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May 20, 2014
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I haven't bought a desktop computer for 10+ years but want to set up a little home office and I have had enough of laptops.

No gaming but would like something decent enough to have three screens and be able to stream on two of them and work (MS office/internet only) on a third.

Don't really know where to start these days.

Tower v. all in one?

What sort of minimum processor / processor speed / graphics card etc would I need to be looking at?

What are the cheaper brands that are ok and which are the ones to avoid? Don't want to spend iMac money but at the same time want something fit for purpose.

Cheers
 

dav3

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I wouldn't touch an All-in-one personally, I hear they're a bitch to try to repair or do anything with.

An alternative would be something like an Intel NUC, you can mount them to the VESA mount on the back of the monitor if you want the AIO feel. New ones have DisplayPort 1.2 so with the right monitors you can daisy chain them.

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Apr 10, 2017
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Depends on the real purpose... Are you doing development, stock markets, video editing, high end gaming..? 3 screens can be done cheaply, or $$$'s...

I've used AIO's and found them to be quite ok, and got rid of my reliable / older i5 NUC because I wanted more grunt.

I purchased an i5 9600K about 6 month ago and did my own mobo upgrade, water cooling and overclock. My situation is heavily CPU clock dependent as I wanted to get up to 5ghz ( I got 4.99ghz ), and reckon I could squeeze 5 if I had to. I went that way because I have an old game ( BMS Falcon ) that I want to run well.

If I was running modern games I would have gone i7, with an RTX 2080 but I just don't think the cost difference is warranted for MY needs. Even more so for i9. Team red/Ryzen are well and truly worth considering. Again, depends on needs....

With that said.... Maybe start with your budget first...AIO's and NUC's capable of 3 screens can be done pretty easy...

Ozbargain has lots of regular specials.

There's a Ryzen 5 3600 with an RTX 2080 for just under $1500... But that might be overkill depending on purpose..

Not sure if I emphasised the "needs" bit enough...
 

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May 20, 2014
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Depends on the real purpose... Are you doing development, stock markets, video editing, high end gaming..? 3 screens can be done cheaply, or $$$'s...

Not sure if I emphasised the "needs" bit enough...

Mostly so I can have the cricket/footy on one monitor and the racing channel on another and then the third to work or use the net or whatever.

I wouldn't think it would be over taxing but at the same time not sure if something entry level off the shelf will cut it either.
 
Apr 10, 2017
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Mostly so I can have the cricket/footy on one monitor and the racing channel on another and then the third to work or use the net or whatever.

I wouldn't think it would be over taxing but at the same time not sure if something entry level off the shelf will cut it either.
Ahh.

For something like that one of the Ryzen 5-3600 PC’s on Ozbargain with a decent video card. Alternatively, From intel an i5-9600 would be ok. You can go throw the dice on cheaper, but I ( personally ) wouldn’t... If you can stretch to an i7 - even better.

Although your application may not demand an RTX 2080 ( if you dont want to part with the coin ) I reckon for what you want, just do it. Importantly though, for sports viewing, i would shop for 3 quality screens of the same type, and make sure my GPU can drive them at the refresh rate the monitor is designed for. Thats a picky point, and not a lot of people will notice, but especially for racing, I would choose good screens and match the GPU. An RTX 2080 is unlikely to be troubled by your application.

Here’s a good guide for GPU’s. https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gpu-buying-guide,5844.html

Nothing less than 16GB RAM though.

Easy to do for less than $1500. You can do it cheaper, but thats a financial call.

PS - AMD have just released a new CPU and GPU but I am not familiar with them.
 

dav3

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Ahh.

For something like that one of the Ryzen 5-3600 PC’s on Ozbargain with a decent video card. Alternatively, From intel an i5-9600 would be ok. You can go throw the dice on cheaper, but I ( personally ) wouldn’t... If you can stretch to an i7 - even better.

Although your application may not demand an RTX 2080 ( if you dont want to part with the coin ) I reckon for what you want, just do it. Importantly though, for sports viewing, i would shop for 3 quality screens of the same type, and make sure my GPU can drive them at the refresh rate the monitor is designed for. Thats a picky point, and not a lot of people will notice, but especially for racing, I would choose good screens and match the GPU. An RTX 2080 is unlikely to be troubled by your application.

Here’s a good guide for GPU’s. https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gpu-buying-guide,5844.html

Nothing less than 16GB RAM though.

Easy to do for less than $1500. You can do it cheaper, but thats a financial call.

PS - AMD have just released a new CPU and GPU but I am not familiar with them.

An $1100 RTX 2080 is complete overkill for what they are trying to achieve
 
Apr 10, 2017
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An $1100 RTX 2080 is complete overkill for what they are trying to achieve
3 screens ? High refresh rate.
And not when the whole rig comes in under $1500.

I said it can be done cheaper but if he wants to stream sports on 2 screens, he should spend the money
 
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dav3

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3 screens ? High refresh rate.
And not when the whole rig comes in under $1500.

I said it can be done cheaper but if he wants to stream sports on 2 screens, he should spend the money
Three screens, two with streaming video and one with a browser......... that's not exactly a stressful load. Intel graphics happily runs 3 monitors, and if there happens to be an issue it's nothing a low-mid range card (ie under $200) can't fix. Nowhere have they mentioned a requirement for a high refresh rate, which would likely add another $1000ish to the price once you buy high refresh rate monitors. That puts them in the iMac territory they're trying to avoid.
 
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Three screens, two with streaming video and one with a browser......... that's not exactly a stressful load. Intel graphics happily runs 3 monitors, and if there happens to be an issue it's nothing a low-mid range card (ie under $200) can't fix. Nowhere have they mentioned a requirement for a high refresh rate, which would likely add another $1000ish to the price once you buy high refresh rate monitors. That puts them in the iMac territory they're trying to avoid.
Sports at a decent quality needs high refresh rates. You can stuff around doing it cheaper, as I've said twice already, but you are compromising quality. A lot.

But unless he has a decent internet connection, then it's a moot point.
 

dav3

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Sports at a decent quality needs high refresh rates. You can stuff around doing it cheaper, as I've said twice already, but you are compromising quality. A lot.

But unless he has a decent internet connection, then it's a moot point.
High refresh rates for sports are awesome, but when providers like Kayo encode most of their content at 1080p 50fps (apparently] it's irrelevant

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PAFC_1870

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3 screens ? High refresh rate.
And not when the whole rig comes in under $1500.

I said it can be done cheaper but if he wants to stream sports on 2 screens, he should spend the money
You don't need a 2080 to run 3 monitors....
 

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PAFC_1870

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there are cheap deals with 2080’s. $1500 for a pc with a 2080 is a bargain. On top of that, watching live sports at decent quality ( high refresh rates ) - anything else less is just piss farting around.
If you have no idea stop posting.

Refresh rates on Kayo does not require 2080s.

Those pre built while great value also have very sub standard components outside the CPU and GPU.
 

PAFC_1870

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Go back to school.
The world doesnt revolve around Kayo.
You are reccommending a $1200 GPU to stream video.

Are you all there? Judging by your posts you have absolutely no idea about anything pc related.

I have 2 2080 systems son.

You purchased a CPU to overclock to 5.0ghz to run a 20 year old game.... Lmao. Now you are giving advice?
 
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Apr 10, 2017
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You are reccommending a $1200 GPU to stream video.

Are you all there? Judging by your posts you have absolutely no idea about anything pc related.

I have 2 2080 systems son.

You purchased a CPU to overclock to 5.0ghz to run a 20 year old game.... Lmao. Now you are giving advice?
It’s a 1500 dollar computer... thats the point. It’s good value with that card, to run 3 screens.If you want a cheap toy, go for it. Cheap cards will run it sure - but they will be ALREADY out of date.

Lastly - You have no idea on what i do with BMS and why. Be very careful - you are about to be shown to be a fool. Have a look at the people who use BMS.
 

dav3

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It’s a 1500 dollar computer... thats the point. It’s good value with that card, to run 3 screens.If you want a cheap toy, go for it. Cheap cards will run it sure - but they will be ALREADY out of date.

Lastly - You have no idea on what i do with BMS and why. Be very careful - you are about to be shown to be a fool. Have a look at the people who use BMS.

Those Techfast rigs are junk, yes you get a lot for a low price but the quality of the components is trash.

But yes, you have no idea what you're talking about. Sure your little sim setup may require something like that, it doesn't mean that someone who could quite literally buy a $200 Dell refurb needs to. As for a 51 year old threatening people over the internet.......

 

PAFC_1870

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It’s a 1500 dollar computer... thats the point. It’s good value with that card, to run 3 screens.If you want a cheap toy, go for it. Cheap cards will run it sure - but they will be ALREADY out of date.
It's not good value.

You do not need a top of the line gaming card to stream internet content.

Now stop providing terrible advice.
 
Apr 10, 2017
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Those Techfast rigs are junk, yes you get a lot for a low price but the quality of the components is trash.

But yes, you have no idea what you're talking about. Sure your little sim setup may require something like that, it doesn't mean that someone who could quite literally buy a $200 Dell refurb needs to. As for a 51 year old threatening people over the internet.......


Enjoy fornite
BAAA35F6-D7CE-448E-AE76-99D2D57D21EE.jpeg
 

FPPF

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Instead of spending $1200 on a video card, get a mid range card and spend the extra money on a better CPU and more memory.
 

CooperSan

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Hamingja, did you purchase your 3 in 1 PC? Share your experience.
I don't see here key questions before building a 3 in 1 streaming PC. And they are - Budged, one screen for internet and soft -well, others two are for what?, screens (LCD, IPS, led/qled/oled/refresh rate) curved, small/bigger. Table diameters and what open space you have. Case can be small/big. Where did you want to hide it? And that's just the beginning. But most important budget! I have a 3 in 1 gaming system. I like to stream and share my experience in gaming with my auditory. And I have 1 PC for gaming and 1 PC for stream, so two of them under my table. I studied IT and work as Hardware engineer and have 2 lifes for day and night! After I got my cisco certificate with SPOTO ccnp dumps I was lifted and had big plans holding my pointing finger at the middle of my glasses (on my face), you know the meme. My field is hardware/speciality! I like it. I even watch Linus Tech Tips channel on youtube. IT is future! And PC's are at home in each house. Want to be on the wave with others, get knowledge! I wish possibilities to all!
 
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Thoughts on this for $800?

https://www.jbhifi.com.au/products/hp-s01-pf0315d-slim-desktop-tower-512gb-i5

At the moment just have a cheapo 5 year old Dell 3646, it's used just for web browsing and watching movies on a TV next to it. For something so basic most of the time it still does the job 'ok' even now but will at some stage also use it for streaming Kayo on the TV so have been thinking about getting something better.
 

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