Heads up for old boy please.

[quackchung]

My last PC machine I got from these was in 2007 and still going, but now I need a laptop to cope with editing family videos at 1080p and maybe higher, plus some music production using pro tools. None of them in a professional but semi professional capacity.

I probably won't play any games on it, but required a decent graphics card for video editing i believe. I use a Focusrite 2i2 Scarlett external soundcard for my DAW, so there was no need for an onboard sound card. Below are my chosen specs I think I need to future proof and be able to do as intended.

Quick breakdown on my thought process:
The processor I chose was an i7, as I'd heard there were tons of complaints with the new Intel i9 processors.
32 Gb of ram is plenty.
DDR5 ram as opposed to DDR4 for more multitasking workflow.
8 Gb graphics card. (Which I think is the recommended minimum.
2 x SSD sticks 500gb OS and 1TB for everything else.
And a 16" 2560 x 1600 monitor.

I haven't bit the bullet yet and was just happy to have some feedback from you younger guys who are more in the loop than myself.
Please see my specs below for your approval... Many thanks Paul.

Promotional Item
Get AC: Shadows and 6 Months Ubisoft+ Classics with qualifying Intel® products
Chassis & Display
Defiance Series: 16" Matte QHD+ 240Hz sRGB 100% LED Widescreen (2560 x 1600)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 16 Core Processor 14650HX (5.2GHz Turbo)
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair 4800MHz SODIMM DDR5 (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX 4070 - 8.0GB GDDR6 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.1
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB SOLIDIGM P44 PRO GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 7000MB/sR, 4700MB/sW)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB SOLIDIGM P44 PRO GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 7000MB/sR, 6500MB/sW)
AC Adaptor
1 x 230W AC Adaptor
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre Cloverleaf UK Power Cable
Battery
1 x Defiance Battery 54WH
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Wireless Network Card
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® KILLER™ Wi-Fi 6E AX1675i + BT 5.3
USB/Thunderbolt Options
2 x USB 3.2 PORTS (Type C) + 2 x USB 3.2 PORTS
Keyboard Language
DEFIANCE MULTI COLOUR BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD
Operating System
Windows 11 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10/11 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Google Chrome™
Keyboard & Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 2.0 MP FULL HD WEBCAM
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (6 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Christmas Delivery No Longer Guaranteed
Welcome Book
PCSpecialist Welcome Book
Price: £0.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/defiance-16/wv0m3fQqxM/

 

[sck451]

I'd want to church to make sure you definitely need a laptop. It will be substantially weaker for the price (or more expensive for the performance!) than a new desktop machine.

There's plenty of good reasons for a laptop, but I'd really want to check at this point.

 

[quackchung]

Thanks. I did actually do a PC tower build at first, but with slightly higher specs it came to just over £2k which shocked me!
The laptop was a tad over £1.5k and of course a monitor.
Below is the same tower set-up with a slight change from 12Gb RTX 4070 to 8Gb RTX 4060 Graphics card to bring the cost down to just under £1.6K. (I do have monitors at hand)

Any further thoughts or advice on this option or between the 2 would greatly be appreciated... Thanks a lot.

Case
CORSAIR 3500X ARGB TEMPERED GLASS MID-TOWER (WHITE)
Promotional Item
Get a discount code for 20% off select peripherals at Corsair.com
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 12-Core Processor i7-12700 (Up to 4.9GHz) 25MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® PRIME Z790-A WIFI (LGA1700, DDR5, PCIe 5.0, Wi-Fi 6E)
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB DDR5 6000MHz (2 x 16GB) KIT - WHITE
Graphics Card
8GB ZOTAC GEFORCE RTX 4060 Twin Edge OC - WHITE - HDMI, 3 x DP
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB SOLIDIGM P44 PRO GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 7000MB/sR, 4700MB/sW)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB SOLIDIGM P44 PRO GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 7000MB/sR, 6500MB/sW)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W RMe SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 240 Series ARGB High Performance Liquid Cooler - WHITE
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Extra Case Fans
3 x 120mm PCS White Case Fan
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
ONBOARD 2.5Gbe LAN PORT
Wireless Network Card
NONE OR ONBOARD Wi-Fi (MOTHERBOARD DEPENDENT)
USB/Thunderbolt Options
2 PORT (2 x TYPE A) USB 3.1 PCI-E CARD + STANDARD USB PORTS
Operating System
Windows 11 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10/11 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Google Chrome™
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (6 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Christmas Delivery No Longer Guaranteed
Welcome Book
PCSpecialist Welcome Book
Price: £1,583.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-z790-white/tXdxRTQqqX/

 

[sck451]

The problem is that the components may have the same or similar names, but that doesn't mean they perform the same. A laptop 4070 is much more like a desktop 4060 in actual performance. Laptop parts are slower, as they are harder to cool in that form, and more expensive for given performance. Moreover, they are hard to service/upgrade. If a tower would suit you, you would be much better off going with one.

A good monitor can be had for £150ish (e.g. the AOC Q27G4X, though whether that gaming monitor is ideal for video editing is very much open to debate), so if we aim for the £1350 kind of mark, we're probably in the right kind of province.

Here's what I'd get:

Case
FRACTAL FOCUS 2 ARGB GAMING CASE (BLACK) Good budget case
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 7700 Eight Core CPU (3.8GHz-5.3GHz/40MB CACHE/AM5) Strong 8-core CPU, very efficient
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B650-PLUS WIFI (AM5, DDR5, PCIe 4.0, Wi-Fi 6) Good motherboard
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR5 6000MHz (2 x 16GB) Much faster RAM (important for performance)
Graphics Card
8GB MSI GEFORCE RTX 4060 Ventus 2X BLACK OC - HDMI, 3 x DP Sufficient video card
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB SOLIDIGM P44 PRO GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 7000MB/sR, 4700MB/sW)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB SOLIDIGM P41+ GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 4125MB/sR, 2950MB/sW) Slower secondary drive: this is all you need
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W RMe SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 150 Series High Performance CPU Cooler Enough for the 7700
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
ONBOARD 2.5Gbe LAN PORT
Wireless Network Card
NONE OR ONBOARD Wi-Fi (MOTHERBOARD DEPENDENT)
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 11 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence If you could transfer the Windows licence you could save £100ish
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10/11 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Google Chrome™
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) Worth a fiver
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Christmas Delivery No Longer Guaranteed
Price: £1,345.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am5-pc/4frrDEJ8BV/

 

[quackchung]

Fab... Thanks a lot for your time and experience. I did wonder about AMD after brief research due to bang for buck and multi threads or ability to process more on less cores? But I came across a post somewhere that stated you may need to tweak the bios or something to that nature as it didn't play nice with windows, and this put me right off. Is there any concern with that: or was that just a bad post I read?

 

[SpyderTracks]

Thanks a lot for your time and experience. I did wonder about AMD after brief research due to bang for buck and multi threads or ability to process more on less cores?

AMD are now the superior processor in basically all metrics, performance, price, cooling, and stability. Intel are now the ones you avoid at any cost

But I came across a post somewhere that stated you may need to tweak the bios or something to that nature as it didn't play nice with windows, and this put me right off. Is there any concern with that: or was that just a bad post I read?

Without seeing the context, no idea, I'm guessing they were dual booting another OS like Linux which requires BIOS settings adjusted for Linux to run alongside windows, nothing to do with the processor or windows, it's a limitation of some Linux distros. It’s standard X86 architecture so runs windows exactly the same as Intel. You'll find most people buying new systems in the last 5 years have been buying AMD, they work absolutely fine. I've run mine on windows and Linux and had zero issues.

 

[quackchung]

Thanks, that has eased my mind.

 

[quackchung]

I've rejigged it for an AMD system, Both Processor and Gfx Card...
"Not sure if that was the best move to be honest" As i said, I'm not really savvy in this process.

Also I didn't need a monitor (sck451) thanks, as I have a few spare.

If yourself, Spyder or others could look this over, as I've convinced myself this is the best config for my needs and budget.
I just need the go ahead or any concerns with the changes would be gratefully appreciated... Thank you.

Case
FRACTAL FOCUS 2 ARGB GAMING CASE (BLACK)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 9 7900X 12 Core CPU (4.7GHz-5.6GHz/76MB CACHE/AM5)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B650-PLUS WIFI (AM5, DDR5, PCIe 4.0, Wi-Fi 6)
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB DDR5 6000MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
16GB XFX RADEON™ RX 7600 XT SWFT - HDMI, 3 x DP
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB SOLIDIGM P44 PRO GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 7000MB/sR, 4700MB/sW)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB SOLIDIGM P44 PRO GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 7000MB/sR, 6500MB/sW)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W RMe SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 150 Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Extra Case Fans
3 x 120mm PCS Black Case Fan
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
ONBOARD 2.5Gbe LAN PORT
Wireless Network Card
NONE OR ONBOARD Wi-Fi (MOTHERBOARD DEPENDENT)
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 11 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10/11 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Google Chrome™
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Christmas Delivery No Longer Guaranteed
Price: £1,561.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am5-pc/BDu4h2C3hf/

 

[sck451]

I've rejigged it for an AMD system, Both Processor and Gfx Card...
"Not sure if that was the best move to be honest" As i said, I'm not really savvy in this process.

Also I didn't need a monitor (sck451) thanks, as I have a few spare.

If yourself, Spyder or others could look this over, as I've convinced myself this is the best config for my needs and budget.
I just need the go ahead or any concerns with the changes would be gratefully appreciated... Thank you.

Case
FRACTAL FOCUS 2 ARGB GAMING CASE (BLACK)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 9 7900X 12 Core CPU (4.7GHz-5.6GHz/76MB CACHE/AM5)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B650-PLUS WIFI (AM5, DDR5, PCIe 4.0, Wi-Fi 6)
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB DDR5 6000MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
16GB XFX RADEON™ RX 7600 XT SWFT - HDMI, 3 x DP
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB SOLIDIGM P44 PRO GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 7000MB/sR, 4700MB/sW)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB SOLIDIGM P44 PRO GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 7000MB/sR, 6500MB/sW)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W RMe SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 150 Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Extra Case Fans
3 x 120mm PCS Black Case Fan
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
ONBOARD 2.5Gbe LAN PORT
Wireless Network Card
NONE OR ONBOARD Wi-Fi (MOTHERBOARD DEPENDENT)
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 11 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10/11 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Google Chrome™
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Christmas Delivery No Longer Guaranteed
Price: £1,561.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am5-pc/BDu4h2C3hf/

So the things you have changed are:

CPU
Memory (adding RGB)
Graphics card
Secondary storage (adding speed, not capacity)
Fans

I would suggest that you shouldn't change the graphics card to an AMD one as they are weaker in video production. I would stay with Nvidia, either with the 4060 or plausibly with one of the 4060 Ti cards (ideally the 16GB one).

I wouldn't bother with the RGB memory...

I wouldn't add extra fans: the case has all that's needed.

If I were spending more on storage, I'd go for a 2TB drive rather than a faster one, as the benefits for your secondary drive are pretty minimal.

And for the CPU, you could upgrade, but I'd upgrade to the 7900 (as opposed to the 7900X) as it's a much cooler chip; with the 7900X you've chosen you should really also upgrade the cooler, which adds a lot of cost.

So that would leave me with the below build. If you were willing to go to £1600, you could get the 16GB graphics card. If you are doing video production beyond 1080p, that's definitely worth it, but perhaps not so much if 1080p is the maximum you'll be using.

Case
FRACTAL FOCUS 2 ARGB GAMING CASE (BLACK)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 9 7900 12 Core CPU (4.0GHz-5.4GHz/76MB CACHE/AM5)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B650-PLUS WIFI (AM5, DDR5, PCIe 4.0, Wi-Fi 6)
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR5 6000MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
8GB MSI GEFORCE RTX 4060 Ti VENTUS 2X BLACK OC - HDMI, 3 x DP
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB SOLIDIGM P44 PRO GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 7000MB/sR, 4700MB/sW)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB SOLIDIGM P41+ GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 4125MB/sR, 2950MB/sW)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W RMe SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 150 Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
ONBOARD 2.5Gbe LAN PORT
Wireless Network Card
NONE OR ONBOARD Wi-Fi (MOTHERBOARD DEPENDENT)
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 11 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10/11 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Google Chrome™
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Christmas Delivery No Longer Guaranteed
Price: £1,550.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am5-pc/9mhb6Th28M/

 

[quackchung]

Ah that's a great help. In my naivety I thought going all AMD would be better, but yes I'm glad you rejigged too.

I've changed the CPU and GFX card as you suggested.
Stuck with the 1TB 2nd SSD (I can change that at a later date if needed)
So extremely happy you got me back on the right track.

One final concern before commiting though, is CPU cooling.

Is the (180W) PCS FrostFlow 150 Series CPU Cooler, sufficient for the
AMD Ryzen 9 7900 12 Core CPU (4.0GHz-5.4GHz/76MB CACHE/AM5)...?

I won't be overclocking, and the most intensive workout would be rendering video, although I can't promise my lad will want to play a few games on it.

I definitely do not want to go down the water cooling route, but I do have the option to upgrade to the
(250W) PCS FrostFlow 200 Series CPU Cooler which is obviously bigger and more power hungry, although well within the limits of my 750W PSU.

If it does no harm or obstruct any unforeseen upgrade; would it be best to go with the more powerful cooler?

Thank you all for your much valued contributions.

 

[sck451]

The power supply rating has nothing to do with the cooler's "rating" (in reality those numbers are pretty arbitrary). The power supply supplies power to the CPU and other components. All the power that goes into a CPU leaves it as heat, which is why the cooler also has a "cooling capacity" stated in watts. These are very flakey numbers and I wouldn't put much trust in them. The only power draw an air cooler has is the fan, which is about 2-5W, depending on which model and what speed.

I wouldn't worry about it as the 7900 is very cool, but it wouldn't do any harm to go for the 200 model cooler instead.

Finally, the motherboard can actually take three M.2 SSDs, so you don't even need to replace the one you have: you can upgrade just by adding another one in future!

 

[quackchung]

"That's brilliant!... Thanks guys"
Think I will go with the bigger fan, as it's not much dearer for more surface area do dissipate heat.

I very much appreciated your kind concern and wealth of knowledge.
"So shines a good deed in a weary world"

I wish you all the best, and may your Christmas be a happy one.
Regards
Paul