New Desktop computer for general crap....and video editing! What to get????

[Julian]

So my wife's desktop machine is about to die, and so it should (its 6 years old)....I plan to replace it with a beefier machine that can handle GoPro video editing.

I'm currently looking at a Dell XPS 8700 Special Edition with 16GB Ram and an NVidia 750ti video card and 2TB Hybrid HD with 32GB SSD. ($1200)

Or and Alienware X51. It has a better Video card (NVidia 760ti) but a worse HDD with only 32mb cache (and only 2 DIMM slots vs 4 on the Dell-still 16MB RAM). ($1053)

Anyone got any other hot options for me to consider?

 

[motorboater]

I have that same 8700 XPS with Win 8.1 Pro for my home office and love it. Had it about 15 months now. The NVidia runs smooth and cool even at QHD resolution. I'd buy it again in a heartbeat.

 

[Julian]

I have that same 8700 XPS with Win 8.1 Pro for my home office and love it. Had it about 15 months now. The NVidia runs smooth and cool even at QHD resolution. I'd buy it again in a heartbeat.

Do you do video editing on it? If so, can it handle it well?

 

[RightStuff]

I'd recommend getting a larger SSD, or get one without it and add it after.

I have a 120 GB one in my desktop and I wish I had gone with a 200+ GB one instead. I installed most of my normal software on it (Windows, browser, MS Office, GoPro edit software, etc., etc.) and the machine just flies with apps installed there, I ran out of space on that drive faster than I thought I would that's the one thing I would go bigger on. Amazingly quiet too until I start bringing up things that are on the normal HDD, that's the only time I notice how loud HDDs are now.

 

[motorboater]

Very little video editing so I guess this doesnt help you decide. Handles flight sims very well which would be a similar pull on resources I would think. You have room to double the RAM if needed, which is relatively cheap. I considered building my own and really couldnt find a reason to when you can get a good machine like this out of the box, with similar specs to what I would build. Looking closer, mine is a 8500 with the NVidia gtx660. The rest of the specs are identical to what your 8700 spec is, with an i7-3770.

Edit to add... agree with the point about larger SSD. Mine is 256Gb, with about 137 used. This is with all user libraries on the 2TB HDD.

 

[Bruce]

iMac or older Mac Pro with SSD for main storage and an external hard drive for video editing?

I like the idea of using external hard drives for video editing so that you are not paying for the electricity to spin them all the time and they are not absorbing the wear. This is written by the guy who has 36 drives spinning in his home. But all of the computer devices with user interfaces are entirely SSD. Only the servers for my work have spinning drives.

 

[JetPowered]

What processor and speeds are we talking?

 

[sysinu]

I use a 5k iMac. Price performance is very good with it. I don't like windows 8 though, and I am bais toward apple products.

 

[Julian]

Here are the Dell specs:

XPS 8700
Processor 4th Generation Intel® Core™ i7-4790 processor (8M Cache, up to 4.0 GHz
Operating System Windows 8.1 (64Bit) English
Memory 16GB Dual Channel DDR3 1600MHz - 4 DIMMs
Video Card NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750Ti 2GB DDR5
Hard Drive 2TB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive + Intel® SRT 32GB SSD Cache

Dell's pricing on SSDs is through high....I figure I'll see how the HHD works and I can add a SSD if I want one. This is a bundled fixed machine, to switch to a build your own spec costs more....

 

[GTBRMC]

Positively hate Windows 8.x

(Just wanted to get that in )

 

[JetPowered]

@Julian, are we talking Core i5 or i7? The XPS page I saw looked like these were only 4th Gen processors, aka Haswell. If it were me I'd want to go with the Broadwell processors.

I'd also add my own SSD. So much cheaper and you'd get better speeds as a result. Intel SSD are not know for their speed last I checked. I've been happy with the Samsung EVO series SSDs. Reading about 350 MB/sec, writing about 250 MB/sec. This is on a 2009 MacPro with a SATA III card. I would expect those numbers to be better on more "modern" hardware.

 

[sstegh]

@Julian, that PC will do the job for the most part. Video editing does not require a ton of video power, but it does need a lot of processor power and memory. That PC has both. You are right to look into SSD drives. Compiling video is very drive intensive, SSD drives will have a HUGE impact on that process. External storage is convenient but slow when transfering data to and from the machine it's hooked up to compared to the on-board interface, I would avoid using it for video editing.

 

[sstegh]

Positively hate Windows 8.x

(Just wanted to get that in )

Stay tuned for windows 10...

 

[Julian]

My plan was to get the Dell, and double the RAM to 32GB, and then possibly add the SSD if the speed annoys me enough.

Its a 4th gen i7 Processor

http://ark.intel.com/products/80806/Intel-Core-i7-4790-Processor-8M-Cache-up-to-4_00-GHz

 

[Speedling]

I run an AMD 7750 overclocked at 3.0 ghz, lol.
2 gig ram, and a Radeon 5700.
I'll tell you right now that a SSD is the way to go, and seriously would make my computer perform just about as good as those listed above if they don't have it.

 

[JetPowered]

Doubling the RAM to 32GB is not a good use of money at this juncture 16GB would be more than adequate. I don't think you'll get better performance with the higher spec video card either. I'd spend the money on the SSD. Also not all rotational drives are created equal. I have spec'd Toshiba 3TB drives with 64MB cache in my machines. I'm getting about 180MB/sec versus low 100's on a "stock" drive.

 

[Julian]

Doubling the RAM to 32GB is not a good use of money at this juncture 16GB would be more than adequate. I don't think you'll get better performance with the higher spec video card either. I'd spend the money on the SSD. Also not all rotational drives are created equal. I have spec'd Toshiba 3TB drives with 64MB cache in my machines. I'm getting about 180MB/sec versus low 100's on a "stock" drive.

Good points....I'll see how it performs on video editing as is before I upgrade the RAM.

 

[veedubtek]

I'm building this for a new PC in our shop this week:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.2095235

Not sure if this would be up for what you're looking for, but they have plenty of other (upgraded) options and it's typically much more cost effective. If you don't like the idea of building, I'd be happy to lend you a hand/maybe pick your brain about some of your mods at the same time.

 

[Julian]

I'm building this for a new PC in our shop this week:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.2095235

Not sure if this would be up for what you're looking for, but they have plenty of other (upgraded) options and it's typically much more cost effective. If you don't like the idea of building, I'd be happy to lend you a hand/maybe pick your brain about some of your mods at the same time.

I've built a few in my time, and I know video card manufacturers are getting better with their compatibility issues, but I don't have time to build this machine. I fly to Boston tomorrow, then San Diego, then Chicago, then India (3 city tour), then Washington and then Conneticut....and probably a couple more Chicago trips thrown in there for good measure! It will be my wife's primarily....so I just need it to work....and edit videos when I want to use it (and maybe play a few games on it).

@GTBRMC I'm not a big fan of Win 8 either....I was considering looking to see if they'd put 7 on it instead!