Need a Desktop for Work and Light Gaming

• 

  nelsonserrao on 29/10/2020 - 08:06

  Looks really good. Not a gamer so will park that for the experts but the 10th gen I7 processor with 8 cores and NVME SSD are IMO top of the line in their categories. CAD should be a breeze on it.

  • 

    babylu66 on 29/10/2020 - 08:52

    Ikr, the specs look amazing for this price, I'm just worrying the international shipping, especially US these days…

• 

  This Guy on 29/10/2020 - 08:46

  +1

  Your laptop sounds good enough for

  need it for CAD drafting, modelling, rendering and gaming (LOL).

  If their is a specific program that sucks, let us know. What you have spec'ed is a minor upgrade to what you have. I wouldn't waste my money on this.

  • 

    babylu66 on 29/10/2020 - 08:59

    My laptop is really good, except the 128gb SSD, it annoys me lately, I have to detele or move files to D drive all the time to make sure it's not full. Gaming wise, LOL is bugged on the graphics these days, my friends has no same issue, idk it's my laptop or what… Other than these, my laptop is great.

    My mum bought a unit, and she wants to have desktop at home. Thus I think I rather spend some more to make sure the specs are good for my uses as well, since I WFH a day or two per week.

    • 

      This Guy on 29/10/2020 - 09:15

      What WFH do you do?

      Are there any frustrations?

      Do you log into a work computer or do you store all your work files locally?

      I see you haven't priced a monitor, keyboard and mouse. Do you have those? What resolution and frame rate is the monitor?

      Currently, an NVMe type SSD is overkill for gaming, especially that small. A big 2.5" SSD would be smarter. 1TB HDD is small if you are struggling with 128GB. If you are only using CAD lightly you might be better off with an i5 and (instead of i7) and half the RAM. If CAD use is regular it might be worth wile getting a cheap 34" 4k monitor or two cheap, 1440p 27". GPU needs to be a compromise, to hit 2k all in you will need to run AAA games on low.

      A better $2000 upgrade could be a desktop dock, two 34" 4k monitors and a nice key board an mouse with a 2TB NVMe SSD (you will probably need to ring around computer stores for that upgrade). edit: but that would not help with gaming.

      • 

        babylu66 on 29/10/2020 - 09:42

        Than you, could you recommend any of the desktops that fit in the criteria?

        I do interior design, part-time though, but do use CAD nearly all time, some sketchup and rendering via either enscape or vray.

        I haven't started looking for monitor, keyboard and mouse, I have bought a 27" 2k monitor before, I know they are about $350? And my mum's home office will have a really narrow desk, which means 24" is more than enough.

        • 

          This Guy on 29/10/2020 - 15:20

          @babylu66:

          And my mum's home office will have a really narrow desk, which means 24" is more than enough.

          That is an environmental limitation. You want a bigger monitor/s as they are your primary interface with your computer. A 32" 4k (if it fits) will allow you to see more of the drawing at once, making your work more efficient. Two big monitors will allow you to have communications (like outlook) and say a specifications document on one while you have a your drawing on another.

          32" 4k monitors seem to start around $500 (My quick search showed most 34" are wide screen with less viewable screen)

          So, for example:

          $1300 - 2x Philips 328P6VJEB 32" 4K Ultra HD 10-Bit Monitor (picked for it's nice stand)
          $30 - 1x HDMI 2.0/2.1 cable
          $30 - 1x Mini display port to display port cable
          $200 - 2x Crucial 16GB DDR4 2400MHz Dual Rank SODIMM RAM
          $370 - 1x Crucial P1 2TB 3D NAND NVMe PCIe M.2 SSD

          ---

          $1930

          You will be slightly over budget if you pick a nice keyboard mouse combo.

          A desktop laptop sling is a good idea.

          This video shows you how to open up your laptop. Basically remove all screws and pry from side with just two USB ports.

          Once you have removed the bottom, replace the two 8GB ram sticks with the two 16GB stick

          Place the M.2 SSD in the empty slot. It is marked "PCIe 3.0 x4 SSD". Leave the current SSD and hard drive alone. That has windows and your files on it.

          If you don't feel comfortable, search LTT on youtube and watch a few of his PC build videos.

          I do no take any responsibility for anything you screw up. If you don't use soft plastic (like a guitar pick or old, disused plastic card), you will definitely scratch up and indent your case. If you are not careful you will scratch or indent your laptops case. There is a high probability you will snap the card, so don't use a bank card.

          Before you buy, make sure the monitors will fit on the desk (read their specs), otherwise budget for a new desk (this $75 Ikea desk had enough width to two 4k 32" monitors).

          Good luck. You have this!

    • 

      toomuchdogfur on 29/10/2020 - 10:52

      I agree with "This Guy" - your current laptop is pretty strong, so unless you really need extra CPU power then it might be best to spend the cash on good peripherals instead. LoL doesn't take much GPU power to run regardless, and the 128GB SSD can be upgraded if that's your main bugbear.

      I wouldn't recommend the desktop you specified - it gives you some extra CPU power (2 more cores and a little bit more speed) but the GTX 1660 Super GPU is, at best, the same as your current GTX 1070 Mobile. No point upgrading IMO unless its to at least a RTX 2070 or higher.

      If you're set on it, there are many smaller PC retailers that do a good job building PCs at a decent price - depends on where you live, but MWave and Scorptec are two ones around metro NSW. Otherwise… have you thought of building your own to save some cash?

      • 

        babylu66 on 29/10/2020 - 11:08

        Thank you for the advice.

        The unit is at Northern Beaches.. I know MWave, I will take a look of Scorptec later.

        I totally get your thoughts on the graphic cards, that is what I was thinking. Though the desktops with 2070 will definitely go over $2k, but I will checkout what the PC retailers have.

        I really wish I know how to build my own, my stepfather could do that for me, but he's stopped doing that for a while :'(

        • 

          toomuchdogfur on 29/10/2020 - 11:30

          @babylu66: Ah, that sucks! It's not too difficult to build your own… but I'm trying to avoid being that guy who keeps saying that to everyone lol

          Yeah the RTX 2070 still ain't bargain bin prices just yet. You might still see appreciable gains with an RTX 2060 Super… but we're kinda clutching at straws here. See it as a positive thing - your current laptop is still well specced enough to set a high bar for an upgrade!

          Alternatively, perhaps you could get a strong desktop PC minus the GPU for now. It'll save you at least $500, it'll still do the office duties/CAD just fine and GPUs are pretty dead easy to install after-the-fact (literally slot the card in + plug in two power cables). You can continue gaming on your laptop… or even on the desktop on low settings, if LoL is your main game anyway.

          EDIT: Thought I'd try speccing something out, still comes to >$1,700 ouch!

          • CPU and Motherboard (~$700) - can't really go much lower, else there's no appreciable improvement over your laptop
          • 32GB RAM ($200) - can save $70 if going with 16GB instead
          • 500GB SSD ($150) - can save $50 by dropping down to 250GB, or a bit more by changing brands
          • 2TB HDD ($100) - not worth dropping down a notch, either keep or remove entirely
          • PSU ($100) - also the lowest reasonable choice
          • Case ($130) - can drop down to a budget case, but may need to buy more fans
          • Build service ($200)
          • Windows 10 Home ($170) - you might have a license through university/college?

          So looks like still $1.5k even if squeezing everything as per above.

          • 

            babylu66 on 29/10/2020 - 15:09

            @toomuchdogfur: haha, very kind of you! I will use it as a guideline :D

            • 

              This Guy on 29/10/2020 - 15:27

              @babylu66: OP, that system is great, but it is only a slight improvement over what you have.

              Upgrading what you have will provide you with the best improvement in experience per dollar.

              I strongly suggest you don't buy or build a tower unless you want two computers.

              • 

                babylu66 on 29/10/2020 - 15:39

                @This Guy: Hi, thank you for being so thoughtful :)

                I will need to help my mum purchase a PC, that's why I'm thinking of buying a decent $2k desktop, rather than spend $1k just for her browsing or watch Youtube.

                • 

                  This Guy on 29/10/2020 - 18:03

                  +1

                  @babylu66: Unless you plan of giving your laptop to your mum this sounds like a horrible idea.

                  You can't let other people use your work machine. They could loose your work. They could infect it with a virus. They could access confidential information. If you are working for yourself, they could damage your professional reputation by posting something on your social instead of theirs by accident.

                  And then their is privacy. You don't want to know too much about your parents, just like they shouldn't know to much about you. Sharing a device as a young adult is a great way to cross those boundaries.

                  You need your own desk (at lease 1500mm/150cm/1.5m is a good size for a work desk) and your own space. Ikea has reasonable quality ones for cheap.

                  A few posts above I wrote out what I recommend you spend the $2k on if you really want to improve your working at home environment.

                  • 

                    babylu66 on 29/10/2020 - 18:59

                    @This Guy: You've made some good points! Yes I do agree with those. I will just buy her a ordinary PC then.