Help New computer needed
- Thread starter trevhagl
- Start date
Look for something similar on eBay to gauge what it’s worth
UnderOpenSky
baseline neural therapy
Not much, especially if it's a zoostorm or similar, I'd use for Facebook or Gumtree for these kind of things.
Are you getting a new monitor? This will make way more difference then going from a modern i5 to i7
yes i thought as much , no i am just keeping the monitor its fairly new but nightmare to set due to old computer , should work well with new one
Puddy_Tat
naturally fluffy
I have checked - my current computer won't do W11 so will need replacing in the next few years - it's also showing occasional signs of distress which seem to be a graphics card thing, so might be sooner rather than later.
What's the panel's view on SSD computers?
When I got current computer (which must be a few years ago now) the consensus seemed to be that SSD's were good for having the programs on, but not so good for using for every day storage as it would knacker them - current computer has a smallish SSD with the operating system and programs, and a bigger HD with file storage - seems to work OK
but these newer little PC's that are just SSD are coming up at fairly good prices for reconditioned. had one as WFH-ing computer from previous job for about a year, and it seemed OK then.
What's the panel's view on SSD computers?
When I got current computer (which must be a few years ago now) the consensus seemed to be that SSD's were good for having the programs on, but not so good for using for every day storage as it would knacker them - current computer has a smallish SSD with the operating system and programs, and a bigger HD with file storage - seems to work OK
but these newer little PC's that are just SSD are coming up at fairly good prices for reconditioned. had one as WFH-ing computer from previous job for about a year, and it seemed OK then.
UnderOpenSky
baseline neural therapy
Monkeygrinder's Organ
Dodgy geezer swilling vapid lager
Question: what's the cheapest desktop I can feasibly get away with? I'm considering buying one which would be to go at home to enable me to work on - as it would be for work I'd want to spend the very least possible (the main reason to have it would just be to save me carting the work laptop to and from work). I have monitors etc so don't really need that and all the work systems are online so I don't think I need any huge amount of power or anything. It's been quite a lot of years since I bought a computer though so I really have no idea at the moment.
UnderOpenSky
baseline neural therapy
If cheap is name of the game, I'd get an refurbished old office machine. Make sure its got an SSD and 8GB and it will be fine.
We've still got a HP Elite we bought for £120 a few years ago and it runs great.
UnderOpenSky
baseline neural therapy
This is exactly what we have. I've also got a more powerful one with a an i7 and 16GB.
Puddy_Tat
naturally fluffy
yes - there's plenty on a well known interweb auction site - obviously there will be dodgy people on there, but it's fairly easy to see the places that have been in business for a while.
Apart from the first time I bought a computer (some time in the last century) I've bought refurbished since. I've had current computer about 5 years now.
Depending on budget / how long you want it to last, may be paying a bit more for something that will be windows 11 compatible (W10 is due to stop being supported in 2025 - although still may get extended.)
couple of thoughts though -
are work ok with work stuff being done on your own computer, even if it's all cloud based? i've known it be an absolute no, i've known it be ok, i've known it be ok so long as you use a sort of antivirus that they / their software likes.
would you have to pay for / install any software to do work stuff (e.g. 'proper' MS office, rather than use open source alternatives?) Libre Office etc is OK most of the time, but can be awkward with formatting if you're transferring anything big to and from word / excel - you get odd lines falling off one page and that sort of thing. and don't know if the more complex things on spreadsheets work if you transfer from one to the other, I try to avoid complex spreadsheets...
Chz
Stark Raving Sane
A used mid-range box holds up surprisingly well against a new low-end machine, and is cheaper to boot. They've been stuffing more cores in, such that a new i3 is very much similar to an old i5.
Laptops have got quite a bit more powerful over time as they've squeezed the power envelope, but desktops haven't seen any major per-core performance increases in a decade. I know quite a few people still using 2nd gen Core machines and we're currently at the 12th gen with 13 due out this year! The mrs gets by on a 3rd gen i5, but with 16GB of RAM and a TB SSD. Very few people would need more than that.
Laptops have got quite a bit more powerful over time as they've squeezed the power envelope, but desktops haven't seen any major per-core performance increases in a decade. I know quite a few people still using 2nd gen Core machines and we're currently at the 12th gen with 13 due out this year! The mrs gets by on a 3rd gen i5, but with 16GB of RAM and a TB SSD. Very few people would need more than that.
UnderOpenSky
baseline neural therapy
The tdp of the CPU in machine I suggested is 77w. My modern PC it's 65w. My CPU cost twice what that PC does..
Chz
Stark Raving Sane
TDP is fairly meaningless, except as a number to shoot for if you're rolling your own cooling solution.
The actual power usage of mid-range and low-range processors has been pretty consistent over the past decade. Efficiencies gained by moving to a different fab process have been completed negated by running them faster. In fact, of late it's a number that's been getting higher. Power usage was probably at its best in the 6th gen and just got marginally worse since then.
High-end is just up, up, up. The latest i9s can - for a limited time, of course - suck down over 200W.
UnderOpenSky
baseline neural therapy
two sheds
Least noticed poster 2007
10 W an hour for say 10 hours a day is say 50p every 10 days. So £18 a year over say 4 years even if electricity doesn't get any more expensive is £72 so ...
... you've got a point
UnderOpenSky
baseline neural therapy
UnderOpenSky
baseline neural therapy
10 W an hour for say 10 hours a day is say 50p every 10 days. So £18 a year over say 4 years even if electricity doesn't get any more expensive is £72 so ...
... you've got a point
And remember you aren't running at this level for most tasks.
However don't forget other components also use juice.
stuff_it
Too skool for cool
I buy everything from CEX / CeX Buy & Sell Games, Phones, DVDs, Blu-ray, Electronics, Computing, Vision & CDs these days, and use them to find the value of used stuff also. You get a long warranty on tested, used equipment and if you trade in old stuff you can spend vouchers in store for more than the cash they would pay you for the same thing.
David Clapson
Well-Known Member
Can someone pls help me spec a used/refurb'd desktop for some moderate gaming? Happy to have a punt on ebay, never regretted it yet. I'm confused by graphics cards and CPUs. I play No Mans Sky, which is said to have quite a low required spec because they've made it more efficient, allegedly. Intel UHD is enough You can now explore No Man’s Sky without a graphics card . But I don't want 'enough', I want to turn all the settings right up. My old PC, which I've just broken, has a Radeon HD-7950 AMD Radeon HD 7950 3 GB Review . So I want something quite a bit better than that. The CPU is an MSI 970A-G43 MSI 970A-G43 review. I've just bought a new SSD - need something to put it in!
UnderOpenSky
baseline neural therapy
So this might be worth a thread of it's own as its a fair bit more complex. Your certainly right you don't want "enough" as a last generation console would be way better (maybe an option if budget is tight?). Now is better then 6 months ago to buy gaming parts, but it's still terrible, a knock on from covid and mining. Luckily covid is over and crypto has crashed, but we aren't there yet.
What's your budget? A full gaming rig from a few years ago on eBay might be the way to go, but typically you build a gaming PC rather then buying an ex corporate machine. They're pretty unsuitable to turn into gaming PCs as they typically don't have a big enough power supply for a graphics card. Do you know what broke on your old PC? There might be some parts there that can be used, which would reduce the cost. You've linked to a motherboard, not a CPU btw.
I've one suggestion that might work? It's what I'm currently doing until graphics card prices drop more and that's stream your games. I'm waiting till the next gen is out in a few months. Obviously you need good internet, but I subscribe to GeForce Now. The performance is out this world, it would cost a lot to build a PC on the 3080 tier. The main downside is that not all games are supported, but you get access to your steam library for the ones that are. I played Cyberpunk on high, which is as demanding as it gets at 1440p and it was amazing. If it wasn't for games availability I'd probably stick with it for every. I can even run it on my Chromebook. That said it can run No Man's Sky.
David Clapson
Well-Known Member
What's your budget? A full gaming rig from a few years ago on eBay might be the way to go, but typically you build a gaming PC rather then buying an ex corporate machine. They're pretty unsuitable to turn into gaming PCs as they typically don't have a big enough power supply for a graphics card. Do you know what broke on your old PC? There might be some parts there that can be used, which would reduce the cost. You've linked to a motherboard, not a CPU btw.
I've one suggestion that might work? It's what I'm currently doing until graphics card prices drop more and that's stream your games. I'm waiting till the next gen is out in a few months. Obviously you need good internet, but I subscribe to GeForce Now. The performance is out this world, it would cost a lot to build a PC on the 3080 tier. The main downside is that not all games are supported, but you get access to your steam library for the ones that are. I played Cyberpunk on high, which is as demanding as it gets at 1440p and it was amazing. If it wasn't for games availability I'd probably stick with it for every. I can even run it on my Chromebook. That said it can run No Man's Sky.
I don't want to spend more than £300 really. Looking for a bargain. I don't need display, speakers and keyboard.
Has to be an actual desktop rather than GeForce Now, for various boring reasons.
I know not to get a corporate box, my old machine is a second hand home build. I'm also looking at MSI factory machines, I'm no snob! Some of them seem quite gutsy for the money, e.g. this one MSI Infinite 9SA-871UK 9S6-B91551-871 Core i5-9400F 8GB 1TB/256GB SSD Win 10 Home. There are several for about £300. If I've understood the benchmark sites, a GTX 1650 is about 65% faster than my old HD 7950. What do you think? Edit: quite a few GTX 1660 Supers for £350ish.
I think the SSD and power supply are what broke in my old machine. Maybe I can cannibalise it a bit when I have a PC which works! Looking at what's on ebay, my HD 7950 doesn't seem too slow, considering its age. Lots of far newer machines seem to have graphics cards about half as fast, according to videocardbenchmark.net. I suppose it's because they've got small power supplies. Never realised that was a factor in graphics performance!
Last edited:
UnderOpenSky
baseline neural therapy
£300 is tight with current graphics card prices, but possible. Intrestingly if you were to get a 1650 you could go the ex corporate route as their power draw is so low and they often come in the half height form factor. If you can get a 1660 then it would make a big difference, I believe they are still a popular card for 1080 gaming. Is that full PCs youve seen with them for 350 or just the card?
On ebay most "gaming" PCs have been put together for sale on ebay, often with under powered GPUs as you have seen, so it would be finding an old custom built rig
That MSI has quite a modern CPU, it will definitely be bottleneck a 1650 and if thr power supply allowed could take a much better one. That said if you could get one for £300 it wouldnt be bad.
As I said I think this is worth it's own thread. I'm about to head to the lakes for the weekend, but I'm sure there are plenty who can help look at more machines.
Chz
Stark Raving Sane
I'm very much PC uber alles for gaming, but if my budget was £300 I'd buy a used Ps4 or Xbox. Prices are meant to crash out in the near future, but right now that'll get you very little for a complete system. £300 is just the GPU these days. 
If you're patient, I'll be upgrading when prices drop and have a 1070 I could donate. But may be a while.
If you're patient, I'll be upgrading when prices drop and have a 1070 I could donate. But may be a while.
David Clapson
Well-Known Member
Full PC with a 1660 for cheap seems to exist on ebay, but cash on collection in places I don't want to go to. Add in a train ticket and they're not cheap any more
gaming pc 1660 Super | eBay
<p>gaming pc 1660 Super. </p><p>TEXT BEFORE PURCHASE SO WE CAN WORK OUT MEET!</p><br /><p>SPECS</p><p>RAM MEMORY- 8GB</p><p>OPERATION SYSTEM- WINDOWS 11</p><p>CPU MODEL- CORE i5</p><p>BRAND-ADMI</p><p>CPU MANUFACTURER- INTEL</p><p>GRAPHICS CARD/PROCESSOR- GTX 1660 SUPER 6GB</p><p>HARD DISK...
www.ebay.co.uk
GTX 1660 Gaming PC | eBay
<p dir="ltr" style="margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;">GTX 1660 Gaming PC. This PC is perfect for 1080p 60fps gaming and runs very well. Only been used for a year. Reason for selling is because I play on console.</p>
www.ebay.co.uk
PC Specialist Cypher GT Gaming PC - GEFORCE GTX 1660 super Graphics - Can Ship | eBay
<p>PC Specialist Cypher GT Gaming PC - GEFORCE GTX 1660 super Graphics. </p><br /><p>Gaming PC, really good condition and barely used. </p><p>My son does not use it enough and instead plays on a games console. He has used it for school work too, but now has a laptop so it has not been used as...
www.ebay.co.uk
David Clapson
Well-Known Member
I think I might buy this MSI Infinite S - GTX 1660 Super, 512GB NVMe, 250GB SSD, i5-9400F, 16GB RAM | eBay Is it alright? Looks suspiciously cheap. Been trying to fix my old machine unsuccessfully, and I'm sick of the sight of it. I bought it a new power supply but I think the motherboard is bust.
UnderOpenSky
baseline neural therapy
I think it looks a good price, but not worryingly cheap. I paid £190 for a small form factor PC with the same CPU, 8GB, 256GB NVMe and no graphics card a few months ago and a 1660 seems to be about £140 to £150 on eBay. Obviously it's eBay, but if you test it thoroughly when you get it, there buyer protection is quite good.
Last edited:
