Advice for new desktop pc

ammonite

Hi folks,

I'm looking for some advice about what I need to look for when I update my desktop. I'm pretty techy minded but even I'm feeling a bit baffled by all the options on the Dell website!

I'm assuming an i7 processor is better than an i5?

Do I need a 64 bit system?

I am looking to spend around £400 but will spend more if I feel the computer will last longer. I spent £800 on my current PC system and it has been really good, lasting 5+ years and still it doesn't run too slowly.

I need a computer with fairly decent processing power for some work that I do. I'm not bothered about blu-ray etc nor do I need a monitor or keyboard etc as everything I've got is just fine.

I store lots of photos on the hard drive and want something that is capable of editing large iPhone videos, I want to create hour long videos from the short clips I have, so need a computer that can handle a large programme that can handle these file sizes without crashing.

I've been really happy with Dell in the past so would be buying from them again. I'd be glad of any advice re: systems and what I should be looking for. Is it more important to spend money on a processor or RAM for example?

Many thanks in advance


(Or maybe I should go mad and buy a MAC?!)

rnc

ammonite wrote: »

Hi folks,

I'm looking for some advice about what I need to look for when I update my desktop. I'm pretty techy minded but even I'm feeling a bit baffled by all the options on the Dell website!

I'm assuming an i7 processor is better than an i5?

Do I need a 64 bit system?

I am looking to spend around £400 but will spend more if I feel the computer will last longer. I spent £800 on my current PC system and it has been really good, lasting 5+ years and still it doesn't run too slowly.

I need a computer with fairly decent processing power for some work that I do. I'm not bothered about blu-ray etc nor do I need a monitor or keyboard etc as everything I've got is just fine.

I store lots of photos on the hard drive and want something that is capable of editing large iPhone videos, I want to create hour long videos from the short clips I have, so need a computer that can handle a large programme that can handle these file sizes without crashing.

I've been really happy with Dell in the past so would be buying from them again. I'd be glad of any advice re: systems and what I should be looking for. Is it more important to spend money on a processor or RAM for example?

Many thanks in advance


(Or maybe I should go mad and buy a MAC?!)

Personally I would go 64bit as then you can use more memory (simplisticly put). Do not skimp on ram - getting an i5 with more memory will be better than an i7 with less (unless you can afford both!)

ammonite

thanks for the reply - would 8Gb RAM be sufficient?

button_box

I would also be interested in some advice about this. I also have a Dell which is starting to run pretty slow and I am carrying out some remedial work on it with advice from this forum. I use the computer for the admin for our business. As I am not that techie minded has anyone used the service Dell used to offer of setting up a new PC and was it worth it. I have set up our previous two pcs but I found it very time consuming. Not even sure if they still offer this service. Our current system is six years old. Would it be possible to reuse speakers, monitors etc. or would that cause me all sorts of complications when I try to set it up? Any help much appreciated. Thanks.

closed

setting a new pc up should take minutes, plug it together, switch it on, connect to net.

See the speedup sticky

you should be able to reuse monitors etc.

matttye

Sounds like an i7 would be great for what you need to do with it.

Most video editing applications make full use of multi-core machines so getting a quad core would be ideal.

As for whether an i7 is better than an i5, it depends on the processors in question. There are three generations of core i3/i5/i7 processors and a third generation core i5 is likely to be better than a first generation core i7.

Have you considered building one yourself? It's not that hard and you could save some money.

Alternatively you can get cheap, decent PC's on eBay

Tiexen

ammonite wrote: »

(Or maybe I should go mad and buy a MAC?!)

Not for £400!!

Checkout Zoostorm on Amazon:

Zoostorm 7877-0095 Premium PC (Intel Core i5-2320, 8GB RAM, 1TB HDD, DVDRW, Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit)

• £379.99