[Aayci Warrick]

Hello der,
Next year I am heading off to college for video production and am going to need a powerful computer for video editing (and some gaming) purposes!

Specs on my computer of choice would be:

8GB DDR3 Memory
2.9 Ghz or higher CPU (preferrably intel and quad-core).
1 TB Harddrive or more
and a nice graphics card capable of playing/editing HD video and playing games.

My college budget allows for a computer around (but preferably under) $1,000 dollars and there are so many sites and stores around that I don't know how to even begin to find these computers or compare them correctly when I do.

Right now I am most likely getting this computer http://www.productshippingcenter.com/ap ... u=SYX-1038

But I figured this may be a good place to ask a favor and ask if anybody can find a similar computer that may be a better deal?
Thanks a lot!

[MasterM]

as is always my advice, buy a mac

[Akimoto]

as is always my advice, buy a mac

Me and 95% of the "computer world" would disagree.
At least if he wishes to play on it.

[Necros]

Honestly, and I'm scared to say this myself, but I agree with MasterM here. If it's video editing that you need with this, a Mac is for all intents and purposes more preferable in my opinion. However, I'm not sure if getting the Mac that could handle the power you need will be in your budget. I'd keep an eye on that though.

[Aayci Warrick]

Yes, I have definitely considered getting a mac in depth, but I decided to get a PC and get more bang for my buck because the school I will be attending will have iMacs open 24/7 in their labs.

One thing that caught my eye, check out the http://www.woot.com deal today (Nov 28), why is it so cheap. I mean, other than it being refurbished. I understand the functions of computer hardware but when it comes to specific names and comparisons of things, I am at a loss. So could somebody please clear up what the big difference between my earlier choice (link in original post) and this one? For $400 dollars cheaper, is it worth it? Or is there some secret gimmick hiding within it?

[jawfin]

My advice is only applicable to people like me (otherwise it wouldn't be my advice) which is buy the parts and build it yourself. Source a cheap importer (they sell the exact same parts as retail stores, only at half the price). You get the most powerful, custom designed computer for the cheapest price possible. If you don't actually know what a computer is and have difficulty surfing the web and installing software, get a Mac.

[Chantelle]

For what you have specified, your link does seem to match it pretty well.

You will not get a Mac of a similar specification for anywhere near that price and it will also not do all you want.. the gaming aspect as you say isn't up to much..

I dont know much about US vendors So I cannot help there, I typically build my machines myself but other than that your specified system looks more than adequate for what you specify

[MasterM]

i use a mac for gaming and its fine, although do what you want

[saunby]

I would say Mac here as well, they might have a lab open all times but that means you have to go to the lab, the other thing to do would be to get a macbook and then get a cheap pc, or upgrade yours

[Chantelle]

i use a mac for gaming and its fine, although do what you want

To spec it up like that its a frigging rip off

Apple hardware is a rip off.. and gaming on a Mac is still a long way behind.

If he is going to bootcamp into Windows then its pointless because he has spent 2x the amount for the same hardware.

If he was just video editing yeah sure get a Mac but as soon as you add gaming or Engineering or cad and networks into the mix.. forget it..

I just feel for his budget and what he wants to achieve he can spend his $1000 and get everything he wants or

Spend $1000 (maybe more) on a Mac and only get half of what he wants.

Don't get me wrong I quite like Macs and their interface, but they just do not cover all the bases for me and In the professional environment (active directory since we mostly use it) they are just a bit of a pain the the butt

[Melissa]

Video encoding is pretty much hardcore CPU power.. absolute all run time is allocated to running it..

For your money you can get a highly powerful PC with a higher range CPU. If you was to get an Apple you'd get a lower spec CPU unless you dish out a fortune to get a higher end one which you'd be over budget.. the same for the graphics card.

I do not want to sound rude but I just cannot believe given your situation and requirements people are suggesting a Macintosh. A lot of heavy Macintosh users beat the buy a Mac drum regardless of whether or not it is the right thing for the person to do.

Take the iMac, a great personal PC and a nice tidy interface and clean machine to use.. But match it with a $1000 PC in HD video encoding forget it.. as as for the gaming, depends does the person want to play the odd casual games or many.

[saunby]

I dont own a Mac, considering that school work will (im assuming) take priority over gaming that is why I suggested it. Use the existing PC for JKA and whatever other games etc and the mac for school work/video editing stuff.

My brother has both a macbook and an iMac as he does alot of music editing and stuff, he also plays games on it with no problem at all, and a low res game like JKA shouldnt be any problem at all!

[John]

I'm probably not saying anything someone else hasn't already said, but if you're a poor college student like I am you probably want to get the most out of your money, so I would say buy a freaking awesome PC as compared to a mediocre Mac for the same price. I guess a lot of it should depend on what kind of video editing your doing, whether or not your doing HD videos of 320d videos. Also it depends on what kind of software you are using(Moviemaker or Adobe Premiere). If your going to use Adobe software I would way for efficiencies' sake, buy a Mac, because I'm pretty sure Apple and Adobe are in cahoots together against PC's. I'm not biased at all against Macs or PC's, but I do think that Macs tend to be overrated sometimes and overpriced. So you must choose but choose wisely: Power or shiny, flashy looks.

[Chantelle]

But that is what I don't get

A Mac or PC will do school or college work equally good.

HD video rendering, sure a Mac will do a great job, but Melissa is right a $1000 dollar PC will buy a machine that will do it incredibly more efficient.

Have you done much video encoding? It is a long and ball aching process, you will save yourself a lot of hours with raw power which an iMac does not have.
Great personal computers, but no core muscle to them at all, thats why you see high end CAD machines like I do at work, PCs that cost £3000, they are pure power 64bit with 24GB ram and £800 Quadro GPUs..

And for the gaming aspect, well if JKA is his only requirement sure.. but if someone said to me they wanted some gaming purposes I would assume they wasn't talking about 8 year old games.. Maybe that is all he wants sure.

I just don't understand it, the two things he specified and he would end up buying an iMac which would at best be average return for his money on productivity.



edit:

Anyway I don't wish to enforce my opinion on anybody , he should get whatever he wishes, I just think for his budget he could get a lot more for his money and fulfill his full requirements

[Aayci Warrick]

lol I like how this turned into a Mac vs PC thread when I had already turned down the idea of a mac, thanks to everybody though!

I have decided to just build a PC with my friends and just create my own powerful machine!

[John]

This isn't a Mac versus PC thread. It's the truth! Good luck on the PC building, my PC is homemade also. It's not too hard and alot cheaper.

[Melissa]

lol I like how this turned into a Mac vs PC thread when I had already turned down the idea of a mac, thanks to everybody though!

I have decided to just build a PC with my friends and just create my own powerful machine!

It wasn't a Mac Vs PC thread

I don't dislike Macs at all and I know neither does my older sister

However i just thought it was a ridiculously bad choice for you..

I think you have actually made the best choice, had I known you was able to build your own that would have been by far my first choice.

[Necros]

lol I like how this turned into a Mac vs PC thread when I had already turned down the idea of a mac, thanks to everybody though!

I have decided to just build a PC with my friends and just create my own powerful machine!

It wasn't a Mac Vs PC thread

I don't dislike Macs at all and I know neither does my older sister

However i just thought it was a ridiculously bad choice for you..

I think you have actually made the best choice, had I known you was able to build your own that would have been by far my first choice.

Agreed with Mel here. Even though I said that you should probably choose a Mac because from what I understand, they are better at video editing, but to truly get the raw power you need for the more high-end stuff, you'd need to sell your soul for a Mac that could accomplish it. Good luck to building the machine though mate, should fit your needs just fine

[Aayci Warrick]

Hey everybody, just stopping by to let everybody know that I did build a computer!
The rough price of it was about $850 which is great for it's power!

These are the specs


Operating System: Windows 7 Professional 64-bit
Processor: AMD Phenom(tm) II X6 1075T Processor (6 CPUs), ~3.0GHz
Memory: 8192MB DDR3RAM
Graphics: ATI Radeon HD 5770
Storage: (1) 160 gb 7200 rpm harddrive (boot)
(1) 1.5 TB 7200rpm HDD

such a crazy upgrade, it's amazing being able to play games normally above 30 fps and edit/watch HD videos! Windows 7 is also very nice and clean. Coming from a 2003 Stock Dell computer with a single 3.0 Ghz processor and 2gb DDR, with integrated graphics and then some old normal PCI nvidia graphics card, it is aweshum.

SO I JUST WANTED TO AGAIN SAY THANK YOU TO YOU ALL! This forum helped make me decide on what option was best for me and now I am in a better virtual world because of it.
Who knows, maybe I will try to play JKA on it sometime this winter?

[jawfin]

Woot, sounds like a nice system and cheap too, thats always win!