Upgrading

[johnbarry]

I got to my fastest rig Dell 760 but now I want to go higher and away from S775.

I have been probing the internet and for my price I am lookig at an i5

Naturally the faster the better but price limits, unless you know a link with better for the same price or lower.

Back to the Dell 760 how much should I sell/start price on ebay (collection only)

 

Cheers
John

[Dave Rice]

John, if I have a look at one of the refurbishers like micro-dream they’d want £110. On E-Bay it’s considerably less.

The HP you’re looking at will be no slouch at handling heavy loads, I know them well, but really needs an SSD. Indeed I’d go as far to say that your use you’d probably best served by a fast modern dual core with an SSD.

For the sort of money you’re proposing to spend on that HP I could build you a Pentium G4400 / Gigabyte GA-H110M-S2H / 4GB / 120GB SSD in a Zalman T3 case with an Aerocool 500 watt PSU with enough left over to get Windows 10 and Office 2016. Should be able to ship that to you for less than a tenner. If you still need a DVD I have loads in the spares cupboard.

 

[JayCeeDee]

I was about to recommend Zoostorm PC’s – I’ve had mine for just on 2 years now and except for a couple of Window Wobbles it’s behaved faultlessly. The prices are higher than I thought ( £350 – £400 ) but maybe Dave will know a cheaper way in.

That’s the second time prices have caught me out – I was looking at DDR4 memory after Task Manager showed my memory at 60% with only a couple of browser windows open – couldn’t believe another 8GB would cost me upwards of £80.00!!

More out of touch than I thought!!:)

[Dave Rice]

Zoostorm use standard parts, nothing you couldn’t buy. The problem is the PSUs, they are usually around the 250 watt mark but that’s becoming less of an issue (CPU graphics going up, graphics card power usage going down).

The other thing is warranty. On a built PC it’s usually a year, components are often 2, 3 or more. The biggest plus point is with a build you get exactly what you want.

It used to be the cost of Windows that queered the deal but that’s now a thing of the past with the sub £10 keys on E-Bay.

EDIT – it’s amazing what you can do with £300.

CCL Alpha Intel Motherboard Bundle – Pentium Gold G5400 3.7GHz (same as the old i3) / 8GB Crucial DDR4 Memory / Gigabyte H310M S2H / 3 Years Warranty

Adata Ultimate SU800 128GB M.2-2280 SATA III SSD / Aero Cool QS240 Midi Tower Black Case / KL-600M 600W Modular 80+ Bronze PSU

Same spec (but newer generation) as my office / gaming PC (apart from the graphics) and that goes like stink. £20 more gets you a Ryzen 3 2200G 3.5GHz and Hyper X ram.

[The Duke]

Can we not still get the free win10, if you where specs or have to use the windows magnifier?

Think all my pcs come though that route.

[Dave Rice]

No, that’s gone. But now we only have to pay a fiver it’s fine by me.

[johnbarry]

Thanks for the links Dave

From them I will work a price, maybe not much but mine has 1TB HDD + 8GB ram, but I am not gonna get much.

Thanks for the offer of a build, I didn’t expect that, the money isn’t mine, so not sure how long it would take.

Sadly since this morning I have been talking to her (the money isn’t hers neither), I gave her the link and it’s on it’s way to me.

I am glad you say no slouch and even more happy about my choice.

Much appreciated

Cheers
John

[Dave Rice]

IMO you’ll be much better off with an SSD and no i5 than an i5 with a spinner. The spinner will be the bottleneck and the i5 will be under used.

But here you are, an Elite 8300 with both for £245 on Amazon or a Dell OptiPlex 990 SFF with both for £235

 

[johnbarry]

Thanks Dave

I took on board, better with SSD, she has cancelled the order and ready for the £245, the only thing it has a bigger SSD (250GB) but only a DVD the other for £230 has 120GB SSD and a DVD R/W I need the R/W (small form factor) but lose on SSD size? I could never get a R/W for the Dell 760 only USA megga bucks postage or no UK post?

So do I lose SSD and gain R/W or do I lose R/W and gain SSD

Cheers
John

[The Duke]

John you may be best investing in a USB dvd rw. I’ve not owned a PC or laptop since 2008 that has a dvd dive in it. Something I rarely need and tbh I don’t think I’ve used my portable one in a few years.

This is the first hit on Amazon, you could probably get the rw down 5o about a tenner if you look about. Also i wouldn’t get hung up on usb3 over 2, they are slow either way, and the writing takes the time anyhow.

USB 3.0 Portable Slim External DVD RW CD RW Drive DVD CD Burner, Writer, Copier, Reader, Rewritable Optical DVD Drive for all Laptop, Desktop, Netbook, Notebook, Apple MAC – Victorian Systems® (DVD RW Drive) https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01FOSM9BU/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_OGZ9Ab51FXVVQ

I’d opt for the rig with the 240gb ssd and the non rw dvd, and supplement it with the above (or similar). Maybe try and source a pc without a dvd drive altogether if possible.

As l there is little doubt in the future you’ll be getting laptops or small form factor pc’s that don’t have a drive so it will be an investment.

[johnbarry]

Thanks Duke

I will opt for the HP  256GB SSD I can possibly live with that size.

I will purchase the DVD (on your link) laters or probe for cheaper. I have one it’s never worked as it should.

 

Cheers
John

[The Duke]

Mine is an older Samsung one. Still works as described all those years ago (I think)

Thr older ones, as usb2 ports could only manage a power throughput of around 500mah, needed a ‘Y’ usb2 cable. Two USB ends plugged in to two USB ports on Thr pc/lappy, the single ended usb plugged into the dvd drive.

Mine iirc only write at x8, not fast, but I’ve never used in that way.im sure they are more up to x32. Mind is about 10 years old. Cost around £15 at the time iirc.

Mine lives in my pc repair kit. Though on my last few jobs, it’s all been download to install including windows . Just make a bootable USB flash drive. Keep that in thr PC repair kit too. It’s about all you need today.

[Dave Rice]

LiteOn DU-8A6SH 8x Internal Slim 12.7 mm DVD-RW £13

They also have the 8mm version – link on the same page – for £16. Indeed every variant of DVD drive i can think of is on there.

[johnbarry]

Thanks Duke

Thanks Dave I can’t see 8mm for £16 there is a 9.5mm for £16 but what’s the difference will they both fit or is one too big.

Cheers
John

[wasbit]

Just in case …..

Zoostorm Intel Core i3 2100 @ 3.10GHz

250GH Hdd / 4GB RAM / DVD-RW

Windows 10 Pro 64bit

£69.99 with free delivery

– Rapid IT

 

--
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

[johnbarry]

Thanks Wasbit

I went for the HP Elite 8300 i5-3470 8GB 256GB SSD on Dave’s link  with the LiteOn (on Dave’s other link)

It looks a good deal on your link.

Cheers
John

[johnbarry]

Back to the Dell 760, it’s on ebay (this is not a punt)

I have re installed Windows 10 (updated to V1803) including Acronis True Image WD Free and have backed up to USB.

This is sold with the USB backup, I have suggested for future backups to create a partition (shrink C:) (for faster backups).

It’s  1TB HDD so a partition of maybe 100gb may not be missed

I keep thinking wether I should create a partition myself and sell it partitioned for backup rather than suggest they partition it.

If so I have forgot how to shrink it leaving 900gb C: and 100gb D: (Dave Rice once showed me)

 

Cheers
John

[Dave Rice]

Leave it John, let the buyer decide.

A backup to the same drive is better than none at all but doesn’t protect you against hard drive failure. Then there’s how big to make the backup partition. You’re saying that the backup partition should be small, the implication of that is that they will be using a lot of C: In which case the backup partition is too small…

Second guessing what someone else will do is pretty difficult to get right. You’ve already done more than most and given them the tools to do the job. I’d leave it at that.

[johnbarry]

Thanks Dave

I will leave it at that then.

 

Cheers
John

[Author]

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