Which Desktop from these choices?

[crzgt]

Hi there AVForums members,

I currently use a MacBook from early 2009, and it is still going strong. However, I am looking to get an upgrade.

I would like to purchase a custom built computer from PC Specialist between £500-600. I would like the computer to be able to edit high quality HD video with ease.

The specs would be along these lines...


Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5-2500 Quad Core (3.30GHz, 6MB Cache) + HD Graphics

Motherboard
ASUS® P8P67 (NEW REV 3.0): USB 3.0, SATA 6.0GB/s, CrossFireX™

Memory (RAM)
4GB SAMSUNG DDR3 DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 2GB)

Graphics Card
1GB ATI RADEON™ HD5770 - DVI,HDMI - DX® 11 ***SPECIAL OFFER***
(OR A DIFFERENT MORE POWERFUL GRAPHICS CARD)
FREE Total War Shogun™ 2 with any AMD® Radeon™ Graphics card!

Memory - 1st Hard Disk
1TB WD CAVIAR GREEN WD10EARS, SATA 3 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE

1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM

Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT

Power Supply
600W Quiet 80 PLUS Quad Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan (£59)

Processor Cooling
INTEL SOCKET LGA1155/1156 STANDARD CPU COOLER

--------------------------

Or shall I sell my MacBook for around £500-600 and purchase the new 2011 iMac priced at £999 - Specs...

21.5-inch: 2.5GHz
2.5GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i5
1920 x 1080 resolution
4GB (two 2GB) memory
500GB hard drive1
AMD Radeon HD 6750M with 512MB

Which option should i go for, and which one of these computers will be able to edit Hd footage with ease?

 

[LJx]

the pc is more powerful, i would add another 4GB RAM it will only cost a few extra £ from pcspecialist, they czaan both easily edit footage it is not that demanding

 

[crzgt]

the pc is more powerful, i would add another 4GB RAM it will only cost a few extra £ from pcspecialist, they czaan both easily edit footage it is not that demanding

Ok will do, but shall I go for that Motherboard with the USB 3.0 with the CrossfireX or without the CrossfireX and with USB 2.0?

ASUS® P8H67-V (NEW REV 3.0): ATX, USB 3.0, SATA 6.0Gb/s, CROSSFIREX
---------
ASUS® P8H67-M LX SI (NEW REV 3.0): M-ATX, USB 2.0, SATA 6.0Gb/s, 2 x PCI

Any major differences?

 

[LJx]

If you are not planning on using two graphics cards then you don't really need the crossfire capability, butUSB 3 would be nice to have I guess

EDIT. I should point out that the motherboards which are H67 have intergrated graphics but no overclocking stuff.
Wheras the P67 motherboards don't use onboard graphics but have lots of overclocking features for the 2500k / 2600k etc CPUs

 

[crzgt]

If you are not planning on using two graphics cards then you don't really need the crossfire capability, butUSB 3 would be nice to have I guess

Thanks for the quick reply, and last thing to ask, would the Intel Quad core i5-2500 3.30 GHz have a lot more power than the Intel Quad core i5-2400 3.10 GHz CPU?

Is it something that would be a major difference in performance between the two?

 

[LJx]

Not at all, unless it was the 2500k version and then you would have to overclock it yourself. I just saw this on the site and thought it looked ok

PCSPECIALIST.CO.UK - Vortex 600 Gaming PC, Configure Your Own PC, Configure PC, Design Your Own PC

 

[crzgt]

Not at all, unless it was the 2500k version and then you would have to overclock it yourself. I just saw this on the site and thought it looked ok

PCSPECIALIST.CO.UK - Vortex 600 Gaming PC, Configure Your Own PC, Configure PC, Design Your Own PC

Which would you choose, the one from your link or the one I showed you above?

 

[LJx]

Well I don't know how much that one costs, but they look pretty similar anyway and you can customise them how you like. I think i5 2400 cpu would be fine but I don't know how much the price difference is, and the 6790 graphics card is a bit better. I would go for 8GB RAM though because it does not add much to the price, and 1TB HDD is a good move to because it only adds £10 or so.

 

[crzgt]

Well I don't know how much that one costs, but they look pretty similar anyway and you can customise them how you like. I think i5 2400 cpu would be fine but I don't know how much the price difference is, and the 6790 graphics card is a bit better. I would go for 8GB RAM though because it does not add much to the price, and 1TB HDD is a good move to because it only adds £10 or so.

Thanks for the heads up, is a 450w power supply good enough for this PC?

 

[LJx]

Thanks for the heads up, is a 450w power supply good enough for this PC?

It must be because it is one of their pre built systems and on top of that when you try and customise a computer on their site with a PSU that is not powerful enough it gives you a warning and then will not let you do it, give it a try.
One thing about pcspecialist is that the PSU prices are not so great and the options are kind of limited, itf you wanted a different PSU down the road you could add your rather than pay a premium for one of their no brand ones

 

[crzgt]

Thanks for the help Sweat, I'm ready to order the PC now with these specs, please post something if you see anything wrong, or if i should upgrade anything.

COOLERMASTER ELITE 310 BLUE CASE

Processor (CPU) Intel® Core™i5-2400 Quad Core (3.10GHz, 6MB Cache) + HD Graphics

Motherboard ASUS® P8H67-M LX SI (NEW REV 3.0): M-ATX, USB 2.0, SATA 6.0Gb/s, 2 x PCI

Memory (RAM) 8GB SAMSUNG DDR3 DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 4GB)

Graphics Card 1GB AMD RADEON™ HD6790 - DVI,HDMI,mDP - DX® 11,
Eyefinity 3 Capable

2nd Graphics Card NONE

Memory - 1st Hard Disk 1TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD1002FAEX, SATA 6
Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)

2nd Hard Disk NONE

RAID NONE

1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive 24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM

2nd DVD/BLU-RAY Drive NONE

Memory Card Reader INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD,
etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT

Power Supply 450W Quiet 80 PLUS Dual Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan
(£29)

Processor Cooling INTEL SOCKET LGA1155/1156 STANDARD CPU COOLER

Sound Card ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)

Network Facilities ONBOARD 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD
ON ALL PCs

USB Options 6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS)
AS STANDARD

Delivery STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)

Build Time Standard Build - Approximately 11 to 13 working days

Miscellaneous FREE Total War Shogun™ 2 with any AMD® Radeon™
Graphics card!

Pricing Information

Price (excluding VAT) £488.33

Price £586.00

Order Quantity 1

Bulk Discount £0.00

Total Order price (Ex VAT) £488.33

Total Order Price £586.00

Payment Method

Wattage

Maximum Required Power 379W

 

[LJx]

It looks fine to me, if there is something wrong then it will tell you like when something is not compatable i think

 

[crzgt]

It looks fine to me, if there is something wrong then it will tell you like when something is not compatable i think

With these exact same specs, just with the graphics card being a GTX 560 Ti am I able to game smoothly??
Because I want the PC to last me a long time instead of me constantly spending on upgrades

EDIT: and for only £8 I can upgrade to an unclocked CPU, do you think that this will be worth it down the line.

 

[LJx]

No bother, I think the 560ti might need a little more power than the 6790 but not 100% on that so 450W PSU might be pushing it. If you get an unlocked CPU eg 2500K then you would probably want either a P67 or Z68 motherboard as opposed to H67 reason being is that you can do all the overclocking with these if you choose to do so at some point.
Maybe you should think about putting the whole thing together yourself than you can pick exactly what you want and save some £££

 

[crzgt]

No bother, I think the 560ti might need a little more power than the 6790 but not 100% on that so 450W PSU might be pushing it. If you get an unlocked CPU eg 2500K then you would probably want either a P67 or Z68 motherboard as opposed to H67 reason being is that you can do all the overclocking with these if you choose to do so at some point.
Maybe you should think about putting the whole thing together yourself than you can pick exactly what you want and save some £££

I would build myself, but I'm just scared of doing something wrong, like touching something on the PC with a static charge

CoolerMaster Elite 310 Blue Case + 2 Front USB

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5-2500k Quad Core (3.30GHz, 6MB Cache) + HD Graphics

Motherboard
ASUS® P8P67 (NEW REV 3.0): USB 3.0, SATA 6.0GB/s, CrossFireX™

Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG DDR3 DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 4GB)

Graphics Card
1GB ATI RADEON™ HD5770 - DVI,HDMI - DX® 11

450W PSU

I'm so close to pushing the button now with these specs after a few weeks of browsing around at parts and specs with help

Price is £649

 

[LJx]

It looks fine, the guys at pcspecialist will probably put you right if there are any issues, at least with that cpu and motherboard you have got the option to overclock if you choose

 

[RyanMartin1993]

according to the generic 3d benchmark test at passmark
the HD 5770 is more powerful than the HD 6750M
HD 6750M scores 1144
HD 5770 scores 1654
so about 40% faster in terms of overall performance, not sure about application specific performance tho.

 

[crzgt]

according to the generic 3d benchmark test at passmark
the HD 5770 is more powerful than the HD 6750M
HD 6750M scores 1144
HD 5770 scores 1654
so about 40% faster in terms of overall performance, not sure about application specific performance tho.

Thanks for the help, I just ordered the PC above from PCSpecialist, just awaiting for build to be processed and then off to be delivered.