PC CONFIGURATION

[jimcox]

CPU and motherboard together really define the machine

Personally I prefer an Intel CPU and Gigabyte motherboards have always worked well for me. So my choice would be option3. With careful choice you might be able to reduce cost with a different processor and still get the same throughput.
Option2 would be a good second choice – Asus and AMD traditionally work well together

I’d avoid option1 just because of the motherboard.

Just my nzd$0.02

=J=

[BStrand]

I would buy these parts off newegg and put the thing together myself for half the price or less. And $220 for a 27″ monitor seems ridiculous to me; those are prices from 12 or 15 years ago. $110 monitor stand? Yeah no.

But if you’re set on doing a bundle I’d go with #3 also.

[Mark Mayer]

I’m no expert but from what I’ve read going with an AMD processor may not be the best idea for a first timer. It seems that there can be more compatability issues between components with the AMD.

[john-putnam]

Option 3 is the minimum based on the RAM alone. I’m not up on the current AMD or Intel lineup but this processor sound pretty hot. I would recommend avoiding overclock for workstations, if you need a faster CPU then buy one and avoid the heat. If you are truly interested drone and/or point cloud processing then the graphics card is probably more crucial. Nvidia is recommended most of my software (Cyclone, Infinity & C3D ….) and a workstation model vs the gaming models. I just picked up an NVIDIA RTX 4000 Ada Generation for around $1200 US.

As for the monitors, they are pretty big. I currently have 3 27″/29″ monitors and it is kind of a pain swinging around to see different things. Window management can be a challenge with three screens. While I would never go back to one monitor, I’ve been thinking about ditching two of one larger screen (+40″).

[GaryG]

I’m curious what people think of Dell ?

https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/desktop-computers/new-precision-3680-tower-workstation/spd/precision-t3680-workstation/s011dpt3680mtusvp?configurationid=1d27438e-e035-4aa5-a354-06fbf6134cd0#features_section

dell.com

Dell Precision 3680 Tower Workstation | Dell USA

Shop the Dell Precision 3680 Tower Workstation. 450W NVIDIA or AMD Dual Graphics options are available. Dell.com.

[jhframe]

To paraphrase an old business saying, “Nobody ever got fired for buying Dell.”

I used to look for ways to get more bang for the buck when buying workstations, and did okay with various lesser-known builders, but eventually I got tired of the research and various purchasing hassles and ended up at Dell. My last 4 (maybe 5) workstations have all been Dell, and for the most part the experience has been acceptable.

I did have one nightmare with a T-series workstation (forget the model) that worked great for about 6 months, then suddenly wouldn’t boot. The Dell tech was here 3 times over the course of a couple of weeks. He replaced the power supply, the motherboard and eventually even the processor, but couldn’t get it to boot. Meanwhile I was trying to keep my business running on the old workstation, and couldn’t get Dell tech support to just swap out the system. I finally hit the Dell Twitter account with my complaint, and they got the replacement going. But it took another month or so before the replacement system arrived.

[GaryG]

I too have been a Dell person forever. My latest desktop was having wifi issues and Dell was very responsive in fixing the issue.

[Norman_Oklahoma]

I’d buy a Dell or I’d build one from scratch. Those are my choices.

[BStrand]

I think Dells are absolute garbage and they’re the only brand on my forever my no-buy list.

I bought a brand new Dell Dimension desktop about 20 years ago and the video card blew out on it right after the warranty ran out. It was my third desktop at the time and the first one that had any problems, so I gave it to my brother and mistakingly decided to give Dell another shot..

I bought a brand new, top of the line Dell XPS 710 rig in 2007 and this was the biggest computer lemon I’ve ever encountered in my life. I plugged everything in and went to turn it on and the motherboard was a dud. I think they didn’t even bother to power the thing on before shipping it to me to make sure the parts were good.

Also, the monitor had a gnat or some kind of bug stuck behind the glass like it flew in there as it was being assembled and again if anyone had bothered to turn the stuff on they would have seen this.

I called Dell to have these things addressed and they agreed to send out a tech to replace the motherboard. The tech showed up with the motherboard and a bag of food from burger king and sat on my living floor with a screwdriver in one hand and a burger in the other taking the computer apart. I didn’t realize how bad this was at the time because I hadn’t yet learned to assemble my own desktops, but when the tech removed the CPU fan and heat sink it not surprisingly shredded the thermal paste. When she was putting everything back together she didn’t bother scraping off the destroyed paste and applying new, she just slapped the parts together, shredded paste and all, and called it a day.

On the phone with Dell about the bug in the monitor they agreed to send me a replacement. Several days later I get a very obviously USED monitor in the mail as the bezel and stand were all scuffed up. I thought this must have been some sort of mistake so I called Dell again and the guy said it’s refurbished and works just fine. I said but I paid for a NEW monitor, and this prick had the nerve to sit there and try to argue with me about how I should just accept the used monitor. I had to escalate the call to a supervisor but eventually they did send me a new monitor.

The rig came with a 5.1 surround sound speaker system which became full of static and completely unusable less than a month after the warranty ran out.

After this experience I went and watched a few tutorial videos on assembling desktop computers and have done 2 of my own since then with zero problems. I will not buy a bundled computer of any brand again after seeing how cheap and easy it is to build a desktop.