Need A New Tower

[spasm3]

Uses are only internet, a few documents. Maybe add an external cd drive. 1TB drive sound reasonable? Amazon reviews are allover the place, units with cheap components, some units new but appear used etc.

i'll probably want a new monitor as well. Lenvo has this one, direct.

https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/p/desk...eries/ideacentre-3i-gen-8-7l-intel/90vt008uus

 

[Hall]

External drives aren't a thing anymore. What do you use CD (or DVDs) for on a computer nowadays ?

What "documents" ? Do you use MS Office ? You can use online/cloud services for this and need minimal local storage. I wouldn't focus on the size of internal storage (1 TB) and as long as it's 256gb or more, based on your description, you'll be fine.

I think just about any desktop PC on the shelf at Walmart, Best Buy, etc will be perfectly fine for your use. Just avoid the low-end, budget models.

 

[TheOilWizard]

Spec wise this seems very solid. Lot of storage, solid state (faster than hard drives), respectable CPU, and a good amount of RAM.

Only knock (potentially) is that it's only DDR4 memory and not DDR5, but is that something you'll even notice for your use case above? Likely not.

Another option to consider:
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/dell-d...-memory-1tb-ssd-black/6622616.p?skuId=6622616

 

[duck__dodgers]

If your needs are basic/typical (no RTX graphics etc.).... $199 for a compact tower.

https://www.dellrefurbished.com/?ty...h_query=&category=&thumb_sort=store_price.asc

 

[Analog-1]

If your needs are basic/typical (no RTX graphics etc.).... $199 for a compact tower.

https://www.dellrefurbished.com/?ty...h_query=&category=&thumb_sort=store_price.asc

Those towers all have windows 10. Windows 10 is End of Life in Oct 2025. No point they are worthless.

 

[Hall]

Those towers all have windows 10. Windows 10 is End of Life in Oct 2025. No point they are worthless.

Even the $199 model is Windows 11 compatible so it's a non-issue

 

[spasm3]

External drives aren't a thing anymore. What do you use CD (or DVDs) for on a computer nowadays ?

What "documents" ? Do you use MS Office ? You can use online/cloud services for this and need minimal local storage. I wouldn't focus on the size of internal storage (1 TB) and as long as it's 256gb or more, based on your description, you'll be fine.

I think just about any desktop PC on the shelf at Walmart, Best Buy, etc will be perfectly fine for your use. Just avoid the low-end, budget models.

Spec wise this seems very solid. Lot of storage, solid state (faster than hard drives), respectable CPU, and a good amount of RAM.

Only knock (potentially) is that it's only DDR4 memory and not DDR5, but is that something you'll even notice for your use case above? Likely not.

Another option to consider:
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/dell-d...-memory-1tb-ssd-black/6622616.p?skuId=6622616

Thanks!!

In that case how do these two look ?

$669
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-omn...ory-1tb-ssd-gray-wood/6613695.p?skuId=6613695

$599
https://www.walmart.com/ip/HP-OmniD...er/14077821192?classType=VARIANT&from=/search

 

[duck__dodgers]

if OP's needs really are basic as described in the starter, spending more than $600 (for the tower, not counting displays, accessories) is insane. Computers are like dumbbells, either you're on the low end for needs or you're on the high end and need power for graphics/gaming, video editing, crunching numbers, etc. not many people really are in the middle

if you're on the low end, the two big things are storage space (enough for your needs) and RAM (browsers, multi-tasking bloat makes lots of RAM mandatory).

and for most systems both you can add DIY after purchase.... complexity/ability depends on brand and model.

 

[AdmiralYoda]

Any tower capable of upgrading to windows 11 will be adequate. Shoot for 16 or more GB of memory, 32GB is even better. Browsing the internet or opening simple documents doesn't require robust hardware.

 

[Hall]

In that case how do these two look ?

Those are both very nice PCs that will easily handle your usage. They are probably more than you need, as well as $$$, plus neither includes a monitor, which you said you wanted to upgrade as well. Looks like they don't bundle monitors and PCs much anymore. Walmart has some all-in-one HP boxes that will fit your use case just fine though, i.e. https://www.walmart.com/ip/HP-24-AIO-Intel-Core-N300-8-256-Touch-Wireless-KB-M-White/14056966168.

 

[spasm3]

Those are both very nice PCs that will easily handle your usage. They are probably more than you need, as well as $$$, plus neither includes a monitor, which you said you wanted to upgrade as well. Looks like they don't bundle monitors and PCs much anymore. Walmart has some all-in-one HP boxes that will fit your use case just fine though, i.e. https://www.walmart.com/ip/HP-24-AIO-Intel-Core-N300-8-256-Touch-Wireless-KB-M-White/14056966168.

Thanks i thought about those, I didn't know how repairable they were. Can you open them up? If the monitor goes, can you replace just that?

 

[Bottom_Feeder]

8GB of memory nowadays is pretty slim, and it's apparently not upgradeable on that model. I would pass, personally.

 

[Hall]

Thanks i thought about those, I didn't know how repairable they were. Can you open them up? If the monitor goes, can you replace just that?

No and no. You're buying the all-in-one package and those are certainly sacrifices if those matter to you.

 

[Rand]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/166363878590?toolid=10001&customid=0374498e673e11f0b6741ab90286bcec0INT
278$ windows 11

Ryzen 5 5600g is still respectable speed 20k cpumark from only 6cores = no lag

 

[spasm3]

Thanks for all the advice, I ordered this.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B9STQV3B?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1

 

[ka9mnx]

if OP's needs really are basic as described in the starter, spending more than $600 (for the tower, not counting displays, accessories) is insane. Computers are like dumbbells, either you're on the low end for needs or you're on the high end and need power for graphics/gaming, video editing, crunching numbers, etc. not many people really are in the middle

if you're on the low end, the two big things are storage space (enough for your needs) and RAM (browsers, multi-tasking bloat makes lots of RAM mandatory).

and for most systems both you can add DIY after purchase.... complexity/ability depends on brand and model.

The four computers in our home are getting the job done on older Intel NUC's. Very basic computing, PfSense router,TV server, wife's and mine. I have an advantage though using Linux.

 

[Rand]

Thanks for all the advice, I ordered this.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B9STQV3B?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1

If you wanted to spend $600 that's not the worse thing you could have bought for sure.

The 278$ model I linked has more powerful graphics and processor(mainly 6c vs 4c).. and half the price.

But yours is new, newer hardware, and more ram and ssd.(upgradeable)

 

[spasm3]

If you wanted to spend $600 that's not the worse thing you could have bought for sure.

The 278$ model I linked has more powerful graphics and processor(mainly 6c vs 4c).. and half the price.

But yours is new, newer hardware, and more ram and ssd.(upgradeable)

That model looked good, i was just wary of a refurbished unit.

 

[Rand]

That model looked good, i was just wary of a refurbished unit.

agree 100% I hope my reply wasnt taken negatively It needed a few smilies or something.
I might have been tempted to go another hundred or 2 for an i5 or i7 but for many tasks the 4c i3-14100 with strong single core performance would be similar.

For example my current rig with an i7-13700k is basically 0% to 300% faster usually closer to the 0% faster for basic tasks.

 

[spasm3]

agree 100% I hope my reply wasnt taken negatively It needed a few smilies or something.
I might have been tempted to go another hundred or 2 for an i5 or i7 but for many tasks the 4c i3-14100 with strong single core performance would be similar.

For example my current rig with an i7-13700k is basically 0% to 300% faster usually closer to the 0% faster for basic tasks.

Not taken negatively at all. I work a lot, hardly have time to even shop for this,( that may change soon!) just needed to get a unit up and running with little fuss.

I'm not that computer savvy.