Build me an Office PC

The_Ogre

The_Ogre

Honorary Master
Joined
Apr 30, 2010
Messages
27,868
Reaction score
10,998
Location
Cape Town
Work sent me a mail stating that my PC is EOL.

I can buy it for R100 (its already at home with me since lockdown v1).

The options they gave me are:
a) continue to use it
b) give them the specs for a new machine
c) should I fail to exercise my choice, they will order me a standard config.

I asked for a budget to which they replied that the standard config costs them R12k so I must work around that budget - obviously they are getting overcharged.So I want to get the most out of that money.

Usually its an i5 with 8GB of RAM - those were my previous two machines.

They basically just go to Mustek (current supplier) and ask for 50 office PC's.

So I need the specs of not only the machine, but all peripherals (including headset for meetings).

Go!
 
KleinBoontjie said:

Takealot.com: Online Shopping | SA's leading online store

South Africa's leading online store. Fast, reliable delivery to your door. Many ways to pay. Shop anything you can imagine: TVs, laptops, cellphones, kitchen appliances, toys, books, beauty & more. Shop the mobile app anytime, anywhere.
www.takealot.com www.takealot.com
Click to expand...
8GB RAM? Eish.

Remember the PC will come with one of those warranty seals and I won't be able to open it to add more RAM myself or change anything for that matter.
 
RAM, RAM, RAM... lots and lots of RAM. However much you think you need, double it. Makes a huge difference on my work laptop - currently have 20 GB dynamically allocated as disk cache in Linux.

Middle of the road i5 should be OK. Get an SSD as well, even if it's a 128GB for the OS, and you can add a magnetic disk for data storage. For headsets, I'm partial to Sennheiser, but the company will probably have a fit if you suggest that.

Still happy with your monitor(s), keyboard and mouse?
 
dj_jyno said:
RAM, RAM, RAM... lots and lots of RAM. However much you think you need, double it. Makes a huge difference on my work laptop - currently have 20 GB dynamically allocated as disk cache in Linux.

Middle of the road i5 should be OK. Get an SSD as well, even if it's a 128GB for the OS, and you can add a magnetic disk for data storage. For headsets, I'm partial to Sennheiser, but the company will probably have a fit if you suggest that.

Still happy with your monitor(s), keyboard and mouse?
Click to expand...

I was thinking of a 512GB NVMe drive. All my work data gets saved on my company enabled OneDrive and thats 5TB of storage. In fact even 256GB should be enough.

That way I can divert the extra cash towards another monitor.

I want to give the entire current PC to my eldest daughter as she chose CAT (Computer Application Technology or something like that) and I ser they will do Delphi as introductory language (grade 10) next year. So won't be able to keep the monitor, kb, mouse, etc.
 
Not an big fan of evetech, maybe look for similar somewhere else.
www.evetech.co.za

Intel Core i5 4590 3.7GHz GTX 980 Pro Gaming PC

Buy AMD RYZEN 5 5650G Workstation Power PC at a super low price. Evetech.co.za is your one source for the Ryzen Workstation PC deals In South Africa.
www.evetech.co.za www.evetech.co.za

All you would need with great onboard graphics, you would even be able to play most games on it without a graphics card.
Then you have 3k left for peripherals.
 
Jean Claude Vaaldamme said:
Not an big fan of evetech, maybe look for similar somewhere else.
www.evetech.co.za

Intel Core i5 4590 3.7GHz GTX 980 Pro Gaming PC

Buy AMD RYZEN 5 5650G Workstation Power PC at a super low price. Evetech.co.za is your one source for the Ryzen Workstation PC deals In South Africa.
www.evetech.co.za www.evetech.co.za

All you would need with great onboard graphics, you would even be able to play most games on it without a graphics card.
Then you have 3k left for peripherals.
Click to expand...
I think thats a decent deal, but as you say Evetech.

@Lupus @ponder off the top of my head, you okes seem to always be on top of current and latest hardware stuff.
 

Purchasing a Desktop PC

Guidance needed to purchase a desktop for work and sometimes fun... budget available R11K Must include: Wi-Fi Bluetooth Purpose Power Bi SQL Dev Office 365 Tableau DELL is currently not an option Thanks All!
mybroadband.co.za mybroadband.co.za
Could look at that one I recommended there for just over 11k. By peripherals you don't mean monitor right?
I got a similar headset last year cause of meetings.
https://www.takealot.com/foxxray-bal-57-boom-gaming-headset/PLID72201303
Works and not to bad for extended time.
With that headset after my Redragon keyboard died I thought let me give them a try with this mechanical

Takealot.com: Online Shopping | SA's leading online store

South Africa's leading online store. Fast, reliable delivery to your door. Many ways to pay. Shop anything you can imagine: TVs, laptops, cellphones, kitchen appliances, toys, books, beauty & more. Shop the mobile app anytime, anywhere.
www.takealot.com www.takealot.com
Besides not being RGB it actually works nicely.
The new 12th gen intels are really expensive.
 
Last edited:
The_Ogre said:
I think thats a decent deal, but as you say Evetech.

@Lupus @ponder off the top of my head, you okes seem to always be on top of current and latest hardware stuff.
Click to expand...

On phone right now but two things stand out, slow ram & 400w PSU. If you're not gonna add a GPU the PSU would be fine, the slow ram is an issue if you want to rely on the onboard gfx for gaming, for plain office tasks it will be ok though.

If I remember I'll check what comparable systems cost elsewhere.
 
Lupus said:

Purchasing a Desktop PC

Guidance needed to purchase a desktop for work and sometimes fun... budget available R11K Must include: Wi-Fi Bluetooth Purpose Power Bi SQL Dev Office 365 Tableau DELL is currently not an option Thanks All!
mybroadband.co.za mybroadband.co.za
Could look at that one I recommended there for just over 11k. By peripherals you don't mean monitor right?
I got a similar headset last year cause of meetings.
https://www.takealot.com/foxxray-bal-57-boom-gaming-headset/PLID72201303
Works and not to bad for extended time.
With that headset after my Redragon keyboard died I thought let me give them a try with this mechanical

Takealot.com: Online Shopping | SA's leading online store

South Africa's leading online store. Fast, reliable delivery to your door. Many ways to pay. Shop anything you can imagine: TVs, laptops, cellphones, kitchen appliances, toys, books, beauty & more. Shop the mobile app anytime, anywhere.
www.takealot.com www.takealot.com
Besides not being RGB it actually works nicely.
The new 12th gen intels are really expensive.
Click to expand...
I actually need a monitor as well. Two if I can help it, but I can arrange for an extra one from the office since loads of people do not buy their old PC's so it's just standing in the office. It's quite funny that we assume all employees are tech junkies. Most of the (mostly) ladies in HR for example, will just tell work to come fetch their old PC's when they bring the new ones.
 
This adds up too 11.5k, and we all know wootwares great service and after service.

You just need a headset extra, grab windows key from BOB.




Opera Snapshot_2021-12-17_191938_www.wootware.co.za.png
 
Last edited:
The_Ogre said:
I actually need a monitor as well. Two if I can help it, but I can arrange for an extra one from the office since loads of people do not buy their old PC's so it's just standing in the office. It's quite funny that we assume all employees are tech junkies. Most of the (mostly) ladies in HR for example, will just tell work to come fetch their old PC's when they bring the new ones.
Click to expand...
Why can't you use your existing monitor?
 
Lupus said:
Why can't you use your existing monitor?
Click to expand...
I want to give the complete PC to the kid.


Edit: my laptop is faster so I prefer to use that currently with the monitor attached.
 
Last edited:
The_Ogre said:
8GB RAM? Eish.

Remember the PC will come with one of those warranty seals and I won't be able to open it to add more RAM myself or change anything for that matter.
Click to expand...

The day a warranty seal stops a ram upgrade is the day you never use that manufacturer ever again.

I don’t understand this bizarre notion of IT giving you a budget instead of giving you options machines.

The very reason they buy from one supplier is warranties and support.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X