Powerful Office Desktop...?

Mavo

Hi All,

I’m trying to decide on an office desktop capable of running a 4-screen setup.

I mainly use Microsoft Office, Adobe, Firefox and some specialist software (which isn’t a massive drain). Because of the way I work, I tend to sit with about 5 programmes and 10+ documents open at once. I do a little photo editing/processing – I want something which allows me to flick through images super fast. I don’t really do any gaming, but it would be nice if it had a little capability in that department.

One big task I do is converting large pdf files from images to editable text using Adobe Acrobat Pro. On my current laptop this can take more than an hour to process a 1000-page book. I want my new PC to do the same thing in minutes or less – what sort of specs help with that?

I’m not the sort of person who is likely to open the thing up in 3 years to add a new hard drive or graphics card or something. I want a desktop that should last 4-5 years before I need to buy a new one.

For the monitors I don’t need anything fancy. I’ll probably buy 3 cheap 21.5” screens plus one wider screen to go on top (I’ll need to get a stand). I transcribe old documents so the wide screen is so I can zoom in on the text and still have the whole line on one screen. Any recommendations?

My budget is about £1000 for computer, screens and stand.

Cheers,
Mavo

askeym

I'm not sure on that budget you'll get what you want.

AndyPix

^^ Worst post ever.

I just laughed out loud at your last sentence too  

OP you dont need a ten grand mac to process pdfs lol , get a PC with the latest i7 processor and a half decent graphics card.

Look for gaming PC's - as they are the number crunchers

If it doesnt support the number of screens you need natively, just get a USB-HDMI 'adapter' and add more screens.

TheRightOne

Navigator123 said:

To do what you want in the timespan you specify with the multiscreen support only a Mac Pro will do the job..  You will need to heavily spec it and I would recommend a phone call to Apple sales to get the configuration right for your needs.  Expect a budget in the region of £10,000.00 before you add any software.  A fully loaded Mac Pro with the four screens and all the software you need to do what you ask will cost in excess of £17,000.00.  This is highly specialised equipment designed to do a highly specialised task  so any attempts to cut corners to save a few pounds will result in a computer that will not work at the speeds you ask for or at the resolution you need.  Because the Mac Pro is infinitely customisable it is the unit of choice for people involved in all the design and print industries.  As a Microsoft and Apple accredited engineer of over 30 years experience that is my recommendation.

Why would you write something quite so ridiculous?

My budget is about £1000 for computer, screens and stand.

John_Gray

TheRightOne said:

Navigator123 said:

To do what you want in the timespan you specify with the multiscreen support only a Mac Pro will do the job.. 

Why would you write something quite so ridiculous?

Only to show, perhaps, that using Apple equipment can be a Money No Object exercise! 

Mavo

Wow the price for the Mac Pro was a bit of a shock!  I’m prepared to tone down my expectations to get something closer to my budget.  I must admit I’m not even sure which part of my requirements is pushing the price so high?  Maybe “powerful” was too strong a word!?

I currently use a 3-yo Acer laptop which cost about £500.  It runs 2 extra screens and does pretty much everything I need, just slower than I’d like…

AndyPix, so for processing pdfs I need a good processor (that figures I guess!) and a decent graphics card.  Would something like this do the job?

https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing/desktop-pcs/desktop-pcs/acer-aspire-tc-885-intel-core-i7-desktop-pc-1-tb-hdd-256-gb-ssd-black-10193658-pdt.html

I’m aware I’ll not be saving any money by buying an off-the-shelf model, but realistically I’m not going to build one myself.  I’m OK with software but when it comes to wiring etc you only need to ask my old physics teacher – “WORST I’VE SEEN IN 20 YEARS!”.

For the multiple screens I agree I can probably use some sort of splitter/adapter.  I just need to make sure that will work with the computer I choose before I go and order 4 screens.  As mentioned above my current laptop runs two extra screens – one via VGA and the other via HDMI.  I once tried to add a 4th with a splitter but the laptop said, “no can do”!

TheRightOne

Mavo said:

Wow the price for the Mac Pro was a bit of a shock!  I’m prepared to tone down my expectations to get something closer to my budget.  I must admit I’m not even sure which part of my requirements is pushing the price so high?  Maybe “powerful” was too strong a word!?

I currently use a 3-yo Acer laptop which cost about £500.  It runs 2 extra screens and does pretty much everything I need, just slower than I’d like…

AndyPix, so for processing pdfs I need a good processor (that figures I guess!) and a decent graphics card.  Would something like this do the job?

https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing/desktop-pcs/desktop-pcs/acer-aspire-tc-885-intel-core-i7-desktop-pc-1-tb-hdd-256-gb-ssd-black-10193658-pdt.html

I’m aware I’ll not be saving any money by buying an off-the-shelf model, but realistically I’m not going to build one myself.  I’m OK with software but when it comes to wiring etc you only need to ask my old physics teacher – “WORST I’VE SEEN IN 20 YEARS!”.

For the multiple screens I agree I can probably use some sort of splitter/adapter.  I just need to make sure that will work with the computer I choose before I go and order 4 screens.  As mentioned above my current laptop runs two extra screens – one via VGA and the other via HDMI.  I once tried to add a 4th with a splitter but the laptop said, “no can do”!

Are the monitors less than £50 each then?

Horrible waste of money. I would buy a second user or even new PC that accepts an NVMe SSD and whack a graphics card in with 4 DisplayPort outputs. But that's just me.

Mavo

As in a waste of money to buy one off the shelf rather than put it together myself?

See (without googling it) I don't even know what NVMe is or what a graphics card actually looks like, so the prospect of opening up a tower to put new bits in is quite daunting!

Presumably there's no warranty protection, and if I manage to fry something in the process the money's down the drain anyway?

Neil_Jones

Navigator123 said:

To do what you want in the timespan you specify with the multiscreen support only a Mac Pro will do the job..  You will need to heavily spec it and I would recommend a phone call to Apple sales to get the configuration right for your needs.  Expect a budget in the region of £10,000.00 before you add any software.  A fully loaded Mac Pro with the four screens and all the software you need to do what you ask will cost in excess of £17,000.00.  This is highly specialised equipment designed to do a highly specialised task  so any attempts to cut corners to save a few pounds will result in a computer that will not work at the speeds you ask for or at the resolution you need.  Because the Mac Pro is infinitely customisable it is the unit of choice for people involved in all the design and print industries.  As a Microsoft and Apple accredited engineer of over 30 years experience that is my recommendation.

Excuse me while I finish rolling around on the floor laughing my backside off.  Ow, carpet burn.  Ow, my head.  Okay I'm done.

One of the most ridiculous posts I've think I've ever read in all my years here, considering the OP's budget was a grand, and you come and stuck an extra 0 on it.  Are you on commission?

Anyway I think its perfectly possible to get what the OP wants on their budget.  Chuck as much memory at it as you can, I'd say 32Gb minimum, and a decent mid range GPU maybe.  Monitors you can get cheaply now if you're not fussed about the brand, plenty of budget options.

TheRightOne

Mavo said:

As in a waste of money to buy one off the shelf rather than put it together myself?

See (without googling it) I don't even know what NVMe is or what a graphics card actually looks like, so the prospect of opening up a tower to put new bits in is quite daunting!

Presumably there's no warranty protection, and if I manage to fry something in the process the money's down the drain anyway?

Every component you purchase will have it's own warranty. You won't be building a PC, but simply adding a component. PCs are designed to have parts fitted quickly and easily, especially Business PCs.
A pro would have the graphics card installed in five minutes or less. You, working at a sloth's pace might take double that. 

Here is an example of a product that would fit your needs; https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00YY3WB6U

Not necessarily recommending that one, as it would need to come from the U.S.A. It's just to show you how it looks and the simplicity of connecting up all of the monitors.
With something like that, you don't need a special power supply or an expensive PC.
£100 apiece for the monitors and you still have up to £400 to spend on the base unit. Easily done.
You don't need the latest, greatest and most powerful. Just something fit for purpose.

NVMe solid state drives are just much, much faster than the old spinning disc storage drive you are utilising currently. 
So that will improve productivity on it's own.
All can be achieved within your budget.

getmore4less

What's in your laptop? memory, graphics, processor, HDD/SSD?
You have 2 monitors can't you use them?
could also use the laptop screen in some way?
Now you only need the main one, once up and running consider upgrades to screens if needed.
I think if you focus on the doc conversion requirements the rest will drop out(with suitable monitor support)
The system builders are putting machines together for <£50 and they come with warranty.

Have you looked to see if anyone(users of the software) have any recommendations where the money needs to go for performance of your main task?