J. Dan Posted June 17, 2020 Share Posted June 17, 2020 I posted earlier about losing my laptop when I lost my job, and limping along on an old home computer - a Core 2 duo with only 2 Gb RAM. Barely usable but at least it has Microsoft Office 2016 which I need for working on Resume and other things. My initial thought was to max the anemic RAM until I found out that 8Gig of DDR2 Ram for my computer would run $150-$200 which just seems like throwing good money after bad. I don't want to waste limited money on a computer while unemployed. I have maybe a couple more months before I run out of money completely if I don't land a new job, so I need to make it stretch. That said, I found a refurbished PC at MicroCenter in stock here near my house. Dell OptiPlex 3020 SFF Desktop Computer (Refurbished) Intel Core i5 4570 3.2GHz Processor; 16GB DDR3-1600 RAM; 512GB SSD; Intel HD Graphics 4600 for $279.99, 90 day warranty. CLONK for listing including all specs and other details. I already verified that I can log into my Microsoft account and disable Office 2016 on the old computer and install it on the new computer. Other than that is my DAW for which I have the disks to install. I have not looked into transferring the license for my Magix Video editing software yet, but had considered maybe just moving to Da Vinci Resolve. Seems like this computer barely meet the requirements - seeing conflicting info. That said, I RARELY do video and don't have huge requirements...I could port over the Magix movie maker software (if it worked - barely - on the old computer, surely it would work on the new). Video is at about the end of my priority list right now, but I would be interested if those who have experience with Da Vinci would have any feedback to offer. If there's another Refub PC available that's maybe an i7 instead of i5 for not much more and it would make a significant difference, then maybe an extra $50 means I could get better software and not have to upgrade for a much longer time. For my immediate needs, this computer will more than cover my needs based on what I'm using currently, but there is the question if - even given my somewhat dire situation - if it would make sense to bump any of the specs (I'm thinking primarily i5 processor up to at least i7) in terms of bang for the buck and usability. Quote Dan Acoustic/Electric stringed instruments ranging from 4 to 230 strings, hammered, picked, fingered, slapped, and plucked. Analog and Digital Electronic instruments, reeds, and throat/mouth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KuruPrionz Posted June 17, 2020 Share Posted June 17, 2020 Seems like a nice machine. Do you have external drives for storage already? Both video and audio (DAW) can rack up GB pretty quickly. That's a fast I5, if the I7 will truly run circles around the I5 and it isn't much more $$ then it makes sense to me. I hear great stuff about DaVinci Resolve, have been meaning to download it and give it a spin. I have Adobe Premiere Elements and don't like it much. Last but not least, consider your music inventory. I've found quite a few goodies that I didn't need and flipped them on Reverb. That helps keep the wheels on the wagon!!! Cheers, Kuru Quote It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J. Dan Posted June 17, 2020 Author Share Posted June 17, 2020 I have a ton of drives/drive space but have not investigated what this case will accommodate. My current computer has a 1 TB spinning drive and I have an older computer whose primary drive crashed that has another 1 TB drive that still works and has files. - I don't think I need more than one of the 1 TB drives given the files I have and that the computer has a 512 GB SSD. So if I could consolidate files between the (2) 1 TB drives into just one of them and mount it in the new PC, that would be perfect. Yes I'm in the process of selling some musical stuff as soon as I finish some minor repairs, cleanup, and refurb, including my Jupiter 6, Opus 3, Korg CX3 (digital), Triton Pro, and a Fusion 6 HD....local buyers already for a couple of them. Quote Dan Acoustic/Electric stringed instruments ranging from 4 to 230 strings, hammered, picked, fingered, slapped, and plucked. Analog and Digital Electronic instruments, reeds, and throat/mouth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Williams Posted June 17, 2020 Share Posted June 17, 2020 I like the specs. MicroCenter has been around since at least the 1990s; glad to see that they're still kickin'. I'm also very glad that you're having a little good fortune. I recently got a similar deal (slightly less for slightly less) from CDW for my home office, and would have bought another for my newfound recording hobby if it weren't for the fact that my wife would kill me. (I expect to escape as "one through the flames" now that I have informed her of a recent microphone purchase.) If MS Office goes away, remember that LibreOffice is very compatible. I work in an MS Office state system, and have had zero problems using LO to both read their stuff and compose stuff for them. Bonus: for some years the EU has required Microsoft to be able to read and write the Open File Format, and so I don't even have to export my LO stuff to MS. Quote -Tom Williams {First Name} {at} AirNetworking {dot} com PC4-7, PX-5S, AX-Edge, PC361 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J. Dan Posted June 17, 2020 Author Share Posted June 17, 2020 Cheapest refurb i7 I could find with 16 gig RAM is THIS one for $399.99. Besides the fact that it would be a much more serious hit for me right now, I would need some convincing that going from i5 to an i7 based on my current needs is worth an extra $120. In terms of MS Office - I PAID for it, I'm using that MF-er!!! Like I said, I figured out how to transfer it to a new computer, so I'm good there. Quote Dan Acoustic/Electric stringed instruments ranging from 4 to 230 strings, hammered, picked, fingered, slapped, and plucked. Analog and Digital Electronic instruments, reeds, and throat/mouth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stoken6 Posted June 17, 2020 Share Posted June 17, 2020 The i5-4570 is a 2013 chip (CLONK). Instead of a i7, consider a newer i5 if you've got a bit more budget? Having said that, the 4570 seems to have 4 cores, 3.2GHz, which isn't too shabby. And 16GB RAM/500GB SSD/Intel HD4600 is nice. I certainly wouldn't pay what you were quoted to upgrade your existing RAM, if you can get this for $280. Good luck to you and everyone job-hunting at the moment. Cheers, Mike. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoodyBluesKeys Posted June 17, 2020 Share Posted June 17, 2020 On an i5 that old (2013), you may be able to purchase a used i7 that will fit the same socket and change processors for a very low price. You would also need to have the proper thermal grease (not much money) and be very careful in the swap. i7 that fits the same socket available likely in several speeds. Also i7 generally comes in dual-core and quad-core, whereas older i5 were all dual-core. The quad core will give better performance, but MAY (depending on what power supply Dell put in, and they usually spend minimal $$) need a different power supply. Also, there MAY be a different processor heat sink/fan for the i7 quad. I changed from an older dual-core Xeon in my Z400 HP to the quad-core. Worked fine, but notified me on bootup that it didn't have the right heat sink (the quad one has a larger number of copper tubes that do the heat exchange to the fins). Exact replacement was expensive, but heat sink for the next year model was different number and didn't cost all that much. Z400 has 4GB RAM, Windows 8.1 MCE 32 bit (cloned from an older computer that was used for same purpose), and a 1TB SSD to replace the original HD. Went from moderate speed to excellent speed for it's purpose. Quote Howard Grand|Hamm SK1-73|Kurz PC2|PC2X|PC3|PC3X|PC361; QSC K10's HP DAW|Epi Les Paul & LP 5-str bass|iPad mini2 "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J. Dan Posted June 17, 2020 Author Share Posted June 17, 2020 According to the specs, it's Quad-Core CLONK Quote Dan Acoustic/Electric stringed instruments ranging from 4 to 230 strings, hammered, picked, fingered, slapped, and plucked. Analog and Digital Electronic instruments, reeds, and throat/mouth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J. Dan Posted June 18, 2020 Author Share Posted June 18, 2020 Well I pulled the trigger. Haven't fired it up yet, just unboxed it. One thing it doesn't have any available internal drive bays to add an extra drive. The 512MB SSD should have plenty of space for anything I need to do in the immediate future, but I think I'm going to get a $25 external 3.5" drive enclosure and stick one of my 1 TB SATA spinning drives in that. It's USB 3.0 so that slows transfer rates to 5 gb/s, but good news is that it has its own power supply, so I don't have to worry about the computer's PS being to wimpy to add a drive. Probably wouldn't use it for any active projects but that would be just fine for file storage and backup. I think I'll pull the drive out of my old AMD Athlon XP box that I haven't used in ages because the boot drive crashed. I'll copy everything on my current computer onto it as well and I'll have all my files dating back a very long time. Wish I could have recovered Adobe CS3 off that old machine. As far as DaVinci, I think there's a free version I can try to see if it works OK and if not I can just uninstall. Not sure if I can transfer Magix or not, but at this point I don't really need it for anything. Quote Dan Acoustic/Electric stringed instruments ranging from 4 to 230 strings, hammered, picked, fingered, slapped, and plucked. Analog and Digital Electronic instruments, reeds, and throat/mouth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KuruPrionz Posted June 18, 2020 Share Posted June 18, 2020 As far as I know, DaVinci R\esolve is free. People seem to like it. I still have Photoshop CS2 on a CD but Adobe won't let it run anymore anyway. It's 2020 so see if anybody on eBay has Photoshop Elements 2019 new in the box. It should be really cheap and do more than enough if you click the Advanced tab. Certainly better than all the older versions of Photoshop I got along with from 1.07 on up. I won't subscribe, not making a living at this. I have 2018 Elements and it's really good, except I don't like Premiere. Quote It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stoken6 Posted June 18, 2020 Share Posted June 18, 2020 Well I pulled the trigger.Congrats, I think you got a bargain. I'm going to get a $25 external 3.5" drive enclosure and stick one of my 1 TB SATA spinning drives in that. It's USB 3.0 so that slows transfer rates to 5 gb/s. I don't think a spinning drive is going to touch the sides of USB 3.0. I've booted Windows off an external SSD (approx 500Mb/s) connected via USB 3.0, and it ran fine. Your spinning drive won't come near 500Mb/s, so you won't have a problem. Cheers, Mike. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles Posted June 18, 2020 Share Posted June 18, 2020 My old laptop is similar in spec to your new laptop and it runs Da Vinci Resolve just fine. I also have Magix, Power Director and Adobe CS5.5 on it and they all run just fine. Da Vinci Resolve is vastly superior to Magix but there is a learning curve so do watch the online video tutorials to help you out. Quote Col Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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