Desktops consume more power for a reason (elaboration on the article about 4K video editing on a tight budget)
The components I'm recommending for 4K video editing on a tight budget are as follows:
(links to Polish electronic stores and AliExpress. But you should be able to get similar prices throughout Europe)
(links to Allegro are reflinks)
Processor - Xeon E5 2630 V3 (basically i7-5960X with 8 cores, Haswell E architecture, 20MB cache, 3.2 GHz all-core turbo)
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Motherboard - Machinist X99 PR9
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RAM - 32GB (2 sticks 16GB each) ECC 2133 MHz DDR4
for a total of 441 PLN
https://pl.aliexpress.com/item/1005005438880753.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.main.15.16a6168dZQDUYp&algo_pvid=36c16607-63f1-48ea-8690-13dbb12f8685&algo_exp_id=36c16607-63f1-48ea-8690-13dbb12f8685-7&pdp_npi=3%40dis%21PLN%21612.8%21441.22%21%21%21%21%21%402145280e16831712735224805d0749%2112000033088353033%21sea%21PL%21899947118&curPageLogUid=Rk9tKlRnpFm4
Graphics Card - Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 OC (6GB) - 650 PLN
https://pl.webuy.com/product-detail/?id=sgranvi1660gtx6gb&categoryName=karty-graficzne-pci-e&superCatName=komputery&title=nvidia-geforce-gtx-1660-6gb-gddr5&referredFrom=category
SSD - GoodRam CL100 gen.3 480GB (with coupon code APP30) - 72 PLN
https://www.amazon.pl/Goodram-SSDPR-CL100-480-G3-Dysk-Twardy-Czarny/dp/B089S1QWW1/ref=sr_1_7?qid=1683022969&refinements=p_85%3A20876009031%2Cp_36%3A6000-10500&rnid=20900476031&rps=1&s=computers&sr=1-7
Power Supply - Fortron FSP600-60AHBC 600W - 125 PLN
https://allegro.pl/oferta/zasilacz-fsp-fortron-600w-fsp600-60ahbc-85-13591834988?utm_medium=afiliacja&utm_source=ctr&utm_campaign=59e68b13-3ab9-4f46-a75d-dacbc91e934b#
Case - Krux Trek krx0015 (1 fan included 'for free') - 106 PLN (with coupon code APP30)
https://www.amazon.pl/Krux-krx0015-etui-komputerowe-czarne/dp/B08L3386MQ/ref=sr_1_222?qid=1683078266&refinements=p_n_free_shipping_eligible%3A20876078031%2Cp_36%3A9000-20000&rnid=20900476031&s=computers&sr=1-222
A set of 2 additional 120mm case fans - 12 PLN
https://pl.aliexpress.com/item/1005002412274009.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.main.79.13ed5935r9oGwg&algo_pvid=c4b62053-3b48-4b6b-81b6-5f176f160f38&algo_exp_id=c4b62053-3b48-4b6b-81b6-5f176f160f38-39&pdp_npi=3%40dis%21PLN%2115.56%2112.46%21%21%21%21%21%40214527c616830791545367117d0723%2112000020566577525%21sea%21PL%21899947118&curPageLogUid=27reLog8HDMm
The components selection may rise a few concerns.
- Why do we need such a powerful (and expensive) power supply?
- Isn't the cooling a bit too extreme? Expensive case with a mesh (instead of plastic) front, 3 case fans, and the legendary Snowman cooler - that's a lot of cooling for a budget build.
- Can it really compete against 11 gen Intel Core i7 and RTX 3060?
Power-hungry desktop components (such as once top-of-the-line Intel Core i7-5960X) consume a lot of power, and therefore generate a lot of heat.
But thanks to that they can put up a fight against much newer laptop components.
Test results show that in single-core tasks (more important for gaming than for content creation) the newer mobile Intel Core i7-11800H (consuming 35 Watts of power) is indeed ahead of the i7-5960X.
But in multi-core workloads (right where we need it for content creation) - i7-5960X (consuming 125 Watts of power) pulls significantly ahead.
35 Watts is simply not enough to keep all 8 cores of mobile Intel Core i7-11800H running at full speed.
That's not to say that the 3000€ premium laptop praised by the reviewers as ideal for content creation is slow, quite the opposite. But under full all-core load, its Intel Core i7-11800H is not quite as fast as the older desktop behemoth consuming nearly 4 times as much power.
You can check benchmark results here:
https://hwbench.com/cpus/intel-core-i7-11800h-vs-intel-core-i7-5960x
With the graphics card, the situation is quite similar.
No variant of GTX 1660, even the improved ones (OC/Ti/Super) could possibly compete against a desktop RTX 3060.
However, a mobile RTX 3060 consuming 65W instead of 170W (and with VRAM cut down in half, and other shenanigans) is much easier to outrun.
As shown in the video below, a desktop GTX 1660 Ti is more or less on par with the 95W variant of RTX 3060. Therefore GTX 1660 OC will have no trouble outperforming the significantly weaker 65W variant of RTX 3060.
To conclude then - yes those cheap components can match that expensive Dell XPS laptop from 2022. But they consume significantly more power and produce more heat - hence relatively expensive power supply and cooling.