Workhorse for less than $500

Quote from johnkurtz:

When buying a used machine how do you know how many 10's of thousands of hours those components have seen, and that it won't fail tomorrow? Workstations are more often than not staay on 24/7/365.
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Gigabyte just announced the new version of it's "Ultradurable" line... I also read an article about an ECS(?) mobo which they virtually claim "will last FOREVER"...

Mostly what I'm saying... "Get a quality motherboard and you'll likely not be disappointed in performance and reliability". (I estimate 80% of the world's desktop computers have some version of the ubiquitous el-cheap mobo... costs about $20. Quality motherboards usually cost $200+ when new and current.... but they're still "quality" when they are no longer leading edge.)
 
Quote from Scataphagos:

Gigabyte just announced the new version of it's "Ultradurable" line... I also read an article about an ECS(?) mobo which they virtually claim "will last FOREVER"...

Mostly what I'm saying... "Get a quality motherboard and you'll likely not be disappointed in performance and reliability". (I estimate 80% of the world's desktop computers have some version of the ubiquitous el-cheap mobo... costs about $20. Quality motherboards usually cost $200+ when new and current.... but they're still "quality" when they are no longer leading edge.)
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Great point. I wonder if the motherboard is not the weak spot that fails most often. Do you know if this is true, or which component or components are most vunerable?
 
Quote from johnkurtz:

Great point. I wonder if the motherboard is not the weak spot that fails most often. Do you know if this is true, or which component or components are most vunerable?
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Nearly all of the components, except for motherboards and PSU*s, are "off the shelf" and the same for all makers. My own experience indicates the most vulnerable components are optic drives and RAM... both of which are usually cheap to replace.

In a quality rig, the mobo is not usually the "weak spot"... more likely to be so in the el-cheapo mobos... but then there is also the issue of "capability". Cheap mobos usually have cheap/limited BIOS. Not sure why, but I presume it cost more to have a "full featured" BIOS than one with a few capabilities left out.... as is typical with the el-cheapos.

* Years ago Dell had proprietary PSUs... with pinning different from current standards. But about 10 years ago, they wised up. They still have OEM PSUs, but they are "current standard" in all aspects. I've read about the quality of Dell PSUs and they are claimed to be "above average"... I've had "other" PSUs fail not not yet a Dell.
 
Quote from Banjo:

Scat speaks the truth , robust quality MB and power supply are the foundation.
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I believe it but the question is then how can you be sure of a quality MB and Powersupply from DELL, and from a used DELL at that? Who makes their MB's and power supplies? No body knows, and isn't that the point?

When I make a build buying an ASUS Pro and Platinum rated powersupply (or even bronze) I know I am getting quality!
 
Quote from johnkurtz:

I believe it but the question is then how can you be sure of a quality MB and Powersupply from DELL, and from a used DELL at that? Who makes their MB's and power supplies? No body knows, and isn't that the point?
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In Dell's case, you should buy from the "Precision* Line"... they are workstation class and presumably with server-class parts. Dell's mobos are OEM... made by Foxconn... who also makes them for HP.. Foxconn also makes many/most of the parts for all of Apple's products.

I don't know who makes Dell's PSUs... but they don't have a reputation for failing.

*Like other OEM makers, Dell also has el-cheapo, consumer-grade lines... like Inspiron and others.
 
Quote from johnkurtz:

"... When I make a build buying an ASUS Pro and Platinum rated powersupply (or even bronze) I know I am getting quality!
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Which supports the notion... "Always buy quality, even if it's used".
 
Computers don't become obsolete from hardware failures - it's from malicious changes in software that make your hardware fail to continue functioning. It's only backwards compatible so far. Fire up a Windows 95 box and log onto CNN and try to read the news; it's not going to happen even though that box works just great. The whole industry is full of pigs. Apple is the worst and Microsoft is right up there in a close second. Everything Adobe is trash.

Websites are whores. The content is 3kb and the trash to play all the advertisements is 50mb and eats 3gb of RAM and sucks bandwidth. Ever notice the last thing to appear is that which you are there to view? It's by design. They're pigs and whores.
 
Quote from saxon22:

I am looking to get a desktop that will be on 24/7. Does not have to be the fastest slickest or brand new (refurbs are OK), but it must be super dependable. Something that I will turn on next week, give it a fair amont of use for the next 3 years without ever needing to open the side cover. What do you guys recommend?
Does Dell still produce something that is hard to kill?
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Dell is a good look.

check the bare bones kits at newegg.com and tigerdirect.com. These are generally more reliable than off the shelf boxes over years. They also have no crap-ware, something everything at costco will have.
 
Quote from tenthousandmen:

Dell is a good look.

check the bare bones kits at newegg.com and tigerdirect.com. These are generally more reliable than off the shelf boxes over years. They also have no crap-ware, something everything at costco will have.
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If you buy from Dell Small Business there is no crapware. Also just bought 3 HP systems from Sam's - no crapware. If you buy the $299 systems from anyone, that price is offset by trash. Buy business class machines for $700-$800 and you're good to go.
 
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