Is this a good PC deal?

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Earbanean

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#311884 23-Feb-2024 14:16

My old Lenovo ThinkStation, series 4 i5, bought 2015, looks like it's needing to be replaced. I'm getting random shutdowns, but pretty sure temps are OK. So anyway, I started looking at a few replacement options. Looking for WFH, school/uni study, streaming Netflix etc, light photoshop use, and a little bit of light gaming. I'm after future proofed enough that it could conceivably last 7 - 10 years (although who knows what's coming in that timeframe) and thinking up to about $1,500.

I've come across a Dell Inspiron for just under $1,500, with specs:

Core i5-14400F
GeForce RTX 3050 8Gb
16Gb GDDR6 RAM
1Tb M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD

That to me seems really good specs for crica $1,500. Is it? Am I missing something here at all?

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#3199159 23-Feb-2024 14:25

if you can stretch the budget a bit, here is one for 1800 with a 4060 that will be much better future proof.

https://www.dell.com/en-nz/shop/cty/pdp/spd/g-series-15-5535-laptop/ogn5535051501mnz?tfcid=39138382&&gacd=9989428-13042-5761040-290131157-0&dgc=ST&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiA_tuuBhAUEiwAvxkgTprZ4EATCt5hnDGlsOR1GP_gKLxFCwXEnT6h2N3W5YRSk7h1XEoGAhoC-IEQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Earbanean

945 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3199168 23-Feb-2024 14:50

Silvrav:

if you can stretch the budget a bit, here is one for 1800 with a 4060 that will be much better future proof.

https://www.dell.com/en-nz/shop/cty/pdp/spd/g-series-15-5535-laptop/ogn5535051501mnz?tfcid=39138382&&gacd=9989428-13042-5761040-290131157-0&dgc=ST&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiA_tuuBhAUEiwAvxkgTprZ4EATCt5hnDGlsOR1GP_gKLxFCwXEnT6h2N3W5YRSk7h1XEoGAhoC-IEQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

That's a laptop. I'm after a desktop PC to use with existing monitor etc.

shrub

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#3199189 23-Feb-2024 16:06

Id look at building a pc. $1500 gets you quite a solid rig for what your wanting with an upgrade path.

https://nz.pcpartpicker.com/list/gZXMKX

Qazzy03

478 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3199200 23-Feb-2024 16:38

Earbanean:

That to me seems really good specs for crica $1,500. Is it? Am I missing something here at all?

I assume you are referring to this one.

https://www.dell.com/en-nz/shop/desktops-workstations-all-in-ones/new-inspiron-desktop/spd/inspiron-3030-desktop/oid3030101701mnz

The system has a recent CPU and decent but the rest will be generic / whatever they have at meets the generic given specs.

If Dell is using its own non standard Motherboard / PSU repair or upgrading the box will be a no go in the future.
The box will be coming with a 180 or 300 watt PSU, most likey the 300 watt (I would hope).

The RTX 3050 isn't something I would suggest to do light gaming on, it could but I wouldn't suggest it.

Personally I would give it a skip and go with something I could repair/upgrade over time, especially if you want to keep it going 7+ years.

Had a quick look around but pre-builts are pretty pricey

Here are some around your price range that you may want to dig into more, building your own or 2nd hand could be a lot cheaper.

https://extremepc.co.nz/fortnite-gaming-pc---intel-i5-13400f-16gb-ram-1tb-ssd-geforce-rtx-3050-win11/

https://extremepc.co.nz/palworld-gaming-pc-ryzen-5-5600g-16gb-ram-1tb-ssd-geforce-rtx-4060-win11/

https://extremepc.co.nz/warframe-gaming-pc-ryzen-5-5500-16gb-ram-1tb-ssd-radeon-rx-7600-win11/

https://www.godmode.co.nz/products/the-argonaut?variant=41144024105075

Jase2985

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#3199203 23-Feb-2024 16:43

why do they put a 5600g in a PC with a graphics card? put the 5600x in there and save a bit of money

shrub

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#3199205 23-Feb-2024 16:45

Qazzy03:

Earbanean:

That to me seems really good specs for crica $1,500. Is it? Am I missing something here at all?

I assume you are referring to this one.

https://www.dell.com/en-nz/shop/desktops-workstations-all-in-ones/new-inspiron-desktop/spd/inspiron-3030-desktop/oid3030101701mnz

The system has a recent CPU I don't think the rest of it is worth it.

If Dell is using its own non standard Motherboard / PSU repair or upgrading the box will be a no go in the future.
The box will be coming with a 180 or 300 watt PSU, most likey the 300 watt (I would hope).

The RTX 3050 isn't something I would suggest to do light gaming on, it could but I wouldn't suggest it.

Personally I would give it a skip and go with something I could repair/upgrade over time, especially if you want to keep it going 7+ years.

Had a quick look around but pre-builts are pretty pricey

Here are some around your price range that you may want to dig into more, building your own or 2nd hand could be a lot cheaper.

https://extremepc.co.nz/fortnite-gaming-pc---intel-i5-13400f-16gb-ram-1tb-ssd-geforce-rtx-3050-win11/

https://extremepc.co.nz/palworld-gaming-pc-ryzen-5-5600g-16gb-ram-1tb-ssd-geforce-rtx-4060-win11/

https://extremepc.co.nz/warframe-gaming-pc-ryzen-5-5500-16gb-ram-1tb-ssd-radeon-rx-7600-win11/

Personally i would not bother with a low end graphics card these days. The latest AMD APU are solid enough for light gaming. The 2 Ryzen systems are AM4 which have no future. That Intel system is also on a DDR4 motherboard and an F CPU and a 500w PSU so your compromising future use/upgrades.

Jase2985

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#3199207 23-Feb-2024 16:48

dont buy intel if you want future proofing they change sockets every 2-3 years amd have been 5+ years as of late

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Qazzy03

478 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3199210 23-Feb-2024 16:53

Jase2985:

why do they put a 5600g in a PC with a graphics card? put the 5600x in there and save a bit of money

No clue, shrug, this was a couple minute search to see what might be out there around OP's $1500 price point, rather than a definite recommendation.

shrub:

Personally i would not bother with a low end graphics card these days. The latest AMD APU are solid enough for light gaming.

The 2 Ryzen systems are AM4 which have no future. That Intel system is also on a DDR4 motherboard and an F CPU and a 500w PSU so your compromising future use/upgrades.

Mmm decidated GPU's still have their place, especially if you are doing would use a decent amount of vRam.
Personally haven't seen much of a difference in the DDR4 vs DDR5 in performace, but I mostly stick to general gaming instead of production work.
Shurgs, the 500 watt mostly likely better than the 300 watt bronze non standard dell PSU.
The AM4 systems are end of socket however sticking to OP's budget, you are going to have save money somewhere, in this case it is end of life AM4, the intel 14th gen is on end of life socket too.

More than welcome to suggest pre-built systems that would fit OP's price range :)

Earbanean

945 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3199527 24-Feb-2024 15:43

Thanks for all the feedback. I guess in terms of future proof, I mean more that the processor speed etc will be OK for a number of years without upgrading - other than maybe adding more RAM and possibly swapping in a larger SSD. So PSU, CPU socket etc I'm not so concerned about upgradeability on.

Also, what I mean by 'light gaming' might differ from the more serious GZ community. e.g. the current box has a 4th gen i5, 8 Gb RAM and a Radeon R7 200 Series card from circa 2015. The kids have managed to play stuff like Fortnite, Minecraft, Star Wars Squadron with low settings. So I'm guessing the RX 3050 could do that and more. And for me for work, it appears to support multiple monitors at up to 4K (which might come in handy in the future).

Qazzy03

478 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3199582 24-Feb-2024 19:57

Earbanean:

Thanks for all the feedback. I guess in terms of future proof, I mean more that the processor speed etc will be OK for a number of years without upgrading - other than maybe adding more RAM and possibly swapping in a larger SSD. So PSU, CPU socket etc I'm not so concerned about upgradeability on.

Also, what I mean by 'light gaming' might differ from the more serious GZ community. e.g. the current box has a 4th gen i5, 8 Gb RAM and a Radeon R7 200 Series card from circa 2015. The kids have managed to play stuff like Fortnite, Minecraft, Star Wars Squadron with low settings. So I'm guessing the RX 3050 could do that and more. And for me for work, it appears to support multiple monitors at up to 4K (which might come in handy in the future).

The Dell will be fit for your purpose.
However personal opinion, I would go for this one instead (same price point) and near similar specs.

https://extremepc.co.nz/fortnite-gaming-pc---intel-i5-13400f-16gb-ram-1tb-ssd-geforce-rtx-3050-win11/

The 13400f CPU is one generation older than the 14400f however the difference in benchmarks between them is about 1%.
the 14th generation of Intel CPU's were just a refresh of the 13th Generation, so no much changed between most of them.
It is also running DDR4 ram, rather than DDR5, so cheaper to toss another stick in if you want to atm (2nd hand or new, while it is cheap)
the difference between the DRR4 vs DDR5 RAM is basically nothing.

The biggest reason I would not go for the Dell is the because of the proprietary and non-standard parts inside of it.
Aka, if the PSU dies 5-7 years into to its life cycle, replacing it could be difficult / costly, same with Motherboard.
Yes you could try CGA against Dell if the Motherboard/PSU fails but sometimes, it isn't worth the added stress.

The ExtremePC case is larger and can accommodate additional SSD/HDD without replacing the onboard SSD.

https://www.antec.com/product/case/nx500m

Expansion Slots 5

3.5" /2.5"
2/3 (with HDD cage)
2/2 (without HDD cage)

2.5" 2

If the RBG fans are off putting there is often software that can turn them off, would speak to the people at ExtremePC if they can help if you are not a fan of the colours.

TLDR

The Dell meets your requirements and more but I would go with the system I linked over it.

cddt

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#3199637 25-Feb-2024 07:19

Qazzy03:

The RTX 3050 isn't something I would suggest to do light gaming on, it could but I wouldn't suggest it.

The RTX 3050 8GB does well with light gaming. E.g. it can play CS2 at 4K resolution with ~120 FPS. Would be similar or better for Fortnite etc. which OP mentioned his kids are into.

But I agree that the Dell won't give much (if any) scope for upgrading the GPU in future.

My referral links: BigPipe | Mercury

networkn

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#3199766 25-Feb-2024 10:38

Jase2985:

dont buy intel if you want future proofing they change sockets every 2-3 years amd have been 5+ years as of late

I've had 3 gens out of my current motherboard. 12th, 13th and 14th gen. I accept that isn't the usual, but in all honesty, they have also been pretty decent upgrades gen to gen.

Jase2985

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#3199789 25-Feb-2024 11:01

networkn:

Jase2985:

dont buy intel if you want future proofing they change sockets every 2-3 years amd have been 5+ years as of late

I've had 3 gens out of my current motherboard. 12th, 13th and 14th gen. I accept that isn't the usual, but in all honesty, they have also been pretty decent upgrades gen to gen.

you cant tell me 13 to 14th was a decent upgrade. its 13th gen with lipstick on

xpd

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#3199792 25-Feb-2024 11:04

Earbanean:

My old Lenovo ThinkStation, series 4 i5, bought 2015, looks like it's needing to be replaced. I'm getting random shutdowns, but pretty sure temps are OK. So anyway, I started looking at a few replacement options. Looking for WFH, school/uni study, streaming Netflix etc, light photoshop use, and a little bit of light gaming. I'm after future proofed enough that it could conceivably last 7 - 10 years (although who knows what's coming in that timeframe) and thinking up to about $1,500.

I've come across a Dell Inspiron for just under $1,500, with specs:

Core i5-14400F
GeForce RTX 3050 8Gb
16Gb GDDR6 RAM
1Tb M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD
That to me seems really good specs for crica $1,500. Is it? Am I missing something here at all?

What do you currently have that you can use on a new build ? Screen ? Keyboard/mouse etc ? Case ?

That sort of thing you can re-use for a self build PC to keep costs down or to give a better upgrade option.

Gavin / xpd / FastRaccoon / Geek of Coastguard New Zealand

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Earbanean

945 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3199816 25-Feb-2024 12:17

Qazzy03:

The biggest reason I would not go for the Dell is the because of the proprietary and non-standard parts inside of it.
Aka, if the PSU dies 5-7 years into to its life cycle, replacing it could be difficult / costly, same with Motherboard.
Yes you could try CGA against Dell if the Motherboard/PSU fails but sometimes, it isn't worth the added stress.

The ExtremePC case is larger and can accommodate additional SSD/HDD without replacing the onboard SSD.

Ah OK, understood. So if I wanted to upgrade the GPU, that might become overly difficult with the Dell because of proprietary PSU etc. I hadn't thought about that angle. Would that be the same with say a HP, Lenovo, etc?

What's Extreme PC like? I'd never really heard of them. Have experience with PB Tech and big retailers like Noel, Harvey etc, but not Extreme.

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