Desktop Deals Master Thread

[DaasTora]

-HP doesn't sell an Envy desktop with an i9 that I have seen. I wonder if CUK accounted for this in the power supply? Or the cooling? I hope the processor doesn't throttle.
-There's SSDs and SSDs. CUK does not reveal what you are getting - not the brand, not the speed. It may be a random Chinese brand with SATA performance. It may not. But they don't say.
-Same comment goes for the RAM, which I note is DDR4, already a warning sign. (The HP I mention above has DDR5 like any high-end desktop should.)

[mevinyavin]

With a name like Computer Upgrade King, what do you expect?

[Hirshthg]

Here's my two cents (agurot):
Cost of a 13th gen i9 direct from HP (includes a mid-range graphic card which the above lacks, 16GB RAM and TB SSD): $1200. (Might be similar specs cheaper somewhere else - I'm not in the desktop market so much.) Cost of 4TB SSD: $200. Cost of 64GB of RAM: $90, maybe.
HOWEVER, a number of points should give you pause:
-HP doesn't sell an Envy desktop with an i9 that I have seen. I wonder if CUK accounted for this in the power supply? Or the cooling? I hope the processor doesn't throttle.
-There's SSDs and SSDs. CUK does not reveal what you are getting - not the brand, not the speed. It may be a random Chinese brand with SATA performance. It may not. But they don't say.
-Same comment goes for the RAM, which I note is DDR4, already a warning sign. (The HP I mention above has DDR5 like any high-end desktop should.)

One last thing: what do you need an i9 for, anyway? If you tell me what you are doing with the computer, maybe I can advise you as to what specs you need.

Hope this is helpful. Have a great day!

Part of our work is downloading, uploading and viewing (not editing) large video files. I am also looking for efficiency, fast updates and little downtime for installation. Ok with a bit of overkill.

What am I missing with the DDR4?

As for the reviews, overall they seem ok to me.

[Chuchum Ainer]

100 of the 1 star reviews are "This item was fulfilled by Amazon, and we take responsibility for this fulfillment experience."

Mostly shipping issues. I am not in a rush.

Are the specs decent for the price?

Those reviews are clearly issues with the seller, just the seller shifted the blame to amazon, to help skew their ratings. It's a common trick.
For example:
"Well got the card in today and sadly the fan is broken on it packaging was horrible was not in original box no pading to protect card only non conductive sleeve so sad will never buy again" Thats the packaging the seller put on it, not the amazon shipping box.

"the 3080 was not new as described very frustrated and disappointed everything in your listing said new idk what else to say that's a lot of money for me to see the disappointment as i open the box"

"This listing is considered "new" by amazon under the filter. I received the GPU with scratches on the back plate and a bent cooler fin. This is not new and it came in a cardboard box. I am sending this back and buying one directly from Amazon on the same listing hoping that they live up to expectations."

"They are running a scam. This order was cancelled, but sent anyway. Received a used looking laptop--not new! I had to pay to return the laptop using the label Amazon issued me to only have it sent back to me. Amazon will not issue me a refund for this unauthorized transaction. They stole my $866.70. This is a SCAM, SCAM, SCAM!!!!!"

These were all crossed out with the message "This item was fulfilled by Amazon, and we take responsibility for this fulfillment experience."

[Chuchum Ainer]

As for the reviews, overall they seem ok to me.

"68% positive in the last 12 months (753 ratings)"
That's not ok

[DaasTora]

Those reviews are clearly issues with the seller, just the seller shifted the blame to amazon, to help skew their ratings. It's a common trick.
For example:
"Well got the card in today and sadly the fan is broken on it packaging was horrible was not in original box no pading to protect card only non conductive sleeve so sad will never buy again" Thats the packaging the seller put on it, not the amazon shipping box.

"the 3080 was not new as described very frustrated and disappointed everything in your listing said new idk what else to say that's a lot of money for me to see the disappointment as i open the box"

"This listing is considered "new" by amazon under the filter. I received the GPU with scratches on the back plate and a bent cooler fin. This is not new and it came in a cardboard box. I am sending this back and buying one directly from Amazon on the same listing hoping that they live up to expectations."

"They are running a scam. This order was cancelled, but sent anyway. Received a used looking laptop--not new! I had to pay to return the laptop using the label Amazon issued me to only have it sent back to me. Amazon will not issue me a refund for this unauthorized transaction. They stole my $866.70. This is a SCAM, SCAM, SCAM!!!!!"

These were all crossed out with the message "This item was fulfilled by Amazon, and we take responsibility for this fulfillment experience."

"68% positive in the last 12 months (753 ratings)"
That's not ok

+1

[mevinyavin]

Part of our work is downloading, uploading and viewing (not editing) large video files. I am also looking for efficiency, fast updates and little downtime for installation. Ok with a bit of overkill.

What am I missing with the DDR4?

As for the reviews, overall they seem ok to me.

I agree with what has been said about the seller by @Chuchum Ainer and @DaasTora (insert whatever corny joke you like here). I remember what it was like before resellers plagued places like Amazon, Newegg and Walmart with scams and inaccurate listings. It is sellers like CUK (which was one of the first, agav) that are why I filter out any other sellers except Amazon, particularly for marking upgraded computers as new.
(At the time, I advocated for a new filter setting called "Upgraded" but no one listened to me, not the companies themselves and not the computer magazines I wrote to. In any case, without anyone enforcing accuracy with the filters, having a different filter setting would be useless. )
DDR4 is one example (and the only explicit one) of using a lower spec than is possible to use. I was not saying that DDR4 is not good enough - I was pointing out that most 13th gen i9 systems come with DDR5, but this seller chose to use the cheaper DDR4 (because this computer likely didn't come with an i9 originally). To be explicitly clear: I do not trust this seller to upgrade this computer with parts that are worth the price they are asking. On the contrary: I suspect them of using subpar parts. And this suspicion is based on my experience and not merely on my cynical nature (though I am quite cynical).

On to your usage:
What you describe requires a fast internet connection and maybe a bit more RAM (=16GB). A fast SSD (which this computer might not have) will help if the videos are 4K. An SSD that is large enough to store whatever videos you need at any given time (average 4K video takes up 25GB an hour, so you do the math). A fairly modern i3 (12th gen+) or Ryzen equivalent (5000 series +), not more, not even for future proofing, though I understand if you want to get i5-level (that qualifies as a lot of overkill IMHO). But the internet connection is probably the most important and has nothing to do with the computer's specs (barring the advantage of a hardwired connection and not over wifi).

[E.c]

Hi, hoping someone can guide me on which desktops to look at. Plan on using 3/4 screens and running a lot of tabs. Don't really need anything else, just something that can handle that and will last. Are these any good?
https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/compare?ocs=useishbts3030gssc,useishbts3030gvrm,useithbts3020fyzq

[Moshe Green]

Hi, hoping someone can guide me on which desktops to look at. Plan on using 3/4 screens and running a lot of tabs. Don't really need anything else, just something that can handle that and will last. Are these any good?
https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/compare?ocs=useishbts3030gssc,useishbts3030gvrm,useithbts3020fyzq

Look for a graphics card that can handle 4 screens and lots of ram 32 or 64. the processer is not so important.

[mevinyavin]

Very cheap for a 4060 model, though slightly off-brand (ie off-brand with good reputation) - $700. Also compromising on the processor but not by much.
Skytech Gaming Nebula Gaming PC Desktop – Intel Core i5 13400F 2.5 GHz, NVIDIA RTX 4060, 1TB NVME SSD, 16GB DDR4 RAM 3200, 600W Gold PSU, 11AC Wi-Fi, Windows 11 Home 64-bit,Black ($569.99 )

[jack]

Anyone have experience with this mini desktop posted on ms
15% Off Prime Day Deal: GEEKOM Mini PC Mini IT13, 13th Gen Intel i9-13900H, For $721
Versus dells micro form?

[Darth1]

Anyone have experience with this mini desktop posted on ms
15% Off Prime Day Deal: GEEKOM Mini PC Mini IT13, 13th Gen Intel i9-13900H, For $721
Versus dells micro form?

https://www.dansdeals.com/shopping-deals/amazon/15-off-geekom-a7-mini-pc-amd-ryzen-r9-7940hs-radeon-780m-32gb-ddr5-2tb-pcie-gen4-ssd-plus-3-year-warranty-just-679-shipped-amazon/

Now I know that this is a sponsored post, and I didn't want to mess with your revenue by posting there, but in case anyone cares, this is more or less regular price for those specs in a Chinese-brand mini computer. I have on record from November last year for $500 with the only change being the SSD was only 512GB (2TB then costed $90, now $105). I BELIEVE it was this model:
MINISFORUM Venus UM790 Pro Mini PC AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS up to 5.2 GHz 32 GB DDR5 512GB SSD with AMD Radeon 780M, 4X USB3.2, 2X USB4, 2xHDMI 2.1, 2X PCIe4.0, Wi-Fi 6E/BT5.3, RJ45 2.5 G ($199.00 )



But that doesn't make it a bad price - just not a chiddush, is all.

Look at the conversation that followed the post I quoted.

[mevinyavin]

Anyone have experience with this mini desktop posted on ms
15% Off Prime Day Deal: GEEKOM Mini PC Mini IT13, 13th Gen Intel i9-13900H, For $721
Versus dells micro form?

The first question is whether your use-case needs an i9 at all (much less a laptop i9), and if so, if the form-factor will eliminate any hardware advantage to one. Then we can talk about brand and price.

[jack]

Online drafting- sketchup and cad files . Lots of videos but not editing. Large photos and house plans
Along with regular office computing.
The other guy has a dell micro that’s super quiet and small but he doesn’t do any drafting. Till now had a huge hp obelisk 875 - huge noisy and wasn’t impressed with speed at all

[mevinyavin]

Lots of videos but not editing. Large photos and house plans

=16GB RAM

Online drafting- sketchup and cad files .

This I need some clarification on. Sketchup has different requirements for the online version versus the native version. IF you want to save money (lav davka), you could go easier on specs if you know for a fact that your file sizes are small, because the range from regular files to industrial size files is huge. Although it is not guaranteed that you would be wasting your money even for smaller files. I'm not a user so my info is only based on what I read from users.
So: are you using online versions or running off the system? Is your file type exclusively small or do you deal with large projects?

[David61]

Looking at these two from Costco (they offer free 2 year warranty). Very similar specs i5-14400 processer 16gb DDR5, 1TB SSD.
Are they a decent deal?
Is a Dell brand ($699, has optical driver) worth $200 over the Acer ($499 after current discount)?

https://www.costco.com/dell-inspiron-desktop-14th-gen-intel-core-i5-14400-windows-11.product.4000261738.html     

https://www.costco.com/acer-aspire-desktop-%e2%80%93-14th-gen-intel-core-i5-14400-%e2%80%93-windows-11.product.4000247987.html

Thanks!

[mevinyavin]

Looking at these two from Costco (they offer free 2 year warranty). Very similar specs i5-14400 processer 16gb DDR5, 1TB SSD.
Are they a decent deal?
Is a Dell brand ($699, has optical driver) worth $200 over the Acer ($499 after current discount)?

https://www.costco.com/dell-inspiron-desktop-14th-gen-intel-core-i5-14400-windows-11.product.4000261738.html     

https://www.costco.com/acer-aspire-desktop-%e2%80%93-14th-gen-intel-core-i5-14400-%e2%80%93-windows-11.product.4000247987.html

Thanks!

Brand? Never. There are different products lines and physical sizes (these still look about the same), ports, support for wifi, that type of thing. If the ports on the cheaper fit your needs, go with that. $500 looks about right for those specs anyway. You may even be able to do better though not with Costco's warranty.

[David61]

Brand? Never. There are different products lines and physical sizes (these still look about the same), ports, support for wifi, that type of thing. If the ports on the cheaper fit your needs, go with that. $500 looks about right for those specs anyway. You may even be able to do better though not with Costco's warranty.

I think you are saying the Dell brand has no value over Acer.
Kindly excuse my ignorance but the only difference I'm seeing (in the specs pages --the compare function doesn't seem to include all the port details on the Acer) is (1) the lack of an optical drive (2) the lack of an SD card reader and (3) 6 vs 7 USB ports, in the Acer. Did I miss something?
If there is something else you would recommend in this $500-$700 range that's a better value, I would greatly appreciate that.
(I want the full size desktop to be able to add in additional items over time, if needed).

[mevinyavin]

I think you are saying the Dell brand has no value over Acer.
Kindly excuse my ignorance but the only difference I'm seeing (in the specs pages --the compare function doesn't seem to include all the port details on the Acer) is (1) the lack of an optical drive (2) the lack of an SD card reader and (3) 6 vs 7 USB ports, in the Acer. Did I miss something?

The quick look I took earlier - I came to the same conclusion.

(I want the full size desktop to be able to add in additional items over time, if needed).

This is often a problem because they cheap out on parts with manufacturing on that scale. Unless you've seen a reviewer look inside the particular model you are looking at, you may discover that there is nowhere inside to add anything except a drive or two. Only exception is when your order from brands like CyberPowerPC when they tell you exactly what is inside the system (ie the motherboard model, the power supply).

If there is something else you would recommend in this $500-$700 range that's a better value, I would greatly appreciate that.

For basic office work you can spend less, especially if you are willing to upgrade the RAM yourself. For the type of spec listed above, you can often find for less money. If you want more than basic office work, you'll have to say so if you want a spec recommendation.

[David61]

Looking at these two from Costco (they offer free 2 year warranty). Very similar specs i5-14400 processer 16gb DDR5, 1TB SSD.
Are they a decent deal?
Is a Dell brand ($699, has optical driver) worth $200 over the Acer ($499 after current discount)?

https://www.costco.com/dell-inspiron-desktop-14th-gen-intel-core-i5-14400-windows-11.product.4000261738.html     

https://www.costco.com/acer-aspire-desktop-%e2%80%93-14th-gen-intel-core-i5-14400-%e2%80%93-windows-11.product.4000247987.html

Thanks!

https://www.costco.com/dell-inspiron-desktop---14th-gen-intel-core-i5-14400---windows-11.product.4000261738.html?

This  dell is now on sale for $150 off, at $549.99.