New PC Time

[Harvey Melvin Richards]

My PC has been limping along for years. I have a Dell XPS 8300 which was purchased in July of 2011. It has an I-7-2600 processor and 16 GB of RAM. I upgraded the hard drive to a 2 TB SSD and it also has a 3 TB internal backup drive. I would like to be able to use my drives in the new PC if it has room for them.

My mostly used programs are LR, PS, Google Earth and a GPS program called Topofusion. I don't do any gaming. I would like the new PC to have a similar life span to the old one. I will use the monitor that I have for now.

I got a Costco ad that has this Dell model (I am not brand loyal), and was wondering if it would fit my use. It seems to be smaller than my existing case, so I don't know if the drives will fit, or if there a power plugs for them. https://www.costco.com/.product.100579403.html?&EMID=B2C_2021_0121_January_Mailer_Ending

Specs for a quick look are:

• 6GB NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1660 Ti Graphics
• 10th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-10700 Processor 2.9GHz
• 2TB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive + 1TB PCIe NVMe M.2 Solid State Drive
• 6 Months Dell Migrate1
• 1 Year Dell Onsite Service after Remote Diagnosis

The sale ends today, so I need to buy or wait for a better deal. And it only shows Windows OS as the operating system, have they done away with the different editions?

Thanks.

 

[John M Flores]

Looks like that case fits 1 x 3.5" drive and 2 x 2.5" drives

Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

If you want to use your current drives and they won't fit, you can always put them in external crive enclosures and attach via USB. It looks like the motherboard has 1 USB-C port.

 

[Avondale87]

I've installed old drives into my PC (Previous drives from past PC) but also have some slotted into external drive holders. The drive sits in the cradle. They all work well and I really don't notice any lag from either of the options.

The good thing about external connection is they are transportable. If that's important!

 

[John King]

Harvey, I like nice big tower cases (under desk), with lots of drive bays and big fans that all blow in the right direction, with filters.

My current crop of boxes are all Centurion Coolermasters.

With motherboards, I buy ones with lots of connectors and slots.

When they develop 'antiquity', I keep the box and buy new motherboard, CPU, RAM, and keep everything else.

Motherboards have to have maximum number of drive connections. My existing ones take 6x SATA drives, plus lots of USB3 and USB2 hubs.

My current cases take about 5 3.5" drives, 4x 5.25" drives.

I also keep at least one old machine to run Windows XpPro for legacy devices.

I prefer separate graphics cards. Get plenty of RAM on the card. Fast GPU. Preferably with a big heat sink, and no fan.

Good quality RAM, lots of it, and room for more (e.g. 2x 16 GB sticks rather than 4x 8 GB sticks - leaves a couple of empty slots.

HDDs should be enterprise level, with big on board cache. This latter makes a huge difference to data transfer speed.

I always reuse my HDDs, and peripherals.

HTH.

 

[Chris5107]

I would check out the Dell Outlet. The machines they sell (and I have bought about 10 of them their over the years with 5 in the family here) have all been perfect and they have good warranties. They have all looked new and essentially were new.

You can use easily select the options that you prefer and the stock will be shown. Prices are good and they sometimes have extra 5-15% off sales.

https://outlet.us.dell.com/ARBOnlin...adP0ECeG97gz/vVRil72DbUU/rmqRs91lEsAs3Tkqwg==

 

[Phocal]

This is what I just ordered. Should last for a good 5 years or so.

 

[John King]

This is what I just ordered. Should last for a good 5 years or so.

What? A blank sign in page ...



Seriously, I expect my main computer to work adequately for at least ten years.

 

[Phocal]

What? A blank sign in page ...



Seriously, I expect my main computer to work adequately for at least ten years.

well shit, it goes to a full cart for me

 

[Phocal]

Mac Pro - Apple

Sucks that I can't link to a fully specced out one, comes in at a low $55k

 

[RichardC]

Mac Pro - Apple

Sucks that I can't link to a fully specced out one, comes in at a low $55k

I got as far as "The world’s most powerful graphics card. Times two."

I have just bought EuroMillions Lotto tickets. Times two.

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

I missed the sale price, but the MSRP seems like an expensive machine for what it has inside. The 64GB of RAM is total overkill for your needs, both now and in the future, and DIY RAM upgrades are cheap right now. It doesn’t help that between working from home and supply constraints, it’s a tough time to build a PC, but buying pre-built can have its advantages.

It sounds like you aren’t afraid of upgrades, so have you given much thought to building your own? It’s really not as hard as it sounds, and you’ll save a ton. I just built a Linux box that has an I7-9700K, 8GB RAM (with room for more), ASUS motherboard, and a case that I know can support my drive needs. I had a PSU and SSD already, so this build cost me all of $350. I just use Intel graphics since they have really good Linux support. Right now you‘ll pay through the nose for a modern GPU—that market is just insane at the moment.

There are still different versions of Windows 10 out there, at least Home and Pro.

If nothing else, what is highest on your wish list?

 

[Harvey Melvin Richards]

Thanks for the help everyone. I am not a fan of Windows anything, but also not a fan of Apple's vise lock on their products (I have 4 iPads, 4 iPhones and even an iPod Classic). I guess if I was starting from scratch I would consider a Mac, but I just don't see the bang for the buck.

I think I will attempt to build a system myself. I am not too concerned about the big items, it just all the stupid little pieces that are needed to make things work. And I have limited local resources for parts.

So how does one go about deciding on a cohesive system? I just know I want faster and reliable, not to mention long lasting.

 

[John M Flores]

Thanks for the help everyone. I am not a fan of Windows anything, but also not a fan of Apple's vise lock on their products (I have 4 iPads, 4 iPhones and even an iPod Classic). I guess if I was starting from scratch I would consider a Mac, but I just don't see the bang for the buck.

I think I will attempt to build a system myself. I am not too concerned about the big items, it just all the stupid little pieces that are needed to make things work. And I have limited local resources for parts.

So how does one go about deciding on a cohesive system? I just know I want faster and reliable, not to mention long lasting.

https://pcpartpicker.com/

 

[Phocal]

I think I will attempt to build a system myself. I am not too concerned about the big items, it just all the stupid little pieces that are needed to make things work. And I have limited local resources for parts.

So how does one go about deciding on a cohesive system? I just know I want faster and reliable, not to mention long lasting.

You can build your own Mac as well - Complete guide of everything you need, including "the stupid little pieces that are needed to make things work"

 

[Harvey Melvin Richards]

https://pcpartpicker.com/

I have looked at that site, but I see all these gaming PC's with lights and water cooling and specs that might as well be written in Egyptian hieroglyphics. I guess my first task would be to decide on the processor and then start finding other parts.

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

If there is one positive to Windows 10 is that installs are very painless anymore. If Windows has an internet connection, it will download all of the drivers for common hardware and install it for you.

I would NOT attempt to build my own Mac for a primary PC. You can be one update away from problems. Also, Apple is moving to ARM-based CPUs, so it's an eventual dead end.

 

[Harvey Melvin Richards]

You can build your own Mac as well - Complete guide of everything you need, including "the stupid little pieces that are needed to make things work"

I was looking for my old monitor and I found my old Power PC, so I think I'm good on the Mac stuff. I also found a box full of disks for my first computer, a Mac LC II, those should be useful.

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

I have looked at that site, but I see all these gaming PC's with lights and water cooling and specs that might as well be written in Egyptian hieroglyphics. I guess my first task would be to decide on the processor and then start finding other parts.

Right now, AMD Ryzen 5000 series is the best CPU for most things. The problem is, it’s in such demand and supply constrained that you are hard-pressed to find them. You’ll also need a dedicated graphics card to go with one of those.

If you are good with just Intel graphics in your machine, then most anything from Intel’s 10th generation Core is what you can chose from. The Intel CPUs just use more power at full load than the Ryzen, but rarely are our PCs running at full-tilt for long. Ultimately, it just means you need better cooling for the CPU, but even that isn’t hard. You don’t need water cooling or lights, unless that is your thing. That stuff adds up quickly, makes things way more complex than it needs to be, and it doesn’t get you anything other than a shiny case to stare at. I’d aim for an 8 core CPU or better, which means something i7 or i9 from Intel, and 3700X or 5800X and up for Ryzen.

 

[BosseBe]

I built a new PC over the holidays.
Here is what I got:

Chassis	Fractal Design Define R7	$150
PSU	Corsair RM750X 750W v2 Gold	$162
CPU Cooler	Noctua NH-D15	$109
MB	MSI X570 MAG TOMAHAWK WIFI	$279
M2 disk	WD Black SN850 Gen 4 SSD 1TB	$290
Graphics	MSI Radeon RX 5500 XT 8GB Mech OC	$278
RAM	Corsair Vengeance LPX Black 32GB (2x16GB)	$170
CPU	AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 3,6MHz 36MB	$348
Cost	Total	$1785

I added 2 3TB HDD in a mirror for slow long term storage.
This Chassis has room for 14 3.5" HDD and at 2 2.5" SDD.
There is 1 external 5.25" slot for a Blueray drive or something.
I expect this to last at least as long as my old PC that was built in 2012 or 2013.

The Chassis is a dream to build in, it opens up on the sides and the top so you get easy access.
I have gone overboard with the CPU fan, a NH-D15 is overkill! (But that means silence.)

Hope you get some ideas from this!

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

I should add that if you have a MicroCenter near you, they have great prices on most hardware, and often offer bundle discounts. And at least here at my store, they are genuinely helpful when it comes to buying advice.