Upgrade options for general use including video / photo editing and transcoding

[tfboy]

I feel ashamed to have not acted following my previous thread on this topic but have been so busy over the last six months with work that it dropped down the priority list.

Things have moved on a little bit: I've upgraded my boot drive to a 128GB M4 and changed the GPU to a GTX 560 Ti for my ocassional gaming fixes.

But I reckon the motherboard as a whole is now a limitation, considering it's only SATA2 so not getting the most out of the M4 and still stuck with 6GB - could upgrade to 8GB but it would be costly, and ideally, would like to have more.

Requirements are mainly for photo editing, and I'm doing some CPU intensive transcoding (jpeg2k for cinema work) too.

So I guess I'm after a new motherboard and most likely CPU which will improve my disk I/O performance as well as general snapiness and transcoding performance. RAM-wise, 8GB - 16GB depending on suggested memory configurations.

System currently is:

• MSI P35 motherboard
• Q6600 clocked at 3GHz
• GTX 560 Ti
• Crucial 128GB M4 boot drive
• WD 640GB Caviar Black AALS data drive
• Novatech 600W Powerstation CPU
• All housed in Antec P160 case

Requirements:

• Single PCIe 16x slot sufficient - don't plan to go SLI / crossfire
• Several SATA ports:
• Internal SSD drive
• Data drive
• BD burner
• External eSATA for caddy / docks
• Firewire (400 enough) for CF card reader
• USB3
• Single GbE sufficient
• 5.1 onboard sound more than enough - only have 2 speakers now
• Overall a quiet system, particularly when idle which is most of the time.

Although my current P160 case is OK, I would consider retiring it to get something newer, quieter and which has USB3 front facing ports. Also, I'd consider getting a newer data drive if it's worth it, i.e. faster. If I'm smart in managing my data, I shouldn't need more than 640GB. All my photos are archived and backed up on a NAS for longer term storage.

Budget-wise, no real limit, but don't want to spend money unless it's worth it. I guess £350 should cover it?

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I would get a Xeon E3 1230 V2 for around £180:

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/intel...tio-69w-retail

It is faster than a Core i7 2600.

It cannot be overclocked that much and lacks an IGP meaning you cannot use Quick Sync,but costs around £55 less than a Core i7 3770 and around £77 less than a Core i7 3700K.

This motherboard has 4 SATA2.0 and 4 SATA3.0 ports:

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/gigab...dvi-d-hdmi-atx

This motherboard is cheaper and has 4 SATA2.0 and 2 SATA3.0 ports:

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/gigab...dvi-d-hdmi-atx

The need for firewire is going to be an issue - most Z77 based motherboards don't have it.

I would get a firewire card TBH as it will cheaper:

http://www.scan.co.uk/shop/computer-...-usb-i-o-cards

[tfboy]

Thanks Cat Will look into that.
TBH, I was more after what kind of tech to go for, and I would never have thought of a Xeon offering. Just goes to show how much out of touch I'm with it all.

[tfboy]

Does using a Xeon CPU which lacks the IGP mean that the onboard DVI / VGA connectors are not usable by my existing discrete GPU ?

Edit: I'm not adverse to losing firewire. It's just that I have a Sandisk firewire CF card reader which is obviously quicker than USB2 readers. I'll see if USB3 card readers out there with performance to match are available.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Thanks Cat Will look into that.
TBH, I was more after what kind of tech to go for, and I would never have thought of a Xeon offering. Just goes to show how much out of touch I'm with it all.

The Xeon E3 1230 V2 cannot be overclocked that much - you need a Core i7 3700K for overclocking. A Core i5 3570K might do the job as you could overclock it to a point that the even the HT on the Xeon E3 cannot compensate.

However,this comes at the expense of greater power consumption and heat.

Does using a Xeon CPU which lacks the IGP mean that the onboard DVI / VGA connectors are not usable by my existing discrete GPU ?

Edit: I'm not adverse to losing firewire. It's just that I have a Sandisk firewire CF card reader which is obviously quicker than USB2 readers. I'll see if USB3 card readers out there with performance to match are available.

The monitor outputs on the GTX560TI will be fine. The monitor outputs on the motherboard will not be usable as they require an IGP AFAIK.

[tfboy]

Doing some more reading about those new Xeons, I wonder if I'd benefit from it.
It has ECC support but I doubt I'd benefit from ECC RAM and I guess it's more expensive (I haven't researched that).
Trying to gauge the other benefits (better HT performance?). I suppose Cat's other argument is that it was more power frugal, partly because of no integrated IGP. But then, when I'm not doing GPI based work, I guess I could use the IGP of the i7 which, if it shuts down my GTX would then bring the power saving back onto the core i7 platform.

Research continues...

[tfboy]

I've taken a few hours reading up and it's agonisingly difficult to chose between the three CPU options I've shortlisted: the Xeon E3 1230 V2, an IB 3570K and IB 3770K.

Considering my usage, HT does sound nice so the price-conscious part of me goes for the Xeon, but the 3570K is the same price and despite lacking HT is far more tweakable with overclocking. Reading up on various reviews, it also suggests that it can OC better and be a faster overall CPU than the 3770K despite the lack of HT. Also, being a fair bit cheaper than the 3770K, it seems far better value for money after tweaking.

I suppose the "sensible" choice is the Xeon, the tinkerer's choice is the 3570K and the flashy choice is the 3770K. Nothing the knowledgeable moose didn't already allude to

edit: I think I'll go for the 3570 and run it at stock for some time. Should be quicker than the Q6600 @ 3GHz I have running at the moment. When when I want to upgrade, start playing with OCing

[tfboy]

All done. Bought the bits and built over the weekend. Went for the 3570K and running everything at stock speeds for now.
Thanks again Cat for all your advice