Building a super-compact video-editing desktop computer

avanti

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My computer is too slow to edit HD video so I'm gonna build a new one. Since I travel a lot I want to build something small that I can carry-on and just hook up to a monitor when I get to my destination.
I don't want to buy a laptop that will be outdated in 6 months.

I want to use the Cooler Master Elite 110, I will run Win7 64, only requirement is to be able to edit 4K Gopro smoothly. Which components do you recommend I should get? :)

http://www.coolermaster.com/case/mini-itx/elite110/

elite110-1.jpg


elite110-2.jpg
 
You have to be really careful when transporting assembled computers. It's easy for the HSF to snap off or the PCI card to be thrown around.


Would an Intel NUC meet your needs perhaps?
 
You have to be really careful when transporting assembled computers. It's easy for the HSF to snap off or the PCI card to be thrown around.


Would an Intel NUC meet your needs perhaps?

Yeah, it is a bit risky. I could take the fragile parts of and pack them separately during transport. I should mention that it rarely would go on a plane, mostly I would bring it by car.

The NUC looks interesting, don't know if it can do what I need?

More opinions on both alternatives?
 
Yeah, it is a bit risky. I could take the fragile parts of and pack them separately during transport.

That would get tiring real quick :p

I have my doubts on the NUC. As far as I'm aware it only has Intel HD graphics which probably won't cut it for editing 4k video.

What software do you use? If you are using Adobe software which makes use of CUDA in Nvidia cards, why not look at something like the Lenovo Y50. I know you said you don't want laptops but these things are quite powerful.

There might be better alternatives. The Y50 was the first laptop I thought of.
 
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A laptop and a USB 3.0 docking station would be the direction I would go in, something like a Thinkpad would be a good laptop but I'm not sure how high you can spec the GPUs on those.

Edit: That Y50 looks good.
 
You have to be really careful when transporting assembled computers. It's easy for the HSF to snap off or the PCI card to be thrown around.

using an integrated watercooling solution like the one actually depicted in the picture would probably get rid of this problem fairly easily :D what with cards being thrown around, i think if you have a double-height GPU with not too hefty of a cooler on it, you should be fine. being screwed in with 2 instead of one screw does make a world of difference in my experience.
plus... the stuff possibly isn't all THAT fragile. friend of mine actually once spilled his whole PC out of the trunk of a car (because he's no good at trunk tetris), which in turn spilled its guts onto the street (case not screwed shut, GPU fell out). worked like a charm after setting everything back in place :dunno:
 
I mostly use Lightworks, some adobe. Really don't want a laptop..

using an integrated watercooling solution like the one actually depicted in the picture would probably get rid of this problem fairly easily :D what with cards being thrown around, i think if you have a double-height GPU with not too hefty of a cooler on it, you should be fine. being screwed in with 2 instead of one screw does make a world of difference in my experience.
plus... the stuff possibly isn't all THAT fragile. friend of mine actually once spilled his whole PC out of the trunk of a car (because he's no good at trunk tetris), which in turn spilled its guts onto the street (case not screwed shut, GPU fell out). worked like a charm after setting everything back in place :dunno:

I am really liking the sound of this! Can anyone identify the cooler in the picture?
Must be this one: http://www.coolermaster.com/cooling/cpu-liquid-cooler/seidon-120m/?
The side fans must be these: http://www.coolermaster.com/cooling/case-fan/blade-master-80/?
Power supply: http://www.coolermaster.com/powersupply/gm-series/g750m/?

Suggestions for motherboard, CPU, memory and video card?
 
there are similar offerings from many other brands (antec, enermax, thermaltake, etc.), but the most popular ones are usually corsair.
 
I mostly use Lightworks, some adobe. Really don't want a laptop..

You said you don't want a laptop that will be outdated in 6 months. Buy a decent one and it won't, at least it won't be any more out of date than whatever desktop kit you intend to buy.

Personally I've yet to ever come across a situation where watercooling is required. I edit HD video at home and we do some pretty hefty rendering here at work and there has never been any need.
 
You'll probably want one of the higher end Intel i-7s or Xeon E3's for that type of workload. With ram, more is always better, and higher speeds are better, but there isn't much need to go nuts in terms of memory speed.
MOBO is dealer's choice.

Cooling wise, I'd keep it simple. Provided you operate the computer in ~80F or lower environments, a reasonably sized HSF will be sufficient for the CPU. I would populate the case with all of the fans, pushing as much air as you can stand listening to.

Given that you'll be transporting this, you may want to consider sticking to SSDs only.
 
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