Best Bang for your Buck

[dwynnehugh]

This Darling Computer in all of its forms has now been consigned to the bin – I GAVE UP!! Not normally a thing I would do, but I have to admit it’s got me beaten – I suspect it was far more than the old HDD – I suspect the mobo.  GOODBYE!!

I need a new one and really – an office type PC (power wise – not games) would do – Intel I3 or AMD – I need a Mobo, CPU and 2 x 8Gb RAM or even 2 x 4GB (as per their current PC). I have an OS W10 & DVD RW (they have disks to read), from their old system & poss a new PSU as their current one Corsair VX550 is occasionally a bit noisy.

Any suggestions would be most welcome.  Thanks,  Dave

The more you meet people the more you understand why Noah took animals instead of humans

[JayCeeDee]

What sort of budget are you looking at, Dave?? These days, having the OS on an NVME drive with an SSD for files and a large spinner for storage is ideal for fast, fluid working. 16Gb is definitely better than 8Gb if they have lots of files open at once. Just those three things will kick off at ~ £300. Mobo and CPU all depends on the rest of your budget.

[wasbit]

Having been unsuccessful in my efforts to boot from an NVMe drive on an ancient Gigabyte motherboard, I retired it & for the last 6 months have been happily using a refurbished (so they say) Dell Optiplex 3050 SFF. They come in 3 formats, micro, SFF & desktop so check the format has the ports you require.

Mine cost just over £100 for an i5 6500 & 8GB RAM. Less than £20 to add another 8GB provided the 8GB was one stick & not 2 x 4GB.

Triple boot Windows 8.1, 10 & 11 from 2 NVMe drives – the 2nd NVMe being in a PCIe adaptor. The SFF version can house a separate 3.5″ HDD but an £8 adaptor from Ebay allows a 2.5″ drive to be used.

Dave has previously posted about some small HP desktops in his possession.

 

--
Regards
wasbit

Rig 1: Optiplex 3050 SFF
Rig 2: Asus ROG G20CB (rebuilt wreck)
Rig 3: HP Elitebook 8440P

Dear Starfleet, hate you, hate the Federation, taking Voyager. - Janeway

[dwynnehugh]

Thanks for the responses – what he needs is – a case with DVD RW access to front (I can get that), I already have a 960GB SSD in place of his dead HDD, and a genuine W10 disk so in reality it is:

Mobo (AMD or Intel – not fussy)  CPU, DDR4 RAM – I will go for 16GB with a 500w approx PSU – basically it will not be used for games etc. mainly office, photos and web type of work.

Any suggestions would be gratefully received. Budget – £~300 / 400 for the mobo, CPU, PSU and RAM would be OK. Really it’s a value for money and reasonable performance  as opposed to power that he will never really use.

Thanks,  Dave

The more you meet people the more you understand why Noah took animals instead of humans

[Ed P]

Dave, I hope the existance of an old Win10 disk and a 1Tb drive are not driving your decisions. As I and Wasbit/Dave have posted, there are perfectly adequate ready builts available at a cost that is 50% or so of your budget.

Most also come with Windows 11 installed, and available space for the 1Tb drive to be used as a spare/backup storage.

[dwynnehugh]

Hi – thanks for your replies – I don’t think he would want a refurbished unit from what I understand – but then as he has a W10 disk, SDD, keyboard, mouse, monitor – he would not want to double up on those. So it seems that new discrete items will be the order of the day – costs not really an issue with them.

Any discrete component suggestions would be gratefully received. Will need to check what inputs his  monitor can take though – HDMI / DP or DVI.

Thanks, Dave

The more you meet people the more you understand why Noah took animals instead of humans

[Ed P]

Actually the Beelink that I linked to is a brand new mini-box with a modern CPU that is secure enough to run Widows 11 (included in price). It also has full fat wifi and ethernet. Although it comes with a decent sized SSD there are connections in the box to also add your own SSD if you want (useful for taking data off the old PC, assuming not lost).

I personally gave up building my own new PCs a couple of years ago as I found it very difficult to compete with the prices that OEMs could offer. It also avoided the mobo/cpu/OS/GPU compatibility lotteries.

[dwynnehugh]

Thanks Ed,  can you please give me the link again please as I can’t seem to find it on the posts you have left here.  Diolch yn fawr,  (Thank you) Dave

The more you meet people the more you understand why Noah took animals instead of humans

[Ed P]

I picked up the Beelink U59 for my wife.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=beelink+u59+mini+pc&crid=247YIG227VTG2&sprefix=beelink%2Caps%2C75&ref=nb_sb_ss_deep-retrain-0-ops-acceptance_7_7

This is a middle of the range box, as SWMBOs use is probably a bit more serious than your friend. There are others that you can examine by going on to Amazon and searching for Beelink. The £170 Intel J4125 Processor may be more appropriate for your friend, while the more expensive 12Gen ones would give my current setup a bit of competition, and be more than adequate for most gamers.

I would personally steer clear of any boxes that do not have Win11, as Win10 loses support in a couple of years time and the CPU/peripheral reqs for Win11 are a mess and you may select a box which can never be upgraded.

 

[dwynnehugh]

Hi Ed,

Thanks for the heads up on this one, I’ve had a look at what is on offer and especially your comments re W10 and the 2 years life let – so I do think that W11 will be the way to go – he has mentioned this. Beelink does look a very attractive proposition at the moment. Having been trawling through the various mobos/CPUs with / w/o graphics – the whole is a minefield, RAM etc.  I will have a chat with him and try to see if he will be happy with the Beelink ones – even more so if he can utilise his new SSD that would have held his OS on his new system. Just need to see what inputs his monitor has.  Many thanks,  Dave

The more you meet people the more you understand why Noah took animals instead of humans

[Ed P]

I can vouch that the U59 will take a second SSD.

When you have made an initial selection I do suggest that you contact Beelink and ask if your selection allows the installation of a second 2.5 inch SSD. My guess is that it will, but I think that caution should rule the day.

You can get adapters for most monitor inputs at Amazon etc. Try a search on monitor adapters and look for the correct adapter. My personal choice is to go with a cabled adapter as it eliminates a potentially dodgy connnection.

I am in fact very impressed by Beelink support, they respond both quickly and accurately.

[Ed P]

I forgot to include the Support link:

https://www.bee-link.com/cms/support/productlist?id=7

 

[dwynnehugh]

Thanks Ed, I have already sent him an email to suggest that Beelink might be the best way forward especially for their needs. I am away tomorrow and will have a chat with him on Thursday. You do seem to get a lots of bang for your buck with these and an extra 3 yrs warranty for less than £50 might be the way to save my sanity!!  And if his new SSD can be used in this then it seems to be a winner on both sides. Dave

The more you meet people the more you understand why Noah took animals instead of humans

[Ed P]

btw I believe that JohnBarry purchased a Beelink a little while ago and I think installed a second M2 sata drive in it. You may wish to pm him and ask for his experience.

[Dave Rice]

Sorry, been in Cornwall for family things. I’ve been looking at Beelink and Minis Forum https://amz.run/66Q7 and they are attractive propositions. I’ve used a lot of mini PCs in office settings.

For the more traditional PC, I’ve been looking at them too and graphics are the big issue. Even the basic graphics cards are still silly money and that has pushed up the price of CPUs with onboard graphics too.

Your entry level AMD is now the Ryzen 5 4600G 6 Cores,12 Threads and £115. Intel are worse, Core i3 10100 (2 generations behind), 4 Cores 8 Threads, are £145. The latest Core i3 12100 12th Gen is £162 and I have build a system using one (but not at that price) earlier in the year and it is stupidly fast.

However the latest 12th Gen Pentium Gold G7400 is what we would have called an i3 with it’s 2 Cores 4 Threads and is only £75. The onboard graphics are capable of running 4 monitors. The Pentium Gold benchmarks +25% over the Ryzen 5 3500H you’ll typically find in the mini PCs and is not a corner cutting compromise.

This is a £275 E-Buyer shopping list using my current favourite case, my Ryzen 5 4600G system lives in one, but there are plenty of other cases out there. I tried a screenshot of the case but the Forum isn’t having it.

CIT S503 2 x USB 2.0 2 x USB 3.0 Micro ATX Desktop Case 758995 £34.49 £34.49
CWT 300W TFX power supply 1142138 £34.98 £34.98
Intel Pentium Gold G7400 2 Core Alder Lake Processor 1414621 £70.98 £70.98
Gigabyte H610M H DDR4 mATX Motherboard 1415439 £81.77 £81.77
2 x Crucial RAM CT8G4DFRA266 8GB DDR4 2666 MHz CL19 Desktop Memory 1128689 £23.99 £47.98

 

[Dave Rice]

An aside on boot drives. I know he has a 1TB SSD but I would still buy an NVMe drive as well as the difference is palpable and they are really cheap now.

The motherboard is PCIe 4 but it’s M2 slot is still only PCIe 3. TBH that really won’t make any real world difference worth talking about.

250GB is my favourite size for a system drive and the Crucial P2 250GB is my go to. Decent speeds, 5 year warranty, £28. But the sweet spot is now 500GB with even the mighty Western Digital Blue SN570 down to £42 and the 1TB £72.

[dwynnehugh]

Thanks Dave, these suggestions have really thrown the cat amongst the pigeons – mini, ATX or Midi!!  Ready built or DIY.  I like the Miniforum PCs as I do the Beelink ones.  Decisions, decisions!!

TBH I’m looking towards a mini one – irrespective of make at the mo – that will also give him W11 w/o and conflicts etc. etc.  I don’t really want (or need) another conflict like his original PC gave me!!  Life’s too short.  I will speak with him and see what he suggests.

Sorry for the delay in reply, away in Chesterfield yesterday 8/11.

Thanks one and all yet again.  Dave

The more you meet people the more you understand why Noah took animals instead of humans

[JayCeeDee]

Ed P wrote:

I would personally steer clear of any boxes that do not have Win11, as Win10 loses support in a couple of years time and the CPU/peripheral reqs for Win11 are a mess and you may select a box which can never be upgraded.

I’ve just realised that my current rig only needed TPM2.0 enabled to be Win11 compliant. Anybody have any experience or views on W11 – does it work better or is it just  a prettier W10? All views either way appreciated.

 

 

[Dave Rice]

A total meh. I can’t see any advantage over 10, indeed some is a step backwards.

[JayCeeDee]

👍 Cheers Dave.

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