I'm in England and haven't built a new desktop since 2012. My current system has an i5-3570K, 8GB of DDR3 memory, and an RX 570, so it still works for basic tasks but is no longer suitable for modern games or video editing.
My Lenovo Legion 7 laptop, purchased new for £1,800 in 2022, recently lost all video output. It has a Ryzen 7 5800H, 16GB RAM, a 1TB NVMe SSD, and an RTX 3080 Laptop GPU. Lenovo quoted almost the original purchase price to replace the motherboard, so I may pursue a partial refund or repair through UK consumer-law protections, although the outcome is uncertain.
I also have an older spare desktop, a 2012 MacBook Air, a Canon G7 X Mark I, and some other equipment that I may sell. I expect to add around £500 myself, with possible additional money from selling those items and whatever Lenovo offers. Because the final budget is uncertain, I'm trying to understand which parts should be prioritised.
Video editing is my main priority. I'll be working mostly with 1080p footage from a Samsung Galaxy S20, Canon G7 X, GoPro, and OBS recordings, with occasional 4K clips. Gaming is second priority: I'd like to play current games at 1440p using medium settings and high-quality textures, preferably with enough performance to remain useful for several years.
I'm considering Intel because of Quick Sync for HEVC and video editing, but I'm open to AMD if the overall value is better. I'd prefer 32GB of RAM, though current memory prices may make 16GB tempting, and I'd like a graphics card with around 16GB of VRAM if possible. Low heat, reasonable power use, quiet operation, and an air cooler would also be ideal.
I currently have a 1080p Samsung P2450H monitor and would like a newer, larger display with good image quality for gaming and films. I'm also considering keeping the old monitor as a second screen. Should I reuse the Lenovo's 1TB SSD if I'm allowed to keep it, or would it be better to buy a new, larger drive? Finally, is it worth building soon, or should I wait for prices to change?
2 Answers
Don’t build around the idea of being future-proof for four or five years—that depends too much on future games and prices. Spend the confirmed budget on the best current CPU, GPU, 32GB memory kit, and power supply you can reasonably afford.
If you already have enough money and need the computer, waiting is unlikely to guarantee a bargain. Prices can move unpredictably, especially for graphics cards and memory. It may be reasonable to wait briefly while sorting out the Lenovo claim and selling equipment, but there’s no reliable point where everything is certain to become cheaper.
The useful information is your actual budget, workload, and target resolution; the value of the older machines won’t change the recommended parts much until you know how much money they bring in. I wouldn’t count the possible Lenovo payment until it is confirmed.
For your editing workload, 32GB of RAM should be the minimum target. Sixteen gigabytes will work, but it can become a serious limitation when DaVinci Resolve, source footage, previews, and other applications are open. With a graphics card installed, Quick Sync is less decisive than having enough system memory, a capable CPU, and a GPU with good encoder support.
A modern midrange Ryzen 5 or Intel Core processor paired with an RTX 5070-class card would be a sensible starting point if the budget allows. An RX 9070 XT is also worth considering for gaming performance and VRAM, although Nvidia currently has advantages in editing software support and some encoding features. If you can stretch the budget, a Ryzen 7 X3D processor helps gaming, but additional RAM and storage may improve your editing experience more than spending heavily on the CPU.
A 1TB SSD fills quickly with video projects, so keep it as a secondary drive if it is healthy and add a 2TB NVMe SSD for active projects and games. A 27-inch 1440p monitor would be a good balance of size and pixel density; you can keep the old display as a secondary screen if desk space and mismatched image quality aren’t issues.
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