Seeking Advice on New Desktop PC Purchase

[TheNightsToCome]

In 2017, I asked bogleheads for advice in replacing my then 8 year old PC. From my 2017 post:

"I’m getting the 34″ curved monitor and a desktop with:

Intel Dual Band Wireless 8265 (802.11ac) Driver
Intel Dual Band Wireless AC 8265 (802.11ac) 2×2 + Bluetooth
256GB 2.5inch SATA Class 20 Solid State Drive
16GB (2x8GB) 2400MHz DDR4 Memory
Intel Core i5-7500 (QC/6MB/4T/3.4GHz/65W); supports Windows 10/Linux
Cyberlink Media Suite Essentials for Windows 10 and DVD drive (without Media)
Dell KM636 Wireless Keyboard & Mouse Black (English)
No Media Card Reader
Tray Loading Dual Layer DVD Burner
DVD+/-RW Bezel, Small Form Factor
Intel Integrated Graphics, Dell OptiPlex
2nd Hard Drive: not included
Win 10 Pro 64 English, French, Spanish
No FGA
ProSupport: 7×24 Technical Support, 3 Years
ProSupport: Next Business Day Onsite, 3 Years
Dell Limited Hardware Warranty Plus Service

I found that when I called Dell for assistance the rep provided greater options for customization and a lower price than what was on the website (and she remarked that she was jealous of the monitor; everyone seems to love it)."

My current desktop is 7 years old and apparently it isn't adequate to support an upgrade to Windows 11. I'm planning to purchase a new desktop PC to use with the monitor I already have. I'd appreciate any advice you can offer.

I use it for Excel, Word, watching TV (primarily football when my wife is watching something else on our big screen), listening to music, forum browsing, and YouTube. I also use it to log in to my work PC remotely to work from home on "vacation days" and weekends. I don't play video games.

After doing a little online research (e.g., PC Mag reviews), I'm inclined to buy this one for $999.99 on a Black Friday deal:

https://www.amazon.com/Dell-XPS-8960-De ... B4RSL?th=1

Brand Dell
Operating System Windows 11 Home
CPU Model Core i7
CPU Speed 2.1 GHz
Cache Size 33
Graphics Card Description Integrated
Graphics Coprocessor Intel® UHD Graphics 770
Memory Storage Capacity 32 GB
Memory Slots Available 2

Any thoughts?

[mhalley]

An i7 seems like overkill for your usage.
Alternative
https://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-Computer- ... hdGY&psc=1
Or go with the 1 tb SSD for $489
Or if you really like dell
https://www.amazon.com/Dell-OptiPlex-70 ... 97011&th=1

[tibbitts]

Any thoughts?

I haven't shopped for a year or so but I generally haven't found compelling Dell values on Amazon.

[adamthesmythe]

Personally I would keep an old machine so I didn't have to upgrade to Windows 11.

In any case, make sure the new machine can't run Copilot, so then they can't make you have it.

[raveon]

Nothing special about Windows 11 given your use case. Not worth the upgrade IMO.

[dukeblue219]

Minor note, but the specs you posted aren't really informative. For example, i7 could be anything produced for the last 15 years, you have RAM capacity but not the installed amount, etc.

Important to know the actual processor model, RAM installed, and SSD size along with any GPU model.

[tibbitts]

I don't understand the aversion to Windows 11. It's not really Windows 11; it's just soon going to be the remaining supported version of Windows. Admittedly there are sometimes issues with upgrading; I'm dealing with one right now. But in the end it's just not practical to avoid upgrading.

[Vinny_in_NJ]

I'm not a Apple person but the Mac Minis seem very compelling. You would have to learn the OS but I've heard nothing but rave reviews about it. The new style with the Mx chip came out a few months after I bought my Windows machine and had I not bought what I have I seriously would have thought about buying the Mac Mini.

As far as a Windows machine, I would imagine any computer that can operate Win 11 should be OK with 1 caveat being the monitor. If the 34 inch monitor has a higher resolution I'm not sure if a lower end processor with inboard graphics can support it. Some of the newer chips probably can especially if the monitor is the same vintage as your computer.

With Black Friday deals popping up you can shop Staples, Office Depot, Best Buy, ... if you are a member of Costco, BJs or Sam's Club they may have a good deal as well. If you live near a MIcro Center they can have good deals.

[TheNightsToCome]

Nothing special about Windows 11 given your use case. Not worth the upgrade IMO.

Windows 10 won't be supported in less than a year.

[TheNightsToCome]

Any thoughts?

I haven't shopped for a year or so but I generally haven't found compelling Dell values on Amazon.

It's the cheapest quote I've found, including Dell's site.

[TheNightsToCome]

Minor note, but the specs you posted aren't really informative. For example, i7 could be anything produced for the last 15 years, you have RAM capacity but not the installed amount, etc.

Important to know the actual processor model, RAM installed, and SSD size along with any GPU model.

I posted what was easy to copy/paste from the top of the link above for those who didn't want to click the link, but the AMZN page has more information.

[02nz]

Since you don't game, you really don't need a big hulking box. Honestly your needs could be perfectly met by any one of the second-hand enterprise "micro" form factor PCs on eBay (Dell OptiPlex Micro, Lenovo ThinkCentre Tiny, and HP ProDesk/EliteDesk Mini), around $100-200, that have an 8th-gen or later processor and will run Windows 11. I've bought several over the years and they've all been great, they were built to last. If you want new, they can be found for around $500. That big Dell tower won't deliver significantly more performance for your uses, and the micro form factor PCs are like 1/20th the size.

[knightrider]

If it ain't broke don't fix it. I still use Windows 8.1 on a measly $100 micro desktop with 8GB RAM and 20GB hard drive ! It does YouTube and web browsing perfectly fine.

[tibbitts]

If it ain't broke don't fix it. I still use Windows 8.1 on a measly $100 micro desktop with 8GB RAM and 20GB hard drive ! It does YouTube and web browsing perfectly fine.

On the one hand, that's a lot of memory for an 8.1-era PC, so that's a positive; on the other hand I'd be reluctant to use 8.1 on the internet due to not just the OS but also some apps not having current versions that may not run properly on that old an operating system.

[yankees60]

If it ain't broke don't fix it. I still use Windows 8.1 on a measly $100 micro desktop with 8GB RAM and 20GB hard drive ! It does YouTube and web browsing perfectly fine.

On the one hand, that's a lot of memory for an 8.1-era PC, so that's a positive; on the other hand I'd be reluctant to use 8.1 on the internet due to not just the OS but also some apps not having current versions that may not run properly on that old an operating system.

Concur with what you have written.

[Sandtrap]

Consider:

Mac Studio (all options)
Mac 32 inch monitor

iphone 16 pro max

Mac IphoneMax Headphones.
Apple Airpods Pro 2

buy into the "platform" integrated system.

j

[tibbitts]

Consider:

Mac Studio (all options)
Mac 32 inch monitor

iphone 16 pro max

Mac IphoneMax Headphones.
Apple Airpods Pro 2

buy into the "platform" integrated system.

j

I see a GoFundMe page in the OP's future.

[Sandtrap]

Consider:

Mac Studio (all options)
Mac 32 inch monitor

iphone 16 pro max

Mac IphoneMax Headphones.
Apple Airpods Pro 2

buy into the "platform" integrated system.

j

I see a GoFundMe page in the OP's future.

[jayjayc]

I use it for Excel, Word, watching TV (primarily football when my wife is watching something else on our big screen), listening to music, forum browsing, and YouTube. I also use it to log in to my work PC remotely to work from home on "vacation days" and weekends. I don't play video games.

Since you don't game, you really don't need a big hulking box. Honestly your needs could be perfectly met by any one of the second-hand enterprise "micro" form factor PCs on eBay (Dell OptiPlex Micro, Lenovo ThinkCentre Tiny, and HP ProDesk/EliteDesk Mini), around $100-200, that have an 8th-gen or later processor and will run Windows 11. I've bought several over the years and they've all been great, they were built to last. If you want new, they can be found for around $500. That big Dell tower won't deliver significantly more performance for your uses, and the micro form factor PCs are like 1/20th the size.

I would not spend $1k on a tower desktop for your needs. It's overkill. These desktops are geared toward people who play video games or edit videos.

I agree with 02nz's recs.

[Onlineid3089]

Lots of info out there about Intel's 13th and 14th gen processors having issues due to elevated voltage permanently damaging the processors. I'm not techy enough to have any idea how big of an issue it really is, but I did choose to get an AMD processor when I bought earlier this week with that as the primary reason.

[Harmanic]

The new Mac Mini m4 is fast, cheap and quiet.

[goaties]

I'm in the same position as the OP, having a 2017 Dell which Microsoft claims can't be upgraded to Windows 11.

I guess there are two questions: are the security concerns for NOT upgrading to Win11 really germane? I use my old box solely to monitor the security cams and send their videos to the cloud.

Two: Why can't I (and the OP) follow one of the many recipes posted across the internet about "fooling" Microsoft into allowing the upgrade to Win11? Apparently my box does have UEFI and TPM (I barely even know what those are) which are the sticking points.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/how-to-up ... -two-ways/

[jebmke]

The new Mac Mini m4 is fast, cheap and quiet.

I am vacillating between that and the M3 laptop. Which means I'll probably do nothing.

[rockstar]

A low end bee-link or a knock off mini PC from Aliexpress should be fine for the OP.

https://www.aliexpress.com/category/708 ... ni-pc.html

[TheNightsToCome]

Consider:

Mac Studio (all options)
Mac 32 inch monitor

iphone 16 pro max

Mac IphoneMax Headphones.
Apple Airpods Pro 2

buy into the "platform" integrated system.

j

I see a GoFundMe page in the OP's future.

[TheNightsToCome]

Two: Why can't I (and the OP) follow one of the many recipes posted across the internet about "fooling" Microsoft into allowing the upgrade to Win11? Apparently my box does have UEFI and TPM (I barely even know what those are) which are the sticking points.

... and I have no idea whatsoever.

[rockstar]

Two: Why can't I (and the OP) follow one of the many recipes posted across the internet about "fooling" Microsoft into allowing the upgrade to Win11? Apparently my box does have UEFI and TPM (I barely even know what those are) which are the sticking points.

... and I have no idea whatsoever.

You can follow this guide:

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/10 ... orted-pcs/

Or pick up a mini PC for less than $400 and be good to go with more modern hardware and less energy usage. It’s up to you.

[talzara]

Nothing special about Windows 11 given your use case. Not worth the upgrade IMO.

Windows 10 won't be supported in less than a year.

Microsoft will stop providing support for Windows 10 in October 2025.

Intel has already discontinued microcode updates for the i5-7500 in April 2024.

When the CPU and the OS are both out of support, the computer should no longer be used to browse the web. The OP needs a new computer.

[talzara]

I'm in the same position as the OP, having a 2017 Dell which Microsoft claims can't be upgraded to Windows 11.

I guess there are two questions: are the security concerns for NOT upgrading to Win11 really germane? I use my old box solely to monitor the security cams and send their videos to the cloud.

Two: Why can't I (and the OP) follow one of the many recipes posted across the internet about "fooling" Microsoft into allowing the upgrade to Win11? Apparently my box does have UEFI and TPM (I barely even know what those are) which are the sticking points.

If that's all you do with it, then it is low-risk to bypass the CPU check and run Windows 11 in an unsupported configuration.

When you run Windows 11 on an unsupported CPU, it's not just Microsoft that won't support it. The CPU is so old that the CPU manufacturer has also stopped supporting it. After Intel stops providing microcode updates, the CPU will become vulnerable to any attacks that are discovered against old CPUs. For example, Intel stopped providing updates for the OP's CPU in April 2024.

If you're only using a computer to send security camera video to a server over an API, the risk of an attack against the CPU is very low. You're not connecting to thousands of different websites running JavaScript.

[talzara]

... and I have no idea whatsoever.

You can follow this guide:

I have recommended running Windows 11 in an unsupported configuration to people who seemed to know what they were doing, and usually they've decided not to.

I would never recommend it to someone who has "no idea whatsoever."

The OP should buy a new computer.

[talzara]

Lots of info out there about Intel's 13th and 14th gen processors having issues due to elevated voltage permanently damaging the processors. I'm not techy enough to have any idea how big of an issue it really is, but I did choose to get an AMD processor when I bought earlier this week with that as the primary reason.

This has been posted in nearly every computer purchasing thread recently, whether or not it is relevant.

Dell has already updated the firmware on the XPS 8960 in August 2024 to load the Intel microcode updates that fix the voltage bug: https://www.dell.com/support/kbdoc/en-u ... processors

Any Dell built after August will ship from the factory with firmware that fixes the voltage bug.

The OP posted a Amazon link to a Dell XPS 8960. It is a new PC that's sold by Amazon and ships from Amazon. It is probably less than a month old.

[rockstar]

... and I have no idea whatsoever.

You can follow this guide:

I have recommended running Windows 11 in an unsupported configuration to people who seemed to know what they were doing, and usually they've decided not to.

I would never recommend it to someone who has "no idea whatsoever."

The OP should buy a new computer.

I've been suggesting mini PCs in all of these threads for non-gamers.

I provided a link to a guide in case they want to see what's involved. That will either have them experimenting or go the buying route.

[PGR]

I still limp along with an ancient PC I built and OC'd probably 15 or more years ago. Why don't I upgrade with a new desktop PC? Well I don't do anything on it anymore outside of using a browser. PC gaming is long gone. Office long since became way overpriced for what I needed - gave way to FREE Google Docs (and even Microsoft has now copied that model), Income taxes were the last holdout but even there I've switched to using an online solution.

So now we use a couple of newer Chromebooks around the house and the one ancient PC running Windows in the office. That old PC affords the luxury of large monitors and a real keyboard but it almost exclusively runs a web browser and nothing else - it's just a glorified web browser. Oh and I no longer have to worry about backups, mounting a shared drive, sharing a printer etc. When MS finally stops security support - I'll probably switch to Ubuntu.

If you like having one or more decent monitors, a real keyboard and trackball - I think they make so-called Chromeboxes. Or you can install ChromeOS or Ubuntu etc on an old PC to extend its life and from there install your favorite browser.

Just an option as I had thought to upgrade my own desktop a number of years ago and realized I didn't really need to. Your mileage may vary.

[PassivePanda]

I'm in the same boat but I am looking at a new build and to reuse some parts. I believe tariffs are likely, and I must upgrade to Windows 11 before October 2025. Now is BF sales, I may or may not be able to get a better deal in 2025, but if Trump follows through on his promises, I'll more than likely have to pay more. The miser in me wants to wait until 2025 so I can tell myself I squeezed every last drop out of the machine I have and was forced to upgrade...but it's starting to feel a little slow sometimes after nearly 15 years.

For your use case, the new M4 Mac Mini that was until recently $499 looks amazing. Power consumption is almost nothing too. Asus NUC also looks interesting. If Dell, I think better deals can be had direct from their site, and that option is probably overkill.

[JBTX]

Nothing special about Windows 11 given your use case. Not worth the upgrade IMO.

Windows 10 won't be supported in less than a year.

You can buy an extra year of security updates for $30. That’s what i will probably do.

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/m ... witch/amp/

I may also try 0patch - they make their own updates.

https://www.pcmag.com/explainers/0patch ... of-windows

Sooner or later I’ll get a new PC, but what I have is perfectly fine for my fairly limited needs.

[Onlineid3089]

Lots of info out there about Intel's 13th and 14th gen processors having issues due to elevated voltage permanently damaging the processors. I'm not techy enough to have any idea how big of an issue it really is, but I did choose to get an AMD processor when I bought earlier this week with that as the primary reason.

This has been posted in nearly every computer purchasing thread recently, whether or not it is relevant.

Dell has already updated the firmware on the XPS 8960 in August 2024 to load the Intel microcode updates that fix the voltage bug: https://www.dell.com/support/kbdoc/en-u ... processors

Any Dell built after August will ship from the factory with firmware that fixes the voltage bug.

The OP posted a Amazon link to a Dell XPS 8960. It is a new PC that's sold by Amazon and ships from Amazon. It is probably less than a month old.

It appears that Intel has issued multiple patches for this. I'd think a little skepticism is perfectly warranted that the most recent one is truly going to be the last of these issues. Especially given how long it took Intel to even acknowledge the problem. Doesn't it just seem like an easy risk to not take?

This is an honest question as I'm not a techy person, what is the benefit of rolling the dice and getting one of the 13th or 14th gen Intel chips over the comparable offerings from AMD?

[rockstar]

This has been posted in nearly every computer purchasing thread recently, whether or not it is relevant.

Dell has already updated the firmware on the XPS 8960 in August 2024 to load the Intel microcode updates that fix the voltage bug: https://www.dell.com/support/kbdoc/en-u ... processors

Any Dell built after August will ship from the factory with firmware that fixes the voltage bug.

The OP posted a Amazon link to a Dell XPS 8960. It is a new PC that's sold by Amazon and ships from Amazon. It is probably less than a month old.

It appears that Intel has issued multiple patches for this. I'd think a little skepticism is perfectly warranted that the most recent one is truly going to be the last of these issues. Especially given how long it took Intel to even acknowledge the problem. Doesn't it just seem like an easy risk to not take?

This is an honest question as I'm not a techy person, what is the benefit of rolling the dice and getting one of the 13th or 14th gen Intel chips over the comparable offerings from AMD?

I’d avoid Intel right now.

Their i225 NICs have issues too.

[TheNightsToCome]

... and I have no idea whatsoever.

You can follow this guide:

I have recommended running Windows 11 in an unsupported configuration to people who seemed to know what they were doing, and usually they've decided not to.

I would never recommend it to someone who has "no idea whatsoever."

The OP should buy a new computer.

[TheNightsToCome]

If Dell, I think better deals can be had direct from their site, and that option is probably overkill.

I checked Dell's website. AMZN had better price.

[talzara]

It appears that Intel has issued multiple patches for this. I'd think a little skepticism is perfectly warranted that the most recent one is truly going to be the last of these issues. Especially given how long it took Intel to even acknowledge the problem. Doesn't it just seem like an easy risk to not take?

Like most OEM PCs, the Dell XPS has a conservative design that doesn't approach the performance limits of the Intel Core CPU.

There was very little risk even before a patch, and now there's no significant risk.

This is an honest question as I'm not a techy person, what is the benefit of rolling the dice and getting one of the 13th or 14th gen Intel chips over the comparable offerings from AMD?

The benefit is that you can easily buy a desktop. The large OEMs make very few desktops with AMD CPUs. They're much more common on laptops.