Repair-It

Don't really have a hard budget. Probably around 1k but I mean if I saw something I really liked and it was 1500, I'd probably splurge a little. If there is a system that had multiple HDMI outputs I'd like it but if that either a) made it too pricey or b) meant I had to sacrifice other stuff, I can live without it (same way I do now) and provided it has 1 HDMI and at least a DVI or Display, I could live that way. HD at least 3 TB but undecided if for a desktop if I should have it split between 2 and one being a SSD or if HD's are more reliable these days and just get a 3 TB or 4 TB one. RAM, I think at least 24 but maybe up to 32. Processor, nothing really but the faster the better I suppose. Don't need a monitor and not looking for a touch screen thing either. I do want a DVD drive. Think that's about it. Don't have true loyalty to like Dell or HP or someone else, so that doesn't really matter.

I only asked about buying on Amazon because I found when I wanted to tailor things, it seemed to be a) easier than manufacturer website and b) seemed to provide more possibilities as well. I'll check out the links you provided. Haven't looked on Newegg yet.

Alright.

For video ports, the Dell site says:

Ports may vary depending on graphics card.
NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 1030 2GB GDDR5: HDMI 2.0, Single Link DVI-D
AMD Radeon RX 560 2GB GDDR5: DisplayPort, HDMI, Dual Link DVI-D,
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1050Ti 4GB GDDR5: DisplayPort 1.3 (1.4 Ready), HDMI 2.0, Dual Link DVI-D
AMD Radeon™ RX 570 4GB GDDR5: 3x DisplayPort 1.2, (DP1.4 HDR Ready), HDMI 2.0b
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1060 6GB GDDR5: 3x DisplayPort 1.3 (1.4 Ready), HDMI 2.0, Dual Link DVI-D
AMD Radeon RX 580 8GB GDDR5: 3x DisplayPort 1 .2 (DP1.4 HDR Ready), HDMI 2.0b
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1070 8GB GDDR5: 3x DisplayPort 1.3 (1.4 Ready), HDMI 2.0, Dual Link DVI-D
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1080 8GB GDDR5X: 3x DisplayPort 1.3 (1.4 Ready), HDMI 2.0, Dual Link DVI-D
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1660Ti: 1x Display Port 1.4, 1x HDMI 2.0, 1x USB-C

So that machine I linked was the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050Ti with 4GB GDDR5 which has the standard trio: DisplayPort 1.3 (1.4 Ready), HDMI 2.0, Dual Link DVI-D.

You could easily do dual monitors with that. All you need is a DisplayPort to DVI adapter which are readily available. Oh you wanted multiple HDMI? Well you should be able to adapt DVI to HDMI as well with an adapter. It could even come with that. In fact I think my 10 year old Dell came with such an adapter. Those are also available everywhere, and cheap.

You can get more RAM but I'm not sure if the price is worth it. Same on the hard drive. You will probably end up paying hundreds extra for what amounts to a small difference in actual hardware value.

For drives, ultimately I do recommend an SSD for boot and applications in at least the 240GB size range if not larger. And a good 3 or 4 TB for files/media and general storage. I also recommend an external drive as backup using File History. I might even recommend off site like through OneDrive (I have 1TB so that is handy).

Here is a seriously nasty machine that does mostly what you want out of the box:
https://outlet.us.dell.com/ARBOnlineSal ... 9XR3cbL%2b

Tech Specs
Intel Core 9th Generation i7-9700 Processor (8 Core, Up to 4.70Ghz, 12MB Cache, 65W)
Windows 10 Pro
2 TB 3.5 Inch SATA Hard Drive (7200 RPM)
256GB PCIe M.2 NVMe Class 40 Solid State Drive
32GB (4x8GB) 2666MHz DDR4 UDIMM Non-ECC
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 6GB GDDR6
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)

You still have to add an optical drive but that is again easy and cheap to do yourself. This also has a monster video card that you certainly do not need. This whole thing is overkill imo (and you probably couldn't build this yourself for anywhere near this price). But yeah this system is $1,488.00 or $1,309 after that 12% coupon. I do not think that is a good value because even though it comes with a lot more stuff, you can do better to target your real requirements post-sale starting from a cheaper machine. Depends whether you are willing to do that I guess.

kevm14 wrote: This also has a monster video card that you certainly do not need. This whole thing is overkill imo (and you probably couldn't build this yourself for anywhere near this price). But yeah this system is $1,488.00 or $1,309 after that 12% coupon. I do not think that is a good value because even though it comes with a lot more stuff, you can do better to target your real requirements post-sale starting from a cheaper machine. Depends whether you are willing to do that I guess.

I wasn't kidding. The CPU alone is $350.
Video card $300-$400 depending on which exact one you get. You're already up to almost the cost of the other system I linked and you don't have a motherboard, RAM, a case or power supply, TWO hard drives, and whatever else would be required.

But yeah I would really consider getting less RAM, less hard drive, less CPU and less video card which saves like $500 and selectively upgrading just what you need when you are ready. This approach is also good because hardware prices are always coming down so whatever you would have bought now, will just be cheaper down the road (or you'll get more for your money, either way).

Or just drop $1,300 because yolo and also that thing would run MS Flight Sim 2020.....go on....

I'd see if other OEMs have a similar Outlet. Obviously I am a big fan.

Any thoughts if waiting until Black Friday will make a difference with buying a system, as oppose to piecing things together.

It'll just make it more likely to get a bigger coupon or something.

What have you come up with on the new side that meets your requirements? And what are the prices for that?

No new requirements or anything. Was just discussing what the actual budget it with the wife and she asked if there would be better deals around black Friday. But considering I'll probably end up customizing something, not sure any deals will matter.

No I was asking if you have come up with better deals than these Outlet machines.

This is why I am recommending what I am: https://computers.woot.com/offers/hp-pa ... _450426810

I think you are going to pay too much to get the exact specs you want, which is why I'm pushing a Dell Outlet machine that you selectively upgrade the components that you want. At this point you should probably just look at any given machine and see what the price delta would be to add an SSD and possibly a larger HDD, plus RAM. You'll save a few hundred off of getting a machine with a mongo video card and CPU that you don't need, because those are the single most pricey components, though a large SSD is also fairly pricey so you're going to pay for that one way or the other, but that's OK because it's something you actually want. You don't need a high end gaming GPU or 8 core CPU.

On the other hand, by the time you customize a lower end system, I wonder if you'll be in the $1,300 range for that nasty Dell I linked, with the powerful CPU and GPU. So if you are going to pay that much, just take the better hardware, even if you don't "need" it. Hell, you may be able to sell that video card and recoup some bucks, then either use integrated graphics or buy a more modest card. Just a thought I had.

One thing about the Dell Outlet is sometimes you can end up with a configuration that is pretty aligned to your requirements, so you need to look probably daily. Maybe twice a day. But it is going to take some patience because your requirements don't represent a common configuration. People aren't spec'ing out mid-range CPU and GPU systems with high end amounts of RAM and storage configurations.

As far as getting 10 years from the basic machine, a high end CPU pretty much is your most important attribute because it will probably be the least upgradable, at least with a typical OEM motherboard. So you lock in a high end CPU (that's what I did) and you can literally upgrade the rest of the machine over time as your needs and budget permit. Video cards and RAM are extremely modular and easy to upgrade later. Hard drives, somewhat less so but still very upgradeable. If you're worried about the nuisance of upgrading to an SSD later, I think there are free drive imaging tools available that can just image the C: drive to your new SSD (I assume we have SSD-friendly free tools by now). Then you can add/upgrade the HDD and move all your data there.

Too bad Mulligan hasn't checked this yet. This is his gig now.

Ah, ok. Not sure if I'm come across any actual "deals". I have poked around on Amazon and have found a few systems that seem to get majority of my requirements. I think the toughest one to find is the 2 HDMI output but like I said, I can deal with that provided I have DVI or Display as other options along with 1 HDMI. I've also found something on Dell, but the cost is like $1900. So I don't think I really want to pay that. Just done basic window shopping type things but I have looked at the links you've provided.

At this point, I don't see myself buying something and then upgrading with different components later. I'm not doubting that it would be more cost effective to do it that way but I just don't think I want to put in the time to do that. So, if I pay a little more for getting 90% of what I want, I can deal with that.

Did Mulligan change jobs?

Well with the exception of a 2TB HDD instead of a 3 or 4, the $1,300 one I linked meets all of your requirements (and is in fact more than you need). So I agree, there is no reason to spend $1,900.

And like I said, you could even sell that video card and recoup another couple hundred if you wanted to.

Also, for storage, you could consider a large external drive. With USB 3.0, there should be plenty of speed to access your files/media.