PPT computer for large corporate

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brin831

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Guys, anyone have any recommendations on pc build spec's or specific things to look for when building a pc for ppt presentations for large scale corporate events.

This is talking large scale can't fail, also running redundant backup machine. It needs to be pc and capable of handling anything that someone walks up with on a thumb drive.

will need to run operator monitor, and show monitor 1080i, and downstage monitor off third output that is a double of the operator monitor, both pgm and "notes" page are sent to router so dsm can get either or depending on presenter preference.

thinking:

windows 8.1 pro
ppt '13
6 core i7 3.5
12 g ram
dual 120 ssd drives one for os one for media
4gb nvidia graphics card with 4 outs dual dvi / dual displayport

tower not laptop

if anyone has any other thoughts or systems they have built let me know or if i should put in a different forum feel free to move there !!!
 
MacBook pro dual boot. If you can't do keynote then you can't handle everything. No reason to go with a tower here. Everyone uses a laptop in this case.
 
The 8.1 pro will automatically upgrade to Win10 Pro, which is fine - been running it for many months without issue, so don't worry about that. There is a question about "running anything" and your focus on PowerPoint. If it's PPT, then it's PPT. The machine you've spec'd out is potent and should be able to handle any videos they throw you. Laptops running multiple outputs is problematic in my experience. For stills, maybe fine, but not decoding and playing a mp4 on 2 screens.
 
Footer ... we have mac pro for keynote ... I've never seen the wheel of death faster then trying to run windows ppt on my mac while running some ppt with scripts animations etc ... let mac handle mac and pc pc ... no worries about formating etc ... besides the questions was specific to ppt ... I'm not biases either way just found from experience "non standard" solutions are typically that

Baxter thanks yes that was my thoughts on the "tower" ok really a rack mout ... but yes needing 3 different outputs puts a load on the video card and machine ... most laptops are only really comfortable with 2. Also looked at eyefinity video cards ... it's all going to sdi to vision mixer ... any thoughts on raid ssd vs one dedicated to system one to media??
 
Should have noted that about ppt vs keynote in first post ... anything would be any ppt ... we've done presentations for hp before where the presenter hands over ppt and says mmm looks like my custom animations are lagging a bit .. I said sure let's use your machine ... he said no way my laptop can't run this to gfx heavy ...?!? Great then haha stop ragging on my custom box.
 
My two cents -
" It needs to be pc and capable of handling anything that someone walks up with on a thumb drive."

The 'always there' danger is a thumb drive with a virus in it. A strict procedure/policy should be set that all thumb drives must be pre-scanned (perhaps an appropriate tag or sticker thereafter?). Also perhaps a small Macbook is safer to use for such scans. Cheaper is a Linux machine like one of the early Asus 7" netbooks.

As for the hardware components, maybe it is just me, but lately, I'm a firm believer in the professional range of graphics cards partly because of the stability of the drivers, especially the built-in EDID Manager to lock the output display resolution. My experience is limited to the AMD Firepro range. The Quadro range is good too (I suppose) but generally cost more. One other good feature, I find, with the pro range from AMD is the standardization of the output connectors - all DP, either all mini or all full-sized DP, not a mix of DVI, DP, HDMI. For multi-outputs one would need ACTIVE DP-DVI adapters for stability, not the passive DP-DVI adapters that come with the box.

ThomasL
 
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"any thoughts on raid ssd vs one dedicated to system one to media??"

My advice is not to. Software-RAID or hybrid RAID may fail anytime, unless you invest in the more expensive hardware RAID cards. If read speed is important, look for a motherboard that has high-speed M.2 (32GB/s) and use the new Samsung M.2 950 Pro, or the SM950. Sequential read speeds are like 2150MB/s, faster than 2 SDDs in RAID 0 on a SATA 3 6GB/s interface.
 
My assumption is that the tower design is necessary due to how PPT does the presenter view. You only need a dual output from the computer, but you will need a DA to handle the presenter's view for both the operator and presenter.

That computer you suggest is definitely built to run about anything. The biggest challenge is that the presentations are often not optimally built and that will be your choke point.

I'm glad to hear that you have a separate computer for Keynote.
 
Great advice on the usbvirus scan.

Makes sense about the da instead of using 3 discrete outputs ... Prolly less taxing.

Agreed about ppt as a software isn't wonderful and depending on the presentation build it can really struggle. Ppt 13 is a step better than previous versions it at least defaults to 16x9 ... But presenter view isn't quite as good as earlier versions. The other real struggle is getting presenters to follow guidelines file types etc.
 
brin831 said:
The other real struggle is getting presenters to follow guidelines file types etc.
Click to expand...

I'd just be happy if everyone stopped using hyperlinks to youtube in their presentations. It looks awful, and renders presentation mode useless.
Campus lost internet for a few days a couple of months ago (botched core-router upgrade), and half the events we put on were suddenly presentation-less.

Meandering back on topic: Perhaps consider something like DeepFreeze for the computer? This mitigates the virus threat, but lets you keep internet accessible from the computer. Just keep a partition unfrozen for storage of the presentation files (so you don't have to reload them in case of reboot).
 
do you guys know of anything that can ensure all machines are the same ... same software updates etc ... we will have multiple of these machines and i want to ensure they are all similarly equipped and up to date as necessary ... the deep freeze idea is great windows 8.1 also has a great system restore much better than previous versions so i may utilize that at first ... i plan on creating an image of each machine so its just installing a new drive if there is ever a failure.
 
An image is probably the easiest way to ensure they are the same. If you have a large scale deployment of Windows boxes you may already have software otherwise set one up and then clone it.

One thing to keep in mind is to make sure your backup is turned on frequently. I cannot tell you how many times I've dealt with a backup device that had not been turned on in months. Rendering it useless from all the updates in a true backup situation. If anything I'd rotate the. And or always have them both on during a gig.
 
So bhilt up 8 of these super happy went windows 10 and dual 240g ssds.

Didn't raid anything but did use easeus to make an image and then just change windows pId to activate worked like a charm keep hdd in pelican for backup

Any experienced presenters with thoughts on best way to get additional fonts ... I know in ppt you can embed them in the file but if it's not saved correctly you are sol so just trying to find a little better solution.

Thanks otherwise real happy especially with windows 10 ... and the machines are super quick power on to go time in like 6 seconds.
 
Here's a great primer to adding fonts to your machine. Basically, it hasn't changed, but just in case you are unsure of how to navigate Windows. There are plenty of options to purchase various fonts. One thing to always ensure is to read any disclaimers that come with specific fonts. Some prohibit commercial use.
 
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