Best hardware for a replacement desktop?

[Aryeh Friedman]

Forgot to give my use case for the machine (top posting since it is not
completely in line with any of the other comments in the message:

1. I am mostly a freelance webapp developer (tomcat9/jdk8 plus some
libraries I have written then will when more mature released to the ports
collection)

2. I play some html5 based games (not graphic intensive but slightly
bandwidth hungry)

3. I have developed a micro-IaaS based around bhyve (see interview in Jan.
2017 BSD mag for details) [the main reason why the machine I am replacing
as my desktop is my desktop is even after working with the bhyve team found
it was impossible to enable virtualization even when the BIOS said it was
enabled]

4. I use it as a replacement for my TV/cable (download/stream shows)

5. General small business/office use

On Mon, Jul 22, 2019 at 3:26 PM Aryeh Friedman <aryeh.friedman at gmail.com>
wrote:

>
>
> On Mon, Jul 22, 2019 at 3:01 PM Paul Pathiakis <pathiaki2 at yahoo.com>
> wrote:
>
>>
>> On Monday, July 22, 2019, 2:01:25 PM EDT, Robert Huff <roberthuff at rcn.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>> Aryeh Friedman writes:
>>
>> >  > You need an uninterruptible power supply (UPS):
>> >  >
>> >  > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uninterruptible_power_supply
>> >
>> >  Already on my shopping list but half the problem is the machine is
>> >  a name HP and looking at the specs I have likely put more demand on
>> >  the power supply then I can supply if there any drop in voltage.
>>
>>     I'd be interested to hear how you do this ... but assuming it's
>> true your solution has two parts:
>>
>>     1) the UPS to deal with the "power hiccups".  Before you buy,
>> check ports/sysutils to see what models are covered by available
>> software.
>>     2) a more vigorous internal power supply.  I have no idea if it's
>> even possible to upgrade HP products short of having HP do it (and
>> maybe not even then).
>>
>>
>>             Respectfully,
>>
>>
>>                 Robert Huff
>>
>>
>>
>> ## Adding to this....
>>
>> If this is more than just a low end server, you may want to buy a UPS
>> with a pure sine wave vs a simulated sine wave.  They are  a little more
>> expensive, but tend to be better in controlling spikes/dirty power.
>>
>> As for a new desktop, if you're reasonably inclined, build your own.  At
>> this point in time, steer clear of Intel and look at AMD's products. Their
>> new Ryzen 3000 series kicks butt and is about 50-75% of the cost.  Go with
>> an X570 motherboard (it has PCIe 4.0) and an AM4 socket. The compatibility
>> with the AM4 socket looks to be good for about 3-4 years vs intel's "new
>> cpu new socket -> new motherboard" mentality.  Depending on your graphics
>> needs either a separate card that can be upgraded or go with the new AMD
>> Ryzen/Navi APUs with the graphics in the chip... (low end but good for word
>> processing, etc NOT gaming - separate card if you game).  With the new AM4
>> socket the APUs are an inexpensive alternative to buying separate graphics
>> and CPU and when you go beyond the abilities on either just buy the latest
>> APU.
>>
>> Typically, the new Ryzen chips also consume about 1/3 less power too.
>>
>> So, for about $500 you can buy a SERIOUS powered machine with an upgrade
>> path versus being locked into a canned vendor like Dell or HP.
>>
>
> Here is what I have in mind so far (note I *REFUSE* to buy mail
> order/online so this is what is in my local MicroCenter):
>
> CPU (Ryzen 3600 $200.00 65 watts w/ fan):
> https://www.microcenter.com/search/search_results.aspx?Ntk=all&sortby=match&N=4294966995+4294819840+4294810797+4294819827+4294818783+4294815097&myStore=true
>
> Motherboard (x570 AMD 4 ATX $170):
> https://www.microcenter.com/search/search_results.aspx?Ntk=all&sortby=match&N=4294966996+4294810816+4294818900+4294818892+4294810798+4294817766+4294818045+4294818894+4294810687+4294815404+4294818877+4294815402+39&myStore=true
>
> Power supply (850 watt $130 ATX):
> https://www.microcenter.com/search/search_results.aspx?Ntk=all&sortby=match&N=4294966654+4294818900+795+4294817377+780+4294817027&myStore=true
>
> Case (minitower ATX $75):
> https://www.microcenter.com/search/search_results.aspx?Ntk=all&sortby=match&N=4294964318+4294821211+4294821002+4294811319+749+4294821195+4294821206+4294821207&myStore=true
>
> RAM (16 GB DDR4-3200 $70):
> https://www.microcenter.com/search/search_results.aspx?Ntk=all&sortby=match&N=4294966965+4294817445+4294820310+37&myStore=true
>
> Reuse keyboard/mouse/video card/monitor
>
> Total: $645
> Aryeh M. Friedman, Lead Developer, http://www.PetiteCloud.org
>


-- 
Aryeh M. Friedman, Lead Developer, http://www.PetiteCloud.org