Needing a new desktop PC, suggestions?

[marvin02]

If you shop carefully you can buy what you want as cheap as you can build it.

Also, if you find something really cheap pretty minor upgrades can get you a real nice system. I added an SSD to an older system and it really made a big difference. Check and see which slots for expansion are open. Can you add memory or an SSD.

Good luck, it is the right time of year to buy a system.

 

[CHCRandy]

I would be interested to hear your story about how Apple screwed you.

It was over a new Iphone I purchased for my daughter years ago. 2 weeks later it failed and I took back to AT&T. They told me it had to go back to Apple, they could send it or I could take it to Northside apple store. So I took the hour or so 1 way trip to Apple store, the charging jack had failed. They offered to replace it or send in for repair, I chose replace....they then tried to give me a refurbished IPhone assuring me it was like new. I kindly told them to stick it up their ass. Send it in and repair or send me a new phone. 2 weeks later I got the repaired phone back. I swore that day I would never buy another Apple product. About 1 1/2 months later it failed again. I went to Sprint, traded it in, got new Sprint service and Samsungs and have never looked back.

CHCRandy, I would ask you what applications are you going to be using and what for? Why two monitors, why not one big one?

I tend to have 3 or 4 programs running at once. I usually have charts, news stream, TDAmeritrade desktop tradestation and then the chat room. Right now I minimize all windows and click between them to bring up......I would like to have it where everything is visible at all times.

 

[Sheriff Dave]

I have never been a fan of buying new overpriced units. I found a guy in the Avon area that sales nice used units. I got the one I'm using right now from him a couple weeks back. It has been great so far. It is twice the unit I was using, and I can tell. This unit only cost me $125 and he was very helpful, I'm sure if I need anything in the future, he will take care of me.

 

[nonobaddog]

Another factor most people don't care about is noise. This is one I was putting together a few years ago, obviously before adding cables which run behind the mounting board. No moving parts - no fans. Silent. That was important to me. This type of build hangs on the wall over a desk, lots of air for good cooling.
Actually there is a little click when I turn it on with the remote control so there is a small relay on the motherboard but that is the only sound it makes unless of course the optical drive is running but that is pretty rare. After liking this one a lot, all my builds have been silent.

 

[Sheriff Dave]

I agree about the noise being anoying, My new (newer) unit is completely silent, unlike the older one I just replaced.

 

[BE Mike]

I agree about the noise being anoying, My new (newer) unit is completely silent, unlike the older one I just replaced.

My iMAC is very compact and silent.

 

[Expat]

My iMAC is very compact and silent.

I never hear mine either. do they even have fans in them now?

 

[nonobaddog]

There are some very good fans now that are very quiet, almost but not quite silent at low speeds.

 

[jkaetz]

Nearly all current manufactures use variable speed fans at a minimum and some even use blades designed to be quieter. Fan noise is largely a thing of the past unless your running the CPU and GPU at full speed.

 

[nonobaddog]

Nearly all current manufactures use variable speed fans at a minimum and some even use blades designed to be quieter. Fan noise is largely a thing of the past unless your running the CPU and GPU at full speed.

Yes the fans are better like I said but when the thing is in a box you have case fans, usually one or two but up to four, and then you have a CPU cooler fan and GPU cooler fans are common and the noisiest one of all is the power supply fan. Some lower end machines sound like quiet vacuum cleaners and upper end machines can too if you do any overclocking.

Also like I said - most people don't care about fan noise. For my purpose any noise was a real drawback.

 

[IndyBeerman]

Now you are talking...I just had that happen a few weeks ago. Right at closing time my cable went down, I tried trading on my phone and fat fingered the trade...cable didn't come back until later and caused me to miss my trade on an ER release. Who do I get DSL from in Danville? Thank you.

DSL, seriously, please wait a second because I have to clean my monitor from the Diet Coke I just spewed.

Danville depending on exact area will be either Spectrum, Xfinity with the worst choice of ATT Uverse.
I live outside of Plainfield and have Spectrum with the Ultra Internet package and I get 300+mbps speeds routinely, standard internet will get you speeds faster than dsl (3-7 mbps)

All you need to do is go to one of the web sites and enter your address for specials and it'll let you know if they can be a provider for you.

If you can get Spectrum, they are a NO contract provider and can drop without penalty.

I also have their telephone package ( VOIP) for 19.99 a month for the whole 9 yards.

 

[nonobaddog]

Now you are talking...I just had that happen a few weeks ago. Right at closing time my cable went down, I tried trading on my phone and fat fingered the trade...cable didn't come back until later and caused me to miss my trade on an ER release. Who do I get DSL from in Danville? Thank you.

Do you mean DSL as a fall-back option when cable goes down or as a primary provider?

 

[Jludo]

DSL + a UPS was suggested as a backup in case of internet or power outage.

 

[jkaetz]

DSL, seriously, please wait a second because I have to clean my monitor from the Diet Coke I just spewed.

Danville depending on exact area will be either Spectrum, Xfinity with the worst choice of ATT Uverse.
I live outside of Plainfield and have Spectrum with the Ultra Internet package and I get 300+mbps speeds routinely, standard internet will get you speeds faster than dsl (3-7 mbps)

300 Mbps or 1 Gbps doesn't matter if the service is unreliable. In my old house I switched from Comcast to Uverse internet for that exact reason. Uverse couldn't provide the stupid megabit numbers of Comcast but it was rock solid reliable. Comcast was out at least a couple times/month before I switched and some of my neighbors who staid with Comcast would frequently ask if mine was out after I switched. I can count on one hand the number of times Uverse had an issue over about 8 years.

I now have AT&T fiber service and it is a massive improvement. If I ever have to go back to a copper provider I'm going to be very sad.

Unless you're in the middle of nowhere an LTE hotspot will make a great backup solution.

 

[4651feeder]

If one's not restricted to the concept of Desktop only, this currently is a heck of a deal and with the HDMI port, I believe it would still allow dual screen. https://www.bestbuy.com/site/dell-i...lid-state-drive-black/6373812.p?skuId=6373812

 

[jkaetz]

If one's not restricted to the concept of Desktop only, this currently is a heck of a deal and with the HDMI port, I believe it would still allow dual screen. https://www.bestbuy.com/site/dell-i...lid-state-drive-black/6373812.p?skuId=6373812

Not bad, at that price you could pair it with a D6000 dock and treat it like a desktop. Might be light on storage but that can usually be addressed later if needed.

 

[Sheriff Dave]

My used unit that I bought locally for 125, it is i7 quad core, 8g, 1TB hard drive, video card and has a HDMI and wifi. I feel good knowing that I will get any support I might ever need.

 

[4651feeder]

Not bad, at that price you could pair it with a D6000 dock and treat it like a desktop. Might be light on storage but that can usually be addressed later if needed.

If the laptop already has a HDMI out, would the dock be a necessary addition to split the screen?

 

[4651feeder]

My used unit that I bought locally for 125, it is i7 quad core, 8g, 1TB hard drive, video card and has a HDMI and wifi. I feel good knowing that I will get any support I might ever need.

Which generation of i7 ?

 

[Sheriff Dave]

Which generation of i7 ?

i7 2600 cpu @ 3.40 I believe