Feedback on computer for editing

M

Motoguy

Wannabie Member
I'm looking for a ~$1500 multi use desktop computer. I'm not a gamer but I'll be doing video editing, some AI image generation (still images, not video at this time), CAD/CAM and 3d modeling. And of course general streaming, web use, etc. I've not built a computer in a long, LONG while. I think the machine I'm on is 14 years old. I don't know the current state or what's a good value. I'm not opposed to building a machine from a solid parts list, and I'm not opposed to buying a pre-built if it offers a good value. I'm about 3 hours from a MicroCenter. Since I tend to use the machine until it's ancient I'm not opposed to spending a little bit more than my limit to buy a bit more future proofing.

I've checked the PCParts picker site hoping I can leverage their knowledge against my ignorance. I'm looking at these two builds:

https://pcpartpicker.com/guide/ZpkcCJ/enthusiast-amd-gamingstreaming-build (https://pcpartpicker.com/guide/ZpkcCJ/enthusiast-amd-gamingstreaming-build)

And for about $300 more:

https://pcpartpicker.com/guide/wWv6Mp/magnificent-amd-gamingstreaming-build (https://pcpartpicker.com/guide/wWv6Mp/magnificent-amd-gamingstreaming-build)

Are these solid builds for my needs / usage? Knowing I'm not a gamer, but looking to do video/audio editing (Davinci Resolve) / CADCAM (Solidworks, Li
ghtburn for laser, Sheetcam for the CNC plasma, Corel for 2d drawing creation), install a local AI generator, 3d modeling...is there anything you'd change?
 
What monitor are you using? The partpicker site says to use a high refresh/resolution monitor to get the best out of the hardware, but I think they are talking about gaming.

You could save a bit on the monitor and spend it on the Studio version of Resolve - If I recall correctly, one of the Studio version's extra features is more use of the GFX card hardware.

I use a very similar system with a Ryzen CPU, 4000 series GPU, but a 550 motherboard. I use an all-in-one liquid cooler, but I have no real evidence that it's any better. It's quieter, though.

2TB won't last long. I back up finished projects to hard disks. I got a USB device that allows you to drop in HDDs intended for internal use. (Not hot-swappable, though). I also bought a cheap label printer to mark the HDDs up.
 
I'll add HD space for sure. I've got a 1TB SSD boot drive in my current machine, 4TB storage on it, and 14TB on my NAS. The NAS is filling up though, so I'll likely need to expand it and store footage there.
 
I have not built a computer for editing, I just bought a laptop with sufficient processor, as my editing program renders with cpu not gpu. Last computer i built was my file server, and the majority of the cost came from hard drives, so that's where I did some comparison, and at the time, in my region 4TB NAS drives offered most storage for smallest cost, so I have an array of those in there. The rest I just put together with compatibility, starting with motherboard, that fit my needs.
 
I use an old laptop for my editing. The rendering times are probably a little longer because of that but it cost me zero pounds, so the price was right. :cool:
 
CAD/CAM will offload rendering onto a dedicated graphics card. That 4070 will do great. They're also RAM intensive, but you should be fine at 32GB. The rest is processor intensive, but I can confirm a Ryzen 7 will eat it up. My R7 system could render 4k video while I watched movies and did 3d modelling all at the same time, and never miss a beat.

My current rig is a Ryzen 9 on a 7900XT, 64GB RAM and nothing slows it down, but that is likely overkill for your needs.

Sounds like you're already set up with NAS storage. Adding more to that is easy when needed.
 
Ok, computer situation has been addressed. I've got a Ryzen 9 7900X, 4070 Ti Super, 64 gb ram, 2TB SSD drive and I just ordered a 8TB WD Blue for bulk storage. I've got several TB of random drives lying around but I don't know how old they are so I don't want to trust them for archiving. I might use them for working drives.
 
Lots of good tips here - I'll just add that if you're buying a pre-built system, desktop or laptop, buy one that's for gaming. I have an MSI GE75 Raider laptop that I use for everything - and it does a great job. I run Resolve Studio on it, and it's speedy enough, even 4 years old... but showing its age now. Time to start shopping a new one :D

-John
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Top Posters Past 30 days

Winners Video

Website Supported by Ipswich SEO

Latest posts

Back
Top