4k computer advice needed

[FL1H1]

OK, it's pretty obvious my computer is not up to editing HD video. My situation is simple, I only buy computers every however many years, renew maybe every 5, 6 years, and don't keep in touch with technological developments at all in between, so when it comes time to replace I never really know what I should be looking for, what's essential etc.

I do know somebody who builds them but to give a guide as to what I want and need it would be nice to say a bit more than well, I don't really know except I want to film in 4k and a computer that can edit 4k so can I ask those who know about computers what I should be asking for, thanks.

 

[dport177]

I elected to buy a 13 inch MacBook Pro (2017 model) with 16GB of ram. Went for the refurb to save some money. I love the computer and it handles 4k editing like a champ. Had to put out $1699 for the setup though. Well worth it.

 

[FL1H1]

I elected to buy a 13 inch MacBook Pro (2017 model) with 16GB of ram. Went for the refurb to save some money. I love the computer and it handles 4k editing like a champ. Had to put out $1699 for the setup though. Well worth it.

OK. Had a look at that .. .after windows 10 which I kind of got used to but for a long time really despised, I must admit to be willing to consider a Mac. Little pricey though my favourite department store, John Lewis, sells them and is good at repairing them if needs be. A few say they get a little hot and the fans have to work overtime but other than that, everyone seemed to be Raving about them so, yeah, I'll consider that thsnkyou

 

[MavicCF]

OK. Had a look at that .. .after windows 10 which I kind of got used to but for a long time really despised, I must admit to be willing to consider a Mac. Little pricey though my favourite department store, John Lewis, sells them and is good at repairing them if needs be. A few say they get a little hot and the fans have to work overtime but other than that, everyone seemed to be Raving about them so, yeah, I'll consider that thsnkyou

I have one of the older MacBook Pros (13" from 2012) at that point they were still in a module format so you can upgrade them to whatever you need. We put a new Samsung 500GB SSD in ours and are looking at upgrading to 16GB RAM and a better graphics card.
You can pick one of these up for a few hundred $$ on Craigslist and have as nice or nicer hardware put in than a new Macs and end up saving a lot of money. -CF

 

[Mavflyer]

If you don't really know what you're doing and just want something that works, a mac would be great if you don't mind paying the premium. If you would like to learn a bit and put together a way better rig for the price, go over to pcpartpicker. They have forums and the members there are helpful. Just tell them what you want to do and your budget and they will give you a parts list that includes links to purchase. You could either build it or have a buddy do it for you. PCs are incredibly easy to put together and would give you a sense of accomplishment. Plus you could upgrade cheaply whenever you needed instead of having to drop thousands of dollars buying a new mac. Macs are intentionally not upgrade friendly.

 

[FL1H1]

If you don't really know what you're doing and just want something that works, a mac would be great if you don't mind paying the premium. If you would like to learn a bit and put together a way better rig for the price, go over to pcpartpicker. They have forums and the members there are helpful. Just tell them what you want to do and your budget and they will give you a parts list that includes links to purchase. You could either build it or have a buddy do it for you. PCs are incredibly easy to put together and would give you a sense of accomplishment. Plus you could upgrade cheaply whenever you needed instead of having to drop thousands of dollars buying a new mac. Macs are intentionally not upgrade friendly.

I know someone who can build one, a really nice guy, and he knows his computers, just I never even know what to ask for and computers I've bought from shops rate with me as a waste of money, just not what they're cracked up to be. Not all of it but a lot is gobbledegook to me when people start talking specs. Think I'll see what sort of money this friend says it'll cost, if its close to a Mac, I might just go for a mac book pro as it has the advantage of being portable for vacations and weekends away

 

[Kilrah]

are looking at upgrading to 16GB RAM and a better graphics card.

There's no upgrading graphics card and CPU - yet that's what matters since 2012 components (while not much less powerful overall) lack 4K decoding and encoding hardware.

 

[Taylor1430]

I know someone who can build one, a really nice guy, and he knows his computers, just I never even know what to ask for and computers I've bought from shops rate with me as a waste of money, just not what they're cracked up to be. Not all of it but a lot is gobbledegook to me when people start talking specs. Think I'll see what sort of money this friend says it'll cost, if its close to a Mac, I might just go for a mac book pro as it has the advantage of being portable for vacations and weekends away

If your guy really knows computers, let him know you will be processing large video files. He should know what processor and graphics card you’ll need. Many photographers need this stuff as well and he probably wont be as lost as you think he’ll be.

 

[MavicCF]

There's no upgrading graphics card and CPU - yet that's what matters since 2012 components (while not much less powerful overall) lack 4K decoding and encoding hardware.

Sorry, got carried away, it has an i7 already, but yeah, no graphics card upgrade here. The graphics card was for our older Windows PC. We have way to many laptops going in our house and it gets confusing (7 in total).

 

[Ripper7620]

For me the best solution was to hand pick components and build my own PC. I went with these, and have not been dissapointed:
CPU: Ryzen Threadripper 1950X
GPU: nVidia Quadro P5000
RAM: 64Gb of G. Skill Trident Z
Boot device: 2TB Samsung 960 Pro M.2
Monitor: 4K 43" LG

 

[Scooterx64]

I know someone who can build one, a really nice guy, and he knows his computers, just I never even know what to ask for and computers I've bought from shops rate with me as a waste of money, just not what they're cracked up to be. Not all of it but a lot is gobbledegook to me when people start talking specs. Think I'll see what sort of money this friend says it'll cost, if its close to a Mac, I might just go for a mac book pro as it has the advantage of being portable for vacations and weekends away

That is the best way to go if you can maintain it yourself. Your friend may be helpful but it is hard to be certain that a friend will always be there when you need some help forums are great for advice but it can be very frustrating trying to solve anything but the simplest problem via forum.

So if you go with a desktop and your focus is on editing you will probably be best served by focusing on the the specific components that matter. Of course you need to see what the minimum HW configuration recommended by your software is keeping in mind that the performance at the minimum config will be less than you might like. Given that you only upgrade every 4-5 years you really well be best served using the latest components and reserving some performance headroom for future applications. Also do you have a budget? That will determine a lot.

Specific things to look at:
1. Processor & motherboard - go with latest intel i7 and a mainstream (not a gaming) motherboard. There is a lot of range in price/perf here.
2. Display - 4K displays are pricey but mandatory in your case. This is the part you look at everyday so don't shortchange yourself. Number one budget buster here.
3. Storage - a 512 GB SSD will serve you well as system drive (great performance for the system and editing) but you need storage for all the huge video files you will be working with. Go with a good 4 or TB 7200 RPM HDD in addition to the SSD. Storage is the number two budget buster.
4. Graphics - get yourself a good GPU but unless you really want to game or do multiple (more than 2) displays something in the range of a GeForce 1060 should be great.
5. RAM - 16 GB will take care of you nicely - the motherboard usually has four slots and memory goes in pairs. So install a 2x8 memory pair and that will leave room to add another pair and double to 32 GB if you desire. Also buy the fasted clock memory that is listed on the motherboard vendors compatibility list.

 

[FL1H1]

That is the best way to go if you can maintain it yourself. Your friend may be helpful but it is hard to be certain that a friend will always be there when you need some help forums are great for advice but it can be very frustrating trying to solve anything but the simplest problem via forum.

So if you go with a desktop and your focus is on editing you will probably be best served by focusing on the the specific components that matter. Of course you need to see what the minimum HW configuration recommended by your software is keeping in mind that the performance at the minimum config will be less than you might like. Given that you only upgrade every 4-5 years you really well be best served using the latest components and reserving some performance headroom for future applications. Also do you have a budget? That will determine a lot.

Specific things to look at:
1. Processor & motherboard - go with latest intel i7 and a mainstream (not a gaming) motherboard. There is a lot of range in price/perf here.
2. Display - 4K displays are pricey but mandatory in your case. This is the part you look at everyday so don't shortchange yourself. Number one budget buster here.
3. Storage - a 512 GB SSD will serve you well as system drive (great performance for the system and editing) but you need storage for all the huge video files you will be working with. Go with a good 4 or TB 7200 RPM HDD in addition to the SSD. Storage is the number two budget buster.
4. Graphics - get yourself a good GPU but unless you really want to game or do multiple (more than 2) displays something in the range of a GeForce 1060 should be great.
5. RAM - 16 GB will take care of you nicely - the motherboard usually has four slots and memory goes in pairs. So install a 2x8 memory pair and that will leave room to add another pair and double to 32 GB if you desire. Also buy the fasted clock memory that is listed on the motherboard vendors compatibility list.

This was very helpful thanks - budgets, I think you get what you pay for so, in some products, I tend to go for quality and if that means fore saking something else for the moment then fine. It will - a 150 - 600mm camera lens but thats fine, that can wait. I have 20 year old Nikon camera lenses but I can still use all five of them with the latest Nikon D7500 as Nikon are very good at designing the new stuff to work with the old stuff and the lenses are, they're quality still taking fantastic quality pictures. In truth, last time I bought a computer I didn't spend as much as I would have liked because my previous one crashed and for reasons I forget, couldn't be recovered fully so I just went and bought any old one - and its been nothing but frustration so this time, I want a really good one and I've got to get a really good one if I'm to do 4k, hence the post because this time, I can't just go out and buy any old one. This information was exactly what I was looking for thankyou.

 

[FL1H1]

If your guy really knows computers, let him know you will be processing large video files. He should know what processor and graphics card you’ll need. Many photographers need this stuff as well and he probably wont be as lost as you think he’ll be.

Oh, I know he won't be lost - he definately knows his computers, it'll be me that gets lost lol

 

[FL1H1]

That is the best way to go if you can maintain it yourself. Your friend may be helpful but it is hard to be certain that a friend will always be there when you need some help forums are great for advice but it can be very frustrating trying to solve anything but the simplest problem via forum.

So if you go with a desktop and your focus is on editing you will probably be best served by focusing on the the specific components that matter. Of course you need to see what the minimum HW configuration recommended by your software is keeping in mind that the performance at the minimum config will be less than you might like. Given that you only upgrade every 4-5 years you really well be best served using the latest components and reserving some performance headroom for future applications. Also do you have a budget? That will determine a lot.

Specific things to look at:
1. Processor & motherboard - go with latest intel i7 and a mainstream (not a gaming) motherboard. There is a lot of range in price/perf here.
2. Display - 4K displays are pricey but mandatory in your case. This is the part you look at everyday so don't shortchange yourself. Number one budget buster here.
3. Storage - a 512 GB SSD will serve you well as system drive (great performance for the system and editing) but you need storage for all the huge video files you will be working with. Go with a good 4 or TB 7200 RPM HDD in addition to the SSD. Storage is the number two budget buster.
4. Graphics - get yourself a good GPU but unless you really want to game or do multiple (more than 2) displays something in the range of a GeForce 1060 should be great.
5. RAM - 16 GB will take care of you nicely - the motherboard usually has four slots and memory goes in pairs. So install a 2x8 memory pair and that will leave room to add another pair and double to 32 GB if you desire. Also buy the fasted clock memory that is listed on the motherboard vendors compatibility list.

OK, he's been ill but come back to me with these specs, which are as always for me, might as well be written in Clingon - price wise they're pretty similar so I'm just wondering if this will more than do - I plan to edit largely 4k, and I'm inclined towards an ultra wide monitor like this;

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01MYN3...olid=3FRS6TU6WJOGI&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it


BEQUIET PURE BASE 600 ATX GAMING CASE, NO PSU, 2 X PURE

WINGS 2 FANS, BLACK

ASUS PRIME Z370-P, LGA 1151, ATX, 64GB DDR4, 4 DIMM, HDMI,

DVI, PCIE

ASUS DUAL-GTX1060-O3G, 3GB GDDR5, OC 1809, DVI, HDMI,1152

C.CORES, 2XHDMI, 2XDP

BEQUIET! 600W PURE POWER 10 PSU, RIFLE BEARING FAN,

80PLUS SILVER

KINGSTON HYPERX FURY 8GB 2666MHz PC4-21330 DDR4, CL16,

288-PIN, 1.2V, BLACK

INTEL CORE I7-8700K SIX CORE, 1151, 3.7GHZ, COFFEE LAKE, 12MB

CACHE, 95 WATT

SSD - 250GB SAMSUNG 860 EVO, 2.5" SATA3, R/W 550/520 MBPS, 3D

V-NAND, 98K IOPS

3.5" SATA3 HDD, 4TB, 256MB CACHE, 5400RPM, SEAGATE

BARRACUDA35

DVD-RW, INTERNAL, OEM, ASUS DRW-24D5MT, 24X, BLACK,

M-DISC, BLACK NO SOFTWARE

BEQUIET PURE ROCK CPU COOLER, ALL INTEL & AMD SOCKETS,

120MM PWM BEQUIET FAN



This system offer the better CPU and Asus MainBoard, along with the BeQuiet silent case and PSU and ASUS Wi-Fi card, I believe this to be a far better quality system Build for your money.

The alternative was

Item Description Price ex vat

Case: BitFenix Nova Mid Tower

PSU: Cooler Master MasterWave 600W Gold

Motherboard: Fatal1ty Z270 (I use this board)

CPU: Intel i7 7700K Kaby Lake 4.2Ghz Quad core

Memory: Kingston HyperX 16GB 2400

Graphics Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1060 3gb

Primary Hard Drive: Samsung 860 EVO Series 500GB

2nd Hard Drive: Seagate BarraCuda ST 4TB 256 chache

Primary Optical Drive: LiteOn IHAS124-14 24X

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper H4

Thanks for your advice

Kevin

 

[Mossiback]

The best advice I have on buying computers is to first decide on the software you will use, in your case for 4K video editing. The software will list the computer specs needed to run it.

You also need to include a data backup plan so you don't loose everything when your hard drive crashes.

 

[Macabre]

Dell XPS 15 is a good alternative to Mac, especially if you're used to Windows. Quite a bit cheaper as well.
I have one myself, even lower end one (i5, 8gb ram) and it works well for movie editing. I do run out of ram from time to time if I try to do a lot of editing in Photoshop, but I never bought this PC for anything more than light gaming. There are versions with i7 and 32gb ram.