Can anyone recommend me a new computer/

CaveDweller

CaveDweller

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As the title says. The time has come to upgrade my Pc but to be honest I don't know where to start or what to even look for, the only thing worth keeping from my old one is the mouse so I need everything. even my monitor has a big load of dead pixels on it that I call "the slug". If anyone can spare a few minutes to help me out by recommending me a good Pc and monitor, or update me about what's the best things to look for when buying one like how much ram or what kind of processor, that way I can have a nosey about and I know roughly what to look for? Preferably one I can go out and buy rather than someone has to build up, unless I can get a better one made rather than bought off the shelf. Or

I'm flexible with my budget but preferably not much more over £1000, unless I have to. The things I do on my PC the most is Photoshop, Lightroom, 3DS Max for 3D modelling and the odd MMO game now and again. I'm not bothered about playing the latest games on the best graphics settings, but I want the best and fastest I possibly can for my budget.

I also want a good monitor that's as close to true colours as possible. I don't know how to use those calibrator things for the monitors or what they even do, so a decent monitor will do unless someone can help me out regarding a calibrator as well.

I don't have a clue about all the latest processors and graphics cards, etc. So any help or advice for a computer noob would be appreciated:)

I was looking at this and buy a monitor separately http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/deskt...sktopSeg-AcerAspireTSF-cp667-computing-210214
 
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This may be better in the computer/web section I think.

Will the computer just be used for phtography?

Will the computer be used for video editing?

Will the computer be used for games?

Those three question are actually important when deciding spec. Games demand very powerful graphics cards. Video editing can benefit from powerful graphics cards depending on what software is used, and photography only does not benefits from powerful graphics cards. In fact.. almost any piece of crap graphics card will be fine for photography.

Photography and video use will benefit from lots of memory though. Memory is cheap these days, and files from cameras are getting larger and larger... go for 16GB minimum.

If you DID buy that PC you linked to, and all you do is photography, light office stuff and don't play games, then you may not need a graphics card at all, as the processor's built in HD4600 graphics will be more then enough for photographic work... however, it comes with a GT640, which is rubbish, but again, perfectly adequate for photography. Utterly useless for games or anything 3D based though.
 
Pookeyhead said:
This may be better in the computer/web section I think.

Will the computer just be used for phtography?

Will the computer be used for video editing?

Will the computer be used for games?

Those three question are actually important when deciding spec. Games demand very powerful graphics cards. Video editing can benefit from powerful graphics cards depending on what software is used, and photography only does not benefits from powerful graphics cards. In fact.. almost any piece of crap graphics card will be fine for photography.

Photography and video use will benefit from lots of memory though. Memory is cheap these days, and files from cameras are getting larger and larger... go for 16GB minimum.

If you DID buy that PC you linked to, and all you do is photography, light office stuff and don't play games, then you may not need a graphics card at all, as the processor's built in HD4600 graphics will be more then enough for photographic work... however, it comes with a GT640, which is rubbish, but again, perfectly adequate for photography. Utterly useless for games or anything 3D based though.
Click to expand...

Cheers, as I said and you can probably tell I don't know what I'm looking for lol. I had a mate of mine build me up this PC about 5 years ago but he lives in Austrailia now and lost all contact.

Will the computer just be used for phtography? Yes, a lot.

Will the computer be used for video editing? Some, but not as much as photography. I use Adobe Premiere Elements 12.

Will the computer be used for games? Yes sometimes. Mainly Minecraft when I want to let my inner child play lol, but believe it or not that game is pretty demanding on the PC

No I haven't bought that PC I linked, I just used it to see what you lot thought, but with what you said it will be no good for me. By the look of it whatever I buy I will probably have to upgrade it later on in life because for £1000 budget I can't find anything that's perfect for what I will need. I had a look at RAM and it's cheap enough to buy separately if I have to. I also do a lot of 3D modelling on 3DS Max and a computer with decent graphics cards are well over my budget.

Am I right in thinking what you are saying is for my needs I need to be looking at decent RAM and graphics card?

Cheers
 
thar be a billion threads like this in the computers section.

rule of thumb:

i5 quad processor
at very least 8gb pref 16gb memory (not so important for Lightroom, more important for Photoshop)
reasonable gpu like a 7850 (or better if budget remaining) is a good middle ground for games
SSD boot drive and another for SSD lightroom cache/photoshop scratch and working files
 
You may well find that you'd be much better off getting someone to build one to your specs rather than buy one from a retailer. If you buy from a retailer you end up with all the rubbish they put on because they have an advertising deal with this, that or another company. I built mine with an AMD FX-8350 8 core, 4Gb processor, 12Gb DDR3 1600Mhz ram, Nvidia GTX650 2Gb graphics card and two 1 1/2 terabyte hard drives. I got a dvd writer and a blu-ray writer for it and I use it for all sorts. I often have more things running than I can keep up with and I have PSE 11, all the Canon software that comes with the camera and loads of other programs too. I use mine for gaming as well as photography but I've got all my photos on a separate drive apart from all the other programs.

I think it cost me around £650 to buy all the hardware and the operating system (windows 7 Ultimate) and I saw a similar spec system in a retailer for £1199, but it only had 8Gb ram and no dvd writer (only a blu-ray) so I was quite pleased with the price I paid. The best thing though, I don't have to put up with all the rubbish programs no one ever uses when you buy a new computer.
 
CaveDweller said:
As the title says. The time has come to upgrade my Pc but to be honest I don't know where to start or what to even look for, the only thing worth keeping from my old one is the mouse so I need everything. even my monitor has a big load of dead pixels on it that I call "the slug". If anyone can spare a few minutes to help me out by recommending me a good Pc and monitor, or update me about what's the best things to look for when buying one like how much ram or what kind of processor, that way I can have a nosey about and I know roughly what to look for? Preferably one I can go out and buy rather than someone has to build up, unless I can get a better one made rather than bought off the shelf. Or

I'm flexible with my budget but preferably not much more over £1000, unless I have to. The things I do on my PC the most is Photoshop, Lightroom, 3DS Max for 3D modelling and the odd MMO game now and again. I'm not bothered about playing the latest games on the best graphics settings, but I want the best and fastest I possibly can for my budget.

I also want a good monitor that's as close to true colours as possible. I don't know how to use those calibrator things for the monitors or what they even do, so a decent monitor will do unless someone can help me out regarding a calibrator as well.

I don't have a clue about all the latest processors and graphics cards, etc. So any help or advice for a computer noob would be appreciated:)

I was looking at this and buy a monitor separately http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/deskt...sktopSeg-AcerAspireTSF-cp667-computing-210214
Click to expand...

http://www.mobile-pc-repairs.net/

Give wayne a ring he helped me put together my PC and its great :)
 
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modchild said:
You may well find that you'd be much better off getting someone to build one to your specs rather than buy one from a retailer. If you buy from a retailer you end up with all the rubbish they put on because they have an advertising deal with this, that or another company. I built mine with an AMD FX-8350 8 core, 4Gb processor, 12Gb DDR3 1600Mhz ram, Nvidia GTX650 2Gb graphics card and two 1 1/2 terabyte hard drives. I got a dvd writer and a blu-ray writer for it and I use it for all sorts. I often have more things running than I can keep up with and I have PSE 11, all the Canon software that comes with the camera and loads of other programs too. I use mine for gaming as well as photography but I've got all my photos on a separate drive apart from all the other programs.

I think it cost me around £650 to buy all the hardware and the operating system (windows 7 Ultimate) and I saw a similar spec system in a retailer for £1199, but it only had 8Gb ram and no dvd writer (only a blu-ray) so I was quite pleased with the price I paid. The best thing though, I don't have to put up with all the rubbish programs no one ever uses when you buy a new computer.
Click to expand...

Cheers. It's looking like that will have to be the option.

nickjohnwatson said:
http://www.mobile-pc-repairs.net/

Give wayne a ring he helped me put together my PC and its great :)
Click to expand...
Thanks. I'll give him a shout. My mate who is into building PC's lives in Austrailia now and lost all contact with him.
 
An online based company called Overclockers would be worth a look in my opinion. I haven't bought a full sysem off them but when I have wanted advice I've always felt like the person I've spoken to actually knew what they were talking about and didn't just push me towards the items they were making the highest margin on.
 
CaveDweller said:
Cheers, as I said and you can probably tell I don't know what I'm looking for lol. I had a mate of mine build me up this PC about 5 years ago but he lives in Austrailia now and lost all contact.

Will the computer just be used for phtography? Yes, a lot.

Will the computer be used for video editing? Some, but not as much as photography. I use Adobe Premiere Elements 12.

Will the computer be used for games? Yes sometimes. Mainly Minecraft when I want to let my inner child play lol, but believe it or not that game is pretty demanding on the PC

No I haven't bought that PC I linked, I just used it to see what you lot thought, but with what you said it will be no good for me. By the look of it whatever I buy I will probably have to upgrade it later on in life because for £1000 budget I can't find anything that's perfect for what I will need. I had a look at RAM and it's cheap enough to buy separately if I have to. I also do a lot of 3D modelling on 3DS Max and a computer with decent graphics cards are well over my budget.

Am I right in thinking what you are saying is for my needs I need to be looking at decent RAM and graphics card?

Cheers
Click to expand...


If you don't really game very much, then a mid range card like a NVidia GTX750 will be fine for most games, and probably more than you need for Minecraft. Photography does not need a powerful graphics card though, and Premiere 12 doesn't really use the GPU much for video effects much, so A mid range card will do.

Video editing DOES need CPU grunt though for rendering the final output. The i5 Processor is great for photography, and I'd recommend it for anyone who only does photography (unless they regularly work on very large files, or large layered composite images) but the i7 makes a marked difference in video editing due to hyper-threading, giving it 8 logical work threads instead of 4. You're looking at around a 15% decrease in rendering times. It doesn't sound much, but it depends how long the video is. If the i5 took 90 minutes to render 30 minutes of 1080P with effects added (not unlikely) then the i7 would save around 13 minutes. Not to be sneezed at.

When buying a pre-built system, ask what i5 or i7 processor you're getting, as there have been several generations now. The latest is Haswell, and it uses socket 1150 but the older generation is Ivy Bridge, that uses Socket 1155. They are not compatible, and buying into socket 1155 is a CPU upgrade dead end, but socket 1150 will support the upcoming Broadwell chips. So if buying a prebuilt system, ask for LGA1150 or Socket 1150.

Also, if you're not a computer enthusiast and aren't interested in over clocking, don't pay a premium for a K series CPU, as it will be wasted on you.


Scan make some nice systems, and all have a good warranty and after sales support.

This system will be absolutely fine for photography

http://3xs.scan.co.uk/shared/59bac912-6215-4832-97d9-06d20d305559

Don't bother with the base spec at the top f the page... I've added upgrades to the base spec... look at the list to the side. This machine will do everything you want from it, and still have headroom, and will have as much longevity as it's possible for a PC to have. You could get a slightly cheaper system for the same spec, but Scan are a good company. I've been using them for around 20 years now (although I build my own). This PC is using quality components, especially stuff like the power supply, which many larger brand machines will skimp on to save money. Stuff like the power supply is crucial to having a stable, rock solid platform, and can't be under-estimated when it comes to just how important it is.

You may want to think about a i7 4770 (not K) CPU if you need more CPU grunt in video rendering.

RAM is cheap.... go for 16GB if you ever do video work, it's worth it.. Even if not... a large panoramic stitch using D800 RAW files will easily much through 8GB and then slow the machine down while it spools to the hard drive, so think about possible future camera upgrades.
 
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Thanks all. Getting one built up is a much better option after all that input. I'll have a look into it more on pay day:) probably be back for more questions at the end of the month lol.Cheers
 
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