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I have, thru the years "built" (aka Assembled) many desktops.
What is the general consensus on this forum today, if one wants a desktop, either assemble one from parts separately purchased, or go for a ready-factory-built unit?
Where can I find info, that kind of shows comparisons, about what to buy where?
A friend is ready to get a new 'system' and we like to know what the consensus is of some of you, who always have been helpful to me before?
Budget up to 500 dollars... Absolute NO need to be a high-power gaming unit!!
(Depending on what we have today, original case, decent power supply, original keyboard, a decent monitor) Operating system=Windows 10.
To be used for email, some online purchases (Amazon, E-Bay), Quicken software capability (home-business), some (rarely) streaming time.
Personally, I now only have a decent laptop (HP base unit) that I use as a desktop, with a 27-inch monitor and (Bluetooth)separate keyboard and mouse.
TIA
Hmm, why does your friend want a new system - in what ways does his current system fall short?
I ordered my first computer over the phone, a 386SX 40MHz with I believe a 40MB hard drive. It ran compuserve and prodigy like a champ. I can hear the modem squealing now...
I guess if you go that far back, I have ordered over the phone. There was no other way, was there?
I just don't remember it, LOL.
I had other home computers but as for "PCs", I started at the beginning, the IBM PC. 8088 processor, a whopping 64k RAM, 5 1/4 floppies. We used them in college. They did offer I think a 10MB hard drive and they were expensive. Soon after that, the "clones" started coming out. My dad bought me one when I was in college, it was an AT&T PC 6300. There were others including generic Chinese made ones.
His system is rather 'old', about 10 years now, and is beginning to show slowness of operation.
I could clean it up but he 'feels' that a new system might be a better (in the long run) solution...
Unless he intends to do video editing or gaming, I can't think of a reason to replace a 10-year-old computer. Does he have 4 GB of RAM, and cannot upgrade to 8 or 16? What processor is on it?
If he has Windows, has he considered switching to Linux? Windows installs get bloaty with time, not so with Linux.
His system is rather 'old', about 10 years now, and is beginning to show slowness of operation.
I could clean it up but he 'feels' that a new system might be a better (in the long run) solution...
In my experience (I've been building them since early 90's):
Computers that are NOT intended to be high-performance (as lpc123 said, for gaming, video editing, or huge-database crunching or such). tend to slowly bulk up with unnecessary stuff that slows them down, a bit.
Also, if their software and/or OS IS NOT being kept upgraded, then they start becoming security risks. Not just from hacking private info, but also being used by the hackers for remote computing - which slows them down as far as you can see.
If their OS and/or software IS being kept up to date, then the normal bloating of the software and OSs mean the existing system slowly becomes slower and slower as it's fixed capacity gradually gets used more and more. This is usually why I get a new system.
This is probably where your friend is:
IE: when I bumped up my existing system to Win10, it worked, but a lot slower because Win10 needs more. So I either /both upgrade it's RAM and storage.
In Win10, I did both as the costs for them has gotten so low it's become a no-brainer. The limitation isn't cost any more, it's the upgrade-ceiling of the system. IE: the motherboard's built-in limit for RAM, and it's ability to accept a M.2 or a SSD in place of an internal HDD.
My motherboard couldn't take any more RAM, so I knew I'd need a new one. That does cost a fair amount and gets me thinking of also upgrading my graphics card (if needed), and doing the M.2 on-board boot memory card too, (rather than just re-using the old boot internal HDD).
This has given me a system good for another 3-5 years.
I had a family friend who worked as a lead person at Best Buy tell me that having good computer knowledge counted against you when you were applying for a floor sales position. They wanted to be able to train you to sell what they told you to sell. They didn't want you 'improvising' They would get a periodic list from above telling them what the targets were for certain items. There was a 'laptop of the week' (usually an entry level and a high level) a brand of external drives, network gear, etc. It was all based on the deals and incentives corporate had made and it wasn't just the announced sales items. I can't remember the last time I walked into Best Buy.
micro center has their own brand that looks interesting..their pcs seem to have a larger pwr supply and case while costing less than dell or HP
i used to build but recently bought a sixth gen i5 hp refurb for about 285 $ at best buy....hp now seemingly has nonstandard wiring on power supply and one needs an adaptor..lol
the micro center brand i believe uses components available AT micro center over the counter (poweredge?)
its probably just me but i prefer a big case and a larger pwr supply
Just bought a refurbished Lenovo from Walmart on line for $284.00. Gaming Lenovo Desktop Computer MT Core i5 CPU 8GB Ram, 1TB HDD, NVIDIA GT 1030, Keyboard & Mouse, WiFi, Bluetooth, DVD, Win10 Home PC.
Of course, I altered the W 10. I hate that system.
Great desktop for that price. I bought a refurbished laptop 3 years ago that still works great.
micro center has their own brand that looks interesting..their pcs seem to have a larger pwr supply and case while costing less than dell or HP
i used to build but recently bought a sixth gen i5 hp refurb for about 285 $ at best buy....hp now seemingly has nonstandard wiring on power supply and one needs an adaptor..lol
the micro center brand i believe uses components available AT micro center over the counter (poweredge?)
its probably just me but i prefer a big case and a larger pwr supply
You don't need a larger case or a larger power supply if your components don't need it. When I was a teenager? Sure - I had a big a$$ E-ATX case with a bazillion fans, sounded like a 747 at full throttle. Ran cool though, but it didn't really matter.
Now? Screw that, I've learned. I have a "barely fits an ATX motherboard + a RTX 3080" case that fits on my desk great and looks good (glass) with lighting. The GPU clears the radiator by about an inch, maybe a touch less. Everything fits, the cables run great and it runs plenty cool with the fan layout, even under load with a 5900x and that 3080. And the whole works pulls about 600W under load, +/-. I have a 750W power supply in there and no need for a bigger one.
Store bought PC's from HP, Dell, Acer, whatever, have a power supply in them big enough to run the components they came with. Your average Joe buying one of those will never add anything, and if it breaks they're going to take it somewhere to be fixed.
The average person who cares about what components are in the PC is going to either build it themselves, or buy a dedicated gaming PC from a boutique or have one built at their local store.
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