There are plenty of handsome and efficient external DVD drives (sometimes with DVD players built in) about. Once you've got one, you'll never need to weigh up whether you need an internal one again.

<edit> And I suspect one will last until DVDs are are definitively redundant.

You'll no doubt be able to get wifi built into the mobo to get around using any extra cards or requiring further slots.

Unless your eyesight is excellent, and your hands tiny, nimble and strong, you will profoundly curse trying to fit a tiny case.

Yeah, I'm thinking ATX/Micro-ATX rather than anything smaller.

Hmph. The i5-4570 has a higher "cpu mark" rating than the Athlon X4 950 I got two years ago. Also it currently retails for ~Can.$270 (compared to the ~Can.$100 I paid for the Athlon), so the pc is deffo some kind of bargain (we took delivery of it a couple of days ago, so I'll be setting it up this weekend).

According to system info, the i5-4570 in MrsD.'s 'new' pc  has virtualization disabled (a feature she'll likely never need), which could explain the low price (pc originally ~US$800 new). However, the cpu is upgradeable, and there's an open pci-x16 slot for a discreet gpu (integrated Intel HD 4600 onboard), useful to know for future repurposing, though there are likely significant performance-limiting factors. She is quite taken with Windows 10; the latest iteration has the dreaded tiling replaced with a more familiar and user-friendly classic desktop.

Strangely, the dvd writer it came with is a slim/laptop design of appalling slow read speed (or maybe it didn't like a data disk I burned on my pc to xfer her documents).

Virtualization might just be disabled in the BIOS. But honestly you'll only need it if you plan to run virtual machines on it.

I didn't think to check there. Yeah, it is unlikely to be needed unless/until it passes into my hands. I don't use it much anymore anyway, except for occasional testing.

You burned a DVD to transfer her documents? Really?
You picked that option over a network share or USB drive/stick?

It made a 'hard copy' backup and I thought the file copy might be faster than over our 100 Mbs lan. The dvd read was so slow on the new pc I would up going over the lan. Got the backup though.

I've only skimmed the thread so excuse me if I say stuff that has already been said. Maybe you've already bought a new PC by now. WHO CAN POSSIBLY KNOW without reading.

Yeah AMD's better than Intel for CPUs right now. Partly just because they've got better, partly because multi-core stuff is starting to matter more and also in large part because they're not as susceptible to the speculative execution/prediction vulnerabilities that have been discovered lately (and thus don't require the costly mitigations).

GPU wise, last time I looked, AMD's better (value for money) at the bottom end and in the middle, Nvidia's better at the top. Also AMD cards tend to be power hungry if that's a concern. If you're going to be running Linux, go AMD cos their open source drivers are really good now.

For your main drive *totally* go with NVMe for your system drive. They're about the same price as normal SSDs now and *much* faster.

This is pretty much the best one and not that pricey: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-MZ-V7S1T0BW-Solid-State-Drive/dp/B07MBQPQ62/

This cheaper one is still going to be miles faster than a normal SSD: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Crucial-CT1000P1SSD8-Solid-State-Drive/dp/B07J2Q4SWZ/

I've got a mini-ITX PC currently and it's fine. You do have to pick your graphics card carefully but other than that it's been no different to a full-size thing.

And yeah, might as well go 32GB and all that blah blah blah.

Hello.

 

{{{Xen}}}

You alright chief?

Aye, reet. Thasen?

(hug)

Aye.

Well then. That's that, see you in a few years?

Might stay for a cuppa...

kinell. it's thee. !!

Ahreet lad!

Helloaeteaoaoaia!

I haven't bought anything yet - I'm waiting until I know I've got a few weekends at home when I can take the time to properly faff. From what I've seen, the Ryzen 5 3600 seems to be the popular choice of CPU just now, although I need to figure out the appropriate motherboard, and take into account if it needs flashed or not. GPU, I'm looking at splashing out on an NVidia, but haven't fully made up my mind. I can afford to, so why not, eh?

I'll be taking your advice on the SSD.

Going to go ATX, as I've got space for it.

But it'll be a few weeks before I'm in a position to buy. Possibly even a month. How did I get so busy!?

Eyup Xen. Muffin?

Ooh, love one. English with butter please.