Re: New Desktop Purchase
Posted: Mon Nov 11, 2019 7:39 pm
I'm still here.
For the most part, I agree with Kevin. Outlet deals are a great way to get a huge discount on a nearly current generation machine or a refurbished machine.
Black Friday deals will mostly focus on current generation stuff usually via special SKUs or large buys. You might find something that way. If not, you can always go back to an outlet for a good deal.
Multiple HDMI or other video outputs are best handled through a discreet GPU (AMD/Nvidia rather than the built in Intel GPU). Even the lower end non-gaming cards support this at only a modest cost increase over not getting one.
I'm still running a machine based on a high end 2009 platform, but but with all of the things updated and/or overclocked. Upgrades are a combination of new (GPU) and used (CPU) components. I don't recommend that approach to a normal/sane person. I don't think I'll replace the core of this machine for another couple years. Modern games are mostly GPU-bound so as long as this old-ass platform supplies sufficient performance for a current generation GPU, I'll keep it.
The most important things to know going in are your budget and your use case. Sounds like you just need plenty of storage. Although you don't want to be upgrading this thing all the time, swapping out hard drives low impact.
For the most part, I agree with Kevin. Outlet deals are a great way to get a huge discount on a nearly current generation machine or a refurbished machine.
Black Friday deals will mostly focus on current generation stuff usually via special SKUs or large buys. You might find something that way. If not, you can always go back to an outlet for a good deal.
Multiple HDMI or other video outputs are best handled through a discreet GPU (AMD/Nvidia rather than the built in Intel GPU). Even the lower end non-gaming cards support this at only a modest cost increase over not getting one.
I'm still running a machine based on a high end 2009 platform, but but with all of the things updated and/or overclocked. Upgrades are a combination of new (GPU) and used (CPU) components. I don't recommend that approach to a normal/sane person. I don't think I'll replace the core of this machine for another couple years. Modern games are mostly GPU-bound so as long as this old-ass platform supplies sufficient performance for a current generation GPU, I'll keep it.
The most important things to know going in are your budget and your use case. Sounds like you just need plenty of storage. Although you don't want to be upgrading this thing all the time, swapping out hard drives low impact.