New Desktop Purchase

It's that beige box on your floor. In 1999.
dochielomn
Posts: 216
Joined: Wed Oct 30, 2013 9:16 am

New Desktop Purchase

Post by dochielomn »

So, I think I'm going to be in the market for a new desktop. I think I'd be looking for a dual drive, thinking about a 1TB SSD and a 2TB SATA HD. Wondering how much RAM I should look for? Thinking of going on the higher side like 24 or 32 GB. Wondering what else I should be thinking about (other than I/O stuff) or if anyone has any suggestions. Thanks.
kevm14
Posts: 15200
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: New Desktop Purchase

Post by kevm14 »

Requirements? Like...general computing, looking to get ~10 years out of the system? Anything specific?

And yes I think 24GB would probably be a good starting point. Probably don't need more than that for a while, depending what you use the computer for. Try to get the largest amount in the least number of sticks to make the upgrade path more efficient. Or maybe just get 2 sticks of 16 and leave the other 2 slots blank which means a total of 64GB, which is probably more than you'd need to use up the rest of the life of the system from an obsolescence standpoint.

1TB SSD is fine for boot/application but they are getting cheap, no? Probably 4TB for platter HDD...unless you have some kind of storage appliance or other solution that I'm not aware of. But I've had a 4TB HDD in my desktop for a few years now so I don't really see that as too big from a general storage (including all forms of media) perspective.

Mulligan would have you sweat the video card but I'm not sure you game at all. I'm not sure you even need a discrete GPU. Or, use integrated graphics for now and leave yourself an upgrade path to add a GPU should the need arise (rather than paying for something now, and having it be out of date in 3 years when you actually need a GPU).
dochielomn
Posts: 216
Joined: Wed Oct 30, 2013 9:16 am

Re: New Desktop Purchase

Post by dochielomn »

No real hard general requirements. The use is probably more for basic computing and/on streaming as needed. Occasional work, including being able to remote desktop to a different system, also adds to usage. I have a laptop that has a dual drive, 1 TB SSD and the other 2 TB SATA HD so that's why I was thinking of keeping something similar. And I think the laptop still has plenty of storage space. So can't really imagine that I would need too much beyond a 3 TB to 4 TB total storage. Was never really a gamer so I probably don't need anything too complex for a video card.

The desktop I have now is from 2011 and has served me well. Maybe running a bit slower on some things but think it's time to replace (recently it's been acting a little strange at times with regards to when I turn the monitor on, everything is black and when I reboot, it takes some time for the machine to run through Windows and load/startup. So now I'm in the process of backing up my files (current desktop has 1 TB total and is almost maxed out).

I think the only thing I would like is multiple HDMI outs. But not sure they really make desktops with that option. Can usually get 1 output but not sure if multiple exist really. But this isn't a hard requirement, it's more of a want but willing to concede provided I have like a display port or DVI as a secondary option since I do have multiple monitors connected.
kevm14
Posts: 15200
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: New Desktop Purchase

Post by kevm14 »

I actually decided to do a last hardware upgrade on my 10 year old Dell desktop. I bought another 12GB of RAM so I'll max it out at 24GB. It was $83.43 total for 3 sticks.
kevm14
Posts: 15200
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: New Desktop Purchase

Post by kevm14 »

Dusted everything out and threw in my new RAM. Sweet. Sitting here with 14% memory utilization with just Edge running.
Dell 24GB ram.PNG
Also doubled the size of my swap file to 6,144MB. This should be the last upgrade to this machine. I have had it for over 10 years at this point. As a point of reference it was a refurbished i7-920 for $681 shipped from the Dell Outlet (just checked, June 2009 - it would have been $1,239 as a brand new machine from Dell) at a time when that was brand new hardware and a custom box would have set me back at least $1,000. No monitor. It was the first computer I ever bought from an OEM, and unless you count my tablets, has been the ONLY computer ever bought from an OEM (laptop was free).

I feel like this has worked out really well for me. Granted it was not portable but it has provided significant performance over the past 10 years, and I do not have a stack of garbage $500 laptops which I think would be typical for a 10 year cycle otherwise.

Since then I have upgraded:
- RAM several times, finally to 24GB just now (maxxed out) (I think 4 -> 6 for $30 -> 12 for $70 -> 24 for $83)
- Intel 520 SSD, 180GB (boot + application + swap file) (I think $150)
- Replaced PSU (it died) ($65)
- The 750GB platter drive it came with died and I replaced it with an HGST 4TB ($179)
- Adam gave me his old nVidia GeForce 8800 GT which got my video acceleration back up to snuff for Youtube 1080p60 content. I still don't game.
- I think the DVD burner died years ago and I've never needed to replace it

It's also seen Vista (shipping OS), Win 7, Win 8, 8.1 and now 10. I don't remember if any of those were clean installs.

There are a few ways to slice the cost ($1,258 total to date if I have included everything) though I think these were all reasonable things which greatly extended the service life of the machine, and it probably has a few years left yet. But it means that after buying the machine initially, I spent another 85% of the cost on upgrades (the PSU was the only real repair). Assuming it gets me another few years, I think that is pretty good, considering it still runs well.
dochielomn
Posts: 216
Joined: Wed Oct 30, 2013 9:16 am

Re: New Desktop Purchase

Post by dochielomn »

Let me throw this out, would any of you buy a desktop via amazon? Or buy directly from the manufacturer?
kevm14
Posts: 15200
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: New Desktop Purchase

Post by kevm14 »

I would make sure it is a Microsoft Signature PC or whatever the current marketing name for "no bloatware" is. That is, assuming they still offer that. Those machines are basically pure installations of Windows 10 + drivers and nothing else.

I would look at Newegg also. And shop manufacturer websites, because you could get a sweet refurb deal like I did 10 years ago.
kevm14
Posts: 15200
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: New Desktop Purchase

Post by kevm14 »

What is your budget? I'd presume under $1,000 without monitor? If so, can you be more specific than that?

Also, can I presume you want an old school mid-tower format for max upgradability in the future? There are more modern 2 in 1 designs and stuff that basically use laptop hardware to shrink the footprint. For general usage, this is fine. Not sure what you really want though.

The general purpose consumer desktop offerings are severely limited these days.

Here's a thing: https://www.newegg.com/dell-xps-8930-bu ... JA28PH0248

Nearly $1,500? I mean that is a lot of horsepower but I don't think you need that. Then again, this is probably equivalent to what I bought back in 09 (except this isn't a refurb). Maybe you can find a good refurb deal at the Dell Outlet or something.

Basically you have the professional level workstation stuff (many of which aren't even that expensive probably because they are old models) which have overkill Quadro graphics cards that may not even support gaming that well should you endeavor to do so (drivers). You have 2 in 1s, all in ones and so on, which are basically laptop hardware generally and not usually very upgradable (or repairable for that matter). And you have gaming desktops. Reason for that is because for general purpose computing, you really don't need the extra TDP and stuff that a desktop form factor provides and people these days don't care about upgradability - when we throw out $600 phones every 3 years, no one is asking about RAM upgrades for their computer....sigh.

Mulligan can fact check any of this.

See if this link works: https://outlet.us.dell.com/ARBOnlineSal ... dfh&~ck=mn
kevm14
Posts: 15200
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: New Desktop Purchase

Post by kevm14 »

Cheapest one with an SSD which is $954 after coupon, refurb.

https://outlet.us.dell.com/ARBOnlineSal ... nvNw%3d%3d

It is probably a better deal to skip the SSD and get something cheaper and upgrade yourself at some point. You can even image onto the drive and not have to reinstall Windows if you wanted.
kevm14
Posts: 15200
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: New Desktop Purchase

Post by kevm14 »

Here is the cheapest that isn't a Core i3.

https://outlet.us.dell.com/ARBOnlineSal ... 2fA8RXM%3d

Specs:
Intel Core 9th Generation i5-9400 Processor (6 Core, up to 4.10Ghz, 9MB Cache, 65W)
Windows 10 Pro
1TB 3.5inch SATA Hard Drive (7200 RPM)
16GB (2X8GB) 2666MHz DDR4 UDIMM Non-ECC
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050Ti with 4GB GDDR5
Dell Outlet XPS 8930
Certified Refurbished
Windows 64 Bit
Dell Wireless Card (802.11ac + Bluetooth, Dual Band 2.4&5 GHz, 1x1)
US English Qwerty Dell KB212-B QuietKey USB Black Keyboard
Optical 2-Button Mouse
Mainstream Chassis (460W)

$808 before any coupons. I think the 12% coupon is still good (code: 12SITEWIDE) which would put it at $711. I'd keep an eye on the outlet over this month because there is a very good chance of scoring a deal with a good coupon. Again that's how I got my Dell like 10 years ago. I have little doubt that this is going to be your best bang for the buck in a desktop form factor (with real desktop hardware).
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