Time To Buy PC Yet?

[jyl]

Demand for PCs and associated components has slowed and companies/resellers are over-inventoried, hence prices are falling.

The question is - for the bargain shoppers, have prices bottomed yet? IT guys, what do you think?

I decided to top up the DRAM in my current system, picked up 2 x 16GB of DDR4-3200 ECC (takes me from 40GB to 64GB) for $96 at Crucial.com. Okay, that seemed cheap.

However, when I looked at upgrading to a new system (the current one would be a better backup than what I currently have) the prices - well, better than last year, but didn't totally wow me. Here's what I spec'd at Lenovo:

Model: P620
CPU: AMD Threadripper PRO 5945WX (12 core 4.10 GHz)
DRAM: 8 GB (I'll add 64GB at Crucial.com, instead of paying Lenovo prices)
Graphics: nVIDIA T1000 x 2
Storage: M.2 SSD 512GB x 2 (RAID 0), SATA HDD 2TB x 2 (RAID 0)
O/S: Win 11 64 PRO
Other: DVD, keyboard, mouse, etc
Support: 3 year on-site

This is about $3,670 with the current promotion. I may be able to get it a little cheaper through a friend's IBM discount. Maybe $3,200?

Is this so cheap that I should pull the trigger?

I don't "need" a new workstation "right now", the purchase would be more about taking advantage of a price crash and having a better backup. Yes, the 5945 beats my current Xeon E-2224G in benchmarks and would speed up some tasks a little. https://cpu-benchmark.org/compare/intel-xeon-e-2224g/amd-ryzen-threadripper-pro-5945wx/ I keep PCs/workstations for at least 5 years (The family Macs, we run until they drop).

[stomachmonkey]

Well, the T1000's are they 4 or 8GB? It's about a $200-250 difference in price per.

Maybe start here.

https://www.cdw.com/product/lenovo-thinkstation-p620-tower-ryzen-threadripper-pro-5945wx-4.1-ghz/6979825

Do you need dual GPU's? Raid?

That box has 8 ram slots (6 open) so if you are OK springing for the 64 upgrade you'd be at 96 with the CDW offering.

[jyl]

The T1000s are 4GB. I don't actually need high-level graphics, just lots of screens, so I usually choose the least expensive graphics card with four ports and get two of them for eight screens. In the Lenovo P-series lineup, dual graphics card does limit my model choice some.

The RAID SSD is for my peace of mind. Everything is backed up but I don't want to ever use my backups. 512GB is actually plenty for me, as I don't work with images/video. I tossed in the HDDs because they are cheap, but don't need them.

Thanks for the CDW link - that is a nice price.

Do you think PC and workstation prices, generally speaking, are around as low as they are going? I'm basically trying to bottom-tick here :-)

[Zeke]

Although I hate laptops I'm using a 2007 Windows 7 build (not genuine) on the only LT I have. I use it after I've lain down for the night. Mainly just watch YT and a movie or 2.

I've kept it only because it has a 17" screen. Lack of large screens has kept me from upgrading. And the worst thing I have done computer wise if install Win 11. The bastards suck me in every time.

I could conceivably buy a new LT if the prices are good. I would literally only pay half the price of a iPad.

[jcommin]

I use a desktop and last year upgrade my 11 yr old computer. I used my same case because I still use 5 1/4 bays for CDs. Graphics cards have come a long way from 11 yrs. ago. I found pricing not to be absurd except for graphics cards which, to me, were very overpriced.

If you need to pull the trigger and buy, I think it is a good time to buy.

[stevej37]

I would be happy if computer pricing followed tv pricing.
65 inch tv's for $500...incredible. Laptop pricing stays about the same every year.

[stomachmonkey]

Originally Posted by jyl

Do you think PC and workstation prices, generally speaking, are around as low as they are going? I'm basically trying to bottom-tick here :-)

Impossible to say.

PC's are assembled from commodity components.

A chip factory burns in Taiwan and RAM /SSD prices go through the roof and affect the price of the entire PC.

If you found a deal that makes sense for your budget just buy it.

[fireant911]

jyl,
I used these guys at CPU solutions in Middleton, Wisconsin (https://www.cpusolutions.com/store/pc/home.asp) when I was spec'ing my last system. I have been EXTREMELY pleased with this machine. If you have a few minutes, configure ('customize') yourself a system and compare.

[john70t]

The closest Microcenter is in Denver, but they have laptops from $130-$5000:
https://www.microcenter.com/search/search_results.aspx?N=4294967288+4294811237+429481 7517+4294817438+4294807302+4294807185+4294807310

You were looking at a PC tower I think:
https://www.microcenter.com/site/content/custom-pc-builder.aspx

GPU Guides:
https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gpu-hierarchy,4388.html

For towers, I think it all starts with a good motherboard/case which can handle upgrade ands and add-on components.
I prefer AMD personally. Heard Intel was expanding more into the server side more than gaming but not sure.
With the FTX and crypto collapse, GPUs should be coming down in price hopefully.

[fanaudical]

I have had good luck at delloutlet.com

[rattlsnak]

Microcenter has GREAT pricing on build bundles right now.. I just ordered some parts for my new build..

[zakthor]

Nope: its still a terrible time to buy. Wait 5 more years and you'll be getting a much more reasonable value for your dollar.

Seriously: Just buy what you need and no more, computers are always the opposite of future proof.

I'm sort of in the market now for a new lenovo thinkpad. Love them with the 4k screens. Durable and great software support. Just waiting for current unit to really poop the bed.

Longer we hold off the better the next model will be.

Edit: wrt p620

I had 2 for work with a5000. One of them developed some sort of power supply error and kept shutting off. Lenovo support was beyond useless, no one had the special power supply, nothing in that box was standard, was a giant liability. I eventually ordered a third one through work and sent the other one back.

Damn fast machine but I can't figure what threadripper is for other than some very special machine learning loads. I can't figure what the purpose would be for a threadripper with a crappy card like a t1000.

Ryzen 9 is great and much less power hungry, get one of them instead.

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by zakthor

Nope: its still a terrible time to buy. Wait 5 more years and you'll be getting a much more reasonable value for your dollar.

Seriously: Just buy what you need and no more, computers are always the opposite of future proof.

I'm sort of in the market now for a new lenovo thinkpad. Love them with the 4k screens. Durable and great software support. Just waiting for current unit to really poop the bed.

Longer we hold off the better the next model will be.

Edit: wrt p620

I had 2 for work with a5000. One of them developed some sort of power supply error and kept shutting off. Lenovo support was beyond useless, no one had the special power supply, nothing in that box was standard, was a giant liability. I eventually ordered a third one through work and sent the other one back.

Damn fast machine but I can't figure what threadripper is for other than some very special machine learning loads. I can't figure what the purpose would be for a threadripper with a crappy card like a t1000.

Ryzen 9 is great and much less power hungry, get one of them instead.

One reason I stay away from Dell computers is they have the "Dell flavor" for all their computer parts that are almost but not quite off the shelf. You will need to figure out the model of computer from the tag ID and download the drivers from Dell. Connectors are just a but off from standard.

I just build my computers from the parts available and plug them together, and make my computer my way, with the RAM modules and hard drives I want. All 100% industry standard. The only bad part is that I have to be my own tech support when I have an issue. I have had to actually call Microsoft support and talk to them. That was a surprisingly pleasant phone call and I talked to a young man that walked me through a weird issue.

My Microsoft Surface tablet is just a few years old, and works great. It can not be upgraded to Win 11 and when Win 10 goes off support, I will have to see how long it will keep working properly.

[jyl]

Looking a little lower in the Lenovo workstation lineup will save me a bundle and maybe I won't be "over-buying" for my needs. I will lose the option for a third graphics card, so no 12-monitor setup for me :-(

Model: P360
CPU: Intel i9-12900K (E-cores up to 3.90 GHz P-cores up to 5.10 GHz)
DRAM: 8 GB (I'll add 64GB at Crucial.com, instead of paying Lenovo prices)
Graphics: nVIDIA T1000 x 2
Storage: M.2 SSD 1TB x 2 (RAID 0), SATA HDD 1TB x 2 (RAID 0)
O/S: Win 10 64 PRO (I use Win 10 Pro now, not sure why I should move to 11)
Other: DVD, mouse, WiFi, HDMI port
Support: 3 year on-site

This is about $2,171 with the current promotion. I may be able to get it a little cheaper through a friend's IBM discount. Okay, that seems pretty reasonable- oh WAIT. Looking at my records, I paid $1,659 on Feb 24, 2020 for my current machine, which is a P330. Xeon E-2224G, T1000 x2, 512DB SSD x 2, no HDD, think I bought with 8GB DRAM. It is a little disappointing that the price I'm looking at now is significantly higher than 3 years ago, and the current machine has a Xeon CPU which was more expensive than the Core then (and now). I think Feb 24 was before the brief Covid crash in PC prices. Hmm - if I'm paying 30% more now, I think PC prices may not have fully crashed.

[zakthor]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

One reason I stay away from Dell computers is they have the "Dell flavor" for all their computer parts that are almost but not quite off the shelf. You will need to figure out the model of computer from the tag ID and download the drivers from Dell. Connectors are just a but off from standard.

I just build my computers from the parts available and plug them together, and make my computer my way, with the RAM modules and hard drives I want. All 100% industry standard. The only bad part is that I have to be my own tech support when I have an issue. I have had to actually call Microsoft support and talk to them. That was a surprisingly pleasant phone call and I talked to a young man that walked me through a weird issue.

My Microsoft Surface tablet is just a few years old, and works great. It can not be upgraded to Win 11 and when Win 10 goes off support, I will have to see how long it will keep working properly.

Yeah but that p620 has a slotted power supply that is completely different than anything I've ever seen, and lenovo was utterly useless in getting it to run. Machine was very very fast, I was debugging, profiling and optimizing machine learning loads and it was great, but not something I'd want for myself.

[jyl]

It’s disturbing to hear that - one reason I buy Lenovo is for the supposed on-site service!

[GH85Carrera]

We had a great Lenovo laptop. It ran the camera system in our airplane just great. Then after one mission, the pilot came back and handed me the laptop to download the files. It would not boot, not even bring up BIOS. I had to pull the hard drive out, and read the data files that way. The hard drive was fine, something on the motherboard had just died. Looking on the internet it was not uncommon for that model. The only possible fix was to send it to Lenovo for a repair. That was almost as much as a new laptop. So it went to the recyclers, and we bought a Microsoft Surface. It has been bulletproof, except it will overheat on war summer days if does not have airflow blowing on it.

[jyl]

I was a huge fan of IBM Thinkpad laptops, and continue to favor Lenovo Thinkpads as some of the original DNA remains. On desktops, I developed a dislike for Dell and HP, my preferred Compaq went away, so I started buying Lenovos and so far have been happy. I no longer build my own PCs, although it was fun for a while.

[GH85Carrera]

In every TV and movie the computers are almost always a laptop, never plugged into anything, just magically performing tasks that help the main charterer solve the problem. Only good guys can use Apple laptops. The evil masterminds are not allowed by Apple to use Apple products so just generic PCs.

I have a laptop for when I travel, or in the airplane running the aerial camera.

I sure prefer the performance and ability to easily service my tower computer. I admit mine is a bit over the top with two full size monster video cards, 256 Gig of RAM two 2TB M.2 drives, and the 5 spinning hard drives for the 15 TB RAID 5. The thing is really heavy and is a challenge to haul it outside to blow out the dust for a cleaning.

[nota]

that is how I buy PC's

kid built high spec a year or 2 off the bleeding edge

current rig is getting old now i7 8gen 6 core unlocked gtx980 added a on m/b hd on a chip

power supply died only change in years

I hate apple I could fix one if they did not think the wiring diagram was TOP SECRET
and every part random spec for apple only