Buying a new computer

[tigerburnie]

How difficult should this task be? My pc is slower than a slow thing these days and it's not compatible with Windows 11, nor will it run the new video editing software I want to use. I have a list of quite high, but not ridiculous specifications, when I finally find one, it's out of stock, guess there's still a shortage of chips(and I don't mean fries either).

Lots of old spec stuff on offer, but I don't want an offer I want a modern machine that will not be out of date before I finally understand how to use it(well most of it).

[Oldddudders]

Just get a MacBook.

[tigerburnie]

They are recommended, but this luddite has never used an apple product and have sort of got the hang of Microsoft's dodgy dealings and learning how to edit videos with DaVinci Resolve and learn my way round a new system might just be too much for this dinosaurs blood pressure.

I have a list of minimum requirements that are aimed at a Windows driven system, sure I could find one for an Apple, but I sort of understand the list I've got. Must haves include a minimum Intel i7 12 core ideally, 16GB of Ram, again32 would be nice, Nvidia GPU again the more GB's the better 4 is sort of a minimum, the sort of spec that is in a lot of gaming machines, but I don't really want flashing disco lights whilst editing footage and I doubt I'd need water cooling either. Also a 1TB SSD drive is better for my planned use than a tradition HDD drive, also ext USB3 ports are not always on a games machine. I'd quite like an all in one machine and I really don't want an HDD drive in it, things with moving parts can go wrong, easy to change in a tower, could get tricky in the back of a skinny screen.

[melmerby]

44 minutes ago, tigerburnie said:

How difficult should this task be? My pc is slower than a slow thing these days and it's not compatible with Windows 11, nor will it run the new video editing software I want to use. I have a list of quite high, but not ridiculous specifications, when I finally find one, it's out of stock, guess there's still a shortage of chips(and I don't mean fries either).

Lots of old spec stuff on offer, but I don't want an offer I want a modern machine that will not be out of date before I finally understand how to use it(well most of it).

Which editing software?

What are your requirements?

 

Edit

You posted just as I replied.

Edited February 1, 2023 by melmerby

[30801]

21 minutes ago, Oldddudders said:

Just get a MacBook.

 

I know the OP wants Windows but the M2 Mac Mini is crazy good.

[ikcdab]

As you know your requirements, why not just build your own? You just buy the components and plug it all together. It's easier that assembling a rolling stock kit and you can get exactly what you want.

Ian

[melmerby]

23 minutes ago, tigerburnie said:

Must haves include a minimum Intel i7 12 core ideally, 16GB of Ram, again32 would be nice, Nvidia GPU again the more GB's the better 4 is sort of a minimum, the sort of spec that is in a lot of gaming machines, but I don't really want flashing disco lights whilst editing footage and I doubt I'd need water cooling either. Also a 1TB SSD drive is better for my planned use than a tradition HDD drive, also ext USB3 ports are not always on a games machine.

My Win 11 PC (which I built myself) has an *AMD Ryzen 3700X, it's only 8 core/16 threads. , I have a Samsung Evo 970 SSD, two AMD graphics cards, 16Gb ram and disco lights (came with the motherboard!) It also has a multicolour light show fan (that came with the processor!) The case also has a clear plastic side to see all the lighting effects.

 

*You can go up considerably with a AMD Threadripper with as many as 64 cores, reputed to be the fastest desktop processor available.

 

N.B. I don't use mine for gaming, unless you class Traincontroller as a game🙂

Edited February 1, 2023 by melmerby

[melmerby]

1 minute ago, ikcdab said:

As you know your requirements, why not just build your own? You just buy the components and plug it all together. It's easier that assembling a rolling stock kit and you can get exactly what you want.

Ian

Works very economical for the spec you end up with. AMD's Ryzen 7000 series is pretty good, they are cheaper than equivalent Intel processors.

 

I've built every PC (apart from my Acer laptop) since the days of the first Pentiums.

[Tony_S]

Dell Alienware. Ignore the pretty lights, will do what you want. 
https://www.dell.com/en-uk/shop/gaming-and-games/alienware-aurora-r13-gaming-desktop/spd/alienware-aurora-r13-desktop/dawr1305

even the cheapest one in my link. You can specify upgrades etc if you want more memory or a faster processor. Mine was made to order, took about a week. 

[tigerburnie]

Some fine ideas, if I can't get an all in one, I'm waiting for an email on availability, then a tower could well be built, biggest must have apparently is a graphics card that's not integrated and has it's own GDD.

[melmerby]

By the way

M.2 NVMe Solid state drive is the one to go for, such as this:

https://www.morecoco.co.uk/a?pid=MZ-V8V1T0BW>>Samsung

[Tony_S]

Just something to be aware of if you haven’t bought a PC for a while, quite a few now don’t have an optical (dvd/blue ray etc) installed. I added one on as an external usbC device 

[30801]

34 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

Dell Alienware. Ignore the pretty lights, will do what you want.

 

Always worth checking Dell Outlet in case they have what you want.

 

https://www.dellrefurbished.co.uk

[tigerburnie]

Some great ideas thank you all, I'll let you know what I do, I'm due another CT scan to see if the cancer is still at bay, don't want to sound morbid, but if it comes back I might not bother and make do with what I have, a few grand for a pc might go a long way lol.

[Reorte]

1 hour ago, melmerby said:

My Win 11 PC (which I built myself) has an *AMD Ryzen 3700X, it's only 8 core/16 threads. , I have a Samsung Evo 970 SSD, two AMD graphics cards, 16Gb ram and disco lights (came with the motherboard!) It also has a multicolour light show fan (that came with the processor!) The case also has a clear plastic side to see all the lighting effects.

 

*You can go up considerably with a AMD Threadripper with as many as 64 cores, reputed to be the fastest desktop processor available.

 

N.B. I don't use mine for gaming, unless you class Traincontroller as a game🙂

Admittedly mine very much is a gaming machine, but about the first thing I did with it was turn all the flashing lights off. You're not stuck with them if you don't want them, although it's slightly annoying that I've paid for some of them, some of which I could've avoided if I built it myself. The advantage of not having built it myself was being able to very easily and quickly get the GPU replaced when that failed last year.

[tigerburnie]

55 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

Dell Alienware. Ignore the pretty lights, will do what you want. 
https://www.dell.com/en-uk/shop/gaming-and-games/alienware-aurora-r13-gaming-desktop/spd/alienware-aurora-r13-desktop/dawr1305

even the cheapest one in my link. You can specify upgrades etc if you want more memory or a faster processor. Mine was made to order, took about a week. 

That looks nice and for a mere £40 extra I could double the SSD too, one to consider.(doesn't look like too many disco lights too.)

Edited February 1, 2023 by tigerburnie

[tigerburnie]

37 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

Just something to be aware of if you haven’t bought a PC for a while, quite a few now don’t have an optical (dvd/blue ray etc) installed. I added one on as an external usbC device 

Yes they are few and far between, but not expensive to get an external one, there is a Dell machine at my local Currys with one fitted for £1.7k, but I am leaning towards a touch screen all in one, makes editing a bit easier apparently.

[Tony_S]

30 minutes ago, tigerburnie said:

That looks nice and for a mere £40 extra I could double the SSD too, one to consider.(doesn't look like too many disco lights too.)

I have the lighting set to a very subtle blue glow so I know it is on! In an outbreak of muppetry when I got mine I couldn’t see the power on button. It is actually the “Grey Alien” logo on the front panel. 

[88D]

Consider putting Linuxonto your PC. Easier to manage because youhave fewer worries about viruses, etc. also runs a hell of a lot faster even on oldspec PCs.

[tigerburnie]

There seems to be a lot of refurbished units around,  one on the Dell home page for example, I'm a bit reticent here, I know I could buy a heck of a lot more or save a lot of money, but I am wary, is this worry real?

[rdeas]

I've installed Linux Mint on quite a few older Dell Optiplex computers and it works really well.  Very fast, and much easier to manage than windows.  So far, I've tried Optiplex, 745, 780, 7010 and 7040 machines, I'm using the latter one for daily use.  Linux seems to be far more stable than Windows, you don't need a anti-virus software and it doesn't spy on your activity.   Linux is FREE and easy to install, it's certainly worth looking at, especially as Microsoft will soon be forcing users to migrate onto windows 11.

[tigerburnie]

23 minutes ago, rdeas said:

I've installed Linux Mint on quite a few older Dell Optiplex computers and it works really well.  Very fast, and much easier to manage than windows.  So far, I've tried Optiplex, 745, 780, 7010 and 7040 machines, I'm using the latter one for daily use.  Linux seems to be far more stable than Windows, you don't need a anti-virus software and it doesn't spy on your activity.   Linux is FREE and easy to install, it's certainly worth looking at, especially as Microsoft will soon be forcing users to migrate onto windows 11.

The DaVinci suite will work with a Linux, not something I have used at home, will have a word with my tech geek.....................aka my son in law.

[duncan]

I have bought a number of refurbished pcs from the following in East Kilbride, no connection apart from a satisfied customer.  They even stayed open for me to collect on Hogmanay, which is quite something here.  The specs differ on all the stock, but all carefully checked.

 

www.europc.co.uk

[Torper]

When the motherboard on my last PC finally gave up I decised to build a replacement myself.  In so doing I was influenced by the facts that I could use my old PC tower case, which I liked, the PSU which was still perfectly good, and an SSD which I had installed six months earlier.  I also have a friend in our village who builds computers and knows about such things and was very helpful. I shall be speaking to him today and will inform him of your specific requirements and will see what he might recommend.

 

I bought all the ingredients from Scan Computers. Apart from anything else, they have an insurance scheme whereby if you pay a very small amount more they will guarantee any of the components they supply against failure during the build, even if it resulted from one's own stupidity.  Needless to say, buying this insurance itself ensured that nothing would go wrong, and it didn't.  The tower PC I ended up with has proved very good, and of course is bloat free.  I also very much enjoyed building it.  I don't think I'd have enjoyed tackling anything using a mini case.

 

Incidentally, Scan do a range of PCs specifically designed to be good for video editing - have a look at https://www.scan.co.uk/shop/computer-hardware/workstations-pro-video/all

 

DT

 

 

[Michael Hodgson]

1 hour ago, Torper said:

When the motherboard on my last PC finally gave up I decised to build a replacement myself.  In so doing I was influenced by the facts that I could use my old PC tower case, which I liked, the PSU which was still perfectly good, and an SSD which I had installed six months earlier.  I also have a friend in our village who builds computers and knows about such things and was very helpful. I shall be speaking to him today and will inform him of your specific requirements and will see what he might recommend.

 

I bought all the ingredients from Scan Computers. Apart from anything else, they have an insurance scheme whereby if you pay a very small amount more they will guarantee any of the components they supply against failure during the build, even if it resulted from one's own stupidity.  Needless to say, buying this insurance itself ensured that nothing would go wrong, and it didn't.  The tower PC I ended up with has proved very good, and of course is bloat free.  I also very much enjoyed building it.  I don't think I'd have enjoyed tackling anything using a mini case.

 

Incidentally, Scan do a range of PCs specifically designed to be good for video editing - have a look at https://www.scan.co.uk/shop/computer-hardware/workstations-pro-video/all

 

DT

 

 

I built my own for my first home computer.  It was a kit with 1K memory and easier to assemble than a white metal loco kit.  I/O was by means of an ordinary cassette recorder and it had to be programmed in 6052 assembler.  It got displaced when the BBC micro came out (still using cassette tapes for data storage and also a 6502 CPU), but it's probably still in my loft or the garden shed buried under other old stuff.

 

First thing I did with the BBC was modify the "clock" program to a fast clock for model railway timetable purposes, and I wrote a simple spreadsheet inventory of rolling stock.  I think I sold my BBC micros, but they were a one of those rare classic designs that got things right - like the British Leyland Mini.