PC Desktop Recomendations

Rex,

Check this article out: Editing in 4K
You mentioned not wanting to build it yourself, but this will give you an idea of the features you'll be looking for in your PC. Then you can head over to Amazon and pick out a rig that fits your budget & requirements. However, editing 4K video will most likely require a RAID (stacked hard drives), and that might be pricey.

Good luck!

Thanks! Really appreciate the resources!

A friend recommended a Dell Precision Tower 3620. I attached the specs below. Thoughts? I'd add a RAID in about 6 months.

Precision Workstation T3620 MT Dell Precision Tower 3620 XCTO BASE

Windows 10 Pro 64bit

Processor: 7th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-7700K (Quad Core 4.2GHz, 4.5Ghz Turbo, 8MB, w/ HD Graphics 630)

Video Card: NVIDIA® Quadro® M2000 4GB (4 DP) (1 DP to SL-DVI adapter)

Chassis: Dell Precision Tower 3620 Up to 90% efficient 365W Chassis, v2

Memory: 16GB (1X16GB) 2400MHz DDR4 UDIMM Non-ECC

Boot Hard Drive: M.2 512GB PCIe NVMe Class 40 Solid State Drive

Internal Hard Drive Configuration: C5 M.2 SSD

I would recommend you first decide what postproduction software packages you want to edit with and go to the websites of the software manufacturers for system requirements to run the software.

Usually, AVID has some of the highest requirements of all postproduction software manufacturers. Since they are going cloud based like Adobe, they relaxed some of their hardware requirements with their latest version of Media Composer and lowering the price for paying for two year plans.

Adobe products traditionally aren't as hardware intense as AVID requirements, so I see it as a good benchmark.

Mike is right, considering the requirements of your tools is definitely a good way to go.
But keep in mind that system requirements by software manufacturers are kinda like safety requirements for a leaf blower--the manufacturer will recommend everything under the sun to cover themselves.

Have you considered a virtual RAM HD? RAM might not be the cheapest way to go, but Win 10 can probably handle as much as your MoBo will support. Here's an article that claims 10GB/sec. for a RAM only HD. Although you might need more storage space then RAM alone can provide.

Otherwise the Precision 3620 looks like a sweet rig!

edit: here's another article if you are considering a RAM disk, and a quick experiment [ here ]

Okay, other things to consider when buying a new computer are what do you need to connect your footage to your computer?

Case in point:

I have two cameras: A Canon HV30 and 60D.

For the HV30, I need a FireWire one port and cable for my computer. For my Canon 60D, I need an SD Card slot to read the memory cards of the camera.

I was choosing between Dell laptops and HP laptops. What got me to go with HP Omen is not only is it a gaming laptop, it is equipped with an SD Card slot. Dell laptops are not.

For expandability, I recommend getting your computer equipped with both USB 3 and FireWire 2 ports. But, make sure you get a computer equipped with what you need to connect your footage to your computer.