Question Prebuilt desktop with new card

[BlackTalonCEO]

I have a post in the components section of this forum but now I have a different inquiry. My laptop just stopped booting up for some reason. It's pretty old and has a broken screen so it doesn't surprise me, but now I have no computer whatsoever.

Searching on websites like best buy and Walmart, I see some prebuilt desktops for pretty cheap, like 3-400 dollars with 4-6 cores depending on the model, things like Dell Optiplexes and HP pavilions that tend to have subpar integrated graphics.

Could I upgrade the graphics cards in these compact desktops? Or would it not even be worth it? My plan A is to just build one for about 600 dollars. I'm not necessarily a professional by any means but this will eventually be my career. I just need a computer of SOME sort.
NOTE: Computer is for video editing/sound mixing/ eventually VFX software (though by that time I'll probably have a new computer)

 

[hang-the-9]

Unless you know what you are buying, and the guts of it, getting a pre-built with hopes of upgrading it won't be good if you plan on using it for gaming.

Many tower systems you can upgrade, but you need to know to make sure they use desktop parts and have a good power supply with enough power and power connections for what card you want to get.

Much better to spend 600 to build one than spend 400 on something junk and spend another 400 replacing parts and buying a video card.

Or get a full built used system from craigslist. You should be able to find a system a generation or two old for 400 with good parts.

 

[BlackTalonCEO]

I'm not gonna use it for gaming, I dont even play games on my console when I'm staring at it for 30 seconds straight 😂 itll be used almost exclusively for video editing and sound mixing. Nothing heavy at the moment, in the future I may use 4k but for now it's all 1080p footage.

 

[hang-the-9]

I'm not gonna use it for gaming, I dont even play games on my console when I'm staring at it for 30 seconds straight 😂 itll be used almost exclusively for video editing and sound mixing. Nothing heavy at the moment, in the future I may use 4k but for now it's all 1080p footage.

For video editing you would want a good CPU with the video card secondary, you should just build a $600 system instead of buying a business system and then trying to upgrade it.
Look in the systems section, there are tons of build suggestions for different price points.