On Sun, 6 Nov 2022 17:44:58 +0000 "Kleene, Steven (kleenesj)" <kleen...@ucmail.uc.edu> wrote:
> Here's a more remedial question. I haven't bought a desktop in 16 > years. To have a custom desktop built with some of the options I've > seen recommended here, where would you go? Would you patronize a > local shop, or is there an online store that is good at discussing > and implementing customizations? I am not an expert when it comes to > hardware. > I'm a software guy, not a hardware guy. I built a few PCs back in the 90s and early 2000s, but things have changed a lot. I recently decided to build my own box without any advice. I used https://pcpartpicker.com/ to good effect. It tends to know what parts go together, and they show you who has the best price on parts you select, often Amazon. To save money, I'd go with older parts, like 9th or 10th generation Intel CPUs, DDR4 or DDR5 memory, etc. If you go Intel, don't use the coolers their CPUs come with. They're crap, IMO. It gets tricky when you have to select a motherboard, since each manufacturer has a range, and they're specialized for different use cases. The other advantage of older generation hardware is that it's more likely to work with Linux. Unless you're doing intense gaming or video rendering, you won't notice a performance difference. Also, building it yourself will save you $300 to $1000. I've found local PC builders don't do Linux machines. And the ones you can get from online builders are expensive. Also, beware of older, used machines you can get on E-Bay. HP, Dell and Lenovo like to use custom parts which are hard to replace. My last Lenovo ThinkCenter M800 had a power supply in it whose motherboard power connector was non-standard (meaning the motherboard power connector was non-standard as well). Anyway... Paul -- Paul M. Foster Personal Blog: http://noferblatz.com Company Site: http://quillandmouse.com Software Projects: https://gitlab.com/paulmfoster
