Newbie saying hello

[CreativeGenie]

First time buying a computer that isn't on the shelf at Curry's/PC World. This one will primarily be used for video projection at conferences and charity events. Didn't really know what I was needing so followed the minimum spec of the most demanding software I used and sought as much advice as I could from a couple of local computer shops.

Here's what I ended up buying with my £800 budget.

• Case
• SHARKOON VG4-W GAMING CASE (Green LED)
• 
  
• Processor (CPU)
• Intel® Core™ i5 Six Core Processor i5-9400F (2.9GHz) 9MB Cache
• 
  
• Motherboard
• ASUS® TUF H310M-PLUS GAMING: Micro-ATX, DDR4, LGA1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs
• 
  
• Memory (RAM)
• 16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 2400MHz (2 x 8GB)
• 
  
• Graphics Card
• 4GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1650 - HDMI
• 
  
• 1st Storage Drive
• 250GB Samsung 860 EVO 2.5" SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (upto 550MB/sR | 520MB/sW)
• 
  
• Power Supply
• CORSAIR 550W VS SERIES™ VS-550 POWER SUPPLY
• 
  
• Processor Cooling
• STANDARD CPU COOLER
• 
  
• Thermal Paste
• STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
• 
  
• Sound Card
• ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
• 
  
• Wireless/Wired Networking
• WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD
• 
  
• USB/Thunderbolt Options
• MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
• 
  
• Operating System
• Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence

I'm now looking to purchase/build a laptop with similar specs. Mainly it'll just be used for personal home admin (Word, Excel, Browsing etc) but I also need it for graphic design and video editing.

Would love some feedback on my PC specs, and recommendations on what to do about a laptop?

 

[SpyderTracks]

When you say video projection, do you just mean outputting from a video file?

If so I would highly recommend cancelling the desktop order as it's needlessly overpowered.

 

[CreativeGenie]

When you say video projection, do you just mean outputting from a video file?

If so I would highly recommend cancelling the desktop order as it's needlessly overpowered.

You're probably right about it being overpowered, I simply followed the recommended requirements for my projection software (see below) and then got the most out of my £800 budget.

Yeah, I guess it's just outputting a video file, but with different video files on two different outputs while simultaneously preparing & editing graphics/video clips/PowerPoint/audio files on the main control monitor.

I bought a laptop a few years ago which someone told me would be good enough for simply projecting one video file to one output, but it's really struggled so I decided not to risk underrating this PC that needs to do much more.

• Recommended Configuration
  • For HD projection, independent foldback, video feeds & Alpha channel
  • • 
      
    • Operating System: Windows 7 - 10 64-bit
    • CPU: 2.5 - 3.4 GHz Intel i5 or i7 Quad Core
    • Memory: 8 GB RAM
    • Hard Drive: SSD or 7200 RPM HDD
    • Graphics Hardware: NVIDIA GeForce GTX
  • 
    
  • 
    

 

[SpyderTracks]

You're probably right about it being overpowered, I simply followed the recommended requirements for my projection software (see below) and then got the most out of my £800 budget.

Yeah, I guess it's just outputting a video file, but with different video files on two different outputs while simultaneously preparing & editing graphics/video clips/PowerPoint/audio files on the main control monitor.

I bought a laptop a few years ago which someone told me would be good enough for simply projecting one video file to one output, but it's really struggled so I decided not to risk underrating this PC that needs to do much more.

• Recommended Configuration
  • For HD projection, independent foldback, video feeds & Alpha channel
  • • 
      
    • Operating System: Windows 7 - 10 64-bit
    • CPU: 2.5 - 3.4 GHz Intel i5 or i7 Quad Core
    • Memory: 8 GB RAM
    • Hard Drive: SSD or 7200 RPM HDD
    • Graphics Hardware: NVIDIA GeForce GTX
  • 
    
  • 
    

Well the specs suggested are very vague, when it says nvidia GeForce gtx that could mean anything from a 710 to a 1660ti, the price varying from £30 to about £600.

What’s the software you use?

 

[CreativeGenie]

Well the specs suggested are very vague, when it says nvidia GeForce gtx that could mean anything from a 710 to a 1660ti, the price varying from £30 to about £600.

What’s the software you use?

A church projection software called Easyworship.

EasyWorship - Church Presentation Software

Boost your worship service with the latest in church media! At Easter, Christmas or anytime of the year, we’ve got the sermon videos, worship backgrounds and countdown timers you’re looking for.

www.easyworship.com

 

[Oussebon]

These system requirements sound crazy. What on earth does it do, real-time transcoding?.. ... looking at some comparisons with other software that boasts server-side transcoding as a feature, apparently it does. :/

So if the budget is £800 then this kind of spec (or potentially AMD equivalent) might make sense.

Also:

I'm now looking to purchase/build a laptop with similar specs. Mainly it'll just be used for personal home admin (Word, Excel, Browsing etc) but I also need it for graphic design and video editing.

What's the budget for the laptop?

A laptop for video editing will want a dedicated graphics card, making it expensive. And you're buying a PC with a dGPU anyway.

Would it not make more sense to use the mini PC for video editing and have a cheap, low spec laptop for office work on the go? Assuming you don't need video editing on the go.

And if you do you might be better off just buying a really powerful laptop instead of a laptop and a mini PC

 

[CreativeGenie]

These system requirements sound crazy. What on earth does it do, real-time transcoding?.. ... looking at some comparisons with other software that boasts server-side transcoding as a feature, apparently it does. :/

So if the budget is £800 then this kind of spec (or potentially AMD equivalent) might make sense.

Also:

What's the budget for the laptop?

A laptop for video editing will want a dedicated graphics card, making it expensive. And you're buying a PC with a dGPU anyway.

Would it not make more sense to use the mini PC for video editing and have a cheap, low spec laptop for office work on the go? Assuming you don't need video editing on the go.

And if you do you might be better off just buying a really powerful laptop instead of a laptop and a mini PC

The laptop is for my own personal use. Paying for it with my own money. It's to replace my personal PC at home which is taking up valuable space that we want back. A laptop is much more practical for us, but I don't want to lose any of the ability my PC offers. Ideally I would like to keep the cost below £500, but realistically I'm thinking I need to spend around £800, absolute maximum is £1000 but that is really going to hurt my bank balance!

The video editing software I use is Pinnacle Studio and I want to upgrade it to the latest version on the laptop. The recommended requirements for Pinnacle are listed on my other post regarding a laptop... www.pcspecialist.co.uk/forums/threads/where-do-i-start.63744/

The PC I've just ordered, specced above, I have sourced for my local church. I was given a donation of £600 to upgrade our old 10yr+ computer which was struggling to keep up with the HD videos. We decided to add a little extra just to ensure it would do everything we do now, as well as freeing us up to more options in the future. It's very possible I went OTT. I really don't know what can do what, hence why I've simply followed the minimum specs.

I'm hoping over time I will learn alot more and be much more clued up on things.