20 SFF Haswell Office Builds

[firewolfsm]

So I'll be building 20 PCs for a new medical business which will likely keep them until they fail or become too slow for modern office use.

I'm debating between a Haswell build, Ivy build, or an Ivy from the Lenovo/Dell outlets. Longevity is obviously a factor, and Haswell should give them an extra year of use assuming the graphics become critical in 4 years. I'm also debating ITX vs mATX, size is important for a professional appearance and reducing clutter, either way the motherboard has to be reliable so I hope ASrock is known for that.

So far I have this mATX board for $70 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813157376

and this mITX board for $80 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813157390

and this Ivy mITX board for $50 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813157367

The ram (8GB) and processor are fairly obvious choices, the only other one that I'm having trouble with is the Case+PSU. I want it as small as possible, for either form factor, but also with a very reliable PSU (SeaSonic, FSP, Antec, etc.) as cheaply as possible. This one looks decent, and I've used IN WIN before, not bad but I am worried about the PSU. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811108418. Anything smaller or with a better PSU wins.

Any help would be appreciated, I'm placing the orders next week.

 

[raildogg]

Hello, I would suggest buying Ivy Bridge desktops, either Celeron, Pentium or Core i3/i5 from Dell/Lenovo/HP or their outlets. It might be save time, energy and in case help is needed, they will have at least 1 year warranties. I saw a outlet PC at Dell for around $350 with decent specs last week - it has Ivy Bridge i3 along with 500GB HD. They have SFFs if space is limited.

If it's for office use, even something from 2009, such as a Core 2 Duo, or the first gen i CPUs from Intel are good enough. I'm not sure why Haswell is needed for basic tasks. Ivy Bridge based PCs might be discounted in the next few weeks, who knows.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

I'd actually just get a bunch of S&D from the Dell outlet.

Cheap and simple

 

[MrK6]

I'd actually just get a bunch of S&D from the Dell outlet.

Cheap and simple

This. No DIY system is going to compete on bang-for-your-buck with a ready-made OEM build.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I would go with the H61 ITX board for $55, a G1610 Celeron for $50, and an Antec ISK 110 Vesa case for $90. Then attach it behind the monitor, for ultimate space-savings.

Throw in whatever decent-brand DDR3-1600 (or 1333 if you can get it much cheaper somehow), 2x 4GB, and a 120GB SSD (Just bought a Kingston V300 kit at Staples for $80 AC).

Edit: Better yet, get single 8GB DIMMs for each box. Then, if you ever need to upgrade them to 16GB in the future, you can just add another DIMM. If the same model DIMMs aren't available, then just coalesce the existing DIMMs into 16GB kits, and then buy more 16GB kits for the rest of them.

 

[DaveSimmons]

The Dell SFF that someone posted pics of here recently looked nice, comparable to the Acer SFF I use for the music jukebox in my home office.

Even HD2000 is good enough for light 3D (I played through Torchlighr 1 at 1024x768 with it) so I wouldn't bother with paying extra for Haswell graphics. SB/Ivy are much more mature and tested.

 

[mfenn]

No way should you even be considering building 20 PCs for a business. I probably wouldn't even go outlet here because it will be near impossible to get 20 identical boxes.

What I would do is call up Dell (direct), Lenovo (direct), or HP (via a VAR) and negotiate. 3-year warranty should be standard on their business lines, and you can go to 5-year if you want.

 

[Termie]

Just another thing to consider here - you're concerned about lifespan, as well you should be in an office environment. So...avoid small-form-factor power supplies. They will absolutely be the weakest link in this whole affair. They are noisy, and they are more likely to fail prematurely.

You're considering Mini-ITX. I wouldn't touch them for an office. If you're not truly space-constrained, just go for a full-width pre-built micro ATX system, not the 4"-wide models, which have miniature power supplies.

 

[Cerb]

Semi-OT: I love how Dell's website has links per model to, "customize and buy," but you can't seem to customize anything less than a Precision, these days.

Definitely don't DIY it. Not worth it by a mile, for so many PCs. It will cheaper in the short term, but not the long term, and the initial setup will take you much longer.

 

[Zap]

No DIY system is going to compete on bang-for-your-buck with a ready-made OEM build.

:thumbsup: What is your labor cost? Who provides the warranty? A pre-built will have one point of contact for warranty. Have you factored in the cost of Windows? Monitor? You can often get monitors bundled with the system for cheaper than buying separately.

I probably wouldn't even go outlet here because it will be near impossible to get 20 identical boxes.

I was thinking that too.

What I would do is call up Dell (direct), Lenovo (direct), or HP (via a VAR) and negotiate. 3-year warranty should be standard on their business lines, and you can go to 5-year if you want.

And thinking this too. Scary!

20 systems will give you some negotiating power. Figure out what it will cost you (including monitor, mouse, keyboard, Windows) to build a system so you know the baseline price. Then get some competitive quotes from Dell/HP/etc. Make sure they quote using business class machines, and include at least a 3 year warranty. You can also mention you are getting competitive quotes, and that whatever company you choose will likely get all future business.

Just another thing to consider here - you're concerned about lifespan, as well you should be in an office environment. So...avoid small-form-factor power supplies. They will absolutely be the weakest link in this whole affair. They are noisy, and they are more likely to fail prematurely.

I disagree with this, and so does my Seasonic Flex-ATX PSU sitting in the other room. :sneaky:

 

[Termie]

...

I disagree with this, and so does my Seasonic Flex-ATX PSU sitting in the other room. :sneaky:

Point me to a pre-built system with this PSU and I'll agree with you...

 

[Torn Mind]

Hmm, is Axiomtek a worthy supplier of business-grade products? They have a nice selection, although they are not too forthcoming about the costs.

http://us.axiomtek.com/

 

[akugami]

Building 1 or 2 systems, go DIY if you want.

For 20 office machines...get someone else to do it. Not worth DIY because every little damn thing that goes wrong, guess who is supporting it?

Something like a Lenovo Q190 can be had for as low as $250. Factor in tax and shipping and it should still be under $300 each. Keep in mind they're using Celeron processors but your stated use was office. I'm assuming it's nothing more taxing than video conferencing, very light image editing, and mostly document editing (powerpoint, word, excel).

 

[piasabird]

I think if you are buying 20 computers you should be looking for some kind of a discount. This is a case where you may want to go to dell small business website and look for a good discount on something like:

http://www.dell.com/us/p/inspiron-660s/pd
These start about $300 without a monitor and a Pentium Processor (Ivy Bridge).
Hard to find on their website.

Find out about a Dell Preferred Business Account. They say if you have this account there is a $25 discount on each PC. I am thinking business accounts with large orders may get some kind of discount. They may not publish everything on their website. If you want a discount ask for it. Worse they can say is no.

We order hundereds of computers every year from DELL at our community college. I am sure we are not buying full price for anything. I am using an Optiplex 990 i5 with 8 megs of RAM. There is something about being a preferred customer or a return customer. Maybe you have to sign and exclusionary contract that says you will buy only Dell or something.

 

[cubby1223]

I have a 2-month old dead gateway computer sitting beside my desk from a 7-computer upgrade I did for a business. Haven't had the time to dive in to why it went bad, just know that this incident ended up being an $800 hit to my bottom line. I know for sure both the ram and motherboard went bad, probably caused by a bad power supply.

That was already after my work quality was questioned thanks to within a week of installing the computers Microsoft releases IE10, auto-installs on all the systems, immediately breaking functionality with pretty much every custom web application the corporation provides to the franchises!


But to a larger discussion, building a computer, the parts, monitor, windows, office, etc. alone run north of $800 versus a pre-built probably find one for $500 or less. $300x20=$6,000 in expenses that neither helps the business nor anyone working for the business.

 

[sm625]

$199!
Is that fast enough?

How about this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16883255375

 

[ElFenix]

Semi-OT: I love how Dell's website has links per model to, "customize and buy," but you can't seem to customize anything less than a Precision, these days.

i need a new work computer so looked at dell. dell really has gone down hill. not only is there minimal customization available, when you do customize something it can start throwing error codes at you that you need to change something else. but you can't click on it and be directly taken to it, nor does it just automatically pop up and say something like 'to select the gold power supply, you need to also select energy star 5.2 for $0, Y/N?' like car companies do.

sad that ford's website offers seemingly the best configuration tool now, and they can't even sell you a car in many states.

 

[brshoemak]

That was already after my work quality was questioned thanks to within a week of installing the computers Microsoft releases IE10, auto-installs on all the systems, immediately breaking functionality with pretty much every custom web application the corporation provides to the franchises!

Yeah a company I consult for sometimes got hit with that issue so I know where you're coming from. They're a nationwide company and use a hosted app for 95% of their business and didn't play well with IE10. On the plus side, my earlier recommendation of setting up a WSUS server seems to be moving forward nicely now.

 

[mfenn]

i need a new work computer so looked at dell. dell really has gone down hill. not only is there minimal customization available, when you do customize something it can start throwing error codes at you that you need to change something else. but you can't click on it and be directly taken to it, nor does it just automatically pop up and say something like 'to select the gold power supply, you need to also select energy star 5.2 for $0, Y/N?' like car companies do.

sad that ford's website offers seemingly the best configuration tool now, and they can't even sell you a car in many states.

Yeah it is kind of weird. You can definitely customize the crap out of it if you call them up.

 

[mfenn]

$199!
Is that fast enough?

How about this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16883255375

http://www.dell.com/us/p/inspiron-660s/pd
These start about $300 without a monitor and a Pentium Processor (Ivy Bridge).
Hard to find on their website.

I would avoid anything from their consumer lines. The support isn't as good and there is no long-term parts availability commitment.

 

[firewolfsm]

I see your point, and I think I might try to order by calling and negotiating, but I do want a quad core, and hopefully 4GB of ram in the system. Sometimes they use programs like photoshop and modern medical software and I want things to run smoothly in a few years. I think the initial cost of a custom computer is much lower for any quad core, and that I could also order a stock of backup parts to store even now.

I guess I'll call up the business retailers first and see what I can get. Thanks for grounding me.

 

[sm625]

You also have to ask yourself which is better: 20 machines with great support for $X, or 25 machines with mediocre or no support for the same $X. Great support doesnt necessarily save the company the hours of lost time it takes to get someone's problem sorted out. Sometimes its faster just to pull out a new machine and slap it on their desk. Especially if everyone does regular backups to the server.

 

[mfenn]

You also have to ask yourself which is better: 20 machines with great support for $X, or 15 machines with mediocre or no support plus a lot of time and money invested into automated provisioning and backup system for the same $X.

The bolded is more true in my experience. Makes sense when you have full-time IT staff to manage everything, less sense when you don't have any full-time IT staff.

 

[Zap]

The bolded is more true in my experience. Makes sense when you have full-time IT staff to manage everything, less sense when you don't have any full-time IT staff.

The thing is that real IT staff knows better than to build their own. Only enthusiasts would consider it.

 

[DSF]

I see your point, and I think I might try to order by calling and negotiating, but I do want a quad core, and hopefully 4GB of ram in the system. Sometimes they use programs like photoshop and modern medical software and I want things to run smoothly in a few years. I think the initial cost of a custom computer is much lower for any quad core, and that I could also order a stock of backup parts to store even now.

I guess I'll call up the business retailers first and see what I can get. Thanks for grounding me.

I would definitely start there at the very least.

I wouldn't be surprised to find that quad cores are more or less standard on business-class machines now, or certainly within reach in a reasonable negotiation. Dual cores used to be the centerpieces of the product lines, but I would say those days are just about over.