SSDs do wonders for old systems, as long as the CPU isn't completely awful - like the Celeron in the living room. lol
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Uggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh... I need to buy a new computer. I can't face it. But it has to be done. Something with strong specs to be able to run After Effects effortlessly playing with 1080p footage at a minimum. The different combinations have never made buying computers fun.
Are there just known reputable easy places to go for good prices? Or do I have to shop around for eternity?
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I'm replacing a laptop but I'm actually thinking of going for a full desktop. Mainly because my laptop is a big overheating beast of a machine (i7 whatever and hefty specs) and it only ever goes upstairs or downstairs and that's the extent of its portability. Am I right in thinking I'll get better in a desktop or is that no longer true?
It's going to be a business expense so, while I want it to be good value for money, I'm willing to spend the money for a good one. My laptop must have been in the region of €2000. I'm hoping I won't have to go much higher than that for this. Lower is better but I want something that will do a good job for quite a few years so I'm willing to spend if that's what it takes.
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Originally posted by Brad View PostYour assumption is correct. The power of a 2000 euro desktop will destroy a similarly priced laptop.
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Sure. Personally I quite like the way Scan seem to be doing things at the moment:
scan.co.uk
You sort of tell it what you want the PC for and it gives you a starting point and then you tweak it. Maybe start off like that with the scan or dell website and then post your findings here whereupon the nerds can jump in with their advice?
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[MENTION=9465]Brad[/MENTION] Thanks for that site recommendation. You know what they do that is fantastic? They explain what each part does as you choose it. That is so helpful. By contrast, Dell's site is a mess of menus asking what kind of IEEE 1394 I want. Uh... probably some good stuff in those choices but I couldn't make sense of half of them. Does it matter if RAM is 4x4 or 2x8? What's a RAID and do I need a 0 or 1? And so on.
But the Scan site gives generally simple choices and explains them.
I reckon I would get hammered in the sterling to euro conversion right now though so still need to weigh up options.
The one area they don't quite go into are monitors. What's the standard in monitors these days? Is there anything I need to look out for? They don't come with webcams built in, do they? I'm so used to my laptop having it all in one.
The other thing I don't see in their configurations is a wifi card of any description. If I don't see one, can I expect it's not there? Or is it so standard these days that it would be there and not even mentioned?
By the way, I'm currently looking at (which is out of my price range) is a 3XS Evolve NLE 4K Video Editing Workstation with Intel Core i7 5820K overclocked to 4.2GHz. From the blurb: This Evolve 4K workstation offers a considerable step up in performance from our HD range thanks to the inclusion of a 6-core Intel Core i7 5820K CPU with Hyper-Threading that we overclock to 4.2GHz. This super-fast CPU is partnered with 32GB of 2666MHz Corsair DDR4, an Asus X99-A USB3.1 motherboard, 4GB NVIDIA GTX 980 graphics card, 120GB Intel OS drive, 800GB Intel PCI-E SSD project drive and a 2TB storage drive.
But it is expensive when I add the extras and bumped up again when going to euro so I may need to compromise on some of this stuff and go for cheaper options. My configuration ended up at ?2591 which is about €3400. So I'll need to knock a chunk off that at least.Last edited by Dogg Thang; 15-01-2016, 14:57.
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Hopefully [MENTION=13863]speedlolita[/MENTION] can help with the monitor question as I think he knows all about that stuff. WiFi tends to not be standard on desktop as PCs as they assume you are plugging in an ethernet cable so you'll have to add that yourself mate.
Others will have to confirm this but, I'm pretty sure that, for video editing you may find that some older, cheaper, videocards actually do a better job. The 980 for example is highly tuned for running videogames but it's possible that a lot of what you are paying for are specific features of the card rather than its raw power and raw power *might* be what you need most of for video editing. I'll reiterate that I'm not 100% on this.
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Originally posted by Dogg Thang View PostDoes it matter if RAM is 4x4 or 2x8?
Originally posted by Dogg Thang View PostWhat's a RAID and do I need a 0 or 1? And so on.
It's much better to invest on a SSD for boot and programs, plus a drive for data, and maybe a third drive for swap files. And don't forget a good backup plan.
Originally posted by Dogg Thang View PostThe one area they don't quite go into are monitors. What's the standard in monitors these days? Is there anything I need to look out for? They don't come with webcams built in, do they? I'm so used to my laptop having it all in one.
Most desktop monitors don't come with integrated webcams.
Originally posted by Dogg Thang View PostThe other thing I don't see in their configurations is a wifi card of any description. If I don't see one, can I expect it's not there? Or is it so standard these days that it would be there and not even mentioned?
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