Need a new windows desktop computer

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Tommy
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I am totally out of touch in regards to what is good bad or indifferent I usually just buy Dell XPS desktops.

Have a budget of up to about £1500 but would like some advice on what would be a good option. Don’t need a monitor, just need it to be fast have lots of room for adding additional hard drives and have a graphics card that supports display port.

Only used for photo editing.
 
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I built my beast on Scan. PC Specialist have a good name on here also. I found Scan.co.uk very helpful and I would use again.
I'm one of those who rate Pc Specialist having bought 3 laptops from them. I don't know if they are any better or worse then any other companies though..
 
I'm one of those who rate Pc Specialist having bought 3 laptops from them. I don't know if they are any better or worse then any other companies though..

The fact you've bought 3 times from them and loads of others have on here says they're good.

Scan were brilliant too but wouldn't hesitate to send someone to PC specialist.
 
It isn’t basic photo editing thanks for the recommendation though.

If you say what you plan to use it for then there are some very knowledgeable people on here.

Here's what I got for 1700 when I asked the same question:


Notes:

  1. I've been in 2 minds about CCL - as I said in another thread I would rate them a 4 out of 5. They did some things wrong and many things right. A year later, I have a very solid machine that is very fast indeed. They were maybe £100 cheaper than other builders and I think I'd probably make the same choice again.
  2. You don't need a second NVME - really, you don't.
  3. A smaller spinny metal drive will save some money (for tax reasons I was trying to get it to be just over 2k with the monitor)
  4. The case is huge - you can buy smaller and cheaper.
  5. That was a year ago but it's still an extraordinarily capable machine - it's sitting here cooling down after a couple of hours of Gears Tactics and is running a 4k 32" monitor and two 24 inch monitors very happily and sounds very good indeed through my Edifiers :)
  6. Best of luck finding a decent graphics card.....
 
If you say what you plan to use it for then there are some very knowledgeable people on here.

Here's what I got for 1700 when I asked the same question:


Notes:

  1. I've been in 2 minds about CCL - as I said in another thread I would rate them a 4 out of 5. They did some things wrong and many things right. A year later, I have a very solid machine that is very fast indeed. They were maybe £100 cheaper than other builders and I think I'd probably make the same choice again.
  2. You don't need a second NVME - really, you don't.
  3. A smaller spinny metal drive will save some money (for tax reasons I was trying to get it to be just over 2k with the monitor)
  4. The case is huge - you can buy smaller and cheaper.
  5. That was a year ago but it's still an extraordinarily capable machine - it's sitting here cooling down after a couple of hours of Gears Tactics and is running a 4k 32" monitor and two 24 inch monitors very happily and sounds very good indeed through my Edifiers :)
  6. Best of luck finding a decent graphics card.....

It will be used purely for Photoshop and Lightroom nothing else really maybe some accounting software. I have no interest in gaming etc.

Getting a graphics card doesn’t seem to be much of an issue as I don’t need or want a card for gaming, I just need something that has a display port connection preferably a quadro as they have cuda

I spoke to a guy yesterday at PC Specialists who gave me what looked like a decent spec at my price range but unfortunately the processor is out of stock and they have no idea when they can get more they are hoping for mid March but that doesn’t suit me really. Ideally I want something that I can get within the next couple of weeks at the latest

I only need an nvme drive as I have an ssd and 2 other drives sitting here for it.

Had a look earlier at an i9 based system earlier comes in a bit above budget but is easier to get the hold off.
 
It will be used purely for Photoshop and Lightroom nothing else really maybe some accounting software. I have no interest in gaming etc.

Yeah, my machine runs those adequately :)

See the links in that thread - Ryzen 9 will be a joy on Photoshop / LR.
 
Ryzen seem to run cooler so perhaps could result in a quieter PC? I've got my eye on a 5600x for my next build as despite more software these days making use of multiple threads, I still rate single thread performance as being important. Overclockers are pretty good for having stock, although they can be a few quid more expensive.
 
This is the spec I am currently looking at, any advice?

BE QUIET! BASE 601 TOWER GAMING CASE

Processor (CPU) AMD Ryzen 9 3950X 16 Core CPU (3.5GHz-4.7GHz/73MB CACHE/AM4)

Processor Cooling Corsair H100x Hydro Series High Performance

Motherboard ASUS® TUF GAMING B550-PLUS WiFi (DDR4, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s) - ARGB Ready!

Memory (RAM) 32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3600MHz (2 x 16GB)

Graphics Card NONE, I ALREADY HAVE A GRAPHICS CARD

1st M.2 SSD Drive 500GB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 6900MB/R, 5000MB/W)

Power Supply CORSAIR 750W RMi SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET

CPU Cooler Thermal Paste ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
 
For that kind of money you can't go wrong with a 27" iMac.
The 5k screens are really good plus they don't take up acres of real estate.
 
This is the spec I am currently looking at, any advice?

BE QUIET! BASE 601 TOWER GAMING CASE

Processor (CPU) AMD Ryzen 9 3950X 16 Core CPU (3.5GHz-4.7GHz/73MB CACHE/AM4)

Processor Cooling Corsair H100x Hydro Series High Performance

Motherboard ASUS® TUF GAMING B550-PLUS WiFi (DDR4, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s) - ARGB Ready!

Memory (RAM) 32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3600MHz (2 x 16GB)

Graphics Card NONE, I ALREADY HAVE A GRAPHICS CARD

1st M.2 SSD Drive 500GB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 6900MB/R, 5000MB/W)

Power Supply CORSAIR 750W RMi SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET

CPU Cooler Thermal Paste ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND


Not sure if that processor will be able to handle Photoshop and Lightroom....:D
 
Plus 1 for Chillblast. Their build quality, pre & post Sales advice and technical backup is brilliant, The last one I bought lasted 10 years and I got a new one last year. They do a range aimed at photo processing.
 
Not sure if that processor will be able to handle Photoshop and Lightroom....:D

Take it's an okay one then?

Plus 1 for Chillblast. Their build quality, pre & post Sales advice and technical backup is brilliant, The last one I bought lasted 10 years and I got a new one last year. They do a range aimed at photo processing.

Tried to get in touch with them but they said would be looking at 6-8 weeks build time.
 
Take it's an okay one then?



Tried to get in touch with them but they said would be looking at 6-8 weeks build time.
That's longer than they usually are - mind you the quality of components and build is really good. I think my build was 7 days last time.
 
Well that was a lot more hassle than I thought it would be but have ended up placing an order.

Decided in the end to go for a better mother board, cooler and the 5950x processor.


Case: Be Quiet! Silent Base 601 Window Silver ATX Case
CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 5950X 3.4GHz 16 Core CPU – 4.9GHz Turbo
Motherboard: Gigabyte X570 AORUS Ultra Motherboard with USB Type-C
Graphics Card - Choose 750w+ PSU to unlock all options: No GPU – This PC requires a graphics card but I will install my own
Memory: 32GB CORSAIR VENGEANCE LPX 3600MHz (2x16GB)
Primary Storage Drive: 500GB Samsung 980 PRO M.2 NVMe PCIe 4.0 SSD (6900MB/R, 5000MB/W)
CPU Cooling: Corsair Hydro Series H100i PRO RGB 240mm Processor Liquid Cooler
PSU: Corsair RM750 80 Plus Gold Full Modular Black PSU
 
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Well that was a lot more hassle than I thought it would be but have ended up placing an order.

Decided in the end to go for a better mother board, cooler and the 5950x processor.


Case: Be Quiet! Silent Base 601 Window Silver ATX Case
CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 5950X 3.4GHz 16 Core CPU – 4.9GHz Turbo
Motherboard: Gigabyte X570 AORUS Ultra Motherboard with USB Type-C
Graphics Card - Choose 750w+ PSU to unlock all options: No GPU – This PC requires a graphics card but I will install my own
Memory: 32GB CORSAIR VENGEANCE LPX 3600MHz (2x16GB)
Primary Storage Drive: 500GB Samsung 980 PRO M.2 NVMe PCIe 4.0 SSD (6900MB/R, 5000MB/W)
CPU Cooling: Corsair Hydro Series H100i PRO RGB 240mm Processor Liquid Cooler
PSU: Corsair RM750 80 Plus Gold Full Modular Black PSU

Is this being built for you or are you building yourself? If the latter then I'm sure that motherboard will need a bios flash update to work with the 5 series CPU.

Other than that, very nice indeed. It's an X570 board I'll be getting as well (Tomahawk).
 
Is this being built for you or are you building yourself? If the latter then I'm sure that motherboard will need a bios flash update to work with the 5 series CPU.

Other than that, very nice indeed. It's an X570 board I'll be getting as well (Tomahawk).

Being built for me thanks for the heads up am sure they will sort it all.
 
That CPU is way overkill for Photoshop for the price they ask. Photoshop will use on average 4-6 cores then the percentage gains fall away after that.
An 8 core CPU is not twice as fast as a 4 core, 6 core not twice as fast as 12 core and so on.
 
That CPU is way overkill for Photoshop for the price they ask. Photoshop will use on average 4-6 cores then the percentage gains fall away after that.
An 8 core CPU is not twice as fast as a 4 core, 6 core not twice as fast as 12 core and so on.

The price doesn’t matter that much really. It seems a fairly beefy spec that will do me for a while. A few hundred quid here or there makes no odds. 5800x was the recommendation from the system builder,

5DEFBE48-E5DF-4D96-B01A-A293D36D8F25.jpeg
 
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From Adobe themselves:

"The speed of the computer’s central processing unit, or CPU, limits the processing speed of Photoshop.
Photoshop generally runs faster with more processor cores, although some features take greater advantage of the additional cores than others. However, you’ll get diminishing returns with multiple processor cores: The more cores you use, the less you get from each additional core. Therefore, Photoshop doesn’t run four times as fast on a computer with 16 processor cores as on a computer with four cores. For most users, the increase in performance that more than six cores provide doesn’t justify the increased cost."


But if you have the money to burn then fair enough, if I was in your shoes I would get a lesser CPU and stick an extra 32 gig Ram but at the end of the day it's your money so your choice.
 
From Adobe themselves:

"The speed of the computer’s central processing unit, or CPU, limits the processing speed of Photoshop.
Photoshop generally runs faster with more processor cores, although some features take greater advantage of the additional cores than others. However, you’ll get diminishing returns with multiple processor cores: The more cores you use, the less you get from each additional core. Therefore, Photoshop doesn’t run four times as fast on a computer with 16 processor cores as on a computer with four cores. For most users, the increase in performance that more than six cores provide doesn’t justify the increased cost."


But if you have the money to burn then fair enough, if I was in your shoes I would get a lesser CPU and stick an extra 32 gig Ram but at the end of the day it's your money so your choice.

I have an extra 32gb of ram some hard drives and a graphics card to put in it when it arrives.
 
You've not only upped the multi core performance but perhaps rather importantly you've increased your single core performance significantly with that processor over the Ryzen 9 3950X.

Overkill? For sure, but you should be future proofed until COVID 31.
 
Ryzen seem to run cooler so perhaps could result in a quieter PC? I've got my eye on a 5600x for my next build as despite more software these days making use of multiple threads, I still rate single thread performance as being important. Overclockers are pretty good for having stock, although they can be a few quid more expensive.

Mine is dead quiet. Be quiet dark base case + Noctua NH-U12 CPU cooler.

The price doesn’t matter that much really. It seems a fairly beefy spec that will do me for a while. A few hundred quid here or there makes no odds. 5800x was the recommendation from the system builder,

View attachment 309805

Photoshop is still stuck with pretty much single core performance. If you don't go beyond Adobe photo tools you'd be wasting money getting anything more than 5600x.

That graph tells quite a story. 16 core is almost same as 6. Just crazy.

I believe it is even worse (i,e closer) for gpus where 3080 RTX is almost equal 630UHD integrated thing.


To be quite honest you just need 32GB RAM and a very good monitor for photoshop work.
 
Photoshop is still stuck with pretty much single core performance. If you don't go beyond Adobe photo tools you'd be wasting money getting anything more than 5600x.

That graph tells quite a story. 16 core is almost same as 6. Just crazy.

I believe it is even worse (i,e closer) for gpus where 3080 RTX is almost equal 630UHD integrated thing.


To be quite honest you just need 32GB RAM and a very good monitor for photoshop work.

I spoke to many different companies before making a decision on what to go for, unfortunately many of them were bluffers and had little understanding of what was best suited as they are more used to people asking about performance for games and to be fair a few of them admitted that. A lot of them kept banging on about gpu etc.

I also spoke to Adobe and they told me that at the moment Photoshop can make use of up to 8 cores depending on the task. After speaking to Adobe and having a better idea of what I was looking for I again spoke to a some of the computer companies. I fell lucky with 2 of them one was very knowledgeable on photoshop and lightroom and he sent me through test data on various things, the other was a wedding photographer who had went back into employment because of the current situation. They both recommended the 5800X as being the best option in terms of performance vs cost etc.

In the end I decided to go for the 5950X as Adobe had advised that going forward as the software evolved over the next year or so they would be able to better utilize the newer processors. Also my eldest daughter occasionally uses the computer for video editing which will increase over the next year or two as she has chosen moving image art as one of her G,C,S,E's, the extra processing power will help with that. The cost difference wasn't huge and it just so happened that the supplier I decided on in the end had the 5950X in stock, they are very hard to source at the moment.

A friend of mine is a wedding videographer I had also chatted to him about what spec to go for as he had recently bought a couple of new workstations himself, he gave me a graphics card he had going spare an Nvidia GTX 1660 Super which is supposed to be a decent enough GPU for video editing. That meant I didn't need to buy a GPU so the saving there made up for the difference in cost between the processors.
 
I've got the 1660 Super and it handles DaVinci Resolve 17 without any issues, I'm creating 4k 2.38.
 
I spoke to many different companies before making a decision on what to go for, unfortunately many of them were bluffers and had little understanding of what was best suited as they are more used to people asking about performance for games and to be fair a few of them admitted that. A lot of them kept banging on about gpu etc.

I also spoke to Adobe and they told me that at the moment Photoshop can make use of up to 8 cores depending on the task. After speaking to Adobe and having a better idea of what I was looking for I again spoke to a some of the computer companies. I fell lucky with 2 of them one was very knowledgeable on photoshop and lightroom and he sent me through test data on various things, the other was a wedding photographer who had went back into employment because of the current situation. They both recommended the 5800X as being the best option in terms of performance vs cost etc.

In the end I decided to go for the 5950X as Adobe had advised that going forward as the software evolved over the next year or so they would be able to better utilize the newer processors. Also my eldest daughter occasionally uses the computer for video editing which will increase over the next year or two as she has chosen moving image art as one of her G,C,S,E's, the extra processing power will help with that. The cost difference wasn't huge and it just so happened that the supplier I decided on in the end had the 5950X in stock, they are very hard to source at the moment.

A friend of mine is a wedding videographer I had also chatted to him about what spec to go for as he had recently bought a couple of new workstations himself, he gave me a graphics card he had going spare an Nvidia GTX 1660 Super which is supposed to be a decent enough GPU for video editing. That meant I didn't need to buy a GPU so the saving there made up for the difference in cost between the processors.

I think you've made some very good choices. I ended up with the 3900X for similar reasons - it will last me a good long time. The only time you really regret more power is when you pay for it.
 
Forgot to ask, who do did go with in the end?

A place called Punch Technology they were one of the best priced and could do 5-10 days build time as they has stock of everything.

I tried quite a few places but they had the quickest turnaround time and were one of the cheapest. It's a bad time to buy because of stock issues and demand being high.

Spent 2 days trying to get to speak to overclockers wasn't successful, they also didn't reply to emails and messages sent through the website.

Novatech were good but had longer lead time as they were waiting for stock of the processor and had a large backlog of orders to fulfill.

PC Specialist were also good but couldn't get stock of the processor and were estimating 8-12 weeks build time.

CCL will only sell what is available as standard on their website at the moment no build to order they said because of coronavirus so I would have had to have bought a graphics card as well as you can't configure online without, also had a lead time of 8 weeks approx.

Chill Blast were the most expensive and 6-8 weeks build time.

Box were minimum 30 days build time but were one of the cheapest.

Also tried a couple of local places but they were a lot more expensive.
 
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