New computer for photography and learning to video edit - Please help possible BF purchase

antc

antc

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Evening all,

I am wondering if I can get some help with this. I wasn't sure if its best posted here or in one of the hardware threads, but here goes. (This is posted on OCUK too but I have had lots of help from this great site too before so wanted to put it here as well)

I am looking for something to replace an ageing 2011 Macbook pro which is really starting to chug, I popped an SSD and maxed the ram to 16gb some time ago now. I run this with a CalDigit TB2 doc to power my external Benq SW2700 photography monitor.

Looking forwards, I am looking for a machine that can as said above be primarily for photo editing, but also I would quite like to have a go at shooting video and learning to edit that.

I have been looking at the following machines, and I am totally open to suggestions, most of what I am about to list are prebuilt machines, but I am not averse to building my own if I need to. I am not fixed to Apple and I have no issue in going to a Windows 10 machine, so totally open. Only other thing to mention is I haven't built a computer since before I got my macbook, and before that I had an iMac, so almost 10 years since my last self build, not an issue as such, just I am way out of the loop on whats the latest things etc etc.

1. Dell XPS 7590 i7 (6 core)/512gb/16gb - I quite like the look of these, know you can upgrade the NVME SSD and the ram down the line and it will go unto 32gb ram. Unsure on which screen would be best to get with it, FHD will get most out of the battery on the go, but there is also a 4k IPS touch and a 4k OLED, the latter two options as I understand it are somewhat battery killers and I am not sure if touch is really required for my use or if it would just be a gimmick.

2. Mac Mini 2018 (think its 2018, the latest model) with an I7 6 core/least ram as would look to upgrade it myself/maybe an EGPU (not sure if I would need it for my use) / 512ssd - Keeps me in the Mac ecosystem, small form factor, even more so if egpu is not needed. Seems pretty powerful, presume just as much as the XPS laptop above as its all laptop style hardware I believe. Any downsides to this one? Is an egpu required for my use?

3. Custom build desktop - Not sure on specs as such but presuming at least a 6 core cpu, 32gb ram, 512/1tb ssd / GFX card of some form - This I will presume has to be the most bespoke option, as I can spec it to however I like it etc. Could be the largest form factor and potentially noisiest option of them all? Can a powerful machine be build into a smaller case allowing for great cooling? Also, without starting an argument, I have always been an Intel guy, but there seems to be a lot of good things I have read about Ryzen but I know nothing about them.

4. An outsider, but the new Macbook pro 16inch had caught my eye, but at an eye watering £2400 for the base model, I would need to justify this as being better than all of the other options in order to go down that route and also perhaps sell an arm, leg or a kidney to help fund it. Apple prices, Mac Mini aside, seem to have gone a little bit crazy in recent years. My current MBP cost me about £1600 all that time ago and I thought that was pretty expensive.

They are the options I have been thinking about currently, what do you guys have, what would you recommend to me, what would fit my requirements the best?

Thanks in advance!
 
If you're comfortable building a PC then option 3 is the way to go. You've already mentioned the reasons why so don't need to go too much into it.

With regards to Ryzen, there really isn't anything to get...they work exactly the same as an Intel chip, they just offer a MUCH better price to performance ratio, especially for multi core tasks. In fact Intel are pulling a few tricks recently to try and avoid direct comparison with the AMD chips because they know they are so far behind.

Ryzen 3500 is the current 6 core 12 thread chip and is probably a safe bet...they also offer an 8 core 3700, or previous gen 6 and 8 core chips (2500 & 2700 respectively). For reference I built a Ryzen 2500 system last month and it eats up photo editing and 1080p video editing. B450 chipset is probably suitable - just look for one with decent reviews and USB 3.1 gen 2 ports.

I would also recommend an NVME M.2 drive for boot drive...they are SO fast.

There's no reason why a self-build PC would be any nosier, you can buy all manner of cooling solutions and silent case fans for ATX cases. You can also build a mini-ATX rig but cooling will be affected (no more than a small form factor machine of any other kind though).

If you want to cost everything up easily, have a look at PCPartPicker.com...it's very easy to plan your build and find the cheapest prices.

Good luck!
 
Andy Into The Wild said:
If you're comfortable building a PC then option 3 is the way to go. You've already mentioned the reasons why so don't need to go too much into it.

With regards to Ryzen, there really isn't anything to get...they work exactly the same as an Intel chip, they just offer a MUCH better price to performance ratio, especially for multi core tasks. In fact Intel are pulling a few tricks recently to try and avoid direct comparison with the AMD chips because they know they are so far behind.

Ryzen 3500 is the current 6 core 12 thread chip and is probably a safe bet...they also offer an 8 core 3700, or previous gen 6 and 8 core chips (2500 & 2700 respectively). For reference I built a Ryzen 2500 system last month and it eats up photo editing and 1080p video editing. B450 chipset is probably suitable - just look for one with decent reviews and USB 3.1 gen 2 ports.

I would also recommend an NVME M.2 drive for boot drive...they are SO fast.

There's no reason why a self-build PC would be any nosier, you can buy all manner of cooling solutions and silent case fans for ATX cases. You can also build a mini-ATX rig but cooling will be affected (no more than a small form factor machine of any other kind though).

If you want to cost everything up easily, have a look at PCPartPicker.com...it's very easy to plan your build and find the cheapest prices.

Good luck!
Click to expand...

Thanks very much, appreciate that!

I just had a go with pcpartpicker and came up with the following spec, I don't think I have missed any parts, I already have a monitor, keyboard and mouse etc. What do you guys think to the spec? Only think I wasn't sure on was the OS, presuming if I get a retail copy (if it works like the old days) that I can use it on different hardware when I upgrade etc, where as OEM ties to the mobo? I have retail copies of windows 7 somewhere, could one of those be upgraded to W10? Also I have seen but can't find people mention being able to get the W10 free or for a small fee, how does that work?

Also no idea on the motherboard here, this was the one it suggested. Is it possible to get multiple USB C and or Thunderbolt 3?

I should also add I have a 2tb WD red drive here, so the thinking was to have them set as a mirror, for storage.


PCPartPicker Part List: https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/hbyqmg

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 3.6 GHz 8-Core Processor (£286.38 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H115i RGB PLATINUM 97 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (£114.98 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: *MSI X570-A PRO ATX AM4 Motherboard (£139.97 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory (£118.80 @ Alza)
Storage: Samsung 970 Evo 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive (£145.96 @ CCL Computers)
Storage: Western Digital Red 2 TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive (£71.99 @ CCL Computers)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1660 6 GB GAMING OC Video Card (£218.84 @ CCL Computers)
Case: NZXT H510 ATX Mid Tower Case (£54.98 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: Corsair RM (2019) 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply (£80.47 @ Scan.co.uk)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit (£88.38 @ Aria PC)

Total: £1320.75

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-11-27 21:52 GMT+0000
 
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twist said:
Budget?
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I would say around £1k-1200, £1500 absolute max but obviously if I can spend less that would be great. I would like it to last as long as possible, would it be realistic to get a solid 5 years out of a build such as this?
 
Another question I have to is future upgradability, does this give me room for that? Or are sockets and things for the cpu changing which might mean I need a totally new CPU and motherboard etc? Or, could it just be the case that down the line I could just slot in a new cpu if there is room for upgradeability?
 
My observation is that sockets change every time there is a significant speed increase (rather than the usual incremental percentage) so I wouldn't view any MOBO that you can buy now with an upper-midrange spec CPU to have a useful amount of future proofing. Plus other supporting architecture changes at the same time (think SATA to NVME etc) so in practice a deeper update is usually needed for a big gain in performance.
 
Looks like a very nice build to me dude. The only thing I'd swap out is the storage drive to a 7200 rpm drive. And possibly get rid of the water cooler in favour of a decent air cooler, which should save you some £. I don't know about noise ratings though if that's REALLY important to you.

The motherboard is an X570 chipset which is probably more expensive than you need to spend, but if it's within your budget then go for it. It should at least be future proofed for the next few Ryzen chips, and I would say definitely 5 years, but like Toni said - tech tends to move quicker than upgrade cycles so you can never guarantee it. If you wanted to save some pennies here look for B450 boards.

Note that USB C is just a port shape, it doesn't mean anything in itself. What you're looking for is USB 3.1 gen2 which gives 10gbps...this mobo has 2 of them so no issues there.
 
See my other post. For £400 less, that's not a million miles from what I ended up with.

If you can afford it. why not spend extra on another NVME vs the 2TB drive?
 
My Son and I built this desktop computer I am using now with parts from Scan computers in 2012. Since then components have been changed which is easy if you build your own.
Some of the upgrades were
changing the cooling fans to silent running ones- PU from 350w to750w- Ram up to 16GB- 2x SSD drives- quiet CD/DVD- graphics card- Windows version from W7 to W10 - wireless internet unit- sound card.
Have to say it took a long time (3 months) to originally select the components ,even down to the case as we wanted vent back and front for straight through cooling air flow. I set a budget for each component with an eye on the overall cost.

So take time in a build if that is the route you are going to take and it will last for years. Just make sure what you get can be expanded to say take extra drives etc
 
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antc said:
Just spotted this too on Scan which looks good for a prebuilt machine I think?

https://www.scan.co.uk/products/3xs...b-ddr4-8gb-asus-rx-5700-xt-1tb-ssd-2tb-win-10
Click to expand...

We have three 3XS systems from Scan, never missed a beat. highly recommended. the last one had a water cooler, a lot of people think water coolers are big tanks and pumps etc, they don't have to be, we used this last time (below) and its silent ! i see yours is a corsair, have to say the last corsair we had really noisy fans that we changed in the end, assumed they must have fixed it now, the reviews don't mention noise issues.

https://www.scan.co.uk/products/asu...77-colour-oled-display-and-aura-sync-rgb-bloc
 
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Id agree with whats been said... you can save some and itll go towards more storage.

Switch out the 2TB 5400 with 2x 2TB 7200 for storage and backup (4K video is large)
512GB NVME Sabrent Rocket or 970 for OS/APPS
X570 for B450 Tomahawk MAX
Stock cooler will likely be fine, you arent gaming and the case is ATX so should have good air flow
Id be tempted to save a few more quid and go RX590 GPU
 
antc said:
Just spotted this too on Scan which looks good for a prebuilt machine I think?

https://www.scan.co.uk/products/3xs...b-ddr4-8gb-asus-rx-5700-xt-1tb-ssd-2tb-win-10
Click to expand...

Yeah - I very nearly bought something like that from Scan. At full price it was close to the custom build I wanted but on BF deal it looks really good.

One thing that hasn't been mentioned is input peripherals. IMO skimp a few quid on machine spec (you'll never miss a few clock cycles here and there unless you game) and spend on keyboard, mouse and tablet. I spent far more than was sensible on a Logitech Craft keyboard (actually they aren't terrible as a refurb). Currently "testing" it on my Mac - it's the only keyboard I have ever preferred to a Mac keyboard. I figure angry emails chasing payment will be a lot sweeter with nice keys to press. I also have a lovely Steel Series mouse which has served me well for years and a newish smallish Wacom. You could buy an excellent keyboard, mouse and Wacom for <£200 and I bet they would make you happier than a cooler that's just a bit quieter or a graphics card that's just a shade quicker :)
 
Wow thanks everyone, much appreciated! I will have a tweak around with the specs to factor in the suggestions.

On the peripheral point Jonathan made, 100% I have a nice Logitech keyboard already and a Logi Master 2s mouse so I am all set there. Good shout though! I did fancy a craft when I got the one I went with but it had only just come out and was very expensive still.
 
antc said:
Wow thanks everyone, much appreciated! I will have a tweak around with the specs to factor in the suggestions.

On the peripheral point Jonathan made, 100% I have a nice Logitech keyboard already and a Logi Master 2s mouse so I am all set there. Good shout though! I did fancy a craft when I got the one I went with but it had only just come out and was very expensive still.
Click to expand...

Another thing you can consider is going micro atx or itx if you want a smaller form factor to go on top of a desk instead of below/inside. I wanted to go ITX but its causing me headaches so have settled with a very small Micro ATX setup (Case 330 x 330 x 170).
 
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twist said:
Another thing you can consider is going micro atx or itx if you want a smaller form factor to go on top of a desk instead of below/inside. I wanted to go ITX but its causing me headaches so have settled with a very small Micro ATX setup (Case 330 x 330 x 170).
Click to expand...

Do you mind if I ask what you went for in terms of case and motherboard?

Going small is what was tempting me about a Mac Mini. Was just looking in the refurb store and you can get one with the i7 6 core, 8 gig ram and a 512ssd for 1269 and 32gb Crucial ram kit is 125.

My head hurts at the moment from looking at so many different options.
 
antc said:
Do you mind if I ask what you went for in terms of case and motherboard?

Going small is what was tempting me about a Mac Mini. Was just looking in the refurb store and you can get one with the i7 6 core, 8 gig ram and a 512ssd for 1269 and 32gb Crucial ram kit is 125.

My head hurts at the moment from looking at so many different options.
Click to expand...

small form factor give me a nightmare :) lots of issues for us in terms of noise due to enhanced cooling, generally a pain in the arse to work on, get a nice case that has plenty of cable management places and lots or room for air and expansion.
 
Studio488commercial said:
small form factor give me a nightmare :) lots of issues for us in terms of noise due to enhanced cooling, generally a pain in the arse to work on, get a nice case that has plenty of cable management places and lots or room for air and expansion.
Click to expand...

Depends on what you put into it and how small you're going.
 
i ordered the parts for a new machine last night after my old one decided to throw its legs in the air (about 8 years old so not worth replacing the motherboard and ram). I didn't need a storage disk, graphics card or power supply and my build came in at £565. Spec wise it was:
motherboard: MSI Z390-A PRO
cpu: intel i5 9600k
case: NZXT H500i - my old case is excellent but the drive bays are sata 2 hot swap bays and it would require a dremmel to change them now that the upgraded panel is obsolete
System disk: Corsair Force Series MP510 480 GB NVMe
RAM: 32gb corsair ddr4.

I reckon for what you are doing (ie not graphics card heavy) you could probably add a power supply and graphics card for about another 200 quid and it would be fine.

I know the ryzen chips are getting a lot of good press currently but i have always just been a bit meh about amd chips, doesn't help that i have had a couple of their graphics cards die on me whereas i've never had a problem with intel and nvidia. Obviously it could just be bad luck (probably is) but i steer clear now
 
antc said:
Do you mind if I ask what you went for in terms of case and motherboard?

Going small is what was tempting me about a Mac Mini. Was just looking in the refurb store and you can get one with the i7 6 core, 8 gig ram and a 512ssd for 1269 and 32gb Crucial ram kit is 125.

My head hurts at the moment from looking at so many different options.
Click to expand...

So my list is looking as follows...

Ryzen 5 3600, easily overclocked to 3600x if needed, I won't bother. Or perhaps 3800x depending on how much I can salvage from my current build.

B450 Mortar max micro atx

Vengeance lpx 32gb or ballistix sport 2×16gb 3200mhz

I have a hyper 212 but might go noctua 12s

I have a ocz700 atx but might go sfx corsair

Sabrent rocket 512gb nvme

Hgst 7200 3.5 4tb

Integral 960gb ssd

If I can for it in the case I have a 3.5 barracuda 2tb 7200 and another 500gb barracuda 7200 2.5

Case fans I have some fractals and f12 lying around but again might go noctua.

590x is most likely but possibly stretch a rx5700

32" 4k Philips ips
 
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If its within budget for you, then it will definitely do the job. I'm sure you could build it cheaper but like you said, you get a 3 year warranty so as long as you're happy...buy!

Just do some research on the company and check the warranty is actually decent, because that may be a sticking point in the future.
 
antc said:
Afternoon all,

What do we think to this bad boy?! Seems a pretty great spec?

https://www.cclonline.com/pc/workstation-pcs/janus/janus-alpha-3700x/020300020303000002/

Comes pre built, with a 3 year next business day onsite engineer to fix issues if they arise too. Reckon it would be much cheaper if any to build this myself?
Click to expand...

Things to consider,

Do you need such a powerful GPU? 1660 Super should be more than enough unless youre gaming at 4k.
Is 2TB enough space? 1TB and 1TB to backup? Id go 512GB NVME for boot, 1TB SSD for working files, 4TB for non working/archive/backup.
3800X is on special so it costs LESS than the inferior 3700X ;)
If you want wifi/bluetooth get the wifi card added
 
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twist said:
Things to consider,

Do you need such a powerful GPU? 1660 Super should be more than enough unless youre gaming at 4k.
Is 2TB enough space? 1TB and 1TB to backup? Id go 512GB NVME for boot, 1TB SSD for working files, 4TB for non working/archive/backup.
3800X is on special so it costs LESS than the inferior 3700X ;)
If you want wifi/bluetooth get the wifi card added
Click to expand...

Just redone the spec, seems a decent way to spent £1535. Does all that look right, I have taken into account I believe everything you have said, also, is the PSU overkill or about right?

I am just trying a similar spec in pcpartpicker to see what it comes back as to compare.

Now with added link - https://www.cclonline.com/pc/workstation-pcs/janus/janus-alpha-3700x/030302020203010001000001/
 
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Just ran it through pc part picker again, working out a bit cheaper although took the OS off, as I need to understand the best way of getting that, its about another £80/90 although lots of people seem to suggest you can get it for free or buy purchasing a key from various sites for like £10/20 quid? Is that right? How do you guys get your OS?

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/CQGgb8

Thats coming in at £1361 and arguably has better quality faster NVME drives and perhaps a nicer case etc and an even beefier PSU, although as per comment in my previous post, I think its overkill as pcpartpicker is suggesting that spec only needs 359w so presume a 500/550w psu will be more than enough?
 
antc said:
Just redone the spec, seems a decent way to spent £1535. Does all that look right, I have taken into account I believe everything you have said, also, is the PSU overkill or about right?

I am just trying a similar spec in pcpartpicker to see what it comes back as to compare.
Click to expand...

Can't see what you've done?

You can go ppp and check wattage them add 100w to get a decent psu from what I understand.
 
Haven't added fans or extra hdd, probs another 140 quid, and 50w
 
Ok added the missing HDD and Fans, I believe that to be like for like -

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/tB9d9G

£1578 self built - maybe some slightly better quality parts? Doesn't include OS
£1535 prebuilt with 3 year warranty - maybe slightly worse spec parts in some areas such as NVME drives? Slightly more plain case etc?

Link for prebuilt spec (added to above post also) - https://www.cclonline.com/pc/workstation-pcs/janus/janus-alpha-3700x/030302020203010001000001/

Pretty damn close in price though!

What would you guys go for and why? Are my concerns on parts quality really anything to worry about are are they just as good as each other?
 
Are you happy to build your own? Do you know how to / feel comfortable applying thermal paste for the cooler etc?
 
The parts are so similar that you may as well get someone to build it for you.
 
twist said:
Are you happy to build your own? Do you know how to / feel comfortable applying thermal paste for the cooler etc?
Click to expand...

From memory the last time I did its, its just a pea sized amount onto the cooler then carefully place it on the cpu and gently easy it down and clamp/screw the cooler in place isn't it? I have a mate or two that I am sure if asked nicely could give me a pointer or two.
 
antc said:
From memory the last time I did its, its just a pea sized amount onto the cooler then carefully place it on the cpu and gently easy it down and clamp/screw the cooler in place isn't it? I have a mate or two that I am sure if asked nicely could give me a pointer or two.
Click to expand...

Yup, piece of cake. As long as your MB supports Ryzen Gen 3 which it does youre good to go. But tbh, unless you really want the specific parts in the build it yourself the CCL deal is very good.
 
twist said:
Yup, piece of cake. As long as your MB supports Ryzen Gen 3 which it does youre good to go. But tbh, unless you really want the specific parts in the build it yourself the CCL deal is very good.
Click to expand...

To be honest with you that is my gut feel as well, takes the hassle out of it, both extremely similar, get the warranty etc and the OS with the pre built, although I can't see it listed anywhere in my spec but it gives the option to upgrade to W10 pro, so must have home on it I am presuming but trying to find.
 
antc said:
To be honest with you that is my gut feel as well, takes the hassle out of it, both extremely similar, get the warranty etc and the OS with the pre built, although I can't see it listed anywhere in my spec but it gives the option to upgrade to W10 pro, so must have home on it I am presuming but trying to find.
Click to expand...

Do you need Pro?
 
No its just that is all is seems to give the option for weirdly when I sent the spec to basket, NO OS or W10 PRO. Absolutely certain W10 Home will be fine.
 
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