Recommend a PC

jiltloop

Hi all, I have an old Dell XPS laptop that I currently use for audio production. It's 8 years old at this stage and it was powerful when I purchased it.

However I just recently installed some production software that is maxing out the processor and the resulting audio glitches have brought me to the conclusion that it's finally time for an upgrade.

I'm leaning towards a desktop at the moment due to the lack of optical drives in new laptops these days and also because I need plenty of USB ports (including 2.0 ports as my audio interface does not get on with USB 3.0 ports on my laptop).

Any recommendations of good deals or where to purchase that's good value? I will also need a monitor (I have one already but need a dual monitor set up). Graphics aren't important as I don't do gaming so my focus would be on a powerful processor, ideally 16GB RAM and an SSD drive (at least 256GB) for running programs and another 500GB HDD drive for storage. Wifi is necessary as well, peripherals aren't needed.

Budget is probably around the €1k - €1,200 mark

Thanks in advance for any help or advice.

BailMeOut

these folks.

https://kelsusit.com/

will be refurbished but you will get very high specifications for half what you are looking at spending.

jiltloop

Maybe I'm missing something or not using that site properly but the range of processors to choose from seem to be all as old as my current laptop, i.e 2011-2013.

Comparing them with my current processor on CPU benchmark site I'm struggling to find any that are a significant improvement.

Has anyone used Elara.ie? they look to have some decent prices there. In particular I was looking at this https://www.elara.ie/productdetail.aspx?productcode=WCE10TV001VUK

I'm not as up to date on PC specs and prices as I would have been a few years ago, any thoughts on the above? I think the i5 8400 seems to be pretty powerful and the price for the general specs seem to be much better value than the likes of Pc World/Harvey Norman.

TerrorFirmer

Forget about that site, it's all mostly very old/outdated tech, grand if you only have €200 to spend but not on a budget of €1.2k. Are you willing to self build, or want to buy pre-built?

The Lenovo isn't bad for a pre-built all things considered, but something like this can be configured as follows for €850 - i7-8700, 16GB DDR4 3000mhz, 500GB SSD + 1TB HDD.

The €850 doesn't include Windows but AWD install a trial copy for testing, this works forever without activation other than a small watermark in the corner (Unlike older versions of Windows which aggressively warned you to buy a license). I've never bought a Win10 license, just always used the non-activated version, for work and games.

If you want to push out the budget, you could splash out and get 32GB ram and dual 500GB SSDs, or get a different build with a graphics card for some gaming, etc, but AWD has some great prices.

Eg this for €850 also with a Ryzen 2600, 16GB 3000Mhz DDR4, Nvidia GTX1070, 500GB SSD - this would be an absolute beast for gaming or editing, CPU is weaker from a raw POV but still a great CPU for workloads/games.

jiltloop

Thanks man, that AWD site looks great. I have built a pc previously but my time is more limited these days so I would prefer prebuilt. Configurable prebuilt is even better.

I presume all of the AWD orders are delivered prebuilt?

That 1st Elite one looks great and I think it would be a lot more future proof than the Lenovo.

TerrorFirmer

Yes they're all fully assembled and even if you chose no OS (saves €100 odd) you still get unactivated Win10, which as I said works forever with no issues other than a small watermark in the corner of the screen. I'd say an i7-8700 with 16GB ram and a 480GB SSD will see you flying. It's a killer processor, one of the best available, most definitely in that price bracket. It has six more threads versus the 8400, as well as higher clock speeds, so major difference.

jiltloop

Great tip on getting the un-activated Windows 10! I hate when you select Win 10 and the price increases by 150 odd euro.

I think on that site I will be getting more than I had hoped for less than I was willing to pay so thanks a million!

TerrorFirmer

You're welcome, enjoy!