What type of PC do I need?
Discussion
Looking at getting a PC for studying, data storage, photo editing and the potential for the odd bit of gaming would be a bonus.
General studying and day to day work tasks could be handled by any modern PC, photo editing will be nothing more than a casual amateur photographer with the potential for some video editing. From memory this completely killed my old laptops.
Finally something that can handle the odd game is likely to be my biggest issue it seems, I would also like to run 2 screens if possible through the graphics card. Is this possible for £1000? (PC only)
General studying and day to day work tasks could be handled by any modern PC, photo editing will be nothing more than a casual amateur photographer with the potential for some video editing. From memory this completely killed my old laptops.
Finally something that can handle the odd game is likely to be my biggest issue it seems, I would also like to run 2 screens if possible through the graphics card. Is this possible for £1000? (PC only)
Yes.
If you're on a budget though going the second hand route does have a lot of merit.
bang for buck, some old company workstations are hard to beat, if you're willing to investigate the upgradeability beforehand.
For video editing, most is still CPU heavy. AMD has some great vfm in that aspect.
Even something like this https://www.scan.co.uk/3xs/configurator/scan-offic... will handle the loads you are asking.
Driving two displays is peanuts these days, really don't need a dedicated GPU for that. Onboard graphics have come a long way.
If you're on a budget though going the second hand route does have a lot of merit.
bang for buck, some old company workstations are hard to beat, if you're willing to investigate the upgradeability beforehand.
For video editing, most is still CPU heavy. AMD has some great vfm in that aspect.
Even something like this https://www.scan.co.uk/3xs/configurator/scan-offic... will handle the loads you are asking.
Driving two displays is peanuts these days, really don't need a dedicated GPU for that. Onboard graphics have come a long way.
RichFN2 said:
Looking at getting a PC for studying, data storage, photo editing and the potential for the odd bit of gaming would be a bonus.
General studying and day to day work tasks could be handled by any modern PC, photo editing will be nothing more than a casual amateur photographer with the potential for some video editing. From memory this completely killed my old laptops.
Finally something that can handle the odd game is likely to be my biggest issue it seems, I would also like to run 2 screens if possible through the graphics card. Is this possible for £1000? (PC only)
Does it need to be a windows PC or would you look at a Mac?General studying and day to day work tasks could be handled by any modern PC, photo editing will be nothing more than a casual amateur photographer with the potential for some video editing. From memory this completely killed my old laptops.
Finally something that can handle the odd game is likely to be my biggest issue it seems, I would also like to run 2 screens if possible through the graphics card. Is this possible for £1000? (PC only)
danb79 said:
RichFN2 said:
Looking at getting a PC for studying, data storage, photo editing and the potential for the odd bit of gaming would be a bonus.
General studying and day to day work tasks could be handled by any modern PC, photo editing will be nothing more than a casual amateur photographer with the potential for some video editing. From memory this completely killed my old laptops.
Finally something that can handle the odd game is likely to be my biggest issue it seems, I would also like to run 2 screens if possible through the graphics card. Is this possible for £1000? (PC only)
Does it need to be a windows PC or would you look at a Mac?General studying and day to day work tasks could be handled by any modern PC, photo editing will be nothing more than a casual amateur photographer with the potential for some video editing. From memory this completely killed my old laptops.
Finally something that can handle the odd game is likely to be my biggest issue it seems, I would also like to run 2 screens if possible through the graphics card. Is this possible for £1000? (PC only)
Just noticed you said PC only at the end
But still:
Photo editing needs plenty of RAM. Check what software you plan to use, Adobe recommend 16GB for Photoshop but most people will say you want 32.
Photos also take up a fair bit of hard drive space. If you're buying a desktop you can fit another drive relatively cheaply (£100 gets you 3-4 TB as extra storage, but run your OS off a faster SSD).
Gaming is the bit that will cost you though. Take a look at the kind of games you might want to play and the required spec. I'm currently glued to Factorio, and my 5 year old GTX1080 is well above the recommended spec for graphics cards, but for something new like Assassins' Creed Shadows it only just meets the minimum spec for 30 frames per second. If you want to play that at 60fps in 2k resolution you're looking at £400 for second hand graphics card, or nearly a grand new. If you're in to those kinds of games you might be better off getting a business type PC, without much graphics capability, and then a console for games.
Photos also take up a fair bit of hard drive space. If you're buying a desktop you can fit another drive relatively cheaply (£100 gets you 3-4 TB as extra storage, but run your OS off a faster SSD).
Gaming is the bit that will cost you though. Take a look at the kind of games you might want to play and the required spec. I'm currently glued to Factorio, and my 5 year old GTX1080 is well above the recommended spec for graphics cards, but for something new like Assassins' Creed Shadows it only just meets the minimum spec for 30 frames per second. If you want to play that at 60fps in 2k resolution you're looking at £400 for second hand graphics card, or nearly a grand new. If you're in to those kinds of games you might be better off getting a business type PC, without much graphics capability, and then a console for games.
Thanks all, will check out something with plenty of RAM. I assumed I needed a reasonable graphics card for photo and video editing but it's a bonus if I don't.
Lots of storage is always handy, and fairly inexpensive. It does seem the cost really mounts up if I want a decent graphics card. I do have an Xbox series X so I might just stick to that for gaming.
I would consider an Apple product but I was always under the impression they were always very expensive compared to the competition, and I really would not want a laptop again.
Lots of storage is always handy, and fairly inexpensive. It does seem the cost really mounts up if I want a decent graphics card. I do have an Xbox series X so I might just stick to that for gaming.
I would consider an Apple product but I was always under the impression they were always very expensive compared to the competition, and I really would not want a laptop again.
Buttery Ken said:
I was going to suggest the M4 Air (released tomorrow in the UK) will fly through those workloads. Gaming is getting better too, but if there's a specific title you'd want then check before you commit. Keep in mind that they only have two Thunderbolt/USB-C ports so you'll either need an adapter or suitable monitors.
Just noticed you said PC only at the end
But still:
Damn I’m gonna get me one of those.Just noticed you said PC only at the end
But still:
Didn’t realise they were still sub £1k and even less if I chop in my M1.
RichFN2 said:
I would consider an Apple product but I was always under the impression they were always very expensive compared to the competition, and I really would not want a laptop again.
You should check out the Mac mini, small and powerful. Just add some external storage to store things on as internal upgrades are expensive.They start at £600, although looks like costco have some extra discounts at the moment, an extra £50 off that one. You need to check, however I think they will take it back within 90 days if you don't like it.
RichFN2 said:
Thanks all, will check out something with plenty of RAM. I assumed I needed a reasonable graphics card for photo and video editing but it's a bonus if I don't.
Lots of storage is always handy, and fairly inexpensive. It does seem the cost really mounts up if I want a decent graphics card. I do have an Xbox series X so I might just stick to that for gaming.
I would consider an Apple product but I was always under the impression they were always very expensive compared to the competition, and I really would not want a laptop again.
Get a Mac Mini then; monitor of your choice and keyboard/trackpad/mouse of your choiceLots of storage is always handy, and fairly inexpensive. It does seem the cost really mounts up if I want a decent graphics card. I do have an Xbox series X so I might just stick to that for gaming.
I would consider an Apple product but I was always under the impression they were always very expensive compared to the competition, and I really would not want a laptop again.
The Mini is a mighty powerhouse and very capable indeed
ZesPak said:
If gaming is really wanted at 1000 GBP, as I said, can't do much better than getting a good up-gradable ex-office workstation and fit in the biggest and best GPU within your budget. Will give you a very competitive machine.
"Upgradeable" being the key point there. Quite a few business machines use small form factor cases or proprietary parts that limit thier upgradeability, eg some Dell's use non standard motherboard with expansion slots on a riser not on the main board, and others have cases that are too small to put a full size graphics card in. Some may also be lacking in ventilation to cope with a big graphics card. https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/WMtm74
Just over the £1000 mark but the GPU is the problem. If you are only looking at light gaming you could drop in the latest intel GPU (B580) instead and upgrade the storage and motherboard:
https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/JGC2zP
Based around the AMD 5900X 12 core CPU but to build something equivalent in AM5 or latest intel adds an extra £100 odd to the price.
https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/qYjY2x
Just over the £1000 mark but the GPU is the problem. If you are only looking at light gaming you could drop in the latest intel GPU (B580) instead and upgrade the storage and motherboard:
https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/JGC2zP
Based around the AMD 5900X 12 core CPU but to build something equivalent in AM5 or latest intel adds an extra £100 odd to the price.
https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/qYjY2x
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