$99.99 refurb PCs @ NeweggFlash.com

[VirtualLarry]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883256341


HP Desktop PC DC7900 Core 2 Duo E8400 3.0GHz 3.0GHz 2GB 160GB HDD Windows 7 Professional 32-bit

Refurbishednewegg
Special savings, ends 6/21

 

[cbn]

$99.99 can also buy this sale priced ECS Liva:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16856501007

But it only has 32GB eMMC, doesn't come with a Windows license, the cpu is slower, and can't be upgraded with a video card.

The upside is that it is new, uses less power.

P.S. The 64GB eMMC version is on sale for $129.99

 

[VirtualLarry]

Yeah, the Liva's nice, if you want to run Linux, or have a spare Win8.1 license, but it wont run Win7, at all. (No eMMC support.)

(Interestingly enough, early Liva promotional material claimed support for Win7, Win8.1, and Linux.)

 

[cbn]

Yeah, the Liva's nice, if you want to run Linux, or have a spare Win8.1 license, but it work run Win7, at all. (No eMMC support.)

(Interestingly enough, early Liva promotional material claimed support for Win7, Win8.1, and Linux.)

Unfortunately, the Windows license will almost double the price of that sale priced Liva.

However, I have read that ECS now has a Liva pre-loaded with Windows 8.1 + bing:

http://www.techpowerup.com/206639/ecs-launches-liva-mini-pc-with-windows-8-1-and-bing.html

http://www.ecs.com.tw/ECSWebSite/Media/NewsRoom_Detail.aspx?NewsID=1660&MenuID=45&LanID=0

In fact, I am surprised we haven't seen these already? Or maybe that is what the sale price is all about? (ie, To clear out the Window-less models)

 

[VirtualLarry]

If the Liva (64GB eMMC, 2-4GB RAM, came with Win8.1), depending on the price-point, it could be a really good deal.

The Lenovo Q190 1037U HTPC goes on sale for $150 sometimes, and that comes with a HDD and Win8.1.

 

[cbn]

For anyone interested in the iGPU on these Core 2 machines here are my notes on the GMA 3100 iGPU (which is the stock iGPU on the DC5800/Dell Optiplex 755 and 360,etc):

http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=37250587&postcount=92

As far as the iGPU goes all three of my Core 2 Pre-built desktops have GMA 3100 iGPUs (via Q33, Q35 and G31 chipsets). So far this iGPU appears to work well enough (though currently two of the machines are using dGPU for gaming and the need for additional video outputs). My Dell Optiplex 755 with E6550 and GMA 3100 smoothly plays 1080p youtube in the chrome browser. For some reason Firefox has trouble though. My Dell Optiplex 360 with Xeon E5440 and GMA 3100 has no trouble with 1080p youtube using firefox.

EDIT: I disabled two cores on my E5440 Xeon (2.83 GHz dual core with 6MB cache remaining) and I had no problem with 1080p youtube when using the GMA 3100 iGPU in Firefox.

EDIT 2: Dell Optiplex 755 with E6550 and GMA 3100 now confirmed to play 1080p youtube smoothly with Firefox.

NOTE: The iGPU does not support H.264

 

[DaveSimmons]

$99.99 can also buy this sale priced ECS Liva:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16856501007

But it only has 32GB eMMC, doesn't come with a Windows license, the cpu is slower, and can't be upgraded with a video card.

The upside is that it is new, uses less power.

P.S. The 64GB eMMC version is on sale for $129.99

If only this had a SATA port and space for a 2.5" drive

Hopefully the Beebox price will be decent.

 

[cbn]

If only this had a SATA port and space for a 2.5" drive

Hopefully the Beebox price will be decent.

According to Ark, the N2807 has SATA available.....yet ECS is using like it is a tablet SKU (Go figure).

P.S. Here is the passmark score for N2807 (the cpu in ECS Liva): 919 CPU marks http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Celeron+N2807+@+1.58GHz. This puts it slightly above C2D E2140 at 876 CPU marks http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Pentium+E2140+@+1.60GHz

(Major difference though is that the C2D systems have to software decode video whereas the LIVA will have H.264 decode support to assist the weak CPU. Luckily for LGA 775 buyers, powerful CPUs like E8400 are dirt cheap these days (~$7 shipped)....though the power consumption will be higher)

 

[VirtualLarry]

For anyone interested in the iGPU on these Core 2 machines here are my notes on the GMA 3100 iGPU (which is the stock iGPU on the DC5800/Dell Optiplex 755 and 360,etc):

http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=37250587&postcount=92

NOTE: The iGPU does not support H.264

Not only that, but you cannot run IE11 on an GMA3100. Immature drivers crash the OS when using IE11, because of hardware acceleration.

So if purchasing one of these GMA3100 rigs, with Win7, stick to IE8.

 

[VirtualLarry]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883256341&ignorebbr=1

 

[cbn]

$99.99 can also buy this sale priced ECS Liva:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16856501007

But it only has 32GB eMMC, doesn't come with a Windows license, the cpu is slower, and can't be upgraded with a video card.

The upside is that it is new, uses less power.

P.S. The 64GB eMMC version is on sale for $129.99

Price has dropped to $79.99 free shipping.

 

[Gonad the Barbarian]

A year ago I would have torn my pocket getting my wallet out for that. Today... I don't know. Still, it might be a better Steam streamer than the upcoming official one.

 

[Gonad the Barbarian]

http://flash.newegg.com/Product/9SIA8XK4141275?icid=WP_0_06122016
OK, not $99, but comes with a 4C/8T Xeon already. Looks like a good deal to me. My finger's hovering over buy...

 

[Roland00Address]

http://flash.newegg.com/Product/9SIA8XK4141275?icid=WP_0_06122016
OK, not $99, but comes with a 4C/8T Xeon already. Looks like a good deal to me. My finger's hovering over buy...

The Xeon you refered to, the Xeon W3550 is the equivalent of the consumer i7 950 (45nm generation, no integrated graphics on the cpu) except it has things like ECC memory support.

The quadro video card it has is older than dirt, it is the quadro version of the nvidia 8400 GS, which was a POS when the 8000 series was out (aka 2007 / 2008).

I am not trying to diss this deal for it is a deal that you should consider at this price, but to put it in a real world today comparison the CPU that is like an i7 950 is between an pentium G3258 haswell processor at stock speeds, and between the haswell i3s. The integrated graphics of haswell would also be orders of magnitude faster than the integrated nvidia quadro.

Then again it is a full computer at $160. Yet you can also get refurbished other pcs at this price, if your goal is to have newer integrated graphics but similar cpu performance (you want intel 3rd generation or newer to have full win 10 support on intel's integrated graphics) but you lose ecc memory.

 

[Gonad the Barbarian]

Well most of the cheap refurbished PC's that have been popping regularly have been SFF BTX boxes so very limited upgrade potential. This is full ATX and from what I can gather (but can't confirm) has two PCIE x16 slots among a few others, so there seems to be a lot of potential here.

 

[Roland00Address]

Well most of the cheap refurbished PC's that have been popping regularly have been SFF BTX boxes so very limited upgrade potential. This is full ATX and from what I can gather (but can't confirm) has two PCIE x16 slots among a few others, so there seems to be a lot of potential here.

I am not dissing it, it is not a bad deal, I am just pointing out some of its benefits and flaws. Yes slower hardware is a flaw, but the price is a benefit, and so on. Just want other people who are interested in this to make an informed decision about whether this hardware will suit their needs and such.

Like Anand used to say before joining Apple there is not really bad products in the tech space, its a question is this a bad product at this particular price

(now there are exceptions to all of this, and Anand said it himself, his whole quote was about is this servicing a market need, is this the best product compared to its competitors in a similar price point, and will customers pay this amount for this set of features.)

This is full ATX and from what I can gather (but can't confirm) has two PCIE x16 slots among a few others, so there seems to be a lot of potential here.

Yes it is dual graphics

http://h50146.www5.hp.com/lib/doc/manual/workstation/hp_workstation/504630_001.pdf

Many companies on their pro hardware have on their website service manuals like this for it is part of doing business where some people need instant repairs and thus their techs need to access this information. So must workstation hardware whether its from HP or Dell or Lenovo do this, you just need to know where to look on their website.

One of the things I like about Consumer HPs is they often also do this on their consumer lines which I see as a plus (now reliability of Consumer HPs, and Consumer stuff in general is another matter entirely). I think the companies have really nothing to lose by making this stuff available to the public and it can only produce good will.

Schematic Diagram of the motherboard
http://h30478.www3.hp.com/hpfr/attachments/hpfr/ArchivesAutresProduits/1892/1/workstation_z400_1.jpg

Real world picture of the motherboard
http://g02.a.alicdn.com/kf/HTB11l9....nt-Workstation-Desktop-font-b-Motherboard.jpg

 

[Gonad the Barbarian]

Oh I know it's old and slow(ish) by today's standards. Here's a rather romantic look at it under the cover:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gocVBb0y3uo