Help with video/audio editing rig parts list

[Helieos]

So I have been asked by a friend to help put together a list of parts for a strictly video/audio editing rig. I have no experience in either field and the extent of my knowledge is more CPU cores is better. I don't know how much GPU horsepower is needed nor what type of storage setup is best. So I have come to you guys to ask what makes a good editing rig. Here is the info.

• Budget: $1000-1500 USD
• Resolution: 1920x1080
• Games / Settings Desired: N/A?
• Any other intensive software or special things you do: Avid Pro Tools, Adobe Premier Pro, Adobe After Effects, Adobe Photoshop, 1080p Video
• Country: USA
• Parts that can be reused: No
• Do you need an OS: No
• Do you need peripherals: No

I threw together what I though would work, i7 4790k, SSD, HDD, 16Gb Ram, but I have no idea what GPU would be good, if one is needed at all. Also I have heard the term scratch disk thrown around for video editing but I don't know if that is necessary or not. My friend plans on doing semi professional work with this.

I would be glad to try and answer what questions you might have and my thanks for any help.

[fixx]

Adobe products benefit from CUDA GPU acceleration so one option would be getting decent Nvidia graphics card like GTX960 just in case. Some plugins/codecs work better with i7 (instead of i5), some better with the GPU.

Scratch disc is just super fast HDD you keep empty for temp files. You could simply get another cheap SSD (120GB) for that use.

If your friend is really serious with the audio side external USB soundcard is a must instead of relying on any motherboard audio or normal internal cards. Those range from $200 to $2000 or more. Not sure what is required/recommended for Pro Tools on Window but google should be able to answer that.

[Helieos]

How does this look?

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-5820K 3.3GHz 6-Core Processor ($299.99 @ Micro Center)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H75 54.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($74.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: MSI X99S SLI Plus ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard ($179.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Crucial 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($299.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($49.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($49.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($88.20 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 960 2GB SuperSC ACX 2.0+ Video Card ($202.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 w/Window (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case ($84.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 620W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($83.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $1415.10
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-04-24 17:30 EDT-0400

[Deleted]

A few different options, for a little bit over before rebates with 2x 250gb ssd's on air:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-5820K 3.3GHz 6-Core Processor ($372.95 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! Dark Rock 3 113.8 CFM Fluid Dynamic Bearing CPU Cooler ($74.90 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock X99 Extreme4 ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard ($162.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($338.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial BX100 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($80.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial BX100 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($80.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($72.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 960 2GB Video Card ($188.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($56.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX XTR 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($61.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $1492.71
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-04-24 17:53 EDT-0400

[fixx]

Would rather take some air cooler like BeQuiet Dark Rock 3 or Thermalright Macho instead for lower noise and less potential hassles. Also Kingston did nasty thing with the V300's and the currently sold models are shit compared to early review samples. Those are usable but painfully slow.

Besides that it looks really sensible list for semipro video editing.

- - - Updated - - -

Kostattoo's list above looks good. Except you still want that Fractal Design Define R4 (or R5) case instead because it's noise dampened and that will make big difference in audio editing. And you can easily save with the Crucial RAM you originally picked.

[TaintedOne]

And you can easily save with the Crucial RAM you originally picked.

I was under the impression that higher speed RAM can noticeably reduce render times. Is that not correct ?

[Symphonic]

Did he mention what program he plans on using for Video editing? Or audio editing? Avid and Premiere Pro are the two that are most common on PCs, while Premiere Pro and Final Cut Pro are the common ones for Mac. Assuming this isn't a custom built computer using a Mac OS, I'd recommend AVID, as it has some nice audio software/hardware (Pro Tools).

(I'm a video editor/animator with a Bachelors in Film) Anyway, RAM is relatively inexpensive, so I'd get the best processor you can, and then get as much RAM, as those work hand-in-hand, pretty much. Also, if the software is installed on a Solid Disk Drive, that is even better!

[Helieos]

Did he mention what program he plans on using for Video editing? Or audio editing? Avid and Premiere Pro are the two that are most common on PCs, while Premiere Pro and Final Cut Pro are the common ones for Mac. Assuming this isn't a custom built computer using a Mac OS, I'd recommend AVID, as it has some nice audio software/hardware (Pro Tools).

(I'm a video editor/animator with a Bachelors in Film) Anyway, RAM is relatively inexpensive, so I'd get the best processor you can, and then get as much RAM, as those work hand-in-hand, pretty much. Also, if the software is installed on a Solid Disk Drive, that is even better!

[*]Any other intensive software or special things you do: Avid Pro Tools, Adobe Premier Pro, Adobe After Effects, Adobe Photoshop, 1080p Video

And thanks everyone for the suggestions!

[fixx]

I was under the impression that higher speed RAM can noticeably reduce render times. Is that not correct ?

Not noticeably. It's really hard to see any difference in performance with high speed RAM outside synthetic benchmarks. It matters more to have enough of it, and "enough" depends on your projects. 16gigs works for 1080p but is too little for 4k video.