Mini PCs refurbished worth it?

Jackal65

Jackal65

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I am looking into Pi computers or mini X86 PCs. Don't really care about if it is a i3 or i5 or what gen it is. It will exist to function as a firewall. Currently looking into this

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I bought a refurbished pc in November and I'm pretty happy with it
 
Jackal46 said:
I am looking into Pi computers or mini X86 PCs. Don't really care about if it is a i3 or i5 or what gen it is. It will exist to function as a firewall. Currently looking into this

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That's not an i3 or i5, that's a Raspberry Pi 5 in an alu box.
There used to be a forum member here- Rouxenator, he sold some good kit. Pity he's gone.
 
PaulGherkin said:
That's not an i3 or i5, that's a Raspberry Pi 5 in an alu box.
There used to be a forum member here- Rouxenator, he sold some good kit. Pity he's gone.
Click to expand...
I want a dedicated firewall and the Pi 5 looks good but I still feel anything i3 or i5 micro PC will be better. I will be looking for the new APU from AMD and take it from there. I spoke to the wife and kids and we are in agreement that it might be time to kiss gaming goodbye because electricity is due to get an increase in March and honestly 5 of us each with our own computer it adds up.

I was hoping that the PS4s would lower the power bill and it did but not by much. I am thinking android handhelds for each of us. ANBERNIC RG-556 Unisoc T820 8-Core.

I am looking at about R20k total. But if I sell the PS4 and PS5 and gaming computers I might go for it. I have not decided yet. Even with solar I can't handle all those PCs and gaming stuff anymore.
 
I bought a 2nd hand i3 6th gen mini PC on BOBSHop a few months ago for just R1382 and all I did was replace the HDD with a SDD and upped the 4gb RAM to 12gb RAM and this PC flies on Windows 10 day to day tasks and even a few old school games off Steam.

Just check the sellers ratings to be safe

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eye_suc said:
What games are you planning to play on the RG556's?
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I want to get one first and see if there was any games we would like and if it is worth it buy more of them. I really don't know mobile games all that well but I am told some of them are really good. Do you have one? Is it any good?
 
UB40 said:
I bought a 2nd hand i3 6th gen mini PC on BOBSHop a few months ago for just R1382 and all I did was replace the HDD with a SDD and upped the 4gb RAM to 12gb RAM and this PC flies on Windows 10 day to day tasks and even a few old school games off Steam.

Just check the sellers ratings to be safe

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This is not bad at all :thumbsup:
 
Jackal46 said:
I want a dedicated firewall and the Pi 5 looks good but I still feel anything i3 or i5 micro PC will be better. I will be looking for the new APU from AMD and take it from there. I spoke to the wife and kids and we are in agreement that it might be time to kiss gaming goodbye because electricity is due to get an increase in March and honestly 5 of us each with our own computer it adds up.

I was hoping that the PS4s would lower the power bill and it did but not by much. I am thinking android handhelds for each of us. ANBERNIC RG-556 Unisoc T820 8-Core.

I am looking at about R20k total. But if I sell the PS4 and PS5 and gaming computers I might go for it. I have not decided yet. Even with solar I can't handle all those PCs and gaming stuff anymore.
Click to expand...
You are aware of the pc handhelds? Those barely use any power
 
eye_suc said:
I do not have one of those, no. I have some of the cheaper Anbernics (H700 based). My interest in them was purely for retro consoles.

The 556 should do very well with emulation, but not sure what type of modern gaming you can do on it. All the videos I watched reviewing the device mostly focuses on the emulation side of things and then they just mention it can play Android games too. Would love to know what you end up playing on it. The mobile aspect might already be worth the risk.
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It is not a decision I want to make lightly and is why I don't just want to rob my kids from cool games and their computers. But hell power is expensive when it comes to maintaining them. We spoke about regulating hours but that is unfair I mean if I was a kid I wouldn't like it so I don't expect mine to just stop playing because 2 hours past. That is unfair.

Solar does not offer the the solution I was hoping for. Yes it can generate a lot of power but it also brings a lot of problems to a house like my own. On top of that I don't know what Eskom is dreaming up but we can be sure Eskom will only act in with self interest. Eskom has shown they are more then willing to destroy our economy to keep their corruption alive.

I don't like this I feel powerless because Solar is a R100k investment excluding Eskom's future plans. That is a big chunk of money to lose just because. I will look into it maybe next month I just need to see what school is going to cost this year.
 
Jackal46 said:
It is not a decision I want to make lightly and is why I don't just want to rob my kids from cool games and their computers. But hell power is expensive when it comes to maintaining them. We spoke about regulating hours but that is unfair I mean if I was a kid I wouldn't like it so I don't expect mine to just stop playing because 2 hours past. That is unfair.

Solar does not offer the the solution I was hoping for. Yes it can generate a lot of power but it also brings a lot of problems to a house like my own. On top of that I don't know what Eskom is dreaming up but we can be sure Eskom will only act in with self interest. Eskom has shown they are more then willing to destroy our economy to keep their corruption alive.

I don't like this I feel powerless because Solar is a R100k investment excluding Eskom's future plans. That is a big chunk of money to lose just because. I will look into it maybe next month I just need to see what school is going to cost this year.
Click to expand...

Whatever eskom does it will affect everyone and the electricity price will still be high. They make it out as if its only a solar issue but its not.

I would go the solar route and get an 8kw or 12kw inverter, one battery and 9 x 600w PV panels. The banks offer decent loans for solar now. Just do it smartly and you will already get away cheaper than paying eskom.

Then only hook up the plugs that are heavy daytime users and your gaming room. Then have a rule that when the battery is flat the gaming is over.

This will let you upgrade over next few years and work down the eskom bill as their prices keep going up.
 
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