Restoration Essentials: Tax-Free Weekend

[Koopa Luath]

As Tax-Free Weekend approaches, I'm sensing another opportunity to grab a new computer. As I'm hoping to use it for restoration purposes, I'd like a general idea of what I'm going to need, in terms of CPU processing power, RAM, storage, GPU, display color accuracy, display brightness, etc.

[spoRv]

Not a super-expert, but I've learned something in the last months...

CPU: the fastest, the better (of course!) - Intel, no less than i7 quad-core; AMZ, Ryzen octa-core
RAM: no less than 8GB, I'd go with at least 16GB
Disks: one "small" SSD for OS (120GB should do), plus one or more huge HDDs for storage - as usual, the bigger, the better
GPU: as I'm using only Avisynth, don't feel the need to have a super powerful GPU - I have a mere GTX-760 that is enough to play 1080p smoothly; for heavyload 4K video, maybe a powerful one is reccomended
Display: I use my HDTV 55' as monitor so if you have a good set, you can use it; if you plan to buy a TV set as well, I'd take in consideration the "cheapest" OLED LG models, or a good FALD LED set; if you want a simple monitor, someone more expert would surely gives you a good advice

[Feallan]

120 GB is not enough for the OS, go with 256. Unless you like your disk constantly on edge of being full

[spoRv]

Of course, the more, the better... but, for example, in my PC (Windows 10) the OS takes less than 20GB, and softwares (quite a lot of programs, and related user data) less than 10GB; it depends a lot if he will install many programs, or if he would store other data on the SSD, because OS space would be, more or less, around the same size.

[Koopa Luath]

On this rig I'll include AviSynth, VirtualDub, FFMPEG, Audacity, GIMP, and perhaps even DaVinci Resolve. One question about software: does Windows 10 have any 3D functionality for videogame emulators? Because I was kind of hoping to also use it to record Let's Plays, especially 3D LPs of N64 games. I don't know if it's the 1st-gen Core i3 processor, but the Sony I've had for seven years now has been doing an acceptable job at best in that regard.

[Feallan]

Of course, the more, the better... but, for example, in my PC (Windows 10) the OS takes less than 20GB, and softwares (quite a lot of programs, and related user data) less than 10GB; it depends a lot if he will install many programs, or if he would store other data on the SSD, because OS space would be, more or less, around the same size.

When you use your computer daily the amount of files you amass can get big fast - all the little files you download, data programs hoard for some reason etc. I'm using my current installation since 2015 and the system partition is at 133 GB. Sure I could delete unnecessary files, but I'm lazy, so I don't recommend 120GB SSDs for lazy people.

On this rig I'll include AviSynth, VirtualDub, FFMPEG, Audacity, GIMP, and perhaps even DaVinci Resolve. One question about software: does Windows 10 have any 3D functionality for videogame emulators? Because I was kind of hoping to also use it to record Let's Plays, especially 3D LPs of N64 games. I don't know if it's the 1st-gen Core i3 processor, but the Sony I've had for seven years now has been doing an acceptable job at best in that regard.

What do you mean by "3D functionality for videogame emulators?" You can use any console emulator you want provided your CPU and GPU are fast enough. For recording I'd recommend a newer GPU with NVIDIA Shadowplay or AMD Relive, their impact on performance is almost non existent.

[zoidberg]

So long as you enable TRIM the OS SSD will not fill up dramatically, although depending on your system settings (virtual memory, scratch disks etc) you can have a lot of unnecessary write cycles. My SSD is 120GB and it's nowhere near full.

[whatchitfoool]

If you get the currently newest i7 (kaby lake), you will be able to play back anything with revised encryption standards.

Desktop or laptop, I would go with something that can boot from an M.2 slot for NVME SSD.  Really takes out the bottle neck.

[Koopa Luath]

On this rig I'll include AviSynth, VirtualDub, FFMPEG, Audacity, GIMP, and perhaps even DaVinci Resolve. One question about software: does Windows 10 have any 3D functionality for videogame emulators? Because I was kind of hoping to also use it to record Let's Plays, especially 3D LPs of N64 games. I don't know if it's the 1st-gen Core i3 processor, but the Sony I've had for seven years now has been doing an acceptable job at best in that regard.

What do you mean by "3D functionality for videogame emulators?" You can use any console emulator you want provided your CPU and GPU are fast enough. For recording I'd recommend a newer GPU with NVIDIA Shadowplay or AMD Relive, their impact on performance is almost non existent.

Remember how iZ3D allowed you to play any N64 game in stereo 3D? That's only good until Windows 7. I'm gonna need some software that can provide a stereoscopic effect for Project64 et al in Windows 10, as that's the OS my new rig is likely to have.

[Koopa Luath]

Regarding the audio-visual side of things, if I were to get THX-certified speakers as replacements for any sucky built-in speakers (if I were to get a laptop), would I do best with Logitech or Klipsch? Also: is screen brightness just as important as color accuracy in choosing a monitor?