£100 desktop PC

[iacabu]

On the hunt for a desktop PC for home. I've been researching, but there are so many model designations and numbers, it's difficult to know what's what.

The main reason I'm after one is for online business. This includes website building on Wix and use of online graphic design tools. Pretty basic stuff for now.

I don't have any particular need for a large storage space so small SSD will suffice. Plan is to use a smart TV as a monitor, which isn't my chosen set up but I don't have a home office or space for a decent set up ("I could put it in your makeup room" didn't work )

Do I really need more than 8GB?

I've been looking on eBay and Amazon, but these two seem top contenders. Cheaper the better really, provided it's adequate. I can upgrade if needs be down the line

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dell-OptiPlex-3020-Profes...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Optiplex-i7-2600-Windows-...


Doesn't seem to be much between the CPUs based on userbenchmark.com

Any advice would be much appreciated

[peterperkins]

The second user ex corporate Dell machines are excellent and great value.

I've had an Optiplex 790 for quite a few years now. i5-2400 cpu and 8gb RAM and an SSD..

There is a reason big businesses buy millions of Dell PC's.
They are reliable workhorses.

[TheLoraxxZeus]

If you are going to choose either, go with the 16GB of RAM. Windows sucks RAM right up, as does practically every browser. Then you have whatever software you are running on top of that.

8GB is not enough in 2022 unless you're purely browsing the web and at that point, just buy a used Chromebook off Facebook or something.

[Hoofy]

Buy some extra RAM as that will make a difference, as will having an SSD. If you do work with graphics files and perhaps videos, it will start to take up space really quickly so buy a 2nd HDD.

My current set up is an older games machine probably worth about £200 now (separate graphics card hence more expensive) plus a 128Gb SSD and a 1Gb second HDD. 10Gb RAM and Windows 10. It works fine for the sort of stuff you want to do.

[zedx19]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/115330593492?hash=item1...

I've had one of these Gigabyte units (not this exact one) for years, sat in the corner of a garage acting as a media server, plex server and I remote connect to it daily for various tasks. I'm using it now, remote desktop onto it to type this.

Never had a problem with it and they generally consume a lot less power than a desktop. Can't upgrade anything really, but if all you want is a basic machine that's cheap to run and reliable, these are a machine worth considering.

Can't run Windows 11 though, but I doubt there's much old/cheap stuff that can.

[eeLee]

another vote for ex-corp Dells. I have one with 16Gb RAM, came with a screen, keyboard, speaker, mouse and went to auction for almost nothing because the guy selling it thought it was broken (no screen output). Optiplex 7020 i5 now running Hyper-V Server 2019 with some guest OSes on top....

[dudleybloke]

I bought a HP Elitedesk G3 mini 65w with an I5 7th gen, SSD and 8gb ram for £120 recently, I've stuck another 8gb ram in and it is a pretty solid machine.
Only downside is the onboard graphics but it manages to run Serato in 1080p with no issues.

[goldar]

Amazon's a rip off, those things are ancient. Buy this instead:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/255814216902?mkcid=16&a...

[iacabu]

Thanks for the replies so far.
My question about needing more than 8gb came from a colleague saying Windows uses plenty on its own, so good to see that is confirmed. People seem to use 8gb with no bother, but I'll go for 16gb.

Please could someone point me in the direction of what I'd need to buy to upgrade the ram if I end up going for a Dell with only 8gb

[iacabu]

goldar said:

Amazon's a rip off, buy this instead:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/255814216902?mkcid=16&a...

So far, I've only really stuck to looking at refurbed machines that come with a 12 month warranty

[goldar]

Then I'd up your budget by 3 times if you want something usable.

[Griffith4ever]

I'd go with the Ebay Dell - much newer and really, what value is there in prioritising on warranty on a £75 spend?

£75 for a PC 5 years younger, and faster, or £95 for the other on Amazon, with 12 months warranty where if anything goes wrong they are likely to say "bin it" - which doesn't really help get your work done.

[iacabu]

Griffith4ever said:

I'd go with the Ebay Dell - much newer and really, what value is there in prioritising on warranty on a £75 spend?

£75 for a PC 5 years younger, and faster, or £95 for the other on Amazon, with 12 months warranty where if anything goes wrong they are likely to say "bin it" - which doesn't really help get your work done.

Good point well made. I'll take a closer look

[AlexC1981]

I'm not a techie, so I could be wrong, but on the subject of RAM usage in Windows, I think Windows uses up the free RAM that is available by pre-loading stuff, so that stuff is available instantly when you do want it.

Widows will make the RAM available when needed.

The older PCs on the OPs Amazon links are actually faster than the tiny newer £75 PC on ebay because they are using full fat high wattage processors. Intel processors with a T or U are designed to use less power and are not as capable.

[pokethepope]

iacabu said:

Thanks for the replies so far.

Please could someone point me in the direction of what I'd need to buy to upgrade the ram if I end up going for a Dell with only 8gb

Check here (you can always take the RAM type/part number it gives you and buy elsewhere if you can find somewhere cheaper) - https://uk.crucial.com/store/advisor#hero

[iacabu]

I've ended up ordering the following: Dell 7020, i5-4570, 16gb RAM, 240gb SSD, 1tb HDD

£126 plus a WiFi dongle, display port to hdmi adapter and a Logitech MK270 wireless keyboard and mouse. So £170 all in.

[heisthegaffer]

Amazing value.