HP Envy Phoenix 810st Desktop...is this a good PC for After Effects?

[ComposerRyan]

Hey guys, so I was fortunate to win a Costco gift card yesterday and I will be buying a computer from Costco.

However, I was wondering if you guys thought that the below computer would be sufficient enough for heavy 3D editing in Adobe After Effects.

This is the computer that I'm looking at purchasing:

http://www.costco.com/CTOUpdateCmd?model=J6N65AV%23ABA&catalogId=10701&langId=-1&storeId=10301&refine=&categoryId=56002&viewsummary=&SOFTWARE_OS=J6N45AV%23ABA&PROCESSOR=E3W57AV&MEMORY=E3W76AV&HARD_DRIVE=E5M23AV&OPTICAL_1=G5C65AV&GRAPHICS_CARD=K9P78AV&SOUND_CARD=E3X52AV&PORTS=E3X26AV&KEYBOARD_MOUSE=E3X44AV%23ABA&SOFTWARE_APP_R=D8J83AV%23ABA&SOFTWARE_SEC_R=F4Q01AV&TV_ENT_R=E3X40AV&MODEM=G5C75AV&HARD_DRIVE_2=D6T57AV&OPTICAL_2=None_OPTICAL_2&MONITOR=None_MONITOR&SOFTWARE_DVD=None_SOFTWARE_DVD&SOFTWARE_PHOTO=None_SOFTWARE_PHOTO&HARD_DRIVE_3=None_HARD_DRIVE_3&DISK_CACHING=None_DISK_CACHING&offset=0

The secondary hard drive hasn't been added to the configuration because I figured it would be cheaper to just install 2 additional hard drives myself.

Thanks for your help and looking forward to hearing your opinions on this computer.

 

[Warukyure]

Everything looks fine. Only thing I would say changing is probably the OS. 8.1 to 8.1 Pro doesn't really add a lot unless you really want to encrypt your stuff. Otherwise thats like $70 you can save. Then again not sure how much the gift card you won is worth.

Also you are right, not getting the drives from them would be a good idea as getting a 2 TB drive from anywhere else only sets you back about $120 vs the $200 they are asking for there. Same thing with memory if you want to add more though 16 GB should be enough.

 

[ComposerRyan]

Thanks for the advice and yeah I think it's a good decision to install my own drives. I have no idea why they're charging so much for RAM or hard drives...maybe extra installation cost is tied in there?

Either way, I'm feeling better about my decision in getting this PC and thanks for your input!

 

[g-unit1111]

For $2200? I wouldn't touch a pre built HP with a 10 foot pole - the cases aren't standard form factors which makes upgrading difficult or near impossible, and the operating system is loaded with so much bloatware that it makes the PCs near unusable. Plus these systems have incredibly cheap power supplies that you will wind up replacing before you take your system out of the box. Build your own and save that Costco gift card for other uses. Definitely do not spend that on a PC there. You will be wasting your money.

This would be a much better use of $2K IMO:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-5820K 3.3GHz 6-Core Processor ($366.94 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Phanteks PH-TC12DX_BK 68.5 CFM CPU Cooler ($59.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus X99-DELUXE ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard ($365.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($289.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 850 Pro Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($149.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card ($344.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower Case ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($119.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($16.99 @ Directron)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($86.43 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $1951.27
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-28 01:54 EST-0500

That rig is $300 less, contains all new hardware (the 4930K is dated now), and will prove to be a far superior system for video editing than any HP you could buy for that price.