PCS Specialists help me please! HD Viewing and Video Editing PC needed

[Tippa]

Hello everyone,

I’ve been looking to buy a new Computer for a long time. Rather than be passive and just buy one straight away I’ve decided to research. I have been researching for a long time then I found you guys. I can’t believe I live in the UK and I haven’t heard of you guys. I’ve stumbled across PCS and I was impressed by their awards.

Anyway, Let’s just say I was going to buy a computer from a company called ‘D’, just in case we’re not allowed to mention names. They’ve recently released a new model with a case of a previous model . I decided to do research on some forums and people have said the parts are ‘terrible’ for a Price of Around £1550 inc VAT. TBH if I was to spend between £1000-1300 inc VAT that would be a success for me.
To be honest if I was to buy from ‘D’ I would be just buying from because they are a mainstream company ignoring the commonly held belief that they have a rep for overcharging with Cheap parts.

This was some the Spec from the company beginning with 'D':
2nd gen Intel® Core™ i7-2600 Processor (3.40GHz, 8MB)
Integrated 7.1 with WAVE MAXXAudio 4
16384MB (4x4GB) 1600MHz DDR3 Dual Channel
AMD Radeon™ HD 7770 2GB DDR5 Graphics Card
256GB SSD + 2TB (7,200rpm) SATA Hard Drive
16x DVD +/- RW Drive (read/write CD & DVD)

People on another forum described it as awful. Also other forums saying that the company have a rep for overcharging on parts.

This is what I would like from my PC
• I will install Sony Vegas and Adobe Pro for video editing when I get the computer. So I want a computer which I will be able to use whilst rendering video So I am still able to go online and watch films or use skype etc. I’m assuming 8-12GB Memory?

I’ve heard a good computer for editing is normally like a Gaming Computer or a you buy a Mac which I don’t want!

• Decent Keyboard and Mouse (Maybe Wireless Keyboard if cheap so I can easily move out of the way if I need to write on the table)
• Good Case Size pref Black! The computer from the ‘D’ company has issues fitting in everything. I would’ve had a problem putting in a Video Card! As I saw on YouTube.
• Microsoft Word with Word, Excel, Powerpoint fully functional!
• Watch and Record Freeview TV: I have BGT3620 card that can record one channel whilst watching another someone gave to me so I will need a free PCI-E slot(s). I’m gonna be recording my Athletics from the Olympics this year .
• Smooth watching of HD Video. No lagging or glishes. I love watching my sport, films on my PC. AVI, MKV DVDs etc.
• Blu Ray Re-writer: This way I can back up data on the larger 25-50GB Blu Ray discs and I assume this will copy and play all other discs!
• A powerful professor – Intel I5 or I7 (Quad for Sony Vegas)
• Great Wireless
• Great Graphics Card
• Great Sound Card for watching films and listening to my music
• Good Screen 23-24 inches, widescreen which will help with my editing in Sony Vegas, watching Films etc
• SSD and Large Hard Drives: I’ll be looking at an SSD of 128-256GB and 2TB at least in Hard Drive Capacity with good transfer rates.
• USB Ports: At least 1 3.0. I want to know how many does the average PC come with these days? Keyboard, Webcam, Mouse, 5?

• I would like to be quiet, cool and energy efficient. I know you guys are pros so I trust you guys to put the right power supply of course to handle all the stuff I’m asking for and I’m just being on the safe side by mentioning it lol. I don’t want to shoot up the electric bill just because of the PC.

I only want a PC that is able to watch 3D if it within my budget, but It' is NOT important. I hope I haven’t gone over it with what I’ve requested already! Lol

From the reviews from this company I believe you’re the right company I should asking to make my computer. I’ve seen some of my friends buy from companies and build their own PC with disastrous results: Overheating, can’t watch movies without jumping, can’t do anything when the PC is rending edited video. PC with a mind of it’s own Lol. I hope I haven’t put in too much Detail.
I just don’t want to overspend because the ‘D’ Company is well known.

Let me know with my price range is realistic or not. If it goes over the price I’ll have to see if I can afford it/
I’m going to stop typing now before I come across as the nightmare customer lol.

And what is RAID?

I would really appreciate assistance from the people of your company and the other forum members I would be very grateful.

 

[Raptor]

Is the first word Dino by any chance? I've checked them before they're only several pounds cheaper than PCS but PCS provides wayyyyy better quality

Thing is not many Motherboards have that kind of amount of PCI-e Slots but i'll see what i can build as i understand your budget is 1000 - 1300
Also note that the 7770 isn't a very strong card and that build is out of balance.
Well lets crack on

http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/computers/intel-sandy-bridge-pc/ build here

Tried to save it within the budget... but here you go ... £1309

Case
CORSAIR CARBIDE SERIES™ 400R MID TOWER CASE - As you asked there are some USB 3.0, 2 on the front

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5-2500 Quad Core (3.30GHz, 6MB Cache) + HD Graphics - It's not 2500k but it's still amazing for gaming. if you are going to overclock you should ugprade the fan and to 2500k

Motherboard
ASUS® P8Z77-V: PCI-E 3.0 READY, WIFI, SLI, CROSSFIREX - one of the cheapest boards with enough PCI-e slots for your needs
Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 4GB) - with the budget i had to cut down on the ram but you wouldn't have needed 16GB anyways and there isn't noticeable difference between 1600 and 1333 Plus you wouldn't really need 16GB ram for anything yet... so just wait a lil like a year or two till applications that are really high demanding in ram will come out... which i doubt that they will come out so soon

Graphics Card
1GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 560 Ti - 2 DVI,HDMI,VGA - 3D Vision Ready - Cuda cores will render the videos faster for you and should make it look smoother

Memory - 1st Hard Disk
120GB INTEL® 330 SERIES SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 500MB/sR | 450MB/sW) - Since you asked for an SSD + Sata i had to cut down 2TB to 1 TB to still keep it in range.

2nd Hard Disk
1TB 3.5" SATA-III 6GB/s HDD 7200RPM 32MB CACHE

1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
10x LG BLU-RAY RE-WRITER DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW (£65)

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

Processor Cooling
INTEL SOCKET LGA1155 STANDARD CPU COOLER

Sound Card
Creative Sound Blaster® Audigy™ SE (£19) - It's a 7.1 high quality surround sound

Network Facilities
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps PCI-E CARD (£16) here's a wireless but i believe you'd be better off with getting homeplugs which are more reliable

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

Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)

Office Software
Microsoft® Office Home & Student 2010 (1 License Product Key Card) (£82) - i'm not too sure about this since you can find third party programs online for free that do basically the same thing. for example http://download.openoffice.fm/free/?pk=10305

Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL

Monitor
IIYAMA E2273HDS 22" LED WIDESCREEN, HDMI/DVI-D 1920x1080 (£129) - It's not 24" but it's still an amazing screen with good quality imagery

Keyboard & Mouse
LOGITECH® MK250 WIRELESS KEYBOARD & MOUSE COMBO (£21) Wireless mouse and keyb

Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)

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

Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 10 to 12 working days
Quantity 1


Now just to show what you could get for the mentioned " £1550 inc VAT. build"

Case
CORSAIR CARBIDE SERIES™ 400R MID TOWER CASE - Still the same case and if you needed just USB 2.0 on the front you could go for FRACTAL DESIGN R3 It's a silent Case with silencing foam inside it to damp out any sound and it also looks stylish and nice

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5-2500k Quad Core (3.30GHz, 6MB Cache) + HD Graphics - You can overclock this baby to get the maximum performance and remember if you do so, overclock it only to 4.6 anything above will literally show you no difference in performance, or you can buy already overclocked one from here too.

Motherboard
ASUS® P8Z77-V: PCI-E 3.0 READY, WIFI, SLI, CROSSFIREX

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

Graphics Card
1.5GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 580 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP (Special Offer) - An amazing card for video editing and gaming, will allow you to play most titles on high/max might

Memory - 1st Hard Disk
120GB INTEL® 330 SERIES SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 500MB/sR | 450MB/sW)

2nd Hard Disk
1TB 3.5" SATA-III 6GB/s HDD 7200RPM 32MB CACHE

1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
10x LG BLU-RAY RE-WRITER DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW (£65)

Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W ENTHUSIAST SERIES™ TX650 V2-80 PLUS® BRONZE (£69) Better quality CPU

Processor Cooling
TITAN FENRIR EVO EXTREME HEATPIPE CPU COOLER (£39) Better quality Fan which will help your cpu run cooler and also will help if you plan to overclock

Sound Card
Creative Sound Blaster® Audigy™ SE (£19)

Network Facilities
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps PCI-E CARD (£16)

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

Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)

Office Software
Microsoft® Office Home & Student 2010 (1 License Product Key Card) (£82)

Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL

Monitor
IIYAMA E2473HDS 24" LED WIDESCREEN, 2 HDMI/DVI-D 1920x1080 (£159) - 24" screen as you wanted

Keyboard & Mouse
LOGITECH® MK250 WIRELESS KEYBOARD & MOUSE COMBO (£21)

Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)

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

Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 10 to 12 working days
Quantity 1

 

[Raptor]

And this is the build i'd advise you to use for your needs if i were you and ignore some minor factors I'll explain why.
in the budget of £1552

Configure here http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/computers/intel-1155-overclocked/

And sorry for some typing mistakes if there are any... It's 2am right now.

Case
FRACTAL DESIGN R3 - BLACK PEARL CASE - Really silent, may have 2 USB 2.0 ports on the front but there are 2 USB 3.0 ports at the back and quite few USB 2.0.
At the moment mice and keyboards wont benefit from USB 3.0 so you don't need it for them. USB 3.0 compatible webcam will cost you A LOT so unless you have one you can plug it in the back which will leave you with 1 free USB 3.0.... otherwise USB 2.0 items do not benefit and still act normal with USB 3.0... and this case has dust filters....

Overclocked CPU
Overclocked Intel® Core™i5-2500k Quad Core (3.30GHz @ max 4.60GHz) Already overclocked at the max advised speed

Motherboard
ASUS® P8Z77-V: PCI-E 3.0 READY, WIFI, SLI, CROSSFIREX

Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz, X.M.P (2 x 4GB KIT) The overclocked pcs already come with 1600 as minimum

Graphics Card
2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 680 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready Strongest graphics card in the market and can handle anything you throw at it

Memory - 1st Hard Disk
2TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD2002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm) A fast hard drive with a huge memory capacity

1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
10x LG BLU-RAY RE-WRITER DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW (£65)

Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W ENTHUSIAST SERIES™ TX650 V2-80 PLUS® BRONZE (£69)

Processor Cooling
TITAN FENRIR EVO EXTREME HEATPIPE CPU COOLER (£39)

Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND (£9)

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

Network Facilities
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps PCI-E CARD (£16)

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

Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)

Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel) - I'd download the open office.... it's free and does the same things as Microsoft office

Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL

Monitor
IIYAMA E2473HDS 24" LED WIDESCREEN, 2 HDMI/DVI-D 1920x1080 (£159)

Keyboard & Mouse
LOGITECH® MK250 WIRELESS KEYBOARD & MOUSE COMBO (£21)

Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)

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

Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 10 to 12 working days
Quantity 1

 

[Rakk]

And what is RAID?

The two most used types of RAID are RAID 0 - this is used to speed up the drive, if one drive fails however, you lose the data on both, and RAID1 - the second drive mirrors the second, basically its an exact back up, so if one fails then the second one can just take over from where you were, but this obviously means you dont get the space from both drives as one is a direct mirror, so two 1TB drives would only give you 1TB space total in this case.

With SSD's you dont need to RAID0 at all, theyre already fast enough, and I wouldn't RAID1 SSD's either, it'd be a very expensive way of backing up

Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 4GB) - with the budget i had to cut down on the ram but you wouldn't have needed 16GB anyways and there isn't noticeable difference between 1600 and 1333 Plus you wouldn't really need 16GB ram for anything yet... so just wait a lil like a year or two till applications that are really high demanding in ram will come out... which i doubt that they will come out so soon

Actually for video editing and rendering, 16GB could well be beneficial, so keeping the 16GB is probably actually a good idea in this case.

Network Facilities
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps PCI-E CARD (£16) here's a wireless but i believe you'd be better off with getting homeplugs which are more reliable

I agree here, quite a few people have problems with the wireless cards due to thick walls and interference from various other things and such, though if you go for homeplugs, make sure you start with 2, one for the router, one for your PC. Note: I've never tried homeplugs (I like my wired connection) so I'm just going on what other people have reported.

Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)

The silver warranty is only a fiver and extends the return and collect bit of the warranty to a year, well worth it even if only for peace of mind.

 

[Tippa]

The company was Dell.

Thanks to everyone for the advice

What are homeplugs? Due to my laptop I'm just familar with wires, in the past, and wireless since I have used wireless for the last 5-6 years

''Since you asked for an SSD + Sata i had to cut down 2TB to 1 TB to still keep it in range.'' Raptor did you mean price range? or something else?

If I was to increase my budget would the computer be able to handle having a SSD too?

If I buy only 8GB memory will I have slots to add down the line?


Would this PC last 5-6 years?

Will the £1550 leave me with 1 PCI slot for my BGT3620?

 

[Corfate]

Homeplugs basically use the electrical wireing in your house to pass the internet signal round Gives you a reliable wired connection

 

[Raptor]

The company was Dell.

Thanks to everyone for the advice

What are homeplugs? Due to my laptop I'm just familar with wires, in the past, and wireless since I have used wireless for the last 5-6 years

''Since you asked for an SSD + Sata i had to cut down 2TB to 1 TB to still keep it in range.'' Raptor did you mean price range? or something else?

If I was to increase my budget would the computer be able to handle having a SSD too?

If I buy only 8GB memory will I have slots to add down the line?


Would this PC last 5-6 years?

Will the £1550 leave me with 1 PCI slot for my BGT3620?

You can add extra now if you want as Rakk stated the 16GB may be beneficial I just wasn't too aware of that.
I took in the account that there will be these slots taken -
Video card
Wireless card
Tv card
3 PCI slots will be occupied on a motherboard with
2 x PCIe 3.0/2.0 x16 (x16 or dual x8) < would go for your graphics card and tv or wireless
1 x PCIe 2.0 x16 (x4 mode, black) < would go to your tv or wireless
EDIT : 2 x PCIe 2.0 x1 Or actually your wireless may go to this one tv to the mentioned above and graphics card fully occupying the x16. which would make more sense, It all depends on how PCS will put it together
2 x PCI
This pc will easily last you a long time.
The processor is a beast when over clocked and the graphics card is too. They will run games on high/max if not all on max smoothly, you can youtube some gameplays as far as i checked all games run on max

and yes i meant price range, as i said it was 2am so sorry if some of it makes no sense... and i still haven't slept... fml

But instead of a wireless card i'd go with homeplugs they'll go into your power socket and deliver your internet through it
obviously 1 homeplug will have your modem connected to it
while the other one will be connecting to your pc
NOTE: You need 2 homeplugs, homeplugs are meant to be connected to the direct socket and they will deliver consistent speed

So yea, You can bump up the ram to 16GB as Rakk suggested by saying it may suite video editing better which i wasn't too aware off but there's no need going above 1600,
If you have any questions just ask these guys are amazing and quite smart.

Dell is an expensive place to buy a computer, They are the apple of PC world, you mainly pay for the brand name.

 

[Rakk]

If I buy only 8GB memory will I have slots to add down the line?

If you get 8GB then yes you can add another 8GB later on when you need it, and it should be pretty easy to add yourself

 

[Tippa]

Thanks for you help. I have virgin media wireless so I'm wondering how those plugs will work in my house. I'll have to research it. Maybe I'm over analysing it. It sounds like I will have to be a new modem. I would find it easier with a wireless card but if it gives me issues I'm just gonna be upset lol.
I have some more questions

If I were to put in GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps PCI-E CARD would that take the up the slot I would use for the TV Card? Sorry if I'm not getting this I'm a bit slow

Would this computer be over kill? I mean in terms of electric and how much power it would require and how it's parts would function together.

It's about £600 cheaper than a mac with similar spec at £1,760

Case
FRACTAL DESIGN R3 - BLACK PEARL CASE

Overclocked CPU
Overclocked Intel® Core™i5-2500k Quad Core (3.30GHz @ max 4.60GHz)

Motherboard
ASUS® P8Z77-V: PCI-E 3.0 READY, WIFI, SLI, CROSSFIREX

Memory (RAM)
16GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz, X.M.P (4 x 4GB KIT)

Graphics Card
2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 680 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready

Memory - 1st Hard Disk
180GB INTEL® 330 SERIES SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 500MB/sR | 450MB/sW)
1st Hard Disk Partitions Partitions

180GB
2nd Hard Disk

2TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD2002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
2nd Hard Disk Partitions Partitions
1000GB, 1000GB

1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
10x LG BLU-RAY RE-WRITER DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW (£65)

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

Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W ENTHUSIAST SERIES™ TX650 V2-80 PLUS® BRONZE (£69)

Processor Cooling
TITAN FENRIR EVO EXTREME HEATPIPE CPU COOLER (£39)

Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND (£9)

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

Network Facilities
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

Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)

Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)

Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL

Monitor
IIYAMA E2473HDS 24" LED WIDESCREEN, 2 HDMI/DVI-D 1920x1080 (£159)

Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Delivery

STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time

Standard Build - Approximately 10 to 12 working days

 

[Jamwllms]

Powerline is brilliant. I personally invested in a pair of homeplugs when we upgraded our internet, and the router had to move downstairs. One plugs into the wall next to your router, with an Ethernet cable coming out of it and into your router. (Just like you'd plug in a computer directly) The other next to your computer, and an ethernet cable plugs straight into your computer from that one.

And that's it, literally. I don't even recall having to do any setup or anything, it began working automatically.

They are expensive though.. But for reliable/fast internet, you really can't fault it.

I use these ones: http://www.solwise.co.uk/net-powerline-500av-piggy.htm

Although you don't have to have the Piggy socket, that's just because sockets are sparse enough as it is!

Just remember that you have to buy two to make a pair!

 

[Raptor]

Virgin media Router is technically A router and a modem in one
You can also make it work as purely as modem as well but it doesn't really make any difference.
PCS sells some cheap but good homeplugs as well but if you want to still have the socket once you plug it in then use the solwise that jam gave a website to

REMEMBER: You'll need 2. and 2 ethernet cables
1 goes into the socket net to the router and connects to the router
whilst the other goes into the socket next to your pc and connects to the pc

Macs are also same as dell you mainly pay for the novelty of having an item from apple

This computer would not be an overkill on the power intake

The graphics card it self will be using maximum of 250 at full load which is less than 7970

In total it should use of around 500 at full load not idle, and that's still a doubt cause that number is with included 20% allowance
so meaning it should be even less

And If you get a PCI not PCI-e wireless then no you'll have more than enough PCI-e slots for your graphics card and your tv

 

[Tippa]

Thanks Raptor and Jamwllms

So if I get the plugs I should stay with the standard wi

If I'm understanding what you saying... I have a modem that Virgin Media gave me

and a wireless router made by Belkin.

The picture is the back of the router. Do I put the ethernet wire in one of the ports named 'Connections to Computers' (yellow area on photo) then connect it to the plug.

Then I would take the other one upstairs, because my PC would be upstairs, and plug the other homeplug, with ethernet wire in, next to the pc and put the other end ethernet wire into the PC Lan Port? Is that right?


Just when I thought I knew about computers!

 

[Rakk]

The picture is the back of the router. Do I put the ethernet wire in one of the ports named 'Connections to Computers' (yellow area on photo) then connect it to the plug.

Yes

Then I would take the other one upstairs, because my PC would be upstairs, and plug the other homeplug, with ethernet wire in, next to the pc and put the other end ethernet wire into the PC Lan Port? Is that right?

Yes again

 

[Tippa]

Thanks to all of you whom helped. I'm gonna by the PC nearer my break, which is in the first week of June, because I'll be at home to receive it!