Guard Dad - Your opinion please...

The Sound Guy

Pursuit Driver
Found this refurbished PC, looks like a lot of power and expandability, what do you think?

HP EliteDesk 800 G1 MT Desktop PC - Intel Core i7-4790 Quad-Core 3.6GHz CPU, 8GB DDR3, 500GB HDD, 4x USB 3.0, DVDRW, DisplayPort, Windows 10 Pro 64-bit, 1 Year Warranty, Refurbished - PC2-0950 $399.95

TigerDirect
 
Not bad, but I don't think it's a great deal either. Previous generation of I7, only a 500 gig hard drive, smallish power supply. If it was mine, I'd put a small SSD in for the OS, and a larger hard drive. I'd also add another 8 gig of RAM. If you start adding much in the way of drives or video cards, you'll load that power supply up. I would also see if you can find this model on Amazon to check the ratings. Personally; I don't care for the case design on these.

Also look here https://www.amazon.com/s/s/ref=sr_nr_p_n_feature_four_bro_2?fst=as:eek:ff&rh=n:172282,k:Refurbished+desktops,p_n_feature_four_browse-bin:2289792011&keywords=Refurbished+desktops&ie=UTF8&qid=1512680527&rnid=676578011

Woot usually has some good deals on refurbs, but slim pickings at the moment.

If you want to consider building one, I can tell you how to still get Windows 10 for free through the end of the year.


I'd also get @cptlo, @MacDaddy , and @rolltidega to weigh in, as they know more than I do.
 
Last edited:
@The Sound Guy, what do you plan on using it for? Basic computing (word processing, internet, etc.) or heavy gaming? Do you plan to expand it in the future with a more powerful video card?

Overall, it's a decent deal for what looks to be a pretty good computer. At a minimum I'd get an SSD (I'd just go with a 500GB one and forget about the regular HDD if you don't need the additional space). And I agree with @Guard Dad on upgrading the RAM to 16GB. With a 500GB SSD and additional 8GB of RAM you're looking at adding another $200 or so to the price but it would be a pretty fast computer at that point.
 
@The Sound Guy, what do you plan on using it for? Basic computing (word processing, internet, etc.) or heavy gaming? Do you plan to expand it in the future with a more powerful video card?

Overall, it's a decent deal for what looks to be a pretty good computer. At a minimum I'd get an SSD (I'd just go with a 500GB one and forget about the regular HDD if you don't need the additional space). And I agree with @Guard Dad on upgrading the RAM to 16GB. With a 500GB SSD and additional 8GB of RAM you're looking at adding another $200 or so to the price but it would be a pretty fast computer at that point.
Nerd!
 
Mainly looking for something to replace my general use PC, the one i'm using now is a very old dual core AMD machine with 4 gig of RAM right now. No gaming or anything, I'm just tired of waiting for applications to launch. :)

I'm figuring that I can add ram and drive space, upgrading a processor is much more difficult. They have a i5 version of the machine with 16 gig of RAM and 2 TB drive that is $50 cheaper. I5 passmart rating is around 7000, i7 rating is 9999 so it seem to be a good sized different in performance, but I'm not sure it's worth giving up all the ram and drive space.

I hope to add a blu-ray drive and do some fairly heavy duty video compression, that's where the processor speed should really help.

I'm totally out of sync with PCs right now (as the age of my current PC shows) so just hoping to get some info to make a good choice. I appreciate the comments!
 
Yeah if you want heavy duty video compression, a faster processor is a necessity, and the more cores the better.
 
Either I5 or I7 is a great processor. The newer AMD's are very capable as well. I built a machine with an AMD FX series processor running 8 cores at 4.3 ghz. It's crazy fast! I also built s smaller machine using an AMD A6 dual core, but I have it overclocked at 4.5ghz and it's very quick as well. The newest AMD is the Rysen, and it's quite impressive.
 
That one should have the power if you add another 8 gig of RAM. I7s are fast. Windows 10 Pro really needs a minimum of 6-8 gig of RAM, but multi-tasking or doing heady duty tasks will need more to keep it from going into virtual memory.

Something else I would do is to look at the cpu cooler and the number of fans in the case. Most of the "store bought" computers do not cool to my satisfaction. I improved an HP I had by adding a fan in the front to give it a push/pull effect. That's especially important if you add a fancier video card. If there's room, you might can put an aftermarket cpu cooler in it too.

But be careful if you do add a fancy video card. Those things really suck the power, so you might need to upgrade the power supply.


Woot has a bunch listed today. https://www.woot.com/category/compu...Bestselling&ref=w_cnt_lnd_cat_pc_3_page_first

This one is more money but it's a beast!! And it's a true business class machine; I've found that they are far more durable machines than their consumer grade computers. And this is a mid-tower case, so more room for additional cards, big fans, etc. Loads of USB ports.
https://computers.woot.com/offers/hp-z240-tower-i7-6700-workstation-2?ref=w_cnt_lnd_cat_pc_3_51
 
Thanks, wow, they added those this afternoon, there were only 2 computers listed this morning.

Title says 256 SSD, specs say 1TB drive, I've asked which is right, a little more than I wanted to spend, but a beast of a machine. 11111 processor rating!
 
It does have an SSD. Also, the storm may have made up my mind for me, the machine that this would replace had the fans come up after power was restored, but no motherboard power. After a power down, now nothing is coming up.

This is the second power supply in this box, (I built it years ago) I'm thinking this is a sign. :)
 
It does have an SSD. Also, the storm may have made up my mind for me, the machine that this would replace had the fans come up after power was restored, but no motherboard power. After a power down, now nothing is coming up.

This is the second power supply in this box, (I built it years ago) I'm thinking this is a sign. :)
<~do it~>
 
Well, confirmed that the power supply took out the motherboard when it expired. I was able to mount the drive in my PLEX server and after some fights with windows about permissions, have been able to access my data. (Gotta do better backups!)

At least gives me a stop gap until I can find another deal like GD pointed out above. That would have been great. Curse you snow storm!!
 
Well, confirmed that the power supply took out the motherboard when it expired. I was able to mount the drive in my PLEX server and after some fights with windows about permissions, have been able to access my data. (Gotta do better backups!)

At least gives me a stop gap until I can find another deal like GD pointed out above. That would have been great. Curse you snow storm!!

Keep checking Woot, they are due any day to get a new batch in.

https://www.woot.com/category/computers/desktops?ref=w_cnt_cdet_pc_3

Also consider XEON processors; they are kinda the business class equivalent to an I7. Very fast!

The higher end AMDs are worth considering too. A10, A12, FX. Their newest is the Ryzen, but you'll pay for them because they're hot.
 
Back
Top