Buying a new computer

[thebongcat]

Hey everyone, hoping to maybe get a little input from the tech savvy here, or anyone who's been really happy with a recently purchased computer. I am thinking I want to get an all-in-one desktop, as I do a lot of school work on top of camming. I need the machine to be powerful for streaming, bonus if it can also run something like ESRI products such as Arcmap/pad smoothly too. I am hoping to keep my budget around $1000, and saving money is always a bonus of course. I know a bit about shopping for specs but i'm not sure how low I can go/ how powerful this thing needs to be to cam seamlessly, do some video editing and act as my school computer as well. What are the main specs I should pay attention to? Any advice appreciated

 

[Wolf_3_5_9]

I don’t think you’ll have much trouble finding something with those requirements. Anything fairly recent - within the last 2 years - with an Intel Core i5 or i7 processor and at least 8GB of memory would work.

Bonus if you can find one with an SSD Drive and/or a graphics card - those would help with your ESRI apps, but can get away without those for camming.

Trying to find something “low as you can go” is not always the best strategy. You might just end up spending more over the next 3 years because you end up needing something better sooner.

That being said, if you’re ok with a little bit of risk, look for a 1 or 2 year old computer on the used market with the specs above. Caveat there is you don’t have a warranty and might not be able to return it if it ends up not working for you.

Also the built in cams in these kind of PCs generally suck so put aside some $ for a dedicated webcam. Multiple threads can be found with recommendations on those.

 

[thebongcat]

Thanks Wolf! Yes I already have my usb webcam and mic, which were on the expensive side so it sucks that i may not be getting the full potential out of them due to my crappy laptop. Glad to hear 8GB of memory should be enough, i was thinking i would need to go higher at 16. I've found a lot of good models that are a total package minus SSD, which i find strange. I guess its not a huge hassle to upgrade the machine down the line? I'm also a little confused about the comparison between intel and AMD, not sure i understand if one is superior or not so i've been sticking with options that have i5-i7.