Windows 11 Computer Recommendations

I have a 5+ year old HP All In One PC. The price was good, so that's why I bought an all in one. Needless to say, I like the idea of having all separate components (where the PC is separate from the monitor.) It's possible to make small upgrades in my current PC, but it would be a very involved task because it does not come apart easily. Do you guys have any recommendations for something a bit old school, thinking a tower, where the components are fairly upgradeable without the risk of breaking anything when it's taken apart? HP seems to be a pretty solid brand, but I'm not opposed to other options. I primarily use the PC for light gaming and basic tasks. I've been running with 8GB of ram, which is fine for what I use it for.

Take a look at Dell EBT2250. In their "Tower Plus" series.



It's a conventional tower, using the most recent Intel CPUs.

Available in various configurations, with several different processors, several different RAM and power supply levels; and drive capacities.

And with or without a video card.

I seriously considered it 3 months ago, but ended up building my own from scratch.

The EBT 2250 is available at Micro Center if you have one near you...or direct from Dell. Micro Center may sell them at below the Dell direct price.

I think prices begin around 900?? without a monitor of course.

loopypenguin92 said:

I have a 5+ year old HP All In One PC. The price was good, so that's why I bought an all in one. Needless to say, I like the idea of having all separate components (where the PC is separate from the monitor.) It's possible to make small upgrades in my current PC, but it would be a very involved task because it does not come apart easily. Do you guys have any recommendations for something a bit old school, thinking a tower, where the components are fairly upgradeable without the risk of breaking anything when it's taken apart? HP seems to be a pretty solid brand, but I'm not opposed to other options. I primarily use the PC for light gaming and basic tasks. I've been running with 8GB of ram, which is fine for what I use it for.

Click to expand...

What's your budget?

Unfortunately, the prices of RAM and SSDs have soared in recent months, enough to affect the prices of pre-builts significantly.

I despise prebuilds. They seem to be built with the lowest possible quality hardware. I have replaced prebuilds in my labs more than any other tool we have. Something always fails. Audio, video, BIOS, HDDs, the HDD interface, the M.2 socket. The list goes on...

I have instructed IT to no longer supply my department personnel with prebuilds. Just not worth it.

Catnip said:

I despise prebuilds. They seem to be built with the lowest possible quality hardware. I have replaced prebuilds in my labs more than any other tool we have. Something always fails. Audio, video, BIOS, HDDs, the HDD interface, the M.2 socket. The list goes on...

I have instructed IT to no longer supply my department personnel with prebuilds. Just not worth it.

Click to expand...

I've been out of the workforce for 10 years.

My last few employers tended to use Dell for desktops on 3 year leases.

Most of them didn't break over that time.

My first, and last, personal Dell was purchased in 1995. I handed it down to my nephew a couple of years later. Its PSU failed, and he told me that a local shop repaired it. What they actually did was to re-use the RAM and PCI (not PCI-E) GPU. Everything else, including the case, was replaced. (That Dell used a proprietary MB.)

My own desktops have been home assembled since 1997. Not every build went smoothly, but I won't go back to appliance PCs. Maybe our forthcoming AI overlords will require things to be done differently, if they don't exterminate us.

Fishmill said:

Take a look at Dell EBT2250. In their "Tower Plus" series.

Dell Tower Plus Desktop PC | Dell USA

Shop the Dell Tower Plus featuring powerful performance for creation, multi-tasking and gaming with expandability in an elegant design.

www.dell.com

Dell Tower Plus Desktop PC

Shop the Dell Tower Plus featuring powerful performance for creation, multi-tasking and gaming with expandability in an elegant design.

www.dell.com

It's a conventional tower, using the most recent Intel CPUs.

Available in various configurations, with several different processors, several different RAM and power supply levels; and drive capacities.

And with or without a video card.

I seriously considered it 3 months ago, but ended up building my own from scratch.

The EBT 2250 is available at Micro Center if you have one near you...or direct from Dell. Micro Center may sell them at below the Dell direct price.

I think prices begin around 900?? without a monitor of course.

Click to expand...

@Fishmill

I see the Slim builds use the Intel UHD graphics. Right now, i have Intel Iris Xe graphics. I was doing a bit of research, and it seems the UHDs might be a lower end graphic adapter (I know they're built in). Any advice on built in graphics?

bobkn said:

I've been out of the workforce for 10 years.

My last few employers tended to use Dell for desktops on 3 year leases.

Most of them didn't break over that time.

My first, and last, personal Dell was purchased in 1995. I handed it down to my nephew a couple of years later. Its PSU failed, and he told me that a local shop repaired it. What they actually did was to re-use the RAM and PCI (not PCI-E) GPU. Everything else, including the case, was replaced. (That Dell used a proprietary MB.)

My own desktops have been home assembled since 1997. Not every build went smoothly, but I won't go back to appliance PCs. Maybe our forthcoming AI overlords will require things to be done differently, if they don't exterminate us.

Click to expand...

I have been looking into a custom build, but seems like its probably a better bet price wise to buy parts on eBay or another outlet rather than brand new from the retailer.

loopypenguin92 said:

@Fishmill

I see the Slim builds use the Intel UHD graphics. Right now, i have Intel Iris Xe graphics. I was doing a bit of research, and it seems the UHDs might be a lower end graphic adapter (I know they're built in). Any advice on built in graphics?

Click to expand...

The built in graphics of the current generation of Intel desktop processors is a lot better than Iris Xe.

I don't know if your use pattern would find that advantageous. If you are satisfied with the graphics of your current all in one, you'd certainly be more than satisfied with the current built in graphics. That of course would apply to those desktops that might have AMD built in graphics as well.

Do you have any particular reason to prefer "slim" desktops? You might save an inch or inch and a half in width, but there are internal compromises I'd rather avoid. The EBT 2250 is standard width, not "slim". Dell does still have a slim line as I recall. Possibly "Optiplex"? I deliberately avoided them when I was considering a pre-built.

The prices of pre-builts have been less affected than "build your own" in the recent past. RAM and drives have gone way up in price in the last 8 months, but that has not entirely filtered down to pre-builts so far.

I'd guess a cheaper EBT 2250 would suit you fine....maybe the Core Ultra 225 processor, 16 GB of RAM; no video card, and a 1 TB NVME. Something like that. But I have NO idea what you mean by "light gaming" nor do I know your budget.

loopypenguin92 said:

I have been looking into a custom build, but seems like its probably a better bet price wise to buy parts on eBay or another outlet rather than brand new from the retailer.

Click to expand...

It may be OK to buy parts on eBay.

I bought a couple of GPUs from scalpers there during the Covid shortage. I looked for sellers with high satisfaction ratings, on multiple sales.

I thought that you might prefer an AMD APU, which is AMD's term for a CPU with a relatively powerful integrated GPU. But they appear to be almost unavailable at the moment. MS Copilot claims that the best Intel desktop iGPU is only available with the 285k, but that's a 600USD CPU.