silent Base 600 Midi Tower Case - Black= £104.99
• 1 x Cryorig H5 Universal Single Tower Heatsink with 140mm Fan - White Frame= £47.99
• 1 x be quiet! Pure Power 11 700W 80 Plus Gold Modular Power Supply= £96.95
• 1 x Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER OC 6144MB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card= £218.99
• 1 x Patriot Viper VPN100 M.2 2280 PCIe 1TB SSD (VPN100-1TBM28H)= £158.99

Total: £1,391.58 (includes shipping: £14.70)
​

 

[Joxeon]

I would go with something like this.

My basket at Overclockers UK:

• 1 x AMD Ryzen 9 3900X Twelve Core 4.6GHz (Socket AM4) Processor - Retail= £458.99
• 1 x Patriot Viper Steel 32GB (2x16GB) DDR4 PC4-25600C16 3200MHz Dual Channel Kit (PVS432G320C6K)= £124.99
• 1 x Phanteks AMP 650W 80 Plus Gold Modular Power Supply= £96.95
• 1 x WD Blue SN550 1TB NVME M.2 2280 PCIe Gen3 Solid State Drive (WDS100T2B0C)= £109.99
• 1 x Kolink Castle Midi Tower Case - Black= £42.95
• 1 x Scythe SCMG-5PCGH Mugen 5 "PCGH Edition" CPU Cooler= £46.99
• 1 x Palit GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER GP 8192MB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card= £449.99
• 1 x MSI MAG B550 TOMAHAWK (AMD AM4) B550 ATX Motherboard= £179.99

Total: £1,522.54 (includes shipping: £11.70)​

​

 

[oDannyR]

I would go with something like this.

My basket at Overclockers UK:

• 1 x AMD Ryzen 9 3900X Twelve Core 4.6GHz (Socket AM4) Processor - Retail= £458.99
• 1 x Patriot Viper Steel 32GB (2x16GB) DDR4 PC4-25600C16 3200MHz Dual Channel Kit (PVS432G320C6K)= £124.99
• 1 x Phanteks AMP 650W 80 Plus Gold Modular Power Supply= £96.95
• 1 x WD Blue SN550 1TB NVME M.2 2280 PCIe Gen3 Solid State Drive (WDS100T2B0C)= £109.99
• 1 x Kolink Castle Midi Tower Case - Black= £42.95
• 1 x Scythe SCMG-5PCGH Mugen 5 "PCGH Edition" CPU Cooler= £46.99
• 1 x Palit GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER GP 8192MB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card= £449.99
• 1 x MSI MAG B550 TOMAHAWK (AMD AM4) B550 ATX Motherboard= £179.99

Total: £1,522.54 (includes shipping: £11.70)
​

This was pretty close to the same as what I was leaning towards suggesting - the NVENC encoder in the RTX series cards makes streaming great without affecting performance much, but then again - 12 cores would probably offer the same

Also you could save £60 going for the B450 Tomahawk MAX - which has the BIOS update to support 3xxx series CPU's out of the box, and that would take you below budget

 

[Journey]

primarily using Davinci Resolve 16 with plans to integrate After Effects at a later date.

Are you using DR Studio?

I'd consider the possibility of going with more than one GPU (at some point), depending on the work flow you have and what parts of DR you use most. The difference between an RTX 2060 Super and RTX 2070 Super is very small vs the cost difference, and if you are lucky you may even see a bigger benefit getting a card like the EVGA RTX 2060 Super KO, which uses a 2080 GPU on the cards and has benefits in certain applications, but is a very inexpensive model.

The rest of the system should be aimed at ensuring a nice upgrade path, I'd look at a B550/X570 board with R7 3700X or 3800X for, and a view of swapping it to a 4xxx series CPU within 6 months (release date dependant). You'll be able to easily keep within your £1500 budget, and add additional NVMe storage/working space with the X570 board, and NAND prices are still falling so it is something to keep in mind. I'd also think ahead with the RAM, I'd like to hope AMD have nailed the IF clock with Zen3 so look at the faster RAM that is capable of good timings.

 

[deskloner]

I would go with something like this.

My basket at Overclockers UK:

• 1 x AMD Ryzen 9 3900X Twelve Core 4.6GHz (Socket AM4) Processor - Retail= £458.99
• 1 x Patriot Viper Steel 32GB (2x16GB) DDR4 PC4-25600C16 3200MHz Dual Channel Kit (PVS432G320C6K)= £124.99
• 1 x Phanteks AMP 650W 80 Plus Gold Modular Power Supply= £96.95
• 1 x WD Blue SN550 1TB NVME M.2 2280 PCIe Gen3 Solid State Drive (WDS100T2B0C)= £109.99
• 1 x Kolink Castle Midi Tower Case - Black= £42.95
• 1 x Scythe SCMG-5PCGH Mugen 5 "PCGH Edition" CPU Cooler= £46.99
• 1 x Palit GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER GP 8192MB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card= £449.99
• 1 x MSI MAG B550 TOMAHAWK (AMD AM4) B550 ATX Motherboard= £179.99

Total: £1,522.54 (includes shipping: £11.70)

This seems like a great build!
I’ve noticed the 2070 needs to be pre-ordered. Any idea when it’ll be available?

Are you using DR Studio?

I am. I mostly use the cut, edit, colour and fairlight tabs. But I’ve been increasing my use of fusion which my laptop can’t deal with.

I like your advice, but I think upgrading in 6 months, besides storage, isn’t in the books. I’ll definitely be reviewing it in a year, though, so I think going for the best I can get now feels right.

 

[Journey]

I like your advice, but I think upgrading in 6 months, besides storage, isn’t in the books. I’ll definitely be reviewing it in a year, though, so I think going for the best I can get now feels right.

It was more for the sake of saving the cash now, to enable a substantially faster system for the next 2, 3, 4, 5 years. There is such a tiny gap between the 3700X and 3900X in DR Studio, but it is a significant amount more expensive. You might end up shelling out an additional £100 overall, and an hour swapping the CPU over, but it would make your system much faster for much longer; this would be due to the IPC increase in Zen3.

I strongly suggest reading THIS article all the way to the end, and you'll see why I am saying what I am saying.

 

[Joxeon]

I’ve noticed the 2070 needs to be pre-ordered. Any idea when it’ll be available?

17th of July according to the page so not long to wait.

 

[deskloner]

It was more for the sake of saving the cash now, to enable a substantially faster system for the next 2, 3, 4, 5 years. There is such a tiny gap between the 3700X and 3900X in DR Studio, but it is a significant amount more expensive. You might end up shelling out an additional £100 overall, and an hour swapping the CPU over, but it would make your system much faster for much longer; this would be due to the IPC increase in Zen3.

I strongly suggest reading THIS article all the way to the end, and you'll see why I am saying what I am saying.

Thanks for pointing me to that site. I've been reading it diligently and what you've said makes a lot of sense.
I actually discussed it with my brother, however, and since he'll be building his first build at some point (albeit, a far cheaper one), I decided to stick to the 3900k to give to him when the 4xxx's launch.

Appreciate you giving me the info, though. It's the first time building (mostly) around editing, so I've still a bit to learn.

17th of July according to the page so not long to wait.

Thanks man. I'll be ordering the components today!

 

[Journey]

Thanks for pointing me to that site. I've been reading it diligently and what you've said makes a lot of sense.
I actually discussed it with my brother, however, and since he'll be building his first build at some point (albeit, a far cheaper one), I decided to stick to the 3900k to give to him when the 4xxx's launch.

Very generous of you donating a 3900X.

You should see the best of all worlds with the 4xxx series of CPU's, IPC, core count, and better clock speeds on more cores simultaneously, crowning them the new champion of all things production and (probably) games.

Thanks man. I'll be ordering the components today!

The GPU is still on pre-order but they have the Gigabtye one at £479 which has a better warranty. Also the RAM is currently on pre-order from OCUK, nothing I can see that is close to the £125 for 32GB at a similar speed.

 

[deskloner]

Very generous of you donating a 3900X.

You should see the best of all worlds with the 4xxx series of CPU's, IPC, core count, and better clock speeds on more cores simultaneously, crowning them the new champion of all things production and (probably) games.

that’s what I said hahaha but I don’t mind. I’m considering it a welcoming gift to PC gaming, something I’ve struggled convincing him to be worth going out of his way for.

The GPU is still on pre-order but they have the Gigabtye one at £479 which has a better warranty. Also the RAM is currently on pre-order from OCUK, nothing I can see that is close to the £125 for 32GB at a similar speed.

Hopefully the delay isn’t much longer. I don’t want to have to look for a potentially inferior alternative if possible. From what I’ve read, ram speed seems to be significant when paired with amd chips, so hopefully this one comes through.

 

[Sparx]

I’d go for the Gigabyte 2070S GPU for an extra £30. Slightly faster stock overclock, better customer service (imo), UK RMA centre and 3 year warranty as opposed to Palit’s 2 years.

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/giga...ddr6-pci-express-graphics-card-gx-1b3-gi.html

If you can squeeze it in the budget, the case Joxeon suggested is decent for the money - but I’d stretch that little bit further for something like a P400A, it’s so much nicer to work with, more cable management features, better build quality and air flow. Up to you though! 2nd link is the non-RGB version for even less if didn’t mind it.

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/phanteks-eclipse-p400-air-midi-tower-drgb-case-white-ca-09h-pt.html

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/phanteks-eclipse-p400-air-midi-tower-case-black-ca-09f-pt.html

Edit: Also if you wanted to save cash, if Journey’s info is right that the 3700X over 3900X really won’t make much of a difference for your software. You could step down to that and donating your bro a 3700X later is still a beefy CPU to pass down trust me!

 

[deskloner]

I’d go for the Gigabyte 2070S GPU for an extra £30. Slightly faster stock overclock, better customer service (imo), UK RMA centre and 3 year warranty as opposed to Palit’s 2 years.

If you can squeeze it in the budget, the case Joxeon suggested is decent for the money

I already ordered the parts, but I guess I could see about cancelling. Thanks man, appreciate it

 

[Sparx]

They’ll let you amend the order I believe, you don’t have to fully cancel it. Just ring them up.

 

[deskloner]

They’ll let you amend the order I believe, you don’t have to fully cancel it. Just ring them up.

I would go with something like this.

My basket at Overclockers UK:

• 1 x AMD Ryzen 9 3900X Twelve Core 4.6GHz (Socket AM4) Processor - Retail= £458.99
• 1 x Patriot Viper Steel 32GB (2x16GB) DDR4 PC4-25600C16 3200MHz Dual Channel Kit (PVS432G320C6K)= £124.99
• 1 x Phanteks AMP 650W 80 Plus Gold Modular Power Supply= £96.95
• 1 x WD Blue SN550 1TB NVME M.2 2280 PCIe Gen3 Solid State Drive (WDS100T2B0C)= £109.99
• 1 x Kolink Castle Midi Tower Case - Black= £42.95
• 1 x Scythe SCMG-5PCGH Mugen 5 "PCGH Edition" CPU Cooler= £46.99
• 1 x Palit GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER GP 8192MB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card= £449.99
• 1 x MSI MAG B550 TOMAHAWK (AMD AM4) B550 ATX Motherboard= £179.99

Total: £1,522.54 (includes shipping: £11.70)
​

Unfortunately there’s been a manufacturing issue with the RAM and it’s expected to be delayed by two weeks, potentially more.

Are there any alternatives on par with or better than the ones suggested? Or is waiting the best option?

 

[Sparx]

This TeamGroup kit is on par and only a little more

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/team...ual-channel-kit-rgb-black-tf1d-my-0a4-tg.html

 

[deskloner]

This TeamGroup kit is on par and only a little more

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/team...ual-channel-kit-rgb-black-tf1d-my-0a4-tg.html

Hmm, apparently it doesn’t play nice with MSI boards?

 

[Sparx]

I can't find anything that mentions that - why would it be an issue with MSI boards? Just the manufacturer, still the same B550 chipset for compatibility etc.

Had a google and found the same kit where people have reviewed it, 2 mentioned having MSI boards (diff chipsets though) and no problems?

Edit: If you really are in doubt and think be an issue, get a Corsair LPX kit but cost a bit more ofc. It is also slightly faster RAM too @ 3600MHz.

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/cors...zen-tuned-ddr4-memory-dual-kit-my-4cl-cs.html

 

[deskloner]

I can't find anything that mentions that - why would it be an issue with MSI boards? Just the manufacturer, still the same B550 chipset for compatibility etc.

Had a google and found the same kit where people have reviewed it, 2 mentioned having MSI boards (diff chipsets though) and no problems?

Edit: If you really are in doubt and think be an issue, get a Corsair LPX kit but cost a bit more ofc. It is also slightly faster RAM too @ 3600MHz.

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/cors...zen-tuned-ddr4-memory-dual-kit-my-4cl-cs.html

I might be on the wrong end here but I saw it here:
https://www.tomshardware.com/uk/reviews/tforce-nighthawk-legend-rgb-ddr4-3200-c14,5863.html

It’s probably not the same one?

 

[Joxeon]

I wouldn't worry about that review as its a different kit and was tested on Intel boards from 2 years ago.

If you did have any issues you could return the kit and get the cheaper one which would be in stock by then anyway but I doubt you would need too.