COMPACT COMPUTING

Build yourself a desk-friendly videographer’s machine

High-end videography work (whether that’s live streaming, post-production editing, or something else entirely) often demands a powerful PC. 4K video editing, exporting, and encoding are all resource-intensive tasks, and trying to do them with a sub-par or ageing machine is sure to lead to lengthy processing times and general frustration.

Such powerhouse machines are also often pretty chunky. It’s part of the reason that Apple’s desktop products have become successful within the creative industry; the all-in-one form factor of Macs is a great space-saver, tucking a purpose-built compact machine away behind a large monitor. But for those who prefer PCs, a system that can comfortably handle demanding video tasks is often going to be large, heavy, and potentially quite loud.

Such machines either take up a significant amount of available desk space or need to be placed underneath the desk itself, making cabling and access a hassle as well as potentially worsening airflow, since the system is closer to the floor. Fortunately, your friendly neighborhood computer magazine is here to show you how to make a videography machine that has both a compact desktop footprint and a ton of powerhouse components.

Whether you would choose PC over Mac for software and OS reasons or just the superior customizability of PC hardware, there are a few benefits to consider here. Windows is obviously one of them; the world’s most widely used operating system is ideal when it comes to compatibility and familiarity. We’re deviating from the norm, though. You’ll notice in our list of ingredients that we’ve opted for Windows 10 Pro, the more powerful version of Microsoft’s flagship OS. It’s also more expensive than Windows 10 Home, so if you don’t need the Pro upgrade, consider it merely a suggestion.