Mfenn specs optimized for video encoding

[seismik]

Mfenn, love your updated mid-range build specs. My budget I can stretch up a few hundred more, maybe $1300. How would you optimize or enhance your build specs for a primarily video encoding rig? I will do some gaming still.

Worth considering an i7 over the i5?

Thanks,

Seismik

 

[fenderlove01]

In most cases I would say the i5 is enough. But when it comes to CAD, animation, rendering, video encoding, etc... I would say an i7 is well worth it.

 

[seismik]

Appreciate it.

If I go with an i7, which chip would you recommend - and does the motherboard recommendation change to match the i7 or that AsRock Z77 Pro3 is still the way to go?

 

[lehtv]

Are you going to be overclocking? If not, you can get a Xeon E3-1230 V2 for almost as little as a 3570K, but it performs almost the same as a stock i7-3770K. It doesn't have integrated graphics but since you're a gamer, you'll have discrete graphics anyway.

The Xeon will work in consumer LGA1155 boards, and if you plan to get it, don't pay any extra for a Z77 board over an otherwise similarly specced H77 board. Z77 is just H77 with overclocking, and Xeons don't OC.

 

[seismik]

Don't think I'll be overclocking.

 

[lehtv]

Alright, in that case I recommend:

Asrock Z75 Pro3 $70 AR
Xeon E3-1230 V2 3.3-3.7GHz $240

Of course, if you're interested in Crossfire, you will need a Z77 board like Z77X-D3H $120 AR. Crossfire only really makes sense at higher than 1080p.

Also get a Samsung 840 250GB $172 or Intel 335 240GB $170; 128GB can fill up fast.

I'd probably get a better case as well, Corsair 400R or Corsair C70 at current prices, both just $70 AR.

I'd avoid the XFX card in mfenn's build, their coolers just aren't up to par with Sapphire, MSI, Asus and Gigabyte. Here: Sapphire 7970 $360 AR

Finally, the PSU in his build is no longer on sale. Get XFX 550W $56 (single GPU) or Corsair HX750 $105 AR (Crossfire).

 

[mfenn]

Alright, in that case I recommend:

Asrock Z75 Pro3 $70 AR
Xeon E3-1230 V2 3.3-3.7GHz $240

Of course, if you're interested in Crossfire, you will need a Z77 board like Z77X-D3H $120 AR. Crossfire only really makes sense at higher than 1080p.

Also get a Samsung 840 250GB $172 or Intel 335 240GB $170; 128GB can fill up fast.

I'd probably get a better case as well, Corsair 400R or Corsair C70 at current prices, both just $70 AR.

I'd avoid the XFX card in mfenn's build, their coolers just aren't up to par with Sapphire, MSI, Asus and Gigabyte. Here: Sapphire 7970 $360 AR

Finally, the PSU in his build is no longer on sale. Get XFX 550W $56 (single GPU) or Corsair HX750 $105 AR (Crossfire).

Good recommendations. I would avoid last weeks XFX 7970 as well, but not because of the cooler performance (you basically trade some idle noise for lower load noise, which is fine IMHO). Instead, I would avoid it because it has jumped in price to $400.

 

[seismik]

What else separates the Xeon and the i7? Is it more cores? Any negatives aside from no integrated graphics and no overclocking?

This is perfect info guys, much appreciated!

 

[lehtv]

You can view the differences here:
http://ark.intel.com/products/65719/Intel-Core-i7-3770-Processor-(8M-Cache-up-to-3_90-GHz
http://ark.intel.com/products/65732/Intel-Xeon-Processor-E3-1230V2-8M-Cache-3_30-GHz

Basically, Xeon E3-1230 V2 is an i7-3770 with 100MHz lower clock speed, no overclocking, no integrated graphics, and ECC memory support (which you won't need, and can't use on a consumer board anyway). Since they're the exact same Ivy Bridge architecture, the performance per core and per clock is the same.

 

[mfenn]

You can view the differences here:
http://ark.intel.com/products/65719/Intel-Core-i7-3770-Processor-(8M-Cache-up-to-3_90-GHz
http://ark.intel.com/products/65732/Intel-Xeon-Processor-E3-1230V2-8M-Cache-3_30-GHz

Basically, Xeon E3-1230 V2 is an i7-3770 with 100MHz lower clock speed, no overclocking, no integrated graphics, and ECC memory support (which you won't need, and can't use on a consumer board anyway). Since they're the exact same Ivy Bridge architecture, the performance per core and per clock is the same.

And of course the Xeon is $80 cheaper!