Recommendations for a high end PC capable of running professional programs - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / beginners

author: TRAPTRAP
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 28, 2015, 09:29:34 pm
content: I have a Gateway SX2110G-UW23. Here are its specifications...CPU: AMD E1-1500 Dual Core Processor.HDD: 500GB Hard Drive.OPTICAL: DVD-Super Multi Drive.Video: AMD Radeon HD 7310 graphics.I've found that this PC is not enough to run higher end programs or applications. For examples, I've tried to run my PS2 games, which run so slow that it's unplayable. I've noticed professional programs such as CLIP STUDIO PAINT EX, Anime Studio, Poser Pro, and Unity run terribly slow.As far as PS2 goes, I know multiple cores don't really help. It's more so in my processor, I believe? Overall, I think the PC is a lower grade PC that will have a hard time operating most high end programs, and I'm not sure it's worth it to replace my graphics card rather than just upgrade to a higher end PC as a whole.So I'm looking for a high end PC that's capable of running basically anything as far as the most complicated video games to the most complicated professional animation programs. Price is not much of a concern. I'm assuming I won't get anything close to what I'm looking for for any less than $500, so I'll keep my price bracket between about $500-$900. I'd like to go for cheaper, but if I have to pay the extra money to have the top performance I require, it's no problem.I'll be back later today with example desktops that I've already looked up myself, but I'm unsure if the statistics are what I need. Thanks for reading this!

author: suicidaleggroll
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 28, 2015, 09:37:53 pm
content: Your words and your budget do not mesh.You keep talking about running everything, all games and all programs, top performance, price is not a concern, etc., but then you throw out a budget of $500-900.Your words describe a $2-3k+ machine. $900 is the bare minimum for a decent reliable workstation in my opinion, if you drop to consumer grade equipment you can drop that by a few hundred, but you are still FAR from "top performance" or being able to do what you describe. The "most complicated" and highest demand video games will eat nearly your entire budget just in the graphics card(s)...You can dosignificantlybetter than your current system in that price range, but you need to lower your expectations a bit with regards to being a "top performer" or being able to run everything under the sun.

author: JackP
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 28, 2015, 10:02:33 pm
content: Check out places like Cyberpower, Dino PC etc. They can build you a custom PC for a small added charge, but I mainly use them to verify compatibility and to gain a rough estimate. Does your budget include monitors? Easily many hundreds can be lost there for dual screen, 1440p with decent response times and update rates. Let alone the monitor and system cost of going 4K. I'd say if you need performance in a certain product, go to the website or google around to find basic system specs to be able to run the program. See what, if anything, is left in your budget. Remember, going 'custom' (or pre-built) allows you to upgrade in the future, so bear this in mind for things like RAM kits and motherboard chipsets, and it could last you a fair few years.

author: Matje
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 28, 2015, 10:31:43 pm
content: Quote from: TRAPTRAP on September 28, 2015, 09:29:34 pmI'll have to second suicidaleggroll on this.A reasonably high end PC has cost something around $2500, pretty much forever. Besides, running anything is not a reasonable specification. Do you mean video games at 800x600 screen resolution? At 4k? Stereoscopic display? Makes a hell of a difference.In addition, if you want to save some money and have exactly what you want you have to build the thing yourself, from components. This takes experience, and time. You *can* buy a complete machine that does what you want, but it will cost you. Quite a lot, of course...

author: miguelvp
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 28, 2015, 10:42:31 pm
content: Find off-lease and refurbished systems:http://www.microcenter.com/search/search_results.aspx?N=4294967292+519&NTX=&NTT=&NTK=all&page=1&sortby=pricehighFor example, this $300 xeon system, you might need to upgrade memory/drive and it uses fully buffered ecc server memory (667- MHz fully-buffered DDR2 SDRAM fully-buffered DIMMs (FBDs)) but it's a good deal:http://www.microcenter.com/product/437565/Precision_T5400_Workstation_Desktop_Computer_RefurbishedManuals:http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/19/product-support/product/precision-t5400/manualsYes a bit dated (2007) but should be fine for professional programs.

author: Mr.B
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 28, 2015, 10:43:30 pm
content: I'll have to second suicidaleggroll on this as well.Your $900 budget will barely buy you the CPU if you really want high end.My latest build, completed last weekend, cost me NZD 13,600And I don't even play games... It is my new lab PC.

author: Stonent
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 28, 2015, 11:00:49 pm
content: My wife's school purchased all the teachers HP laptops based on the E1 processor. 1 year later they recalled them back and purchased them all 3 year old Dell E6420 laptops with i5 processors that had been refurbished for about the same price. The CPU Passmark rating was about 4x that of the E1 processor.I am fairly pleased with my Toshiba laptop with an i7 4710HQ processor. It has 4 real cores, 4 virtual cores and was about $600 a year ago.http://www.microcenter.com/product/434555/Satellite_S55-B5289_156_Laptop_Computer_-_Brushed_Aluminum_Finish_in_Satin_GoldThe CPU passmark rating is around 8000 which is much better than the 699 listed for an E1-1500E1:http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=AMD+E1-1500+APU4710HQ:http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Core+i7-4710HQ+%40+2.50GHzWord to the wise: Always check the passmark score of the CPU of any computer you are considering. If you're going with an I7, make sure you've picked an I7 with 4 cores because there are dual core ones.A 4 core I7 will show up as 8 on the computer and a 2 core I7 will show up as 4.

author: Deathwish
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 28, 2015, 11:12:23 pm
content: And don't forget that tomorrow it will be outdated.

author: TRAPTRAP
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 29, 2015, 12:17:04 am
content: As far as what it's able to run, I meant the programs that I listed, which are all high end programs. As far as games go, fast was the only concern, 4k isn't really necessary, especially not for PS2. I didn't mean it has to be able to run everything, I meant that it would be able to run higher end programs that take a lot of GPU/CPU at a quick rate, which is why I referenced CLIP STUDIO/Poser. The budget I gave, I was saying I was aiming for something in that price range, but I'm willing to go higher if it can't pull off running my examples. My PC as it is can run these things, but they're on the slow side. I need something that can run them at acceptable speeds.miguelvp (as usual), thank you for the links you provided, although they're refurbished, I'm thinking that they'd work with everything I'm looking to do with them, and I'll be researching them. Stonent, thanks also.miguelvp, do you think that an Nvidia GeForce GTX 970 would be compatible with those links, or a good addition to them?Actually, I'm about to start researching gaming PCs since they're built for running things that require higher GPU. Does anyone have any recommendations on a gaming PC that can at the very least run up to PS3 level content at adequate speed. Running these kinds of things is more about speed than the visual experience, as I'm satisfied with what I already have, it's just that the speed is the issue. I think a gaming PC, seeing as it's built for high GPU, especially if I install the graphics card above, should also be able to handle my programs, so long as it has enough CPU. Also, is anyone running Windows 10 on their gaming PCs, and does it work well?I'll be back after checking the links and researching some more. Thank you guys again.EDIT: Do you think a PC like this...http://www.ebay.com/itm/FAST-Intel-i5-4690K-Quad-Core-8GB-Gaming-PC-Computer-Custom-Built-System-Win-8-1-/261900072238?hash=item3cfa75f52e...would be well suited with the Nvidia GeForce GTX 970/Windows 10? It has an Intel i5, and quad cores, I'd think, so long as it's compatible it'd be a good addition to this system?

author: miguelvp
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 29, 2015, 03:36:54 am
content: For professional applications the Quadro that comes with is should be fine. A bit dated but it would be able to handle overlays that some professional software uses.The Geforce will work but that's a gamer card, most software suites do support the GeForce as well but most likely using software for overlays or disabling overlay support. The caveats with the system I linked is that the memory is slower than modern gaming systems but that shouldn't hamper the performance for professional applications. Also it's fully buffered memory so buying memory sticks new would be pricey, but they are cheap on ebay since they are a bit outdated.But if you want gaming then the GeForce that you mention should work fine as well.The thing is that you have to decide what you want the system for. I was just aiming for the budget you specified and the applications you originally mentioned. Yes, it's an eight year old system but very capable for a low cost. A current professional desktop like a modern thinkstation from lenovo would cost over two orders of magnitude more with a modern quadro k6000 and SSD drives.Also the system I linked has a free windows 10 upgrade. All for the price that Mr.B paid for his keyboard alone.

author: Mr.B
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 29, 2015, 03:42:06 am
content: Quote from: miguelvp on September 29, 2015, 03:36:54 amAnd by the way... The keyboard stinks. Don't buy one...

author: MrWizerd
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: September 29, 2015, 04:09:21 am
content: You can always buy the parts, upgrading what you have that can be upgraded (video card) then once you have all the parts assemble the new machine. Upgrade in order something like thisVideo CardHard DrivePower supply (provided your unit is NOT a proprietary power unit and is required to run your system)then StockpileChipRamMotherboardCaseTake the optical drive, hard drive, video card, and power supply out of the old unit put the Chip Ram Board into the new case, then install the rest of the parts. New Computer in around 6 months.Or use your 900 Dollars to buy Chip, Ram, Motherboard, and Power supply, move the Hard drive, Optical Drive, and Video card, upgrade video card later and upgrade the drives on a need to bases, New computer NOW, but a new video card will be needed down the road. I used to build precision power rigs used for high end gaming and video editing when I was still working. I still do commissions on occasions, color matched show pieces with custom cables top to bottom. If your interested in more information on a system, we can talk send me a PM and I will give you my phone/ventrilo/skype infp and can talk to you about realistic needs, realistic wants and realistic budget and an approach to match said budget. Also, I will be there for you if you run into any problems. I can't take responsibility for your build less I build it of course, BUT I will give you free vid confrence tech support

author: thefamilyman
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 29, 2015, 05:04:24 pm
content: I use an Intel NUC for my pc.It runs Solidworks and Bentley with no problems (albeit it cannot do the high end rendering on Solidworks because its not on the approved gpu list).And it can davel into the games at low to medium settings.I really like my NUC because I can attach it to the vesa mount on the back of my monitor.

author: katzohki
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 29, 2015, 06:56:41 pm
content: I don't agree with the guys saying you need over $900 at all. I think it's because they're thinking built from scratch. The other thing is people usually rate for 60 FPS on top-end machines. If you can live with ocasional drops to 45 or even (gasp!) 30 FPS on demanding games, you don't need to stress as much. Resolution also makes a difference, I shoot for 1920x1080 (aka 1080p).Bare minimum you could upgrade CPU and graphics card (check power supply). One thing I would recommend for upgrades is go on Newegg.com and look at their upgrade kits. That should give you an idea of what kinds of stuff you can do or need. Read the reviews as well.Built from scratch, my home computer uses a FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-core CPU which improved my program compile times (heavy CPU usage) over my work computer (an i5 something) by 12 times. 8GB RAM. For gaming, it has a R7-260X graphics card. People probably look down their nose at that, but it plays Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon at 1080p 60FPS solid. Mad Max occasional drops to 45, Bioshock: Infinite locked at 60 and I could go on. All on ultra or max settings. Point is, those are recent games and it plays them extremely well, in my opinion. (OK, Blood Dragon is the only one that makes the GPU run hot at 90°C). That's all with stock clocking - no overclocks. I also did my best to make sure there's room for upgrades (within MY budget).Total it cost me around $550. Not including Windows 7, which was another $140. So I would say that you can definitely get something good for both gaming and your graphics editing programs. Upgrades include a Lepa case fan (to max the case out to 5 case fans), 8 GB RAM (for total 16 GB, no real need or reason), and a 1TB HDD (for games etc). Keep your HDD, case and your optical drive if you can. I don't see why you shouldn't be able to get a worthy upgrade.Link to my build:http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=24336191Others will probably disagree. You can come over to my house and try it out!

author: Marco
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 29, 2015, 07:38:54 pm
content: Processor technology hasn't improved much in a last couple of years. I just bought an ancient HP Z210 CMT workstation with a sandy bridge era Xeon E3 and it's not going to be significantly slower than a Skylake at the same clock (and clocks haven't improved much either, unless you want to overclock). It can idle at <30 Watt as well, even for power consumption not much has changed. Any Sandy Bridge+ era second hand workstation would be a good professional machine, if you want ECC you'll generally be looking at Xeon E3 based ones.PS. I wouldn't recommend the Z210, the original power supply wasn't enough for my new video card and it couldn't fit a new ATX power supply (everything is custom). In the end I decided to use tinsnips and put a second cheap power supply in the 5.25 bays to be ran in parallel with the original one (I tapped the enable pin from the ATX connector to turn both on/off at the same time). A professional work station with an extremely dodgy hack.

author: nbritton
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 29, 2015, 09:44:18 pm
content: If you're not going to go with Apple then I recommend HP.http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA27Z3AZ3385http://store.hp.com/us/en/pdp/desktops/hp-pavilion-550qe-n0x12av-aba-1http://www.hp.com/sbso/buspurchase_refurbished.html