New desktop spec out help

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stessier
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New desktop spec out help

Post by stessier »

My brother is looking to get a new desktop and was looking for an opinion on this layout. I haven't shopped for one in five years and don't think I'd be much help. Any suggestions from the hive mind? The gaming this would be used for is more inline with Roblox and Minecraft. They also would work from home with it (so a lot of video conferencing) and video editing (downloading video from a phone and then putting it together including special effects). This comes in at $2346 and ideally he'd like it right at $2000. This is a special purchase, so it would be good if it can last for 7+ years (I think his current one is more than 10 years old).
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Victoria Raverna
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Re: New desktop spec out help

Post by Victoria Raverna »

For Roblox and Minecraft, that PC is more than enough. A PC that cost 50% of that is also going to be more than enough for Roblox and Minecraft.
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Kasey Chang
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Re: New desktop spec out help

Post by Kasey Chang »

My thought was "you don't need 3070 ti, and you certainly don't need 1TB SSD" unless you get a screaming deal on both. I'd look for a little downgrade in those two components to come below the cutoff. And I'd cut the video card first.
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dfs
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Re: New desktop spec out help

Post by dfs »

So I think you've got 7 years in that hardwarw (as much as you can ever say that) with the possible exception of system memory. 16GB of memory seems palatial, but 7 years is a long time and things change. Everything else is well above spec for the usage that you suggest. If I was making my living doing video editing I would want 64 or even 128GB of memory, but for spicing up the stray tik tok video, this beast will do fine.

Personally, I would question the strategy of trying to buy for 7 years and I don't see the wisdom of buying a warranty.

The last machine that I purchased a warranty on ended up with constant issues and somehow none of them were ever really cured by the warranty work. I'm just saying. On the other hand I've made my living with these type of machines for 40+ years now and I'm very comfortable diagnosing issues and fooling with both software and hardware.

7 years....man 7 years is forever in the computer world. I have had machines last that long, but it's the exception, not the rule. I think your brother would be money ahead buying a $800 Acer Nitro now and expecting to make another $800 investment in 4 years.

You're just awfully far up the bleeding edge of technology here to play minecraft.
Biyobi
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Re: New desktop spec out help

Post by Biyobi »

Kasey Chang wrote: Fri Jul 02, 2021 7:10 pm My thought was "you don't need 3070 ti, and you certainly don't need 1TB SSD" unless you get a screaming deal on both. I'd look for a little downgrade in those two components to come below the cutoff. And I'd cut the video card first.
Disagree on the SSD. That model is only ~$120 right now on Amazon and I think it's well spent.

Honestly, if I were looking to keep a system for a good long time then there isn't much "fat" on that system besides the video card. On Newegg and Amazon, the CPU is going for MSRP and RAM isn't particularly expensive right now. Maybe get a cheaper video option now and look for a card again when the madness has stopped.
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LawBeefaroni
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Re: New desktop spec out help

Post by LawBeefaroni »

Not a great time to get a 7-year video card. Dial that back and upgrade in a year or two if necessary. Might not even be necessary for Minecraft and light video editing. You can probably get away with $500-$1000 less for that use case.

But if maximizing bang for buck isn't all that important, the build will work for sure.
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hitbyambulance
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Re: New desktop spec out help

Post by hitbyambulance »

stessier wrote: Fri Jul 02, 2021 4:28 am The gaming this would be used for is more inline with Roblox and Minecraft. They also would work from home with it (so a lot of video conferencing) and video editing (downloading video from a phone and then putting it together including special effects).
a $300 laptop could ably handle all these use cases... a Raspberry Pi 4 could, even.

but even for that proposed seven years of usage, that video card is still too much, _especially_ right now.
Biyobi
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Re: New desktop spec out help

Post by Biyobi »

Let's not forget that Minecraft has ray tracing in it now. The man clearly needs that power. :mrgreen:
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