Please help me Build my NEW PC ASAP for MKX + After Effects/Premiere

[TheMurmaider]

I think it might be a good idea to get a little higher psu power supply just in case. Maybe someone with more knowledge on this can pitch in here, but I would think something more along 750 or even better especially if you end going with some of these changes mentioned above.

As far as cases go I have a Corsair obsidian series 650D that I really like.

 

[Chaosphere]

Hey guys Im looking for some great advice from people who know a lot more about this stuff than me. Here's my current build im planning to buy off of newegg or another supply site so i can build my own PC. I plan to use my own Soundcard from current machine as well as Video card from current machine but ill list that as well

Motherboard Gigabyte Z97x -UD5H

Processor i7 4790k

RAM 16 GB DDR3 RAM

HardDrives 2 SSD 128 GIG for Win/OS 256 FOR Video Scratch Disc 2 paired 7200 rpm sata III HD in raid 0 - total is 1 Terabyte

Power supply 650 w psu corsair

Case Not sure, any recommendations?

Provided already Video Card R9 270 x

Sound Card Delta 44

No plans for overclocking

EST seems to be around 1300.00 for parts and ill put it together w help from 2 friends (one friend is pending)

Computer use will heavily be geared towards Heavy Video editing, Lots of After effects, Tons of Rendering, Audio Editing and MKX/Streaming only. I only play ONE GAME

Any thought/advice? Any case recommendations? Thx

Don't get the 4790k if you don't plan to over clock. Wasting some money there. The "k" means the processor is unlocked for overclocking which is what you're paying a little extra for.

 

[Mikemetroid]

Personally, for MKX, you don't need all of that ram. I would go down to 12gb and bump up your power supply to 750w.

My laptop, which is almost two years old now, can easily stream 1080p 60fps while running igau/mk9 on ultra quality. It will be able to stream MKX on high as well (unless the game is just a straight up horrible port).

 

[Alright RyRy]

Personally, for MKX, you don't need all of that ram. I would go down to 12gb and bump up your power supply to 750w.

My laptop, which is almost two years old now, can easily stream 1080p 60fps while running igau/mk9 on ultra quality. It will be able to stream MKX on high as well (unless the game is just a straight up horrible port).

My computer is brand new and I can't even do that.

 

[MadPropz101]

That is a great setup, but i would always recommend nvidia over amd gpu's. This will do fine though...

 

[Mikemetroid]

My computer is brand new and I can't even do that.

My Laptop specs:
Asus G75VW
12 GB Ram
NVIDIA 670m (3gb vid ram)
i7 3610QM @ 2.3 GHZ (3rd gen)
500GB HDD @ 7200rpm

 

[Pig Of The Hut]

Personally, for MKX, you don't need all of that ram. I would go down to 12gb and bump up your power supply to 750w.

My laptop, which is almost two years old now, can easily stream 1080p 60fps while running igau/mk9 on ultra quality. It will be able to stream MKX on high as well (unless the game is just a straight up horrible port).

Ram is primarily for video production I do which is 90% of the cpu

 

[Mikemetroid]

Ram is primarily for video production I do which is 90% of the cpu

Ah yeah video production. I don't. I was talking purely about streaming (I should've been more clear)

 

[Luke Stofan]

I was planning to chime in here but these people have covered all the bases I would have. Enjoy your new build sir!

 

[JTB123]

@Pig Of The Hut

I'll go through component by component, apart from the video editing software you plan on using my PC does exactly the same, I record game videos and it's my main gaming machine.

CPU:

As @Chaosphere rightly pointed out, if you have zero plans for overclocking then don't go with the "K" variant of the CPU. All that means is that you can overclock it if you want to. The i7 is a good choice, however the performance increase for things like rendering and gaming is very slight over the i5 counterpart which costs significantly less. Just so you have a frame of reference, in my PC I have an i5 3570 and it handles video editing and gaming no problem at all.

I would recommend getting an after market cooler though, something like the cooler master Hyper 212 Evo. Costs around £25 ($40 maybe) and makes a big difference. One drawback with buying high end Intel CPUs is that they still only bundle in the standard, low end cooler which simply isn't enough for tasks such as rendering especially if you plan on doing it a lot. Liquid cooling is good, but the increase in performance is not worth the extra cost in my opinion.

GPU:

Fine, will handle MKX no problem. GPU acceleration can improve render times, but an i5 or i7 processor are fine for it.

Motherboard:

The one you listed is quite high end, Gigabyte do make fantastic boards though as do Asus. If you're only planning on a single GPU card then the extra slots on the board you listed will go to waste so you could get a smaller one. As long as you check everything is compatible then you won't go wrong with a MB. The one you have is fine, just a tad overkill.

Case:

Any Fractal define variant past 3, great build quality, interal drive bays, good cable management options, built in sound dampening, tons of hard drive bays and good cooling. NZXT have some really nice ones too as do cooler master, much like motherboards as long you check compatibility and go with a solid brand you won't go wrong.

I would recommend the Fractal Define R4, depending on the budge it might seem pricey but a decent case is one of the best things to invest in for a build.

Hard Drives:

SSD for boot drive is a no brainer, 128GB will be fine for this. Corsair force series are fantastic, I have one of them in my server machine. Brilliant drive.

I assume video scratch disc 2 is a software program? If so having it on an SSD will improve performance when creating projects but from what I know your render times won't be affected. I did try this when I swapped to SSD and my render times are the same. I would recommend having the editing software on the SSD but render to a mechanical drive. Either Western Digital Black or Seagate, both are fantastic, realiable and offer great price/GB ratio.

Having everything in raid 0 with no backup drive is a big risk however if the raid fails, if you are going raid then I strongly recommend a dedicated raid card along with a backup. Cannot recommend one unfortuantely as I have never used them, for what you want the machine for though raid does seem unnecessary. The SSD boot drive will be incredibly fast.

RAM:

16GB is a bit overkill but it won't do your system any harm, much like MB and case just make sure its compatible with everything then go with a solid manufacturer like Corsair or Kingston. That said you would be fine with 12GB or even 8GB.

Power Supply:

650W will be more than enough. Can't go wrong with corsair either.

Hope this helps

 

[Chaosphere]

@Pig Of The HutI assume video scratch disc 2 is a software program?

I think by that he means he's using a 256GB SSD drive for "video scratch" and also getting 2 7200 500GB drives to put in RAID 0 for striping/faster performance.

 

[EnergyKD]

I currently use that same video card you have on the list and it plays most of my games on max setting. Video editing and rendering is fine for me though i use a different cpu (amd).

 

[Chaosphere]

Personally, for MKX, you don't need all of that ram. I would go down to 12gb and bump up your power supply to 750w.

My laptop, which is almost two years old now, can easily stream 1080p 60fps while running igau/mk9 on ultra quality. It will be able to stream MKX on high as well (unless the game is just a straight up horrible port).

Man. My laptop was similar. Except it had a 560m vid card and a 2nd gen i7. It could do 720p, barely... as long as I was using an external capture device (el gato). If only I had waited like 6 months. Haha.

Oh well. Built a ballin PC a couple months ago. Worth it.

 

[SaibotMk]

@Pig Of The Hut, Pig your getting advice from everywhere, I scanned through most of the replies. JTB123 hit on a lot of things.

Just make sure that your friend has built some PC's before, really the only thing you haft to worry about is grounding the motherboard to the case. Then usually the only obvious plug in for fans is the CPU cooler slot. Everything else is really obvious, like the way the CPU goes in. If your having too much trouble putting the CPU cooler on that is because you probably need to extend the bolts out on the arms. You don't need watercooling, just get a $30 - $40 Coolermaster CPU cooler. If I am talking to someone that cares how much money they spend, this is my advice.

RAM: I would get the 1866+ personally, its the new stuff, its out their, 1600 is fast but might as well get the new stuff. The timing it looks like on all the new RAM worth mentioning on newegg is fine.

CPU: Like JTB123 said, the performance difference between the i5's, like a i5 2500k sandy bridge in comparison to the new i7's is not a lot. You definitely want to go with Intel though. You can't go AMD to do what your wanting to do, but that is opinionated.

GPU: OK you want to play and record gameplay that looks good, right? Of course, well you want the most optimal performance as well while you play. If your recording with FRAPS, your recording raw footage. OBS, even setup correctly will not record like FRAPS. OBS, again setup correctly with twitch.tv is fine for streaming. With FRAPS if you set it to record 30 fps video, you can actually be playing while its recording your gameplay at 60 fps.

Then, you take a open source software like, say Handbrake, and compress the raw video from FRAPS down to save space on your hardrive. With OBS you could record for days without filling a 1TB. With FRAPS, not so much.

The point, it doesn't matter what recording software you use, buy a good GPU, your processor is almost just as important because they work off eachother. For what YOU are wanting to do, from what I am understanding from your original post. You need to buy a GTX 970, I would buy this card, its even cheaper then when I bought it.

http://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-GeForce-Gaming-GDDR5-Graphics/dp/B00NH5T1MS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1428452458&sr=8-1&keywords=gigabyte gtx 970

You don't haft to buy that card ^, but my advice, my opinion, is to buy a good card. That card is great for the money, the 3 fans, the backplate. Its a nice card, I paid $370 for mine, its even cheaper now.

HARDRIVE:

All you need is a 128gb SSD for your boot up like JTB123 said. However, I know your ONLY playing MKX, trust me I understand that. Unless you want to pay for a 500gb SSD, get a 1TB HDD. Now, don't get me wrong here, you could do two 128gb SSD's, for one game, sure. But I would recommend a 128gb SSD for your OS, and boot, then a 1TB HDD. Its what I have, and I promise you it is fast.

Russell Westbrook

 

[WynterEnd]

@Pig Of The Hut

If you have specific questions about video cards, RAM, CPU etc., for suggestions in terms of video editing I think I am probably your best person to ask. However, when you say "HEAVY" video I need to know what that means...

What type of video, what bit-rates, what software, and for what end purpose?

I don't really like exposing what I do on the internet, but this site is small, I'm an MK fan, and I know you are a big proponent in the community. So, I guess I will. I am actually a filmmaker. I work every day with the highest end video editing workflows, but also am knowledgeable in the smaller stuff. Don't worry, you probably haven't heard of me; but it is my full-time job.

Any questions you have about hardware, software, workflow, etc I am more than happy to help. I just need specifics

 

[Immortal]

Firstly for video editing:

- most effects in AE and AP is still CPU rednered and can easily kill an i7 especially with more complex projects. Obviously there is no reason to buy K version since you won't be overclocking it.

- same goes for RAM for heavy video editing 16 GB RAM is a reasonable minimum

- video card really doesnt make much difference here, only very few AE/AP effect are accelerated by GPU atm

That being said best value to performance ratio atm offers GeForce GTX 970.

- SSD is an obvious choice i can't even imagined going back to standard HDD

For MK X all of above is an overkill. Way more then enough for playing and streaming at the same time.

So in conclusion:

- for video editing i7 processor is highly recommended + 16 GB RAM. For MK X this is an overkill

- GPU -> GeForce GTX 970 is a good choice and will have no problem with MK X

- SSD drive (atleast small one for system and work tools) is highly recommended

and that is all. See you in MK X on Steam!

 

[Pig Of The Hut]

@Pig Of The Hut

If you have specific questions about video cards, RAM, CPU etc., for suggestions in terms of video editing I think I am probably your best person to ask. However, when you say "HEAVY" video I need to know what that means...

What type of video, what bit-rates, what software, and for what end purpose?

I don't really like exposing what I do on the internet, but this site is small, I'm an MK fan, and I know you are a big proponent in the community. So, I guess I will. I am actually a filmmaker. I work every day with the highest end video editing workflows, but also am knowledgeable in the smaller stuff. Don't worry, you probably haven't heard of me; but it is my full-time job.

Any questions you have about hardware, software, workflow, etc I am more than happy to help. I just need specifics

Adobe premiere
After effects
Maya

I do live production for Espn/fox/and run Tricaster productions for in house private broadcasts that for a few companies where I then take all the footage (30 min footage of around 130 gig HD) throw it into premiere and after effects where I do post production special effects
To add on to the video as well as editing

Month by month I'm getting deeper and deeper into after effects and plan to Segway that way career wise w what I do in live sports/producing.

I also use my laptop currently for virtual set editing and creating w 12 layer sets to later use on the Tricaster

Example set here (little tease for something im doing ) hope this helps and I greatly appreciate your advice and help especially w you being knowledgable of this type of work.

Thank u in advance

 

[Pig Of The Hut]

Firstly for video editing:

- most effects in AE and AP is still CPU rednered and can easily kill an i7 especially with more complex projects. Obviously there is no reason to buy K version since you won't be overclocking it.

- same goes for RAM for heavy video editing 16 GB RAM is a reasonable minimum

- video card really doesnt make much difference here, only very few AE/AP effect are accelerated by GPU atm

That being said best value to performance ratio atm offers GeForce GTX 970.

- SSD is an obvious choice i can't even imagined going back to standard HDD

For MK X all of above is an overkill. Way more then enough for playing and streaming at the same time.

So in conclusion:

- for video editing i7 processor is highly recommended + 16 GB RAM. For MK X this is an overkill

- GPU -> GeForce GTX 970 is a good choice and will have no problem with MK X

- SSD drive (atleast small one for system and work tools) is highly recommended

and that is all. See you in MK X on Steam!

Thanks man, ordering these parts tonight !!

 

[Pig Of The Hut]

@Pig Of The Hut, Pig your getting advice from everywhere, I scanned through most of the replies. JTB123 hit on a lot of things.

Just make sure that your friend has built some PC's before, really the only thing you haft to worry about is grounding the motherboard to the case. Then usually the only obvious plug in for fans is the CPU cooler slot. Everything else is really obvious, like the way the CPU goes in. If your having too much trouble putting the CPU cooler on that is because you probably need to extend the bolts out on the arms. You don't need watercooling, just get a $30 - $40 Coolermaster CPU cooler. If I am talking to someone that cares how much money they spend, this is my advice.

RAM: I would get the 1866+ personally, its the new stuff, its out their, 1600 is fast but might as well get the new stuff. The timing it looks like on all the new RAM worth mentioning on newegg is fine.

CPU: Like JTB123 said, the performance difference between the i5's, like a i5 2500k sandy bridge in comparison to the new i7's is not a lot. You definitely want to go with Intel though. You can't go AMD to do what your wanting to do, but that is opinionated.

GPU: OK you want to play and record gameplay that looks good, right? Of course, well you want the most optimal performance as well while you play. If your recording with FRAPS, your recording raw footage. OBS, even setup correctly will not record like FRAPS. OBS, again setup correctly with twitch.tv is fine for streaming. With FRAPS if you set it to record 30 fps video, you can actually be playing while its recording your gameplay at 60 fps.

Then, you take a open source software like, say Handbrake, and compress the raw video from FRAPS down to save space on your hardrive. With OBS you could record for days without filling a 1TB. With FRAPS, not so much.

The point, it doesn't matter what recording software you use, buy a good GPU, your processor is almost just as important because they work off eachother. For what YOU are wanting to do, from what I am understanding from your original post. You need to buy a GTX 970, I would buy this card, its even cheaper then when I bought it.

http://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-GeForce-Gaming-GDDR5-Graphics/dp/B00NH5T1MS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1428452458&sr=8-1&keywords=gigabyte gtx 970

You don't haft to buy that card ^, but my advice, my opinion, is to buy a good card. That card is great for the money, the 3 fans, the backplate. Its a nice card, I paid $370 for mine, its even cheaper now.

HARDRIVE:

All you need is a 128gb SSD for your boot up like JTB123 said. However, I know your ONLY playing MKX, trust me I understand that. Unless you want to pay for a 500gb SSD, get a 1TB HDD. Now, don't get me wrong here, you could do two 128gb SSD's, for one game, sure. But I would recommend a 128gb SSD for your OS, and boot, then a 1TB HDD. Its what I have, and I promise you it is fast.

Far as Youtube Art/Intros: If you want Youtube Channel Art, and a intro done I know a guy that is really fair. I told him exactly what I wanted, while a simple idea, he did it exactly the way I wanted it. This is artwork, and a intro he did for one of my channels. The last video uploaded under Videos has the intro.

https://www.youtube.com/user/MKSaibot

Russell Westbrook

THanks man a lot for your post as well

this might be a good time to mention by saying "Friends putting it together for me" i mean I am going to put it together w the help of some friends watching me on a stream public or private so they can tell me what to do

if anything it'll be entertaining for al the wrong reasons

 

[TotteryManx]

Adobe premiere
After effects
Maya

I do live production for Espn/fox/and run Tricaster productions for in house private broadcasts that for a few companies where I then take all the footage (30 min footage of around 130 gig HD) throw it into premiere and after effects where I do post production special effects
To add on to the video as well as editing

Month by month I'm getting deeper and deeper into after effects and plan to Segway that way career wise w what I do in live sports/producing.

I also use my laptop currently for virtual set editing and creating w 12 layer sets to later use on the Tricaster

Example set here (little tease for something im doing ) hope this helps and I greatly appreciate your advice and help especially w you being knowledgable of this type of work.

Thank u in advance

Off topic; I have no idea wtf you're doing there with the MKX stuff, but I hope it turns into something lol.

 

[Pig Of The Hut]

Off topic; I have no idea wtf you're doing there with the MKX stuff, but I hope it turns into something lol.

Set i created for a MKX FGC internet tv show featuring

-Match up breakdown w weather map style stylus
-Ticker running w all tourney info coming up
- special interviews
- video pre packaged special segments
-too much to list

I may just release first episode because im not sure itll be all worth the work lol. Pessimistic i know but lbsh I wanna practice

 

[SaibotMk]

THanks man a lot for your post as well

this might be a good time to mention by saying "Friends putting it together for me" i mean I am going to put it together w the help of some friends watching me on a stream public or private so they can tell me what to do

if anything it'll be entertaining for al the wrong reasons

Oh yea you'll be fine

 

[WynterEnd]

Adobe premiere
After effects
Maya

I do live production for Espn/fox/and run Tricaster productions for in house private broadcasts that for a few companies where I then take all the footage (30 min footage of around 130 gig HD) throw it into premiere and after effects where I do post production special effects
To add on to the video as well as editing

Month by month I'm getting deeper and deeper into after effects and plan to Segway that way career wise w what I do in live sports/producing.

I also use my laptop currently for virtual set editing and creating w 12 layer sets to later use on the Tricaster

Example set here (little tease for something im doing ) hope this helps and I greatly appreciate your advice and help especially w you being knowledgable of this type of work.

Thank u in advance

First off, you are more than welcome. I think I understand what you are doing and what you need for right now. My one and only followup question before I type out my (probably too) long answer is this: how much future-proofing would you like/want in your next machine? Does it need to be able to handle multiple projects if you scale, or can any computer build be more focused on achieving a cost effective solution for what you just described. Also, and lastly, and it might not really matter - but the most common footage you are working with, what is it?

I'm assuming by HD you are meaning 1080p, an example of my future-proofing question would be, is 2k, or 4k footage in your near future? Is it mostly h264 codecs you're working with? Not essential factor to know, just curious.

Full answer coming...

 

[Airvidal]

Hey what's up man. Such a fun thread!

So, I kinda fast scanned through the other answers, and seems you got everything figured out for the most part. Just like some others told you, I would suggest the GeForce 970, it'll run your video editing programs smoothly, and it'll let you multitask with no problems along with any recording/capturing softwares you may have. I would also strongly recommend to go from 650 to at least 750 w on the PSU. 650 is kinda pushing it as you will have a powerful CPU and GPU. You don't wanna have a fried motherboard for a lack of power. Just my humble suggestion though, hope it helps. Also, how expensive are you planning to go with the tower or case?

 

[Pig Of The Hut]

Off topic; I have no idea wtf you're doing there with the MKX stuff, but I hope it turns into something lol.

lol see above description to Tottery but yea my biggest fight is finding time to spend on it
First episode will be straight up short and a teaser for what's to come
Should have it by Thursday/Friday