Hoping for help with upgrades

[Nadul]

Ok, with the tax return I got permission to spend some money to make some upgrades to my computer for video editing purposes (this is how I'll be supplementing my income so I don't have to get a second job, mostly weddings)

So i'm looking at a video card and processor just want some other people's advice is all.

for Processor i'm currently running i5 and wanting to go i7 probably a significant upgrade

in terms of video card this is what i'm currently running N560GTX-Ti which isn't bad but looking at Radeon 7950 Also with these 2 can I use both at the same time and SLI them or would that not work or just be pointless with how good the radeon one is over the nvidia?

Any advice or help is welcomed.

[noteworthynerd]

There's no reason to get an i7, the only difference between an i7 and an i5 is hyperthreading, and games don't utilize hyperthreading. The best gaming CPU available is the i5 3570K. You'd also probably want a new motherboard because you're likely using a locked down motherboard. Going from the 2400 to a 3570K is a significant upgrade, but not stellar.

No, you cannot use the 560 Ti and the 7950 in SLI, they're made by two different companies. SLI is a NVIDIA technology and to SLI you need two of the same card, the Radeon equivalent is called "CrossFire" and to crossfire you have to have two cards from the same generation (7xxx).

[Nadul]

I'm more concerned with video editing though than the gaming aspect. This is the Motherboard i'm currently using.

Also the software I'm using to edit is Premiere Pro CS6

I don't know the performance diff between those 2 cards, would getting a second Nvidia be better than just the on Radeon?

Thanks in advance

[noteworthynerd]

Oh I'm sorry, I completely missed that part of your first post.

In that case the i7 3770K is a good choice. You'll still likely want/need to upgrade your motherboard to a Z77 board. ASRock is my go to company, ASUS is also good.

The 7950 is almost twice as good as the 560 Ti in most aspects. Adding a second 560 Ti is a cheaper option, but I'm not a fan of multiple video card builds because optimization, driver, and scaling issues (i.e. 2 video cards does not necessarily mean 2x the performance) still exist.

[Nadul]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813157293 so a motherboard like that?

I really appreciate your help noteworthy.

[noteworthynerd]

Yep, that motherboard is perfect. You could probably even get by with the Z77 Pro4 if you don't plan on adding a second video card ever.

You're quite welcome.

[Nadul]

sorry for all the questions but I have one more that involves memory, would it matter if I was mixing 8g of patriot memory with 8g of Ripjaw?

[Toffie]

It's all fine as long as the frequency and latency is the same. Also make sure the ram is the same speed (1600 MHz) or else the ram will downclock to the slowest ones.

Can you link the ram you have and the ones your planning to get?

[noteworthynerd]

Generally speaking: you want to avoid mismatching memory if you can. Different timings/frequencies/etc can cause some hiccups in your system. If you want to add another 8GB, try to buy exactly what you already have.

[Nadul]

yah the ones i have are currently 1333mhz so I'm just going to sell those off and buy all new 2133mhz

also these 2 cards are virtually the same correct? any reason I would want to go with the one that is $20 more expensive?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...^14-150-588-TS

[Toffie]

The other card have better cooling, thats why.

I'd advice against 2133 MHz since you can easily overclock the 1600 Mhz yourself.

Going from 1333-1600 is a visible performance gain.

1600-2133 is not.

Proof : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0L_KFKJYvg

Also for a equivalent card that performs the same for less is the 7870XT (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...&Tpk=7870%20xt)

Good overclock capabilities that should net you 670/7970 performance if you do it right.

Edit: Didn't see that you do CS6, a 6xx Nvidia card should perform better with the cuda cores.

[noteworthynerd]

I agree with Toffie, 2133MHz RAM is pointless because you can easily overclock 1600MHz RAM yourself, don't waste your money.

[Deleted]

no real point in getting the 2133mhz over the 1600mhz unless for heavy photoshop editing but in most cases more > the mhz difference since pshop relies mostly on quantity ^^

darn noteworthy you ninja'ed my post :P

[Nadul]

The other card have better cooling, thats why.

I'd advice against 2133 MHz since you can easily overclock the 1600 Mhz yourself.

Going from 1333-1600 is a visible performance gain.

1600-2133 is not.

Proof : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0L_KFKJYvg

Also for a equivalent card that performs the same for less is the 7870XT (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...&Tpk=7870%20xt)

Good overclock capabilities that should net you 670/7970 performance if you do it right.

Edit: Didn't see that you do CS6, a 6xx Nvidia card should perform better with the cuda cores.

So are you telling me this card would be just as good? or more ideal for CS6?

---------- Post added 2013-03-11 at 10:33 PM ----------

I agree with Toffie, 2133MHz RAM is pointless because you can easily overclock 1600MHz RAM yourself, don't waste your money.

I've never messed with overclocking my memory guess i'll have to do some research on that. Thank you for the info.

[Toffie]

This would be my choice : http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyt...rd-gvn660oc2gd

Or
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-vi...x660tidc2o2gd5
If you can afford it.