Chance

Australian Skial God
Contributor

The slower the CPU is, the slower generally everything else can be. If you're running a game that your processor struggles running, you'll have low FPS. If you're using programs that take up a lot of CPU power they'll be sluggish.

But the i7 processor they linked is good. I mean really good. It's a higher end processor that could run most, if not all of the most hardware demanding games on the market right now, assuming you have a video card that won't bottleneck it of course.

It's overkill for what you would be using it for, but that's not a bad thing. You wouldn't have to upgrade for quite sometime. One of my friends runs a a i7-4790k (slightly more powerful version of the i7-4790, but not by a ton) for quite awhile without needing to upgrade.
It's a perfect CPU for editing and video encoding, just if you want an overkill CPU for gaming get either that or the i5-4690k, the fps difference isn't noticable. The i7-4790k is just really good for video shit.
 

sboles

Australian Skial God
Contributor
So getting an i5 will be alright, then? I would rather not have to buy a computer for at least 5 years, and also I won't be playing any modern games. The most this PC will be at a time is what I listed in the OP. Browsing, Streaming, Photoshop, and possibly some low-end games. I'd love the overkill, but the i5 is about $120 less.
 

Chance

Australian Skial God
Contributor
So getting an i5 will be alright, then? I would rather not have to buy a computer for at least 5 years, and also I won't be playing any modern games. The most this PC will be at a time is what I listed in the OP. Browsing, Streaming, Photoshop, and possibly some low-end games. I'd love the overkill, but the i5 is about $120 less.
This video might help you make a decision.
 

sboles

Australian Skial God
Contributor
I think I'll go with the i5 then. I was mostly interested in how well it runs the programs rather than how fast it renders, but I can take an extra 10 seconds. I'd definitely go with the i7, but if I did I would have to save for 2 more months, not getting it until October. As opposed to getting an i5 in September. I'll just save up and see how I feel around that time.

Thanks to all the people who helped.
 

PsychoRealm

Australian Skial God
Contributor
Also - I heard there are some deep web websites where you can download RAM for free. Don't tell anyone who sent you.
Say whaaaat?
1. 8GB of RAM will be definitely not enough for heavy video editing;
2. GeForce GT 720 will be suffering big time when editing videos.

That being said, for $50 extra bucks I'd definitely go with THIS ONE.
 
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Chance

Australian Skial God
Contributor
Say whaaaat?

1. 8GB of RAM will be definitely not enough for heavy video editing;
2. GeForce GT 720 will be suffering big time when editing videos.

That being said, for $50 extra bucks I'd definitely go with THIS ONE.
With standard stuff he should be fine, but for $50 extra being able to do big or just heavier editing stuff he should totally get that one. I stink at looking for pre-built PCs as opposed to parts so no wonder I missed that one.
 

PsychoRealm

Australian Skial God
Contributor
With standard stuff he should be fine, but for $50 extra being able to do big or just heavier editing stuff he should totally get that one. I stink at looking for pre-built PCs as opposed to parts so no wonder I missed that one.
I wouldn't buy pre-built PC for a world, but not everyone likes building his/her own rig.
 

sboles

Australian Skial God
Contributor
Say whaaaat?

1. 8GB of RAM will be definitely not enough for heavy video editing;
2. GeForce GT 720 will be suffering big time when editing videos.

That being said, for $50 extra bucks I'd definitely go with THIS ONE.
I've been waiting for your comment, haha.

That PC you linked seems much better, and will only require an extra month to get. Thanks for informing me on the amount of RAM I should be looking for, as I though 8 would be alright. If that's the one you recommend then I'll for sure trust you.

By the way, I hope the joke came across in my download more RAM post.
 

RMSniper

Legendary Skial King
Contributor
I've been waiting for your comment, haha.

That PC you linked seems much better, and will only require an extra month to get. Thanks for informing me on the amount of RAM I should be looking for, as I though 8 would be alright. If that's the one you recommend then I'll for sure trust you.

By the way, I hope the joke came across in my download more RAM post.
Lol.... That's the exact one I already linked to you, and you didn't seem to like it? Or was I misinterpreting your thoughts on it? (http://m.newegg.com/Product/index?itemnumber=N82E16883158238)
 

sboles

Australian Skial God
Contributor
Lol.... That's the exact one I already linked to you, and you didn't seem to like it? Or was I misinterpreting your thoughts on it? (http://m.newegg.com/Product/index?itemnumber=N82E16883158238)
At the time I thought 8 GB was enough, and that twelve was unnecessary. I also misread the title and thought that it was only 4GB RAM. I'm going back on that now, and thankfully the newegg listing is $130 cheaper. That was just my b. However it's out of stock. Hopefully it comes back in stock by the time I have enough money.
 
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PsychoRealm

Australian Skial God
Contributor
Lol.... That's the exact one I already linked to you, and you didn't seem to like it? Or was I misinterpreting your thoughts on it? (http://m.newegg.com/Product/index?itemnumber=N82E16883158238)

This build is actually even better (your link by default brings the cheapest build with 8GB ram and GT video card - that's where confusion is coming from):

vZMEHYc.jpg
 
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Bewbies

Mildly Menacing Medic
This thread brought up some interesting questions. I can't recommend a specific model for you, but have some knowledge:

Retail vs. Build:
Building your own rig is obviously the most cost-effective way to get what you want. That said; even with the huge number of tutorials out there, many people do not have the comfort level to try to assemble $500-1,000 worth of parts. There is also the question of warranty, form factor, “just want it to work out of box”, etc. It’s not for everyone. Do not be ashamed or feel like you’re getting too raw of a deal if you go with retail. Also, unless you're looking at small-form-factor machines, you can likely choose to upgrade components yourself at a later date.

“i7 has Hyper-Threading!!”:
So does the Pentium 4. Welcome to 2002. This essentially allows one ‘physical’ core to act as two ‘logical’ cores, (kind of) doubling the available threads. Note that ‘threads’ are like ‘trains of thought’ for your computer. Most applications don’t know how to use 32 logical cores. They know how to use 1 or 2. The big CPU factors you need to look at are a) core clock speed and b) CPU cache.

Unless you’re concerned about en/decryption, big data number crunching, or virtual machines.. hyper-threading is largely irrelevant.

i3 vs. i5 vs. i7:
Gaming: i3 does not have enough single-thread power nor cache to reliably game in 1080x. Both i5 and i7 meet the minimum requirements in available threads, speed, and cache. This makes the difference (for gaming) negligible in my opinion. There are exceptions, such as games with CPU-heavy physics, which utilize the i7 much more.

HD en/decoding: i3 is an absolute no-go. It does not have the power to even reliably stream full 1080p. i5 is adequate, but this is where you will find significant gains in using the i7. In one generation, the lowest-tier i7 will out-perform the highest-tier i5 in this respect. This is by design. If you *know* this is something you want to do, go with the i7.

RAM:
Capacity:
The bare minimum should be 8GB, with 12GB if you want more HD en/decoding capability. For gaming, assuming you’re running nothing taxing in the background, 4GB will perform just fine. 8GB provides the headroom and scaling, though. This is also one of the easiest (and cheapest) things to install yourself. If you want to upgrade later, it’s easy.

Speed:
There are varying flavors of DDR3 and DDR4. You will see definite benchmark differences, but they do not translate much into realized gaming performance. I can picture people reading this and facepalming. Sorry, folks. It’s true. In a custom-rig setting, this is a fine-tuning option that should be examined. In a retail-rig setting, you’re better off concerned with capacity (and other components.)

Video editing:
In the old days, video editing almost always meant you got an expensive 2D-optimized card. Now, modern applications typically utilize the same channels for 2D editing as 3D rendering. (CUDA cores.) There are exceptions, such as some Adobe products. Also, specially-optimized cards are still best for real-time 3D editing with apps such as AutoCAD.

That said; in my opinion, cards geared toward 3D gaming performance can reliably be used for video editing as well. This does not help much in the way of which card you should look for, but at least I hope this drives home the fact that your gaming setup should be fine for video editing.

Regarding the actual en/decoding of the content, you might be surprised to hear that the bottleneck is primarily the CPU. As I mentioned earlier, you’re better off with i7 if this is truly something you want to do.

Video Card (gaming):
This is probably the most difficult decision you will make, especially if you are building your own rig. There are zillions of models and variations out there, making it tough to keep track of the current “best card for the buck.” There is research necessary, including cost/benchmark comparisons..

..Or just do what I do: look for the best $250-$300 card with highest VRAM. In the lifecycle of these cards, I’ve found this to be the sweet spot. Then again, this is a hotly-debated area. You likely will not hear the same VGA recommendation from two people. In the context of a retail rig, it may help to use the VGA as your anchor point.

TL;DR:
You need at least 8GB ram and an i5 minimum. After that, performance for video editing and gaming will be chiefly dictated by the video card.

Sorry for the big post. Hope it helps.
 
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sboles

Australian Skial God
Contributor
This thread brought up some interesting questions. I can't recommend a specific model for you, but have some knowledge:

Retail vs. Build:
Building your own rig is obviously the most cost-effective way to get what you want. That said; even with the huge number of tutorials out there, many people do not have the comfort level to try to assemble $500-1,000 worth of parts. There is also the question of warranty, form factor, “just want it to work out of box”, etc. It’s not for everyone. Do not be ashamed or feel like you’re getting too raw of a deal if you go with retail. Also, unless you're looking at small-form-factor machines, you can likely choose to upgrade components yourself at a later date.

“i7 has Hyper-Threading!!”:
So does the Pentium 4. Welcome to 2002. This essentially allows one ‘physical’ core to act as two ‘logical’ cores, (kind of) doubling the available threads. Note that ‘threads’ are like ‘trains of thought’ for your computer. Most applications don’t know how to use 32 logical cores. They know how to use 1 or 2. The big CPU factors you need to look at are a) core clock speed and b) CPU cache.

Unless you’re concerned about en/decryption, big data number crunching, or virtual machines.. hyper-threading is largely irrelevant.

i3 vs. i5 vs. i7:
Gaming:
i3 does not have enough single-thread power nor cache to reliably game in 1080x. Both i5 and i7 meet the minimum requirements in available threads, speed, and cache. This makes the difference (for gaming) negligible in my opinion. There are exceptions, such as games with CPU-heavy physics, which utilize the i7 much more.

HD en/decoding: i3 is an absolute no-go. It does not have the power to even reliably stream full 1080p. i5 is adequate, but this is where you will find significant gains in using the i7. In one generation, the lowest-tier i7 will out-perform the highest-tier i5 in this respect. This is by design. If you *know* this is something you want to do, go with the i7.

RAM:
Capacity:
The bare minimum should be 8GB, with 12GB if you want more HD en/decoding capability. For gaming, assuming you’re running nothing taxing in the background, 4GB will perform just fine. 8GB provides the headroom and scaling, though. This is also one of the easiest (and cheapest) things to install yourself. If you want to upgrade later, it’s easy.

Speed:
There are varying flavors of DDR3 and DDR4. You will see definite benchmark differences, but they do not translate much into realized gaming performance. I can picture people reading this and facepalming. Sorry, folks. It’s true. In a custom-rig setting, this is a fine-tuning option that should be examined. In a retail-rig setting, you’re better off concerned with capacity (and other components.)

Video editing:
In the old days, video editing almost always meant you got an expensive 2D-optimized card. Now, modern applications typically utilize the same channels for 2D editing as 3D rendering. (CUDA cores.) There are exceptions, such as some Adobe products. Also, specially-optimized cards are still best for real-time 3D editing with apps such as AutoCAD.

That said; in my opinion, cards geared toward 3D gaming performance can reliably be used for video editing as well. This does not help much in the way of which card you should look for, but at least I hope this drives home the fact that your gaming setup should be fine for video editing.

Regarding the actual en/decoding of the content, you might be surprised to hear that the bottleneck is primarily the CPU. As I mentioned earlier, you’re better off with i7 if this is truly something you want to do.

Video Card (gaming):
This is probably the most difficult decision you will make, especially if you are building your own rig. There are zillions of models and variations out there, making it tough to keep track of the current “best card for the buck.” There is research necessary, including cost/benchmark comparisons..

..Or just do what I do: look for the best $250-$300 card with highest VRAM. In the lifecycle of these cards, I’ve found this to be the sweet spot. Then again, this is a hotly-debated area. You likely will not hear the same VGA recommendation from two people. In the context of a retail rig, it may help to use the VGA as your anchor point.

TL;DR:
You need at least 8GB ram and an i5 minimum. After that, performance for video editing and gaming will be chiefly dictated by the video card.

Sorry for the big post. Hope it helps.
No need to apologize man, that was a great post. You really helped me understand what I need and why I need it.


Now, I have another issue I'd like to discuss - Windows 8. I've heard it sucks. I'm not against and I'd be willing to use it, but I'm unsure how I would install it from 8. I looked on the Microsoft website and saw that the free upgrade promotions ends on the 29th of July - I will not have my computer by then. So I decided to just download the configured Windows 10 ISO from the Microsoft website straight onto my mac. So now, the problem is:


How can I get a Windows 10 ISO from a Mac to a Windows 8 computer?
 

Bewbies

Mildly Menacing Medic
At this point, definitely jump right into Win10. Win8 doesn't deserve the hate it gets in my opinion, but Win10 is clearly the better OS. Regarding how, it's easy. (Assuming you have a >8GB USB drive.) You extract the ISO to the USB, plug the USB into the PC, and boot. Details on how to extract the ISO to the flash disk: Link
 

PsychoRealm

Australian Skial God
Contributor
How can I get a Windows 10 ISO from a Mac to a Windows 8 computer?
You don't need to. You simply:

1. Buy PC with OEM Windows 8.1 on it;
2. Hit "Upgrade to Windows 10";
3. Let the automatic process complete;
4. Enjoy your new OEM Windows 10.

Question: Is it true that the free upgrade to Windows 10 retains the properties of the license that was on the upgraded Windows 7 or 8.1 system? In other words if I am on an OEM system from a manufacturer such as Dell, HP, ASUS, Acer, etc. then the system that was upgraded with the free Windows 10 upgrade is still licensed as an OEM system? What if I bought a retail license that was purchased online or in a store - does the system upgraded to the free Windows 10 upgrade remain licensed as a retail license? (23 June 2015)

Answer: YES
 

sboles

Australian Skial God
Contributor
You don't need to. You simply:

1. Buy PC with OEM Windows 8.1 on it;
2. Hit "Upgrade to Windows 10";
3. Let the automatic process complete;
4. Enjoy your new OEM Windows 10.

Question: Is it true that the free upgrade to Windows 10 retains the properties of the license that was on the upgraded Windows 7 or 8.1 system? In other words if I am on an OEM system from a manufacturer such as Dell, HP, ASUS, Acer, etc. then the system that was upgraded with the free Windows 10 upgrade is still licensed as an OEM system? What if I bought a retail license that was purchased online or in a store - does the system upgraded to the free Windows 10 upgrade remain licensed as a retail license? (23 June 2015)

Answer: YES

I don't understand what the 2nd half of your post is saying. Is it saying that using the free upgrade doesn't count as modifying your system?


On the Microsoft website it says that the free upgrade is only available until July, I most likely will not have the desktop by July. So I downloaded a 64 bit Windows 10 ISO from the Microsoft website, and I would like to know how to install it ahead of time. The article @Bewbies linked is about installing W10 on bootcamp, but I think most of the steps should be the same as installing it on a different computer.

Here, under "It's free and easy" - https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/windows-10-upgrade
"Not a trial or a lite version -- if you complete your upgrade before July 29, 2016."
 

Bewbies

Mildly Menacing Medic
@PsychoRealm is correct in that the upgrade route is best if you currently have a license (likely OEM), however your timeline does not support it. Those within the industry foresee the July 29th deadline being extended, but I would not count on it. Also, considering that we'll be seeing far fewer OEM Win8's being sold (replaced by Win10) come July, it's not very productive to even worry about until you're ready to buy.

Just in case you're concerned, you're not exactly losing out on a deal here. If you're buying a new license, Win10 retail licenses are comparable (often cheaper) than Win7/8.

Regarding the USB install method I mentioned above, you're right: that tutorial is in the context of BootCamp. The USB drive it produces, however, can also be used for installing on a PC.
 
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PsychoRealm

Australian Skial God
Contributor
I don't understand what the 2nd half of your post is saying. Is it saying that using the free upgrade doesn't count as modifying your system?
OEM operating system is an operating system that comes with a pre-built PC (such as the one you're gonna buy - Dell, HP, Lenovo, Acer, etc);
Retail operating system is the ony you buy in stores.

Important thing to remember:

1. OEM is non-transferable to another PC because it's bound to the hardware of the pre-built system it came with.
2. Retail is transferable and not bound to hardware.

The trickiest part here is that even if you have retail version of Windows 7 currently installed and you decide to upgrade to Windows 10 - your new Windows 10 OS automatically becomes OEM (hardware-bound) which means you're fucked at this point and can't use this OS on a new hardware anymore).

That being said - what key for Windows 10 do you have - OEM or retail?
 
Last edited:

sboles

Australian Skial God
Contributor
OEM operating system is an operating system that comes with a pre-built PC (such as the one you're gonna buy - Dell, HP, Lenovo, Acer, etc);
Retail operating system is the ony you buy in stores.

Important thing to remember:

1. OEM is non-transferable to another PC because it's bound to the hardware of the pre-built system it came with.
2. Retail is transferable and not bound to hardware.

That being said - what key for Windows 10 do you have - OEM or retail?
It's not a key, it's an ISO. Unless that's what you meant. I'm assuming retail, because it's the version they're giving for free off of their website.
 

PsychoRealm

Australian Skial God
Contributor
It's not a key, it's an ISO. Unless that's what you meant. I'm assuming retail, because it's the version they're giving for free off of their website.
Well, you can download ISO from anywhere but it's useless if you can't activate it with a license key.