This thing is just ridiculous, I never should have bought it but I needed something to get me through.
I've got about $600 that isn't ear marked for anything, time to build a desktop, but I've been out of the hardware game for a while.
I don't need an awesome graphics card yet, but I will need something because it will be hooked up to my 55" 4k TV. I won't be doing a lot of gaming on it, but it will be used for CAD for 3d printing and vinyl cutting, as well as video editing.
So what should I be shopping for hardware wise? I'm thinking whatever last gen intel chip and a board that will take it, 16gb or so of ram, I've got a handful of Sata drives sitting around that might work, but I'm thinking a smaller SSD boot disc and a 2-4TB storage drive.
This could potentially turn into a server, so I'd rather not go with a microbox.
Bonus internet points for amazon or newegg links.
I've always hated the laptop experience. If you need portable--iPad. If you need computer--Desktop.
AMD Ryzen 5 or Ryzen 7 is your ticket. Always been better bang for the buck than Intel, and never more so than right now.
How cheap of a desktop do you want? I've found a few videos on used Dell Optiplex desktops that reliably could do 1080p at 60FPS for around ~$300 depending on how good you are at scrounging. This other video, also from the same channel, details which GPU is best and it's the decently cheap 1060 6GB. Since they use Intel CPUs- and their max RAM clock speed is 2133- it's cheap to get them to 16GB using just stock stuff.
I get emails from Dell that have good discounts
dellrefurbished.com
you might check it out and see what they have , and they give a warranty
ADDED: Here was the last email I got from Dell ,
https://mailchi.mp/dellrefurbished/jan_dell-249-e7240-laptops-462773?e=cfa782c606
In reply to z31maniac :
That was the link I was looking for. Big thanks.
Older high end machines have worked very, very well for me. I'm talking retired off-lease commercial stuff with what at the time were high end processors. I'm using a 10 year old workstation grade HP right now - paid about $600 for it 9 years ago and have upgraded memory and SSD in the meantime but it's been rock solid and is still totally usable. My suggestion is to look for that. Something i7 or Xeon based. Tons of memory and a big SSD and it'll last. (But don't forget to back up that SSD!)
What plugs do you need for everything? A lot of graphics cards have one HDMI but 3x Display ports, and I'm not sure what you'll need for your printing and vinyl cutting.
Buy someone's older gaming system. They are always upgrading and you can find good deals on cast off parts or systems.
In fact, if you're interested I can go through the stuff I have and let you know what I have and if any of it is of any interest to anyone here. Its all older stuff, so it might not be worth much, but I figure if it helps someone...
GIRTHQUAKE said:
How cheap of a desktop do you want? I've found a few videos on used Dell Optiplex desktops that reliably could do 1080p at 60FPS for around ~$300 depending on how good you are at scrounging. This other video, also from the same channel, details which GPU is best and it's the decently cheap 1060 6GB. Since they use Intel CPUs- and their max RAM clock speed is 2133- it's cheap to get them to 16GB using just stock stuff.
Just in case, here's a couple that should be worth looking at, if you like this idea and aren't afraid to modify them a bit. Keep an eye on shipping costs, and consider looking for local recyclers of computers instead as they may have even better prices available. Many of these resellers on ebay actually have buybacks and consumer protections.
A Maryland i7-4770 9020 Desktop with a claimed 16GB of RAM- has no disk drives. Currently bidding at $48.00. I would ask to proove that it *has* 16GB of RAM tho (I only see two sticks), but an i7 is still a great processor.
A Colorado outfit with an i5 4570- has 8GB of RAM and a 500GB harddisk, only lacks an OS. It's at $105 for a buy-it-now.
Both of these have free 30-day returns and lack WiFi, so you'll have to either get some kind of driver or use an ethernet plug. Toss a couple more sticks of bargin RAM in them and swap to an SSD with a small Graphics card (1060 6GB seems to be the best) you'll have a sweet little stealth rig so long as you don't overclock it.
I was looking at $650 by the time I bought a copy of winblows from amazon. Checked prebuilt systems there and newegg and got a ready to go system for $635 after tax, free shipping. Another $25 for a wireless mouse and keyboard and everything will be good by next weekend.
GIRTHQUAKE said:
A Maryland i7-4770 9020 Desktop with a claimed 16GB of RAM- has no disk drives. Currently bidding at $48.00. I would ask to proove that it *has* 16GB of RAM tho (I only see two sticks), but an i7 is still a great processor.
That service tag has order code 370-AAJC which is 2x 8GB DDR3 1600MHz DIMMs.
I have two laptops right now and really like both of them.
The suggestion of used high end is very good, my personal laptop is a Lenovo Thinkpad W540. i7, Nvidia GeForce, 16gb RAM, 256 ssd, nice big monitor, full keyboard with number pad and a nice keyboard. Very nice machine but big and heavy. Does get 7 hours on battery though even with being a workstation grade laptop. Spends most of its time at home on a dock where I use it as a desktop with the ability to take it out to the living room, garage, cars, etc.
I dont need huge storage on my laptop because I keep all my important files on a 4TB NAS.
I also have a Asus ZenBook UX430U that I got from work. Its my travel laptop, I take it everywhere. Barely larger than a sheet of paper, awesome battery, also i7, 16gb RAM, 512 SSD, etc. Its a great little machine but lacking on ports and I dont have admin rights so I cant install my own software on it. Not a huge deal but does require my own PC for other stuff. Honestly for 99% of what I do its perfect.
I leave my work computer at home because I have a cranking desktop at work with dual 27" displays, etc so the laptop is mainly for weekends and travel.
I dont think you could go wrong with either and they are both in your price range.
