Hello Ray

Thanks for your response. I am not really computer literate. It was my husband who put together our holidays onto DVDs. However, I should like to be able to have a go.

This is what has been proposed: -

Front ports: 

1x USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C

2x USB 3.0

2x USB 2.0

Audio I/O

Rear ports:
1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 port(s) (1 x USB Type-C®)  
1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 port(s) (1 x Type-A) 
3 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 port(s) (2 x Type-A + 1 x USB Type-C®)
4 x USB 2.0 port(s) (4 x Type-A)

The board will also come with 3 M.2 slots - 2 being spare for future expansion.

Components list:
1x Fractal Design Define 7 Compact Case - Black
1x Asus ROG STRIX B660-A GAMING WIFI D4 Motherboard
1x Intel Core i7-12700 CPU, 12 Cores* / 20 Threads, 2.1 -4.9GHz
1x Noctua NH-U12S CPU Cooler
1x 32GB DDR4 3200MHz Memory (2 x 16GB Sticks)
1x NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 12GB Graphics Card
1x 1TB Samsung 980 M.2 PCIe Gen 3 Solid State Drive
1x Corsair TX650M 80 PLUS Gold 650W Modular PSU
1x Windows 11 Home
2x Pre-Install Cabling for Additional Solid State Drive
2x Pre-Install Cabling for Additional Hard Drive - can be used for SSD as well

I'm hoping you know enough to advise whether this spec is OK.

My step-son is in IT and he feels that I'm being silly trying to update what we have. He thinks the company quoting is over clocking the CPU by forcing it to run faster than was intended.

He reckons the 3070 graphics card would be better.

Is Solid State good? .... again he says people aren't using it anymore, which I find hard to believe. I just want to get it right... so any improvements without going OTT please

Sorry to be a pain

Kind regards

Patricia

@Patricia-Dyer

Hi

The specs look pretty good however for me are incomplete.

I would suggest you also have a 2 or 4TB hard drive with 128 MB, preferably 256 MB, buffer (cache), rotational speed is not so critical see this comment in another topic, for putting all the data files on rather then using them from the SSD drive, you may want to read pages1 and 2 of that topic. Use the SSD drive for the OS and programs only.

. . . . He reckons the 3070 graphics card would be better. . . .

For video editing the difference between this and the 3060 will be minimal, however if you are into gaming then they may be some difference that would justify the price difference.

. . . . Solid State good? .... again he says people aren't using it anymore, which I find hard to believe . . . .

He is correct, with qualification, SSD drives while faster, tend not to cope well with very large files, and you may have very large video files.

. . . . he feels that I'm being silly trying to update what we have . . . .

That depends on the spec of what you already have and the video format and resolution you are or will be working with?

Show your step-son the specs here for the processor - the quoted speed range is correct - no overclocking.

HTH

John EB
Forum Moderator

@johnebaker @Patricia-Dyer

Hi Patricia. John.

I agree with John.

Technically the 3070 is better but in this instance for video editing I would rather have the additional 4GB of vram of the 3060.

I am a little concerned about the power supply rating. There could be more in the way of headroom for all those components with possible future additions such as additional drives and the newer nvidia cards are prone to spiking. I would looking for an additional 150 watts headroom. The system will only draw what it needs when it needs it and the power supply won't heat up as much. I use a 1000 watts supply and I never hear the fan come on and runs cool as a cucumber. I would have got an 850 w but at the time couldn't find one locally.

I have only ever had Asus motherboards since going with Intel processors. The strix range have always been solid and I love the sound section layout. The 3.5mm jacks could do with improving as they feel less secure than you would find in a dedicated audio device but other than that the boards are solid performance wise. Look out for bios updates in the early release dates. Their bios updating is easier than most. Almost completely foolproof.

Nothing wrong with the Samsung NVMe drive. I have its predecessor. I agree with John on the other drive choice.

It was John who pushed me to try slower drives with large inboard caches. They are better for this job.

I think you will have enough USB ports but I have used all of my 10 😅.

I have found the USB 3 the most useful and put an extension lead on it to swap for other types of terminations. I use it for slow charging my phone and action camera and for fast file transfers from dedicated card readers as some of my memory cards have read speeds of up to 450MBs.

Ray.

What would you use instead of the SSD? I'm afraid that I am struggling with what you say. I just need to be told what I need and alternatives in case it's not used over here. I have copied and forwarded to a friend and he's struggling too. Thanks

@Patricia-Dyer

Hi Patricia.

A standard old fashioned SATA hard drive (spinning disc) like a Western Digital RED drive. Comparatively cheap and durable. They handle large files well and are fast enough for this application.

Ray.