Recommendation for a prebuilt overkill office computer. Can spend upwards of $3000

[cmf21]

My dad works for a start up company which is hoping to go into production in the next few months. They need to get a new computer, monitor, and printer to replace the one that got stolen by a previous employee. The company CEO (lives out of state) wants a Mac but the site manager / board of director gets to decide and wants a pc. No one really knows very much about computers and my dad somehow got me involved in finding them one even though I don't even work for them yet. I fell a real burden, since I'm so far out of the computer loop any more and don't think I can really help. I really don't know what they need as they can't really answer it.

All I know is:

Can spend upwards of $3000 but has to include a monitor and printer.

Want it prebuilt so they can have warranty
Would like large, nice monitor (thinking of Dell u2311)
Need a color AIO printer (probably inkjet)
They want Windows 7. Probably Pro, or Ultimate
They want it to run MS Office, accounting program, and techy programs???
Be able store lots of photos or something they said
Have the ability to be able to back up important files (raid???)
They want it overbuilt so they don't have to upgrade or worry about not having enough power for future uses. Lots or memory, processing power, storage capacity, reliable as it would be left on 24/7

Can anyone help? I have no clue on prebuilt stuff. What about a Dell t3500 or an optiplex, or even an HP. What's the differences? Don't think they need something super high end.

 

[Barnaby W. Füi]

Just make sure it has an i7, at least 8GB ram, and set aside some money to buy Intel SSD(s) for it.

Also, backups do not belong on a workstation -- they need to be on another computer, preferably somewhere else geographically. RAID is not a backup system. It merely prevents downtime in case of a single drive failure.

 

[cmf21]

Was thinking about an i7 and about 6gb or more of ram but why an SSD? Do prebuilt computers even come with one? How can they make backups of their files. I don't even know how to do my own except for putting them on a flash drive.

 

[Barnaby W. Füi]

Was thinking about an i7 and about 6gb or more of ram but why an SSD?

Because they're absurdly fast and enjoyable to use, and the main downside is cost. With $3k to spend, you can afford it. It's arguably the most dramatic upgrade you can do.

Do prebuilt computers even come with one?

Probably not... which is why I suggested you set aside some money and buy/install one (or more!) separately. A 160GB X25-M would be great, though an 80GB would certainly be better than nothing.

How can they make backups of their files. I don't even know how to do my own except for putting them on a flash drive.

Putting them on a flash drive is okay. Or an external hard drive. If he stores his backups in the same computer, then if that computer is somehow destroyed -- say it falls off the desk -- the backups will be as worthless as the original data. At least an external drive offers some level of physical isolation... but it'd be better to make backups to a computer on the other side of the office. Or to an offsite location.

Maybe they could hire someone to teach them how to do this. If their data is business-critical then being so careless with it is quite foolish and will eventually bite them in the ass. It's like leaving your house unlocked because you're too careless to try to find your keys.

 

[mfenn]

$1500 precision/optiplex
$1000 monitors (3 U2311's)
$500 color laser AIO

 

[theevilsharpie]

Can anyone help? I have no clue on prebuilt stuff. What about a Dell t3500 or an optiplex, or even an HP. What's the differences? Don't think they need something super high end.

Nothing that you've described requires anything more than a mid-range desktop PCs. I've been using HP's mid-range AMD line for years with great success. The current iteration is the HP Compaq 6005 Pro series. Dell will have a similar model in their Optiplex line.

Ignore consumer PCs from any vendor. They use low-rate components to keep the price down, and the warranty turn-around time can be days or even weeks.

When you spec out the PC, keep the price of software in mind.

Difference between Dell and HP:
- HP desktops tend have more management options (not really important if you only have a handful of PCs), and are IMO better built.
- Dell desktops tend to be slightly less expensive, and they usually have the latest tech sooner than HP.
- HP prefers that you buy through a reseller, whereas Dell prefers that you buy direct
- You can't really go wrong with either choice.

Differences between workstations and desktop PCs:
- Desktop PCs are meant for general-purpose use, and will handle nearly every application that you can throw at it.
- Workstations are meant for apps that require substantially more compute power than you'd find in a desktop, such as CAD/CAM, 3D graphics design, etc. The application vendor will typically mandate a workstation-class PC for their supported configuration.
- Workstations are substantially more expensive, and the higher-end workstations will have more proprietary components
- If you don't know whether you need a workstation, you probably don't

 

[bruceb]

Windows 7 Pro or Ultimate are fine for the use. Just be sure you first check to be sure whatever applications you want to use, can either run on Win 7 or can be easily upgraded to it. Some apps are old and will not run on Win 7 .. Same for some printers, but you are buying new, so that should be ok.

 

[JTsyo]

Nothing that you've described requires anything more than a mid-range desktop PCs. I've been using HP's mid-range AMD line for years with great success. The current iteration is the HP Compaq 6005 Pro series. Dell will have a similar model in their Optiplex line.

Ignore consumer PCs from any vendor. They use low-rate components to keep the price down, and the warranty turn-around time can be days or even weeks.

When you spec out the PC, keep the price of software in mind.

Difference between Dell and HP:
- HP desktops tend have more management options (not really important if you only have a handful of PCs), and are IMO better built.
- Dell desktops tend to be slightly less expensive, and they usually have the latest tech sooner than HP.
- HP prefers that you buy through a reseller, whereas Dell prefers that you buy direct
- You can't really go wrong with either choice.

Differences between workstations and desktop PCs:
- Desktop PCs are meant for general-purpose use, and will handle nearly every application that you can throw at it.
- Workstations are meant for apps that require substantially more compute power than you'd find in a desktop, such as CAD/CAM, 3D graphics design, etc. The application vendor will typically mandate a workstation-class PC for their supported configuration.
- Workstations are substantially more expensive, and the higher-end workstations will have more proprietary components
- If you don't know whether you need a workstation, you probably don't

They want it to run MS Office, accounting program, and techy programs

Sounds like it's just a general use computer. If someone needed a workstation, they would probably be specing it out themselves.

Just going through HP's site. I speced out a
" -Configurable- HP Elite 7100 Microtower PC " and it came to $2,551 with a 24" monitor. SO that leaves about $500 for a printer.

Genuine Windows 7® Professional 64 (Requires minimum of 2GB Memory)
Intel® H57 Express Chipset integrated
Intel® Core™ i5-670 Processor (3.46 GHz, 4M Cache)
8GB DDR3 (PC3-1333) MHz non-ECC (4 x 2 GB DIMM)
Available with Win7 Pro 64-bit or FreeDOS only.
HP 22-in-1 3.5-inch Media Card Reader
64GB 3.5-inch Solid State Drive
1TB 3.5-inch 7200 rpm SATA 3.0 Gb/s NCQ, SMART IV
HP SATA SuperMulti LIghtScribe DVD Writer Drive
ATI Radeon HD 4650 (1GB ) PCIe x16 Graphics Card
Realtek RTL8111DL
HP USB Standard Keyboard
HP USB 2-Button Optical Scroll Mouse
2007 Microsoft® Office Professional Edition (Not available w/ Linux or FreeDOS)
3/3/3 (3 year parts/labor/service) MT Warranty
HP Elite 7000 Country Kit
HP LP2475w 24-inch Widescreen LCD Monitor

 

[Sp12]

$1500 precision/optiplex
$1000 monitors (3 U2311's)
$500 color laser AIO

I think this is likely the best option. 3 monitors is going to be awesome for productivity.

As for specs, just make sure you get at least 8GB of ram, at least a quadcore, and a Radeon 5000 series card, preferably a 5770.

 

[RebateMonger]

I really don't know what they need as they can't really answer it.

They should consider finding a professional small business IT consultant who can ask the right questions and recommend appropriate equipment, software, and processes to meet their business needs. It wouldn't cost much money and they'd likely save a lot of money by buying the right tools, instituting proper data security, and ensuring they have an appropriate backup strategy in place. Additionally, there may be remote access techniques that would benefit them that they probably aren't aware of.

 

[aigomorla]

but why an SSD?

:hmm:

If you want all the speed possible, you might as well take care of the biggest bottleneck.

 

[cmf21]

They only need one monitor and I have a new Canon D480 AIO I'm going to sell them. They don't want a piece of junk that's going to break, etc. They aren't quite sure yet what they will be needing or in the future and that's why they wan't something that's over spec'd. They just want something with a warranty and can handle anything they might need it for. It's almost too confusing for me. One other thing, should they be looking at a i7 or xeon. Aren't they the same thing with the Xeon having support for ECC memory. Do they really need a Xeon and ECC memory?

 

[mfenn]

They only need one monitor and I have a new Canon D480 AIO I'm going to sell them. They don't want a piece of junk that's going to break, etc. They aren't quite sure yet what they will be needing or in the future and that's why they wan't something that's over spec'd. They just want something with a warranty and can handle anything they might need it for. It's almost too confusing for me. One other thing, should they be looking at a i7 or xeon. Aren't they the same thing with the Xeon having support for ECC memory. Do they really need a Xeon and ECC memory?

You only need 1 monitor until you've had 3.

Xeons and i7's are the same chips with a different CPUID and different availability with regard to speed grades.

Do they need a Xeon with ECC? No.
Do they need to spend $3k on a machine for office tasks? No.
Would they be better off using that $3k to buy a $1k machine every 3 years?

Most definitely. Let's see, a decade of computer use vs. 5 years use (max). Seems like an easy choice for $3k. Would you really want to use a $3k machine from 2001?

 

[KeithP]

You may want to look at a service like Carbonite or BackBlaze for off site back up. Also, get a good quality UPS.

-KeithP

 

[zerogear]

Buy from Dell Business or HP Business (or other PC makers with business warranty option). They have next day fix/replacement with their business products so you can have minimal downtime.

 

[aceO07]

You should also figure out what software it needs on it. Don't think that most of the $3k will go towards hardware.

Seems like the requirements are really meant for 1 workstation and a NAS/server.

 

[imagoon]

I would chime in here... The desktops I deploy here top out at $900 and have an expected 4 year life. They handle all business functions just fine. Except CAD but that is a different animal.