Looking to buy a computer soon need help.

Ok so me and my gf are going to go halves on a desktop we might save up for a apple desktop but.... they cost fucktons lol.

The things we would use the desktop for would be
Hd video editing.
graphics.
streaming.


Needs to;
be fast/responsive
not force close

Basicly I want a desktop that I can record 360 gameplay with a black magic intensity capcard.

I want to be able to edit the videos and make gfx aswell.

need any info or links to help me out

 

For the price you'd be spending on that Mac, you can get a Windows desktop that can do all the Mac can and more. Only exception really being audio/video production is a little better on Macs (marginally), but Windows is fine for 99% of people.

Also, go custom. You'll get way more for your money

 

Thinking about it. Could you help me walk through specs ill need for what I wanta do?

 

I can give you a list of specific parts if you can give me a budget.

 

Gimme your price range for a desktop, I'll build you a sick ass custom that can beat the shit out of any prebuilt or mac for the same price.

 

Price range like 600$ or tell me if the quality difference makes it worth it to spend more.

 

Just bumping it up to 700 or 800 would have a pretty big impact on performance. 600 is a bit low to get you a machine that's up to par with most of todays.

Here's a quick one I built, probably not the best, but still pretty nice.

Mobo - 70
i5 2500k - 220
psu - 60
Gskill 4gb - 30
1TB wd blue -65
Optical - 19
6850 1GB - 160

total $624


You can pick your own case if you like. I'm not very good at it nor do I enjoy picking them out.
Feel free to pick a different motherboard if you need more pci slots or something.

Or a new HD if you want a 2TB or a caviar black. I'd stick with WD though...

just suggestions

 

WD Blue drives have TERRIBLE reviews tbh. That drive alone has nearly 50% 1 star ratings... Seagate's Barracuda series is really reliable and at a better price point. It's between that or the WD Blacks, imo. Also I'd stay away from Diablotek, not a very reputable PSU maker + it's only 79% efficient. 675W is also waaaay overkill for that system. It'd probably top out at 300W max lol, further increasing the inefficiency. Corsair, Seasonic, Silverstone, Antec, OCZ are all a much better choice IMO. Skimping on a PSU is like fast track to a broken computer.

Other than that your build will work but having a 2500k at a $600 budget seems kind of like having all your eggs in one basket. He'd also need a CPU cooler to even come close to tapping that CPU, which adds even more to the already boosted budget :s. Plus with a case it's gonna tip well over $700 probably... most likely better off with a AMD Phenom II X4 965 unless he can squeeze out the extra money for more budget.

6850 is a good value card but something like this probably has better price/performance. It's $10 more but performs significantly faster. Same price after rebate too.

@OP
A bigger budget would vastly improve your overall experience. Even if it was just by a couple hundred extra, it would be a big help. Better to save for a longer period of time and buy current tech than have to buy something impulsively that's already a generation or two behind imo.

My recommended build based on your budget:
CD/DVD Burner:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136236
Antec 300 Case:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129042
Seagate Barracuda 1TB 7200 RPM HDD:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148697
GIGABYTE GA-880MA-USB3 AM3+ Motherboard: (supports Bulldozer if you ever wanted to upgrade)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128490
Sapphire Radeon HD 6870 GPU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102948
OCZ ModXStream 500W PSU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341016
CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2x4GB) RAM:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233186
AMD Phenom II X4 965 CPU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103727
Cooler Master Hyper 212+ CPU Cooler:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065

Grand Total:* $687.87

Buuuut, there's $65 in MIR + a few items have instant savings (check links for codes) all in all the build will be close if not under the $600 mark when all is said and done and it's everything you need, case etc. That being said, I still say wait and save up more so you can go with a 2500k.

 

If im mainly doing it for video and editing isnt that supposed to be what apples good for? I could spend 1000$ max but at that price I might as well get a refurbished apple? would a 800$ custom be better? not to mention id still have to buy a monitor if i bought a custom and apples come with em.

 

Apples are good for editting, but goodluck getting anything from this century for your budget.

 

I would be spending 1000$ to get a refurbished apple. just wanting to see if I could get something better cheaper.

 

IMO stay away from refurbished. Somebody got rid of the computer for a reason. Also, even with $1000, you're probably going to be looking at a 2009 or 2010 model which will be slow as fuck by today's standards. Apple tends to use old tech to begin with. I'm willing to bet with $1k you won't get more than a Core2Duo/4GB combo.

If you go custom, you can have FAR better spces for even the $600 you originally wanted to spend. Apples are a status symbol and pretty much all about the brand. Yeah it would be good for what you're wanting to do but the Windows PC would be better at your budget.

Only way I see it being worth it is if you are a professional editor. As in you do it for a living. Final Cut Pro is the only program that I can think of that is exclusive to makes you might want to use. IMO Sony Vegas and Adobe After Effects works just as well, which is available on Windows.

New build on updated budget:
CD/DVD Burner:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136236
Lian Li Lancool PC-K62 Case:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112239
Seagate Barracuda 1TB 7200 RPM HDD:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148697
EVGA GeForce GTX 560 Ti FPB:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130604
Corsair TX650 650W Power Supply:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139020
Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2x4GB) RAM:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233186
MSI P67A-G43 Motherboard:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130583
Intel Core i7 2600k Quad Core CPU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115070
Cooler Master Hyper 212+:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065

So now you've got this really nice Windows PC that will do pretty much anything. It will even max most games. 3D Rendering will be great on it because of the CUDA cores etc. The 2600k is the top CPU atm as well. Apple doesn't make a computer under $2500 that can come close to matching that ^ Price performance wise, this blows anything Apple has to offer completely out of the water.

 

I refer you to
http://sythe.org/showpost.php?p=9831013&postcount=15

I made a few builds there for a $1000 budget that I think are pretty nice.


And Ivy I suggested a caviar black, but I didn't wanna put the extra expense on there really. I always do buy the blacks.

 

Pretty simple.

Alienware/Dell cpu with an Alienware or Hp screen.

 

8^Go away with your useless advice please.
Also don't spam.

 

I've been in the market for a custom gaming laptop recently and I can tell you from looking at estimates of what I'm going to be building, Alienware is a huge RIPOFF. A m17x configured to my desired options was almost $3000. The same laptop from iBUYPOWER was only $2000 roughly. Sager had roughly the same laptop for $2200. There are a multitude of options better than Dell/Alienware. Also, HP is crap. Pretty sure they have the highest failure rate out of any manufacturer.

 

He isn't spitting out bullshit with the HP thing either.
Sager>ibuypower imo.

Only thing really worth it from dell IMO would be the m11x, even then i wouldn't get one.

 

Yeah I plan on getting my laptop from Sager. The iBUYPOWER example was just to prove the point that Dell/Alienware is a huge ripoff. Hoping to have a 580M in my laptop, if all goes according to plan... Gotta be able to play BF3 at school.

 

What's more powerful the 6990m or the 580m?

Pretty sure I got a few lappies for dank that had the 6990m in it, can't remember. :s

And whilst you play it at school I'll be stuck on MW3 cos but desktop can't handle BF3, :'c

 

They trade blows, but the 580M is generally accepted as the more powerful of the two. The 580M is much more expensive though so if the option arises I'd probably just as soon go for Crossfire'd 6990Ms.