Need to replace a ten year old workstation

lawred2 · 15-05-2022 8:25pm #1

Hi,

I have a now nearing 11 year old Dell XPS i7 machine I've been using for development. It hasn't missed a beat in all these years and I've kept it responsive as possible with SSD and memory upgrades..

But I'm noticing builds are taking ever increasing lengths of time... And not because the machine is deteriorating but because the work needed to be done is getting more complex and onerous.

I'm not going back to Dell for a new PC - I don't fancy forking out over a grand.

I've seen the likes of this on adverts... https://www.adverts.ie/desktops/dell-optiplex-7070-core-i7-9700-9th-gen-16gb-ddr4-512gb-ssd-windows-11-pro/26831104

Thoughts?

Reading this product page - seems like plenty scope for upgrade if needed. https://www.dell.com/ae/business/p/optiplex-7070-desktop/pd

I don't need it for games so graphics aren't a huge concern beyond supporting UHD or whatnot.

K.O.Kiki · 15-05-2022 10:30pm

For 560 you can get a Lenovo with a Ryzen 5 5600G which would have 6-core/12-thread and 20% higher IPC ( meaning it gets through work much faster than the 8-core/8-thread 9700)

It's also on AM4 which is a better platform to get upgrades for.

lawred2 · 15-05-2022 10:42pm

Interesting

https://www.lenovo.com/ie/en/desktops-and-all-in-ones/ideacentre/500-series/IdeaCentre-5-Gen-6-AMD/p/WMD00000499?orgRef=https%253A%252F%252Fwww.google.com%252F

579 with 16GB RAM from Lenovo seems like great value or am I missing something?

K.O.Kiki · 15-05-2022 11:39pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119068519#Comment_119068519

Lenovo webstore doesn't have the best reputation, and of course the 260W PSU will prevent a GPU upgrade in future.

But other than that, it's a good machine.

Equivalent self-build:

https://de.pcpartpicker.com/list/ZwMv4s - Total: €502.18

lawred2 · 16-05-2022 11:42am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119068677#Comment_119068677

Good to know about Lenovo. GPU not a huge concern for me. Not interested in gaming or CAD type stuff.

Never built my own before... not beyond me but I wouldn't want to have to buy a whole spate of tools, pastes and cables for a once off.

newirishman · 16-05-2022 11:44am

Defo would stick minimum 32GB into it, or better, 64GB, if you can stretch budget.

Ubbquittious · 16-05-2022 11:47am

Is now a bad time to buy? I was going to build a new work station myself but decided to throw an extra 8gb into the machine I have to keep me going.

K.O.Kiki · 16-05-2022 11:56am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119069878#Comment_119069878

It's a pretty good time to buy I think.

Many shops probably overbought inventory during the pandemic and are looking to offload stock.

And there's rumblings of supply chain issues coming back / TSMC increasing prices, will take a few months to trickle down though.

Suckit · 16-05-2022 2:50pm

This is a decent build and price and is configurable

https://www.awd-it.co.uk/awd-volt-amd-ryzen-5650ge-4-4ghz-six-core-pc-for-gaming.html

lawred2 · 16-05-2022 3:09pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119070874#Comment_119070874

Is that going to be hammered by customs and VAT?

lawred2 · 16-05-2022 3:15pm

they say no additional VAT or customs charges for RoI. How do they manage that? Are they shipping from somewhere in the EU I wonder?

https://www.awd-it.co.uk/france-gaming-pcs

Cuddlesworth · 16-05-2022 4:34pm

Computer parts are not applicable to customs charges.

lawred2 · 16-05-2022 4:40pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119071315#Comment_119071315

that's the important bit... I wasn't aware of that. This is good news. That site seems to be very good value.

blackbullet · 16-05-2022 4:46pm

i got the bove pc for xmas ryzen 5 600g in argos for 630 just before ester it was 430 the 600g has a radeon graphics card already built in so if your into gaming designing etc shes top notch and also all windows 11 upgrades and silent when on no noise best of luck with your buy below is my recent 3d project in done and rendered onthat pc .

Mav11 · 16-05-2022 5:43pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119068677#Comment_119068677

Don't touch them. Check out Trustpilot for Digital River Ireland who are their CS and fulfillment agents. I have had the most horrendous experience trying to buy a machine from them which never arrived and then trying to get my money back.

Never again.

lawred2 · 17-05-2022 2:34pm

well I chanced my arm at work and now I can take this home

https://support.hp.com/za-en/document/c06041613

Won't be sure of the exact configuration of it until I get it home but I'm sure I'll be able to bulk it up with extra RAM and whatnot for a fraction of a new machine cost..

lawred2 · 17-05-2022 2:35pm

8th gen i7 so 6 core 12 thread as well - so bound to be a big step forward on the i7-2600 that's served me since 2011

K.O.Kiki · 17-05-2022 5:14pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119075765#Comment_119075765

That's lucky so!

Looks like it's only got 2 RAM slots for a maximum of 2x 16Gb DDR4-2666.

Rear fan seems to be standard 92mm 4-pin PWM.

You should be able to fit a small tower like be quiet Pure Rock 2 / Cooler Master H412R / Arctic Freezer i13X - good to prevent throttling. Alternatively, could try replacing the existing fan - looks like 80mm.

lawred2 · 17-05-2022 5:22pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119076758#Comment_119076758

yeah I'll max out the RAM... 32GB should be sufficient

do you think the stock fans would be pure rubbish?

K.O.Kiki · 17-05-2022 5:45pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119076793#Comment_119076793

The rear fan (FOXCONN PVA092G12H) is rated from 900-3600rpm - kinda makes sense given that there's no proper front intake but also means it'll always be loud.

Something like Arctic F9 (150-1800rpm) would likely do similar airflow but never ramp up as much.

Need to replace a ten year old workstation

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