Non-gaming PC hardware thread

Cras · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 49244

I don't think we have a thread like this currently. I'm not particularly abreast of what's a good buy hardware wise right now, so it's time for an RMD.

I'm looking for home office kit, pretty much. Up to date hardware where possible, but I'm not going to be doing any video editing or any gaming beyond the odd bit of indie shit in Steam, so there's no point in investing lots in bleeding edge hardware or graphics cards. Probably something like an i5 or equivalent, 8/16GB RAM, and a mid-size SSD (I've got tons of NAS space).

So what's good value right now in PCs and panels?

DavPaz · **Joined:** 27th Jun, 2008 **Posts:** 38664

You should get an all-in-one. Maybe even an iMac.

MaliA · **Posted:** Tue Mar 06, 2018 17:09

Just get a mac. They are so much better than a PC as a one stop box.

Cras · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 49244

Gotta be windows, but otherwise I'm not averse to all in one type systems.

Grim... · **Posted:** Tue Mar 06, 2018 17:09

Doctor Glyndwr · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 32624

MaliA wrote:

Just get a mac. They are so much better than a PC as a one stop box.

Craster is the only person I know who got a Mac, wiped it, and installed Windows. He is in thrall to BillG. He will never change. He has no truck with Unix.

Squirt · **Joined:** 31st Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 6612

Something something something LEDs something something.

DavPaz · **Joined:** 27th Jun, 2008 **Posts:** 38664

Cras wrote:

Gotta be windows, but otherwise I'm not averse to all in one type systems.

I like the Acer all in ones...

https://www.acer.com/ac/en/GB/content/series/aspireu27

But we keep ordering Dells :facepalm:

ApplePieOfDestiny · **Joined:** 17th Dec, 2008 **Posts:** 8293

Ha Cra$ loves m$

Doctor Glyndwr · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 32624

Cras wrote:

Gotta be windows, but otherwise I'm not averse to all in one type systems.

Surface Studio dooooo iiiittt

Cras · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 49244

Doctor Glyndwr wrote:

MaliA wrote:

Just get a mac. They are so much better than a PC as a one stop box.

Craster is the only person I know who got a Mac, wiped it, and installed Windows. He is in thrall to BillG. He will never change. He has no truck with Unix.

Fucking right.

DavPaz · **Joined:** 27th Jun, 2008 **Posts:** 38664

Doctor Glyndwr wrote:

Cras wrote:

Gotta be windows, but otherwise I'm not averse to all in one type systems.

Surface Studio dooooo iiiittt

Oooh, yeah. Do that!

MaliA · **Posted:** Tue Mar 06, 2018 17:22

Cras wrote:

Doctor Glyndwr wrote:

MaliA wrote:

Just get a mac. They are so much better than a PC as a one stop box.

Craster is the only person I know who got a Mac, wiped it, and installed Windows. He is in thrall to BillG. He will never change. He has no truck with Unix.

Fucking right.

It is really weird for beginners when successful commands complete with no output.

MrChris · **Joined:** 1st Apr, 2008 **Posts:** 30498

Why does a home office need anything specific? Doesn't literally everything run Word and Excel?

Cras · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 49244

Doctor Glyndwr wrote:

Cras wrote:

Gotta be windows, but otherwise I'm not averse to all in one type systems.

Surface Studio dooooo iiiittt

Which part of "not bleeding edge home office" suggests I want to spent three grand?!

Cras · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 49244

MrChris wrote:

Why does a home office need anything specific? Doesn't literally everything run Word and Excel?

It doesn't. But it specifically doesn't need any of the stuff recommended in the PC gaming hardware thread.

ApplePieOfDestiny · **Joined:** 17th Dec, 2008 **Posts:** 8293

Cras wrote:

Doctor Glyndwr wrote:

Cras wrote:

Gotta be windows, but otherwise I'm not averse to all in one type systems.

Surface Studio dooooo iiiittt

Which part of "not bleeding edge home office" suggests I want to spent three grand?!

You don’t want to. But you should.

Doctor Glyndwr · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 32624

Cras wrote:

Which part of "not bleeding edge home office" suggests I want to spent three grand?!

It’s got a 965M! It’s very definitely not bleeding edge so fulfills 100% of the project brief.

Doctor Glyndwr · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 32624

Cras wrote:

It doesn't. But it specifically doesn't need any of the stuff recommended in the PC gaming hardware thread.

I’m struggling to see any difference apart from GPU.

Zardoz · **Posted:** Tue Mar 06, 2018 17:34

Controversially, I've been musing over what the minimum spec gaming PC would cost. To be able to play say Day Z with reasonable settings.

Should I split myself out?

Grim... · **Posted:** Tue Mar 06, 2018 18:03

http://www.dell.com/en-uk/shop/desktops ... op/cd66202

Bosh

Bamba · **Joined:** 25th Jul, 2010 **Posts:** 11128

Help us out (and yourself, otherwise you'll get £3K machines shouted at you as is happening already): what's your rough budget here

Zardoz · **Posted:** Tue Mar 06, 2018 18:11

Me or Craster?

If me then under £500.

Grim... was that for me? If so x

(although it's not very jaggy for a gaming PC, all the gaming ones are really jaggy)

Cras · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 49244

Bamba wrote:

Help us out (and yourself, otherwise you'll get £3K machines shouted at you as is happening already): what's your rough budget here

Under a grand with a panel, ideally. I am flexible though.

Cras · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 49244

Zardoz wrote:

Me or Craster?

If me then under £500.

Grim... was that for me? If so x

(although it's not very jaggy for a gaming PC, all the gaming ones are really jaggy)

OMG the thread title literally says non-gaming. GTFO

Zardoz · **Posted:** Tue Mar 06, 2018 18:18

You do know what forum this is, right?

Cras · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 49244

Grim... wrote:

http://www.dell.com/en-uk/shop/desktops-and-all-in-ones/inspiron-desktop/spd/inspiron-3662-desktop/cd66202

Bosh

I mean, thanks for "Dell Make Desktops FYI", but what do I want? They have iX-7XXX series CPUs, is it worth getting the 8XXX series or are they not worth the expense? Are they good value for the price?

Mr Dave · **Posted:** Tue Mar 06, 2018 18:29

Cras wrote:

I don't think we have a thread like this currently. I'm not particularly abreast of what's a good buy hardware wise right now, so it's time for an RMD.

I'm looking for home office kit, pretty much. Up to date hardware where possible, but I'm not going to be doing any video editing or any gaming beyond the odd bit of indie shit in Steam, so there's no point in investing lots in bleeding edge hardware or graphics cards. Probably something like an i5 or equivalent, 8/16GB RAM, and a mid-size SSD (I've got tons of NAS space).

So what's good value right now in PCs and panels?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Xbox-Elite-Con ... dpSrc=srch

myp · **Posted:** Tue Mar 06, 2018 18:45

Zardoz wrote:

Controversially, I've been musing over what the minimum spec gaming PC would cost. To be able to play say PUBG with reasonable settings.

Should I split myself out?

Fixed

Grim... · **Posted:** Tue Mar 06, 2018 19:15

Cras wrote:

Grim... wrote:

http://www.dell.com/en-uk/shop/desktops-and-all-in-ones/inspiron-desktop/spd/inspiron-3662-desktop/cd66202

Bosh

I mean, thanks for "Dell Make Desktops FYI", but what do I want? They have iX-7XXX series CPUs, is it worth getting the 8XXX series or are they not worth the expense? Are they good value for the price?

That one I linked to? Click "buy".

It's not especially good value, but it's plenty of PC for your needs. And you're lazy

Cras · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 49244

Jesus, the one you linked to is a Pentium!

Grim... · **Posted:** Tue Mar 06, 2018 19:31

Either you only want it for Word or you don't. That Pentium can run Chrome - three simultaneous tabs!

Get this one if you need an "i" in your processor: http://www.dell.com/en-uk/shop/desktops ... op/cd66825

myp · **Posted:** Tue Mar 06, 2018 19:43

Incredible scenes.

Doctor Glyndwr · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 32624

Grim... wrote:

That Pentium can run Chrome - three simultaneous tabs!

Are you sure? It only has 8 GB of RAM.

myp · **Posted:** Tue Mar 06, 2018 19:46

Doctor Glyndwr wrote:

Grim... wrote:

That Pentium can run Chrome - three simultaneous tabs!

Are you sure? It only has 8 GB of RAM.

I only have 8GB of RAM.

MaliA · **Posted:** Tue Mar 06, 2018 20:08

Lonewolves wrote:

Doctor Glyndwr wrote:

Grim... wrote:

That Pentium can run Chrome - three simultaneous tabs!

Are you sure? It only has 8 GB of RAM.

I only have 8GB of RAM.

ME TOO

myp · **Posted:** Tue Mar 06, 2018 20:12

Funnily enough RAM isn't my issue at the moment. I think I need a new CPU though as it regularly states I am at 100% usage.

Grim... · **Posted:** Tue Mar 06, 2018 20:20

Check for websites doing crypto mining.

myp · **Posted:** Tue Mar 06, 2018 20:36

Grim... wrote:

Check for websites doing crypto mining.

Interesting. How can I do this?

I tend to close my browser windows when I'm not using them out of habit as iRacing is pretty CPU intensive and so is Firefox.

DavPaz · **Joined:** 27th Jun, 2008 **Posts:** 38664

open task manager. See if <browser.exe> is still running and hoovering up RAM and CPU time.

Cras · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 49244

Also msiexec, in case windows update is doing background sneakiness.

myp · **Posted:** Tue Mar 06, 2018 21:14

DavPaz wrote:

open task manager. See if <browser.exe> is still running and hoovering up RAM and CPU time.

Not really. :shrug:

myp · **Posted:** Tue Mar 06, 2018 21:15

Cras wrote:

Also msiexec, in case windows update is doing background sneakiness.

Not sure which option to choose. But nothing seems to be running.

JohnCoffey · **Posted:** Tue Mar 06, 2018 22:03

Lonewolves wrote:

Grim... wrote:

Check for websites doing crypto mining.

Interesting. How can I do this?

I tend to close my browser windows when I'm not using them out of habit as iRacing is pretty CPU intensive and so is Firefox.

Look at your CPU usage. If it is jammed at 100% close Chrome and see what happens...

I had the issue recently with a "questionable" football stream. Thing is, with 14 cores and 28 threads I soon notice it, because the back of my PC turns into a storage heater..

I now use MinerBlock and Nocoin attachments for Chrome. That stopped it.

myp · **Posted:** Tue Mar 06, 2018 22:27

I can't close Chrome.

Mr Dave · **Posted:** Tue Mar 06, 2018 22:30

Try rebooting.

(Also, use something like process explorer and close the entire tree. If something stops this, you should see what causes it)

Sir Taxalot · **Joined:** 5th Apr, 2008 **Posts:** 4842

Do you need to run games on it too? Maybe Zardoz could help, I hear he's looking to buy something new.

DavPaz · **Joined:** 27th Jun, 2008 **Posts:** 38664

Lonewolves wrote:

I can't close Chrome.

Not a good sign.

myp · **Posted:** Tue Mar 06, 2018 22:50

DavPaz wrote:

Lonewolves wrote:

I can't close Chrome.

Not a good sign.

Would be weirder if I could close an application I don't have installed.

DavPaz · **Joined:** 27th Jun, 2008 **Posts:** 38664

Lonewolves wrote:

DavPaz wrote:

Lonewolves wrote:

I can't close Chrome.

Not a good sign.

Would be weirder if I could close an application I don't have installed.

I get it now.

Be Excellent To Each Other

Non-gaming PC hardware thread
Chill yo framerate

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Be Excellent To Each Other

Non-gaming PC hardware thread Chill yo framerate

Who is online

Non-gaming PC hardware thread
Chill yo framerate