Need a new desktop....

tinman

Very Senior Member
im not much of a computer geek, so forgive me.
the desktop got roasted here the other night in a storm so im kind of limping along for now.

soo, i was looking at a few makes, ive had a dell here for 5-6 yrs now, its got a few upgrades but was working ok.
but videos were nigh on impossible to edit on it from the go pro which was a balls.
i picked this one out of the dell line up, im not going to be playing games on it, i just want it to do normal stuff, but i do want the video end of it to be good.
so, for the computer geeks out there, would this be a good buy??

http://www.dell.com/ie/p/alienware-x51-r2/pd?oc=d00ar244&model_id=alienware-x51-r2
 
I'm not up on what video cards are good or bad for video editing, but I would say that I'd change the hard drive for an SSD.

They have an option for a 256GB SSD SATA 6Gb/s +1TB 5400RPM SATA 3Gb/s which isnt ideal as the second drive is only 1TB and only 5400RPM.

But SSD for at least the boot drive is essential. ideally you'd have a second SSD for your video editing and then a 2TB+ 7200 drive for storage, but that'll add up fast.
 
I'm not up on what video cards are good or bad for video editing, but I would say that I'd change the hard drive for an SSD.

They have an option for a 256GB SSD SATA 6Gb/s +1TB 5400RPM SATA 3Gb/s which isnt ideal as the second drive is only 1TB and only 5400RPM.

But SSD for at least the boot drive is essential. ideally you'd have a second SSD for your video editing and then a 2TB+ 7200 drive for storage, but that'll add up fast.
yes, we looked at that, and then i looked at the price of a ssd on its own, 200 quid would buy a decent one, and they are charging 240 odd for the same but dropping by 1TB and the rpm which is a bit of a balls.
so i was thinking of just getin the 2TB on it and adding a ssd after.
 
for an ordinary desktop fair enough, but in that yoke there will likely be custom mountings and maybe even cabling. you could be in bother trying to upgrade it after.

get in contact with dell and see if they can tell you if it has the bits to allow you to upgrade it. a less sexy unit will likely have better upgradability options
 
probably a stupid question but how about a laptop.

not meaning to hijack this tinman but, i dont see many desktops being used now, even in businesses
 
for an ordinary desktop fair enough, but in that yoke there will likely be custom mountings and maybe even cabling. you could be in bother trying to upgrade it after.

get in contact with dell and see if they can tell you if it has the bits to allow you to upgrade it. a less sexy unit will likely have better upgradability options
there is that too.
but at the cost they charge for stuff, it id get dear quick.
its not bad for a home pc tho is it?
probably a stupid question but how about a laptop.

not meaning to hijack this tinman but, i dont see many desktops being used now, even in businesses
cant stand a laptop.
im running on one now, but i have the screen up on the pc screen and the wireless mouse and keyboard hooked up to it.
far rather it that way.
 
there is that too.
but at the cost they charge for stuff, it id get dear quick.
its not bad for a home pc tho is it?
.


No not bad at all, it's just if you're talking about upgrading before you even buy then that's not a good machine to start from


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http://www.dell.com/ie/p/xps-8700/pd?oc=cdx8718&model_id=xps-8700

basically the same spec in an ugly box, but with loads of room to upgrade down the line.

and for nearly €200 less

If you think that's ugly you should see my one :scared:

I gave it to a lad to turbo charge it about 6 weeks ago and haven't seen it since. It's in semi-retirement for the last 4 or 5 years but the laptop is on the way out so it's being pressed back into service if it ever reappears. He said €100 would do a job on it, I'm beginning to think I would have been better spending more and having something to show for it :rolleyes:
 
http://www.dell.com/ie/p/xps-8700/pd?oc=cdx8718&model_id=xps-8700

basically the same spec in an ugly box, but with loads of room to upgrade down the line.

and for nearly €200 less

I think this is a far better option, the small size of the first link posted is going to cost big money when it comes to upgrade, and you haven't much space at all to upgrade with.

I think you said before you want to do some hd video editing, a desktop is the way forward I reckon, way more power for that.

Have you tried windows 8 yet? You may not like it...Windows 7 is easy enough to put on anyway.
 
I think this is a far better option, the small size of the first link posted is going to cost big money when it comes to upgrade, and you haven't much space at all to upgrade with.

I think you said before you want to do some hd video editing, a desktop is the way forward I reckon, way more power for that.

Have you tried windows 8 yet? You may not like it...Windows 7 is easy enough to put on anyway.
after what johnboy said i went back and went through them again.
the biggest plus is the video card on the x51, its about twice the size of the tower.
now, all id need extra is a ssd, and it can be placed outside anyways.
it also has the option of using two screens and has plenty of ports for me.

the only down side is the fact its so compact, but in all reality, i dont think ill need to be adding much to it, there was plenty of space in the next version up, but at 1600 it was a bit too much for me.

right or wrong, i bought the x51 today, time will tell i guess.
 
well wear, I hadnt noticed that the alienware has a different graphics card wit the gtx760 vs gtx750.

put the SSDs inside, leave the larger slower storage on the USB. The benefit of the SSD is it's low latency (response time), putting it external would negate a lot of that.
 
probably a stupid question but how about a laptop.

not meaning to hijack this tinman but, i dont see many desktops being used now, even in businesses

Agree, id go for a decent high power laptop with a big screen, and a docking station, then run a dual screen set up.

If desktop was a must, i'd go mac and thunderbolt display
 
It must be 12 years since I last used a desktop, the portability of the laptop is hard to beat.
Having said that, if I was into videos etc it would probably be a different story.
 
after what johnboy said i went back and went through them again.
the biggest plus is the video card on the x51, its about twice the size of the tower.
now, all id need extra is a ssd, and it can be placed outside anyways.
it also has the option of using two screens and has plenty of ports for me.

the only down side is the fact its so compact, but in all reality, i dont think ill need to be adding much to it, there was plenty of space in the next version up, but at 1600 it was a bit too much for me.

right or wrong, i bought the x51 today, time will tell i guess.

Well wear! :thumbup:
 
meh, if I didnt need the portability I'd use a desktop too.

But I use the laptop maybe 60% on the desk 30% on the couch at home and the other 10% could be in meetings, out on site, in the datacentre, wherever.

I use a big laptop but I spent last week in the UK with a windows tablet+keyboard and I think maybe I might go that way next. I'm gonna buy one of these shortly http://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/ente...vices/dell-venue-11-pro.aspx#fbid=3ChyucDUyoq

with a removable keyboard and docking station it may be the ultimate job. or it might be a faff putting the keyboard on and off every day to use in the docking station and it might completely wreck my head trying to touch type on two different sized keyboards every day. but I'm gonna try it.
 
Agree, id go for a decent high power laptop with a big screen, and a docking station, then run a dual screen set up.

If desktop was a must, i'd go mac and thunderbolt display

Thats what I have just done.
Had a dell desktop for about 6 years that I used for videos etc. But was never completely happy with it.

So tried a demo of Final cut pro on my little Mac Air and it worked a dream with the footage from my panasonic camcorder, camera and phone, The air did not have enough grunt when it came to rendering etc so have gone down the route of a apple desktop with a thunderbolt external drive for all the video etc, Once its full get another one. Very happy with it.
 
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