$500 APU Build for Video Editing?

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Luxio

New Member
So, I'm building a computer for friend who wants to do some video editing on a 500$ machine. Not hardcore editing really, probably just cutting up some trailers from youtube or something. Anyway, here is the part list I came up with:

Motherboard

Processor

Memory

Power Supply

Case

And then of course there's the operating system and monitor which will come around 170$ or so. He is reusing the optical drive from his old computer as well as keyboard and mouse, and I am giving him one of my hard drives.

So the total comes to around 560$ which is already over budget.
Anyway, my main question is would it be better to get an APU or an FX-6300 processor and cheap dedicated graphics?

Obviously that would increase the price, but I'm thinking that for video editing, the processor is more important than the video card. So an APU would be better for low-budget gaming, but not so much for editing. Is that right?

I MAY end up giving him my 8gb of ram as well, so that I can upgrade to 16, but that's still a big maybe.

Thanks for any input! He's looking to get this built by early February before his brother comes home.
 
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daisymtc

Active Member
mobo - get one with FM2+ supported
RAM - Team Vulcan 2 x 4GB DDR3 2133 @ $70, G.SKILL Ripjaws X 2 x 4GB DDR3 2133 @ $80. Don't see the point of $85 DDR3 1866

PSU - personally would pick Corsair CX430M instead


I don't think his budget enough for FX6300
 
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L

Luxio

New Member
daisymtc said:
mobo - get one with FM2+ supported
RAM - Team Vulcan 2 x 4GB DDR3 2133 @ $70, G.SKILL Ripjaws X 2 x 4GB DDR3 2133 @ $80. Don't see the point of $85 DDR3 1866

PSU - personally would pick Corsair CX430M instead


I don't think his budget enough for FX6300
Click to expand...

Good catch for the RAM. I usually sort everything by 'highest rated' so sometimes miss good stuff that just doesn't have enough ratings.

As for the cpu, it doesn't have to be an fx6300, I was just wondering if there was a processor (even intel) that would be better suited to video editing than an APU. (That is maybe cheaper?)

EDIT: Also, I guess my other question is....what's the minimum video card that I could use for video editing (paired with a decent cpu)?
 
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L

Luxio

New Member
SpringWater said:
You might want to take a look at this thread started by me to get an idea of what you should be looking at:
http://www.computerforum.com/226764-budget-apu-build-500-a-2.html

Note: the thread has 3 pages, I sent you a link to page 2 but you can also check out page 1 & 3.
Click to expand...

Thanks! I did see your thread before I posted this, but I felt like this was different enough. My friend will probably not do any gaming at all, so the main question is whether it's worth it to get an APU for video editing (which seems like it was designed more for low-budget gaming because it balances the cpu and graphics portions)
 
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Luxio

New Member
Microcenter combo

Okay so I just found this combo deal at Microcenter with a 6300 and motherboard:

6300 + MSI Mobo

You have to scroll down to find it, it's an MSI 970 and it says 'save $40' but actually when I add it to the cart, it doesn't cost anything. So, with tax it's about $120 for cpu and mobo. That's great right? Anything I'm missing?

Then I can just try to get a $100 video card (the cheapest for price/performance I found was THIS)

I'm really thinking about just going over there and picking it up, are there any objections? The motherboard seems like it has good reviews.

EDIT: *facepalm.....Figured out that it was free because it was out of stock and wasn't adding the price to the total....
 
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SpringWater

SpringWater

Member
Luxio said:
Thanks! I did see your thread before I posted this, but I felt like this was different enough. My friend will probably not do any gaming at all, so the main question is whether it's worth it to get an APU for video editing (which seems like it was designed more for low-budget gaming because it balances the cpu and graphics portions)
Click to expand...

Believe it or not but some video editing requires as much power as gaming, and besides why not get the most out of the money even if it's not needed at the time?
 
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Luxio

New Member
SpringWater said:
Believe it or not but some video editing requires as much power as gaming, and besides why not get the most out of the money even if it's not needed at the time?
Click to expand...

Well, the debate is whether or not I should get a 'high' cpu and 'low' video card or 'medium' cpu and 'medium video card (which would be the APU: Although they aren't really mediums for comparision, but it's just symbolic)

Editing requires a decent video card, but it relies more on the power of the processor. At least, that's what I've read several times. If he knows he's not going to be gaming at all, even in the future, and he wants to get the build as cheap as possible, it matters as to what's more important for editing.
 
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spirit

spirit

Moderator
Staff member
SpringWater said:
Believe it or not but some video editing requires as much power as gaming
Click to expand...

Video editing requires far more CPU power than gaming does. I don't really recommend video editing on an APU for a start, unless you're doing 'light' video editing and nothing too serious.
 
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Luxio

New Member
Would the new Kaveri line of APUs be worth considering for this? From the benchmarks that AMD released, it seems like it's a bigger jump on the graphics side than the processing side....

If I don't go the APU route and instead go for an fx-6300 (or something similar but cheaper), what would be the minimum video card I would need to do some simple-medium editing?
 
spirit

spirit

Moderator
Staff member
An NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 will be fine. I'd go the FX-6300 + GTX 650 route if you can.
 
L

Luxio

New Member
spirit said:
An NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 will be fine. I'd go the FX-6300 + GTX 650 route if you can.
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Okay. I don't know how long it will last, but I found a refurbished 650 for $100 on amazon.

Otherwise there is a $100 650 Ti but it's a Zotac, and I've never heard them recommended.

Also, is this ram good? I know it's only 4gb and he'll eventually have 8gb, but I thought it would be smarter just to start out with 4gb and wait until ram prices go back down to get the other 4. He's really just starting out with video editing, so he should be fine with just that for a few months.
 
Jiniix

Jiniix

Well-Known Member
Get the Zotac. The Ti version is much better, and Zotac is a good brand. The RAM, good too. 1866MHz is the highest AM3+ can do without overclocking I think, and G.Skill is a reputable brand.
 
spirit

spirit

Moderator
Staff member
Yes the RAM is good - I have the same stuff (but I have 4x4GB sticks at 1600MHz, same brand though).

And get the Zotac GTX 650 Ti since it's the same cost but faster. Zotac's alright.
 
Jiniix

Jiniix

Well-Known Member
I would buy ASUS, Gigabyte, MSI and HIS over Zotac if they were priced equally - but Zotac coolers are decent. Used a GT 640 Synergy Edition from Zotac in a build that would simulate real-world-normal-people CUDA speeds, and the quality of the cooler seemed good.
 
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daisymtc

Active Member
Luxio said:
Also, is this ram good? I know it's only 4gb and he'll eventually have 8gb, but I thought it would be smarter just to start out with 4gb and wait until ram prices go back down to get the other 4. He's really just starting out with video editing, so he should be fine with just that for a few months.
Click to expand...

Personally just go direct to 2 x 4GB if he use machine for video editing.
 
Okedokey

Okedokey

Well-Known Member
Even 8GB is on the low side for video editing. I would say 16GB is the minimum based on my experience.

I agree with Spirit on everything else, get the most powerful CPU you an afford.

Video editing:

CPU
RAM
HDD space

in that order.

Unless you're using specific software that can render using CUDA. But even then, a low end GPU will be find (the top quadro is a pretty low powered card).
 
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L

Luxio

New Member
Alright, I think I'm pretty much set on the fx 6300, definitely the best value. And the Zotac 650 Ti is very cheap so that's on the list too.

As for the RAM, I actually do video editing (much more than my friend ever will) and I've done fine on my 8gb. So if starting out at 4gb will save him money I'm all for it. The fact is, he doesn't have a job, still in high school, but he's working for his dad (painting and stuff) to make the money for the computer. So it really needs to be as close to 500$ as possible. I'm pretty close to convincing him just to wait a little longer since he doesn't NEED the computer right now.

But do you guys have idea on parts getting cheaper in the next month or so? The new DDR4 RAM is coming out soon isn't it? Will DDR3 be cheaper then?

And thanks for all the replies so far!
 
spirit

spirit

Moderator
Staff member
No, once DDR4 comes out DDR3 will likely get more expensive. RAM tends to get more expensive as it gets older. DDR2 for example can be quite expensive these days.

Don't worry about DDR4 - the FX-6300 and the boards which support it won't even work with DDR4. You need to buy what's best now.

I do agree with Okedokey about RAM limitations. 8GB is on the low-side for moderately heavy editing and 16GB or 32GB is preferable, but 4GB will be OK for 'light editing' as I like to put it. Anything more serious and you'll probably want to think about getting more RAM.
 
L

Luxio

New Member
spirit said:
No, once DDR4 comes out DDR3 will likely get more expensive. RAM tends to get more expensive as it gets older. DDR2 for example can be quite expensive these days.

Don't worry about DDR4 - the FX-6300 and the boards which support it won't even work with DDR4. You need to buy what's best now.

I do agree with Okedokey about RAM limitations. 8GB is on the low-side for moderately heavy editing and 16GB or 32GB is preferable, but 4GB will be OK for 'light editing' as I like to put it. Anything more serious and you'll probably want to think about getting more RAM.
Click to expand...

I wasn't worrying about DDR4 but if DDR3 is going to get more expensive.....now I'm not sure if I want to hold off on the extra 4gb. I was expecting it to get cheaper, and that's why it would be worth it to wait...but now, it looks like it's better to just get 8gb from the start.
 
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