I'm planning a completely new PC to replace my three-year-old midrange system, which has become slow and unreliable. My main priority is professional video editing: I work full time creating YouTube videos and music videos, and I'll soon be editing several short films. I use DaVinci Resolve and Photoshop, with some Blender work as well. Gaming is secondary since I recently bought a PS5, though I may play some PC games later.
I live in a developing country, where hardware is expensive, and the recommended build would cost about $5,100. My maximum budget is roughly $5,500–$6,000, but I'd prefer not to overspend. The proposed parts are an Intel Core i9-14900K, RTX 5070 Ti 16GB, Arctic Liquid Freezer III Pro 360 cooler, 1TB Kingston KC3000 NVMe SSD, 64GB DDR5-5600 memory, and an ASRock Z790 motherboard. I still need to choose a case and power supply.
I've heard the 14900K can have stability and reliability issues, so I'm open to switching to a newer Intel or AMD platform. Is this a sensible workstation build for Resolve, Photoshop, and Blender? Should I change the CPU, motherboard, memory, storage, or graphics card? Also, is 1TB enough to start with, considering I have several terabytes of external storage and can add more internal drives later?
3 Answers
For DaVinci Resolve and Blender, staying with NVIDIA makes sense because of CUDA support, GPU acceleration, and the available video encoders. The RTX 5070 Ti is a reasonable choice for the budget. Keep the 64GB of RAM, and make sure the SSD uses TLC NAND with its own DRAM cache; that matters for sustained editing workloads. A cheaper motherboard could free up some money without hurting performance.
Consider one of Intel’s newer Core Ultra desktop chips instead of the 14900K. A model such as the 265K-class processor may be a better-balanced and sometimes less expensive option, while avoiding the older platform’s concerns. You could also save money with a less expensive, reputable motherboard rather than paying extra for features you won’t use.
It’s also worth pricing an AMD Ryzen 9 9950X with a compatible X870 motherboard. It can be a strong option for heavy multicore editing and 3D work, so compare the complete platform cost rather than focusing only on the processor. If an RTX 5080 is available at a reasonable price, it would improve GPU-heavy effects, but it may not fit your local budget. One terabyte will fill quickly with footage, cache, and projects, so plan for another internal SSD eventually; your external drives are fine for starting out.
The RTX 5080 is unfortunately too expensive here, but I’ll compare the Ryzen platform. I have several terabytes of external storage for now and can add more internal storage later.
I’ll compare the newer Intel options. Are there any particular motherboard features I should prioritize?