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Specs on machine that will last 3 years

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wa77ss

Member
Joined
Jul 5, 2005
Location
Virginia
I need some specs for a computer that will last three years, at the minimum. This machine will be used everyday by multiple users, for up to 10hours a day.

Needs to have 10/100/1000 LAN, VGA (Yes VGA), ability to run Vista smoothly in the future, and be cost effective. This machine will be put in a business environment, so nothing fancy, just does what it needs to do.


I was thinking some kind of low end P45 board (Need a reliable manufacturer), with 2GB of RAM and a low end video card (Something like an 8400gs). Hard drive space is not very important, one 80GB drive will be plenty.


My main concern is system power, and making sure in two years this system isn't crawling when its running Windows Vista Business. Thanks for any help.
 
Memory is cheap and apps are using more and more memory. So I would jump to 4GB DDR2 atleast. Also, maybe throw a Q6600 in, apps are also becomeing more multi-thearded, or just go with a mid range C2D.
 
E1400
Gigabyte EP43-DS3L (or soon to be out G43/G45 based board for onboard vid.)
ATI 3450(passive)

should stay smooth for that long, granted "bloatware" isnt being installed on the pc.
 
The computers we buy here are speced out for a similar lifespan & usage (we're usually-single-user for 8hrs/day and still prefer XP), so what we buy may be insightful:

Dell Optiplex GX755
Core 2 Duo E6550
2GB RAM (2GB should be fine for Vista, but 4 is definatly safe :))
80GB 7200RPM SATA Drive
Radeon HD 2400 Pro (we get it for dual-head; its probably a wee bit slower than the 8400gs)
10/100/1000 Ethernet

These machines see everything from general office use (documents, web browsing, accessing databases) to light development work (Adobe suite).

JigPu
 
The computers we buy here are speced out for a similar lifespan & usage (we're usually-single-user for 8hrs/day and still prefer XP), so what we buy may be insightful:

Dell Optiplex GX755
Core 2 Duo E6550
2GB RAM (2GB should be fine for Vista, but 4 is definatly safe :))
80GB 7200RPM SATA Drive
Radeon HD 2400 Pro (we get it for dual-head; its probably a wee bit slower than the 8400gs)
10/100/1000 Ethernet

These machines see everything from general office use (documents, web browsing, accessing databases) to light development work (Adobe suite).

JigPu

Just what you need and definitely buy from a vendor. In a business environment the whole system warranty is nice and if something goes wrong you won't be the one blamed.
 
Yeah, for 3 years office use, 10 hours a day, custom built is NOT the way to go.

Go with a Pentium E 2160 or 2180, 4gb of memory, Western Digital hard drive (most reliable), and an Intel motherboard. Not intel based, but actual brand Intel motherboard. Those are the most sturdiest motherboards you can get your hands on.
 
The computers we buy here are speced out for a similar lifespan & usage (we're usually-single-user for 8hrs/day and still prefer XP), so what we buy may be insightful:

Dell Optiplex GX755
Core 2 Duo E6550
2GB RAM (2GB should be fine for Vista, but 4 is definatly safe :))
80GB 7200RPM SATA Drive
Radeon HD 2400 Pro (we get it for dual-head; its probably a wee bit slower than the 8400gs)
10/100/1000 Ethernet

These machines see everything from general office use (documents, web browsing, accessing databases) to light development work (Adobe suite).

JigPu

I have an optiplex gx755 as my work computer with an e8200, 2 gigs of ram, 160 gig hd, dvd burner, xp, and the radeon hd 2400 w/ dual dvi hooked up to two monitors. Nothing fancy, but it gets the job done.

I would defiantly go with an OEM with a good 3 year warranty.
 
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