Office work pc suggestions!

[Finally Reformed]

Budget (including currency):As little as possible but still not affect my work.

Country: Greece

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Microsoft office 365

Other details All I ask from this pc is to be able to run programs like word-excel-PowerPoint-read pdfs etc. AND be able to do a keyword search through TB of storage fast (im gonna be doing lots of that). Ohh and some fast usb ports would be lovely.

I was thinking of buying a used prebuild and upgrading it a bit. So here are some options I found.

OPTIONS 1: Dell optiplex 3020 at 55€:

CPU:intel i5-4570 

RAM: 8gb of DDR3

Storage: Hdd 500gb

IOS: windows 10.   ++ the upgrade cost of the hdd with ssd 3 sata. +30€ for a monitor.

OPTION 2: Dell inspiron 3650 with a basic monitor at 120€:

CPU: i5-6400 

RAM: 8gb of DDR3

Storage: not listed (I will assume HDD) so ++ the upgrade cost of the hdd with ssd 3 sata.

IOS: windows 10

OPTION 3: Dell Inspiron 3891 330€:

CPU: I5-10400

RAM: 16gb of DDR4

Storage: 1TB NVMe SSD

GPU: GTX 1650 Super 

IOS: windows 11

+30€ for a monitor

BUT Im thinking of selling the gpu and getting back like  90€ bringing the cost down.

OPTION 4: Custom build pc 250€

CPU: I3 10th gen (hopefully not an F)

RAM: 16gb of DDR4

GPU: GTX 1650 Super 

Storage: 1TB NVMe SSD

IOS: windows 11

same story with option 3 but the seller is currently ghosting me...

 

OPTION 3 PIC.

 

So which one of the 4 options do you suggest?

Should I look out for any other used OEMs for a better value?

Any other suggestions? 

Thank you very much for your time.

[Sawa Takahashi]

Option 4 would be my suggestion if it wasn't for the seller ghosting you. Buying a PC is important business and if the seller isn't serious about it, why not dump him first ?

Option 3 is probably the best. Even if pre-built are not the best for upgradability, that one has a i5 and you plan to sell the GPU to bring the cost further down. This is the best value for the price.

 

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

19 minutes ago, Finally Reformed said:

OPTION 3: Dell Inspiron 3891 330€:

CPU: I5-10400

RAM: 16gb of DDR4

Storage: 1TB NVMe SSD

GPU: GTX 1650 Super 

IOS: windows 11

+30€ for a monitor

BUT Im thinking of selling the gpu and getting back like  90€ bringing the cost down.

OPTION 4: Custom build pc 250€

CPU: I3 10th gen (hopefully not an F)

RAM: 16gb of DDR4

GPU: GTX 1650 Super 

Storage: 1TB NVMe SSD

IOS: windows 11

same story with option 3 but the seller is currently ghosting me...

 

OPTION 3 PIC.

 

So which one of the 4 options do you suggest?

Should I look out for any other used OEMs for a better value?

Any other suggestions? 

Thank you very much for your time.

Ruling options 1 and 2 out as those don't officially support Windows 11 which will be important as a work machine. Yes you can shoehorn Windows 11 on those older devices but there's no guarantee something will break so better not risk it when you're relying on this thing to make a living. 

 

Option 3 would be the most reliable since office machines rarely die and is for sure not a F part so there's onboard graphics. Option 4 is the most cost-effective but of course doesn't mean anything if the seller is ghosting you. 

[Finally Reformed]

50 minutes ago, BlueChinchillaEatingDorito said:

Ruling options 1 and 2 out as those don't officially support Windows 11 which will be important as a work machine. Yes you can shoehorn Windows 11 on those older devices but there's no guarantee something will break so better not risk it when you're relying on this thing to make a living.

Are windows 11 that important tho? The pc will be used strictly offline so I wont be getting any windows 11 updates anyways (after the 1st set up at least).

[brob]

Definitely Option 3. Search rate will be a function of CPU speed, storage bandwidth, and amount & speed of RAM. It's no contest. Option 3 has NVMe storage (at least 4 x faster than SATA III), up to twice the memory, and a significantly better performing CPU (4.3 GHz v 3.3 GHz, 12 threads vs 4).

 

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

28 minutes ago, Finally Reformed said:

Are windows 11 that important tho? The pc will be used strictly offline so I wont be getting any windows 11 updates anyways (after the 1st set up at least).

For a machine that's going to be used exclusively for Microsoft Office and PDF work, I wouldn't rule it out. 

 

For a dedicated machine that's controlling industrial equipment, sure. But for a general-purpose work machine, it's rare for it to not be connected to the internet at some point. You would also want updates for Office since threats can be embedded in documents.

[Finally Reformed]

24 minutes ago, BlueChinchillaEatingDorito said:

 

I see your point. Would it be possible to have the files on a different drive than the IOS and just pop it out, do the updates, pop it back in and continue my work offline? Or it would be completely pointless security wise since it will be online even for a bit? 

[brob]

9 minutes ago, Finally Reformed said:

I see your point. Would it be possible to have the files on a different drive than the IOS and just pop it out, do the updates, pop it back in and continue my work offline? Or it would be completely pointless security wise since it will be online even for a bit? 

 

Are you dealing with very sensitive data or just worried about the usual threats?

[Finally Reformed]

5 minutes ago, brob said:

 

Are you dealing with very sensitive data or just worried about the usual threats?

Sensitive data

[brob]

13 minutes ago, Finally Reformed said:

Sensitive data

 

Do a search for "how to airgap windows 11 system". You should find instructions for keeping an isolated system up to date.

[kld4523]

Try the Asus NUC 14 Pro capable of general productivity and business use than most small-form-factor desktops. 

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

On 11/23/2024 at 2:08 PM, kld4523 said:

Try the Asus NUC 14 Pro capable of general productivity and business use than most small-form-factor desktops. 

You don't need much for general business use. It's just documents and PDF files. A Sandy Bridge system would still handle that with ease. Software support would be the main concern here.