Windy city2d ago

Question for the knowledgeable folks: Is this a good time to build a PC?

I was talking to a friend and she said, "This is the lowest they'll be for a long time ahead so you might as well bite the bullet."

#askfedi #pc #linux #windows

Yes, prices are manageable
16.7%
No, wait a month
54.2%
(something else - comment)
29.2%
Poll ended at .
Show threadFabian Transchel2d ago
@pheonix You can do with 16GB of RAM and a system SSD of ~512GB and upgrade later. The rest is fine (unless you want to do AI with it obviously...)
Show threadWindy city2d ago

@ftranschel Very good point, I don't even need a dedicated GPU, just an upgrade over my decade old machine. The integrated graphics of a modern CPU fits well for my use-cases.

Now that you say it, getting a motherboard that can easily be upgraded in the future is a safe bet. Incremental changes. Thank you! ✨🙏

Show threadBenedek Kozma1d ago
@pheonix @ftranschel What are your current specs? If you have DDR4 and an SSD, you would pretty much just need a new (to you) motherboard and CPU (and maybe a CPU cooler).
Show threadWindy city11h ago

@Cyberbeni @ftranschel My current machine is 2014 laptop from Dell. The Inspiron series, with an Intel i5 4200U coupled with 16 gigs of RAM and an SSD (both of which I manually upgraded over the years).

It's been through a lot of travel and shows its age in some areas, although it works good & I plan to keep it.

Which is why I plan to build a mid-tier desktop that will serve me for the next few years, nothing fancy but good enough. Still researching what fits my workflow as I'm new to all this. Thanks!

Show threadBenedek Kozma
@pheonix Used office PCs can be a good/cheap option, especially if you can catch a good deal. For example I managed to get a HP ProDesk microtower with i7-8700 and 16GB RAM (and faulty SSD) for ~65€ last week.
8:05amWeb
Show threadWindy city4h ago
@Cyberbeni incredible deal!