Build my own PC, or buy used? (i7-960 vs newer with 6-core?)

I have learned that I need a more powerful computer for video editing - not necessarily 4K professional level, but even free editing software like Davinci Resolve 15 won't work with the PC I have now editing even 1080p videos (i3 processor, 2 cores, 4 threads). This need has required me to learn more about the grade of components needed in a PC for video editing (processor, RAM, GPU, storage, etc.).

I found a couple budget PC build videos where both recommend processors with 6 cores, 12 threads (i5-8600K and AMD Ryzen 5 1600). I'm not too worried about the build, but am more concerned with everything else that has to be done afterward (install drivers, operating system, whatever). I can get either of the two builds for around $900.00 including the operating system.

However, I have been offered to purchase a used PC from a trusted source that has gobs of RAM (32GB), SSD and HDD for storage (fast boot up and lots of storage) and a good GPU. Plus, it's a used machine so it's ready-to-go with Windows 10. However, the only thing I am worried about is the processor which is i7-960 4 cores, 8 threads. This machine is offered for the price of $750.00. I like the additional RAM and storage of this machine, plus it's all set up, but I'm concerned about the processor power compared to the others in the budget builds.

So, just looking for thoughts/suggestions about this used PC vs. the build scenarios.

Thank you.

Tim

KRProton said:

I have learned that I need a more powerful computer for video editing - not necessarily 4K professional level, but even free editing software like Davinci Resolve 15 won't work with the PC I have now editing even 1080p videos (i3 processor, 2 cores, 4 threads). This need has required me to learn more about the grade of components needed in a PC for video editing (processor, RAM, GPU, storage, etc.).

I found a couple budget PC build videos where both recommend processors with 6 cores, 12 threads (i5-8600K and AMD Ryzen 5 1600). I'm not too worried about the build, but am more concerned with everything else that has to be done afterward (install drivers, operating system, whatever). I can get either of the two builds for around $900.00 including the operating system.

However, I have been offered to purchase a used PC from a trusted source that has gobs of RAM (32GB), SSD and HDD for storage (fast boot up and lots of storage) and a good GPU. Plus, it's a used machine so it's ready-to-go with Windows 10. However, the only thing I am worried about is the processor which is i7-960 4 cores, 8 threads. This machine is offered for the price of $750.00. I like the additional RAM and storage of this machine, plus it's all set up, but I'm concerned about the processor power compared to the others in the budget builds.

So, just looking for thoughts/suggestions about this used PC vs. the build scenarios.

Thank you.

Tim

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That processor was introduced almost nine years ago, and I'd want to know how fast the SATA, USB, PCI-E, etc. interfaces on the motherboard are compared to a new PC.

My initial reaction to the used PC is "no thanks", but do check out the details before you decide.

CPU comparison:

With all it's components, just remember that if the machine doesn't work out for you, the parts are probably worthless.

I remember when I built my PC's in the past and always justified "overbuying" upgrade possibilities, that when I was ready to upgrade, none of the old components were compatible with the newer motherboards (with the faster interfaces, etc.) You end up needing to upgrade all for the new system.

Penny-wise and pound foolish?

Jpegman

As an old retired EE who buys ALL of his computer stuff on eBay, I would buy something like this:


rather than build my own.

I just don't see the point of building your own computer unless you just like to put a bunch of parts together and hope for the best. Some game enthusiasts buy these Dell workstations and customize them. At least they are starting with a solid case, power supply, and motherboard.

Bouldergramp said:

As an old retired EE who buys ALL of his computer stuff on eBay, I would buy something like this:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Preci...m=381868734654&_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851

rather than build my own.

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If that's the PC you want to own, no doubt that is a decent value for the price.

Bouldergramp said:

I just don't see the point of building your own computer unless you just like to put a bunch of parts together and hope for the best.

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A 'bunch' of parts? Hope for the best?

I'll assume for the moment that you're actually serious.

Bouldergramp said:

Some game enthusiasts buy these Dell workstations and customize them.

Click to expand...

But if that Dell box has your idea of an enthusiast gaming PC, I doubt if you are.

Bouldergramp said:

At least they are starting with a solid case, power supply, and motherboard.

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I'd be surprised if Dell is willing to pay for the same quality parts as a knowledgeable gaming PC's builder might. I suspect most of their customers don't know or care what exactly what all the components inside their PCs are.

As pointed out unless it is free the 930 is not a bargain unless it is nearly free (for harvesting parts) as it is an ancient CPU, essentially the 4 core version on an Intel Core 2 duo released in 2009. It might push average size video files faster than what you have but you can do much better. To be honest it would probably be perfectly adequate for most non-cpu intensive tasks like Photoshop and Lightroom.

For most users differences in rendering times of even minutes on average video file sizes is kind or irrelevant considering what you could otherwise be doing with that massive amount of time but perception is everything. While video rendering is about the only thing that benefits from more than 4 cores most studies show a very fast 4 core part outperforms a slower 6 core part on average size video files, just saying.

Either CPU you list will be fine. It seems pointless to buy an Intel K part unless you are going to overclock it and will supply adequate cooling. Stable overclocking also requires a better quality/more expensive motherboard, just my experience, for whatever benefit it renders. I stably overclock my i7k up to 20% but I think its just because I paid for the beefy parts that allow it.

Now that GPU prices are relatively sane, but not RAM, I believe at the price point you note you could step up to a higher end Ryzen processor, including the latest and greatest, but that is your call. An advantage of the i5, k part or stock clock, might be that it has a built in Intel 630 GPU which is adequate for most tasks.

Sure, I was serious. The guy was just asking for suggestions. The Xeon E5-2670 CPU is comparable or better than the Ryzen depending on the version of the Xeon chip. Also, it sounded like he had never build a computer before.

As far as gaming goes, I was just mentioning what I have read but it may be out of date...I don't play computer games.

Odd timing, this just came out:


Executive summary, 1/4 the speed

Morris

Intel spec states the i7-960 max memory is 24GB. It's only selling (CPU only) for about $25 on eBay.

I think you can do much better with 1-3 year old refurbished system.

Assembling yourself is what I would do, selecting right, gets you to overclocking and that maximize performance per dollar (just humor me, lol).

The OS and drivers are so much easier with Win10. I am sure one of us can walk you thru. Pretty much all you need is a USB stick with enough storage.

KRProton said:

I have learned that I need a more powerful computer for video editing - not necessarily 4K professional level, but even free editing software like Davinci Resolve 15 won't work with the PC I have now editing even 1080p videos (i3 processor, 2 cores, 4 threads). This need has required me to learn more about the grade of components needed in a PC for video editing (processor, RAM, GPU, storage, etc.).

I found a couple budget PC build videos where both recommend processors with 6 cores, 12 threads (i5-8600K and AMD Ryzen 5 1600). I'm not too worried about the build, but am more concerned with everything else that has to be done afterward (install drivers, operating system, whatever). I can get either of the two builds for around $900.00 including the operating system.

However, I have been offered to purchase a used PC from a trusted source that has gobs of RAM (32GB), SSD and HDD for storage (fast boot up and lots of storage) and a good GPU. Plus, it's a used machine so it's ready-to-go with Windows 10. However, the only thing I am worried about is the processor which is i7-960 4 cores, 8 threads. This machine is offered for the price of $750.00. I like the additional RAM and storage of this machine, plus it's all set up, but I'm concerned about the processor power compared to the others in the budget builds.

So, just looking for thoughts/suggestions about this used PC vs. the build scenarios.

Thank you.

Tim

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I would go with the custom option just like what you have. Keep in mind, that processors change frequently, and they discontinue older processors when the new ones come out. So if you build one, go for the best processor you can to future proof your processor and mother board so it will last you at least 10 years.

If you go cheap weak processor and want to upgrade just the processor in 3 to 5 years. You may find that series of processor was discontinued. So you would need to buy a newer verson processor and mother board, along with all the operating system, and editing software. And, other compatible components just to upgrade.

jpegman said:

I remember when I built my PC's in the past and always justified "overbuying" upgrade possibilities, that when I was ready to upgrade, none of the old components were compatible with the newer motherboards (with the faster interfaces, etc.) You end up needing to upgrade all for the new system.

Click to expand...

Yes - I always used to pay more for the ability to 'upgrade', but it never worked out in practice, as the new parts either wouldn't work at all with the old, or were severely compromised. So now I just buy midrange components and rip out the lot when I want to change, just keeping the case, power supply and drives etc.

Thanks so much everybody for your responses. As I was thinking, probably best to do a custom build to get a newer (faster) processor. Not too worried about the build, but more concerned about getting the thing up-and-running (but a couple have alluded to walking me through it). I'll go over all this again before making a decision.

Thanks again, and more comments are welcome!

Tim

When you finish your project it would be interesting to read what your total cost was and see the Passmark Performance Test results.

Bouldergramp said:

When you finish your project it would be interesting to read what your total cost was and see the Passmark Performance Test results.

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First-time custom builds are often more expensive than mass-market PCs of similar performance. The savings come from the extensive reuse of parts that's often possible in subsequent builds. My second-most-recent 'new build' was simply a new motherboard and CPU, plus some additional memory of the same type.

Regardless whether you build DIY or buy off the shelf, the newer computers are better.

I had a i930, then a mac pro running Westmere Xeon at 3.33GHz. I just built a new 7820x last mth in July. The speed improvement is totally no contest. Much faster processor and higher speed RAM (from 1333MHz to 2666MHz jump) can be felt in heavy workloads. I'm currently working on a 11GB photoshop file and I can attest to the speed improvement.

Waiting for nVidia or AMD to launch their next gen graphics to upgrade. My graphics is a GTX970 salvaged from the old computer. I have 3 profiles set. One overclock to 4GHz, one at standard 3.6GHz and the other underclock at 2.6GHz. When I use the slow speed, it's totally silent. Also using high quality fans from Noctua BTW, great stuff. Good thing about DIY is you get to choose the good stuff that meets your budget.

Is it money well spent? I can't answer that, but I intend to use it for the next 10yrs or more. My power supply is a Seasonic 850W 10yrs warranty. Asus x299 TUF1 mainboard. Corsair 3200 RAM with heat spreader. Hopefully the quality of the parts can last me that long.

Lastly, you can choose the cheaper setup using 8700k processor, but I'll wait for the newer Z390 boards because it supports USB3 gen 2 ports. Mine has 2 x gen2 ports built in already. Don't forget to use SSD as boot drive, either SATA or NVMe type.

Austinian said:

Bouldergramp said:

When you finish your project it would be interesting to read what your total cost was and see the Passmark Performance Test results.

Click to expand...

First-time custom builds are often more expensive than mass-market PCs of similar performance. The savings come from the extensive reuse of parts that's often possible in subsequent builds. My second-most-recent 'new build' was simply a new motherboard and CPU, plus some additional memory of the same type.

Click to expand...

Exactly how I build my systems. My new build's "old parts' go into my backup machine. And the same PC case (Cooler Master HAF X) from my main rig has seen 3 different builds. Like Austinian, my main upgrades are RAM, CPU, MB.

Regarding the 960 vs. the 6-core, I'd go 6-core due to the newer motherboard tech vs. the old aging x58 chipset that is the i7-960. BTW I've got a complete i7-950 system sitting in my closet because it can't compete with i7-4790K system on my Gigabyte Z87 G1 Sniper 5 board.

Current system i7-7700K on an Gigabyte Z270 (GA-Z270X Gaming 8) board.

Austinian said:

I'd be surprised if Dell is willing to pay for the same quality parts as a knowledgeable gaming PC's builder might. I suspect most of their customers don't know or care what exactly what all the components inside their PCs are.

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For what it's worth, it's a workstation and the parts on these are usually good-quality and very reliable.

That Dell on Ebay isn't too bad at all for the price. Performance would be decent.

Thank you for the advice.

Yes, I have learned SSD for boot drive, system files, etc. HDD okay for memory.

Thanks again!

Tim