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March 2nd, 2023 10:00
Which Tower PC for Video Editing?
Can you suggest a good value tower PC for 4K video editing and rendering with NO GAMING at all? I thought without games, I might be able to use a less expensive PC. Price is around $1700. I posted here in the XPS area, but any model or even brand would be good to research. I use Power Director editing software; each video would be 5 minutes long. Do I need this configuration: i9, GPU Nvidia 3600, 3700, 3800, or 4700; 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD, 2TB Hard drive? Can you offer any advice? Thank you
RoHe
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March 3rd, 2023 13:00
For starters, the Power Director hardware recommendations are low, given current specs for new PCs, but some PD features, eg NVIDIA Audio/Video Denoise and Room Echo Removal, need a somewhat higher spec'd GPU.
I don't think you need an i9, which requires extra cooling capacity, but you want at least an i5 or -better- an i7. The latest Intel CPUs are 13th Gen, so you probably don't want one that's older than maybe 12th Gen.
You can never go wrong with lots of storage space and RAM. And, a system with a speedy NVME SSD for Windows and software, plus a big HDD for storing all your vids.
It all comes down to performance vs your budget...
RoHe
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March 3rd, 2023 18:00
You're welcome...
Dell doesn't offer a lot of customization options as they did in the past. So you have to take what they offer or DIY, if that's an option...
One possibility would be to get a PC with only onboard Intel Graphics and then buy whichever "retail" GPU, AMD or NVidia you want, add some extra "retail" RAM and a "retail" HDD to meet your needs.
There's a "bare-bones" XPS 8950 here with 12th Gen i7 CPU, but without an add-in GPU or HDD, and a more fully configured XPS 8950 here, also with 12th Gen i7 CPU, plus NVidia GPU, bigger SSD and 1T HDD...
The XPS 8960 just came out in last few days, but -IMO- quite expensive, and no track record, as of now. If you consider an XPS 8950, suggest you read some threads about it on this forum to see what other users have to say and about issues that have come up...
I'd avoid an All-In-One PC because they have little/no upgrade capacity, so you get locked into the config you buy. And I'd also avoid a "small form factor' or "micro form factor" desktop too because they have space constraints that limit what upgrades will fit inside the case, and they can have heat issues because the airspace is small.
Good luck with your search! And post back to let us know what you decide...
rkruz3
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March 3rd, 2023 13:00
Hi Ron. That is a most excellent and comprehensive response and, most of all a great helpl. Thank you.
I didn't realize there were PowerDirector HW requirements, and thank you for including the link. It opens for me more AMD GPUs to consider.
I'll keep looking at Dell Towers and expand beyond just the XPS that I have been looking at which sometimes, depending on the configuration, dont offer HW customization. So given what I have learned from you I'll look at the other desktop models which maybe provide more GPU options.
Thanks again for taking the time to point me in the right direction!