Home Office PC help

funkey_monkey

Hi,

I need to get a new PC for the home office. Spec wise, I'm not too worried as it should be a massive upgrade on the current Vista laptop which is old and slow!

The machine is mainly (95%) used for internet and email. However, I shall be using it on occasion for home working - connecting via Citrix - so essentially via internet for all intensive purposes.

What I'm really wanting from this PC is to be a small neat unit that will sit either on desk underneath the monitor - or ideally be a USFF attached to the VESA mount.

In terms of performance, I believe that an i3 processor would be sufficient. I would like Win10 OS, 8GB RAM (although I suspect 4GB would be sufficient).


Can anyone recommend a model or similar for me to purchase? I would like to purchase this soon.

Any recommendations?

funkey_monkey

Is it possible to get a mini cheaper than this? I have no problem buying a refurbished item as long it came from a reputable source and provided VAT receipts:

The below is from PC Specialist and costs £514GBP inc VAT.

(PS - I'm based in NI, so dealing with a UK company might be easier!)

• Case: Inwin Mini-ITX Performance BQ660 Case + 120W PSU
• Processor (CPU): Intel® Core™i3 Dual Core Processor i3-7300 (4.00GHz) 4MB Cache
• Motherboard: ASUS® H110I-PLUS: Mini-ITX, LGA1151, USB 3.0, SATA 6GBs
• Memory (RAM): 8GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 2133MHz (1 x 8GB)
• Graphics Card: INTEL® HD GRAPHICS MEDIA ACCELERATOR 2500
• 1st Hard Disk: 120GB WD Green™ 2.5" SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (upto 545MB/sR)
• DVD/BLU-RAY Drive: 8x SATA DVD±R/RW/Dual Layer (+ 24x CD-RW)
• Power Cable: 1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
• Processor Cooling: INTEL STANDARD CPU COOLER
• Sound Card: ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
• Wireless/Wired Networking: 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
• USB Options: 2 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 4 x USB 2.0 PORTS AS STANDARD
• Operating System: Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence
• Operating System Language: United Kingdom - English Language
• Windows Recovery Media: Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
• Warranty: 3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)

cunavalos

Realistically, you could pick up something servicable for £200-250 refurbished, but from the main retailers you could get a Lenovo Tiny with similar spec to above for £390 GBP inc vat. an additional 4gb ram can be added easily

https://www.ebuyer.com/791641-lenovo-thinkcentre-m710q-tiny-desktop-10mr004yuk

Actually similarly specced dell and hp micro pc's can all be found sub £400 gbp on the ebuyer website https://www.ebuyer.com/store/Computer/cat/Desktop-PC?a00030=Ultra+Small+Form+Factor&sort=price+ascending

funkey_monkey

Thanks. Those look good. Just thinking that I might get better value for money with a small desktop unit.
This would allow me to upgrade to i5 and SSD and I could y place it under the monitor.

Any recommendations here?

funkey_monkey

I've just realised that I could get a SFF PC which are cheaper than USFF and still be able to either mount it to the monitor stand or by means of an under desk bracket.

So, I've found the following items:

OptiPlex XE2 Small Form Factor Intel Core i5-4570S £249

Dell OptiPlex 7010 SFF 3rd Gen Quad Core i5-3470 8GB 128GB SSD DVDRW £228


Are these what I should be looking for?

I could then mount them as shown below:

cunavalos

The XE2 mentioned above looks like an excellent match for your needs, upgrade the existing hard drive to an SSD and it will see you through years of use.

The mount for the pc you showed is actually a semi integrated unit where the pc slots into a cavity. It does not simply attach to a standard monitor

There is a listing for a similar product on the website you were looking at but you will need to check the dimensions of XE2 with Optiplex 780 SFF that the stand was designed for
https://www.itcsales.co.uk/acatalog/DELL-Optiplex-980-SFF-AIO-Mounting-Kit-NXG94--7948.html#SID=542



Probably best to ring them monday morning to check if the XE2 fits into the 980 stand.

I prefer the option of the desktop stand to the under counter option due to better cable management and access to the ports

funkey_monkey

Thanks - I'll contact them tomorrow. I didn't notice that stand on their site.
I agree too about the cabling.

What makes the XE2 a better option in your opinion?

funkey_monkey

Unfortunately that XE2 chassis does not fit into that mount.

funkey_monkey

Mounting kits are only available now for the USFF boxes.

What do you think of an all in one:

Dell Optiplex 7450

funkey_monkey

Thanks for all these replies. I was looking at the Dell SFF PC's. I would have thought that the performance of them would be sufficient for our current needs - which is essentially just internet surfing.

What I would like to do know about these is twofold:

1. At a later stage can I upgrade them? i.e. Keep the chassis and replace the MOBO etc? Or does their small size inhibit this possibility?
   
2. Is it possible to get a cradle for these to mount them behind the monitor?

Whatever I opt for I want it to be a neat solution. I've been looking at the smaller USFF boxes, but I'm more wary of them due to cooling, upgradeability and cost compared with the SFF boxes. I also think the USFF boxes might be more awkward to get at round the back of the monitor due to their small size.

What about the following PCs:

Dell Optiplex 7010 USFF i5 3470

Dell Vostro 3268 Core i5 7400

funkey_monkey

I think I'm getting too obsessed with getting the PC hidden or neatly ticked away.
Apart from mounting it to the rear of the monitor what other neat ways could I set this up?

Do anyone else do tidy setups other than Dell - who only seem to do it for the Optiplex 980.