Member of the Month

JalmarKalmar
April, 2024

Online

Welcome to the Newschoolers forums! You may read the forums as a guest, however you must be a registered member to post. Register to become a member today!

Help me choose a computer

profile picture
erikK
Posts: 3245 - Karma: 2,327
My computer I edit on recently died, so I'm looking to get a new one. I would like to get a mac, but I don't think it'd be worth the extra price considering every other device in my family is Microsoft. I use Premiere anyway and am happy with it. Also, it seems like you can't get iMacs/mbp's with i7 or more than 4gb of RAM stock? What's up with that? I already have 2 decent monitors too so I feel like buying an iMac would be wasting a lot of money on the monitor, but the mac mini's or whatever seem to suck.
What would you guys recommend? I want this computer to last a while. Not really wanting to spend over $1000, unless I decide to switch to a Mac after all.


spark notes: Need new computer. not sure whether pc or mac (currently use a pc,windows phone,etc), is i7 necessary? how much ram?
Dec 13 2011 9:25PM
0 0
profile picture
S.C
Posts: 3068 - Karma: 2,281
the thing is, if your getting a mac desktop, get an imac or a mac pro (which is obvs. out of the question) The mac mini has shitty specs and isnt worth getting just because you have two "decent monitors.

get the lowest end imac, and later buy 3rd party 8gb of ram and put it in there. total that will run you about $1250. and that is a powerhouse of a computer

however, if you can wait a bit, I would, as the imac is approaching the end of its cycle. based on its history, there should be a new line coming out in about 40-50 days.

oh and dont even consider windows.

Dec 13 2011 9:40PM
0 0
profile picture
Childstar.
Posts: 1947 - Karma: 2,212
Windows is beyond fine, I had both a mac based system, and a windows based system. I preferred windows. Adobe cs5 actually gets better performance on windows archetechture
Dec 13 2011 9:51PM
0 0
profile picture
Childstar.
Posts: 1947 - Karma: 2,212
please ignore my spelling. haha.
Dec 13 2011 9:52PM
0 0
profile picture
Childstar.
Posts: 1947 - Karma: 2,212
This.
Dec 13 2011 10:24PM
0 0
profile picture
the.cheat
Posts: 2859 - Karma: 171
yeah build a nice hackintosh if your up to it. and chai not to start a mac vs pc war but i think its a little naive to just say don't even consider windows.
Dec 13 2011 10:56PM
0 0
profile picture
Crowley.
Posts: 190 - Karma: 19
Check out HP Pavilion Elite I have the HP pavilion elitebook which has almost identical specs and I love it, has never let me down with how much power it has and the graphics card is great, Battlefield 3 is amazing on it.
Dec 14 2011 12:20AM
0 0
profile picture
eheath
Posts: 61155 - Karma: 118,791
If you want a desktop, build your own or have one built for you. You run adobe so you don't need mac and already use windows so just stick with it.
Dec 14 2011 12:23AM
0 0
profile picture
erikK
Posts: 3245 - Karma: 2,327
not sure i would be able to build a hackintosh
Dec 14 2011 2:05AM
0 0
profile picture
erikK
Posts: 3245 - Karma: 2,327
okay thanks. i don't really know how to go about doing something like this though. i'm guessing ordering almost everything online is the best? is their any sites that sell packages?
also do you guys think i need i7 or will i5 be okay?
Dec 14 2011 2:14AM
0 0
profile picture
eheath
Posts: 61155 - Karma: 118,791
newegg if you want to build you own, im sure you could have it built through a website like newegg too tho. You would be fine with i5 but if you're custom making your computer go with i7 because its not that much more.
Dec 14 2011 2:35AM
0 0
profile picture
erikK
Posts: 3245 - Karma: 2,327
awesome, thanks a lot
Dec 14 2011 2:40AM
0 0
profile picture
erikK
Posts: 3245 - Karma: 2,327
anyone wanna put some input in on these 3?
http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/product/gateway-gateway-intel-core-i5-2320-desktop-computer-dx4860-ef31p-dx4860-ef31p/10180942.aspx?path=573cf4f79058a6262f1d6bef1a17a0fben02
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883157109CVF
http://www.dell.com/ca/p/xps-8300/pd?oc=dxps8300_f_3e&model_id=xps-8300#RatingsAndReviews

I'm kinda leaning towards the HP, I've had some bad experiences with Dell, not too sure about Gateway.
I'm looking at complete systems right now because I'm not sure if I'm up to build my own. Still gotta do some research on that.
Dec 14 2011 3:00AM
0 0
profile picture
deciblast
Posts: 52 - Karma: 10
If you do decide to go Mac, make sure you buy used. This machine after taxes would be $1318.

Get it off eBay for $1069
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Apple-iMac-21-5-Desktop-MC309LL-A-NEWEST-VERSION-May-2011-/220914238113?pt=Apple_Desktops&hash=item336f83c2a1#ht_2784wt_1141
Dec 14 2011 3:29AM
0 0
profile picture
erikK
Posts: 3245 - Karma: 2,327
do imacs like this have an extra slot for more ram? or are you stuck with 4gb max
Dec 14 2011 3:35AM
0 0
profile picture
erikK
Posts: 3245 - Karma: 2,327
ignore this.


Maybe I'll look into a mac and then upgrade the ram to 8gb or something later on. I can always use a family members computer to sync my phone
Dec 14 2011 3:41AM
0 0
profile picture
.cam.
Posts: 1852 - Karma: 48
I was looking at this one For about $125 more you can get 24gb of ram and since you have some monitors its under your price range

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.769175&cm_sp=DIY_PC_Combos-_-769175-_-Combo
Dec 14 2011 5:42PM
0 0
profile picture
the.cheat
Posts: 2859 - Karma: 171
24 gb of ram is so overkill...
Dec 14 2011 5:47PM
0 0
profile picture
.cam.
Posts: 1852 - Karma: 48
I know but for $1000 and some assembly required its a hell of a computer. The 6gb of ram that comes is enough.
Dec 14 2011 5:49PM
0 0
profile picture
eheath
Posts: 61155 - Karma: 118,791
more than 4 is overkill its just cheap as fuck to have 8.
Dec 14 2011 6:00PM
0 0
profile picture
1337
Posts: 31039 - Karma: 29,013
for anything not 64 bit, it is, but for 64 bit programs, 8-12 is plenty.
Dec 14 2011 6:42PM
0 0
profile picture
erikK
Posts: 3245 - Karma: 2,327
okay so you guys think the i5 2.5ghz with 4gb of ram would be plenty for editing avchd with premiere and ae? how important are graphics cards for video editing?
sorry i'm just not knowledgeable at all about computers. kinda just wanting to say fuck compatibility right now and go for an imac
Dec 14 2011 6:44PM
0 0
profile picture
.cam.
Posts: 1852 - Karma: 48
Ya that will work and graphics cards don't mean much for video editing or so I'm told.
Dec 14 2011 7:20PM
0 0
profile picture
1337
Posts: 31039 - Karma: 29,013
you want a half decent GPU, so in the future you can watch and buffer large video resolutions
Dec 14 2011 9:24PM
0 0
profile picture
erikK
Posts: 3245 - Karma: 2,327
Yeah I know they did at least a bit. But the stock one that comes with the i5 21.5 iMac will be fine right?
Dec 14 2011 10:12PM
0 0
profile picture
bakedpow
Posts: 8770 - Karma: 10,462
Graphics cards are required for some parts of editing. I have a shitty graphics card in my late 2008 mac book so if i try to use colorista fcp says some error message about the graphics card...
Dec 14 2011 10:16PM
0 0
profile picture
chris.G
Posts: 301 - Karma: 73
yeah AMD Radeon is stock on all the current iMacs and will be better than fine for video and graphics

my two cents...I recently switched from pc to mac and I am extremely happy with the mac, I use the iMacs at my school and just bought a 13" i5 for when I don't have access to the iMacs, which, despite it being a low end model, performs amazingly and can handle my high resolution video without any degraded playback

the price of mac might be higher, but its not for nothing, anything on a mac is made by apple, minus the processor, and is designed and tested to run with macs without a glitch...pc's are more customizable which can be an advantage and cheaper but the hardware that you have, especially when you build a computer, comes from different companies and don't play as nicely together as the components on a mac

you can also finance a mac at 0% and have a year to pay it back, makes it a litter better than having to dish out over 1k up front

bottom line, I don't think I'll go back to PC for a while
Dec 15 2011 3:38PM
0 0
profile picture
1337
Posts: 31039 - Karma: 29,013
just stick to something with a dedicated GPU, and dont get a laptop with integrated graphics.
Dec 15 2011 3:41PM
0 0
profile picture
erikK
Posts: 3245 - Karma: 2,327
well i ended up going with a pc. 6 core 3.2ghz 16gb ram and hd6770 graphics for $900 from a local store. i'm hoping as long as i don't download stupid shit and reinstall windows once a year or whatever this system should last me awhile.
Dec 27 2011 8:42PM
0 0
profile picture
Strobe
Posts: 279 - Karma: 8
thats a fucking insane deal man! congrats
Dec 29 2011 2:38PM
0 0
profile picture
quaive
Posts: 1055 - Karma: 99
Build your own PC! I did it with no previous experience and I've had no problems with it. It runs like a dream. All I did was followed a youtube video... took me a couple hours in total to complete.
Dec 29 2011 3:11PM
0 0
profile picture
Moosen
Posts: 4285 - Karma: 2,585
Build your own. I did it. I have quite a b it of experience with building computers though. built first one at like age 10 /claim.

anyways my current pc i probably put under 1000 into it and i am running an overclocked 3.3ghz quad core amd athlonII with an overclocked ati radeon hd5770 1gb gddr5 graphics card, 16gb of gaming ram, 1.25 tb hard drive, and a shit ton of fans. ahaha Thing kills it!
Feb 1 2012 11:48PM
0 0
profile picture
Inline.
Posts: 4424 - Karma: 432
N00b question, what do i7 and i5 mean?
Feb 2 2012 12:06AM
0 0
profile picture
Moosen
Posts: 4285 - Karma: 2,585
Correct me if I am wrong but they are both quad cores. The I7 is a more stable version of it that runs cooler and is more efficient. also the I7 has hyper threading where as the i5 does not. The hyper threading is only really useful for very intensive programs. otherwise the i5 is a fine pricepoint processor that will do most everything that you would be using it for
Feb 2 2012 12:12AM
0 0
profile picture
1337
Posts: 31039 - Karma: 29,013
just names for intels processors. the i7 is the more powerful and top end of the i series, the i5 is the middle group
Feb 2 2012 12:28AM
0 0
profile picture
Moosen
Posts: 4285 - Karma: 2,585
see above post!
Feb 2 2012 12:32AM
0 0
profile picture
blatt
Posts: 5584 - Karma: 3,097
I'd think 8 is a good number for those trying to run AE and FCP/Premiere at the same time. Anything above that is pointless unless you're working with Raw 4k files
Feb 2 2012 1:53AM
0 0
profile picture
eheath
Posts: 61155 - Karma: 118,791
meh ram isn't as important as the video card and the processor speed for 4k.
Feb 2 2012 1:55AM
0 0
All times are Eastern (-4)