Opinions on refurbished desktop I'm considering...

Hi, guys!

I was hoping to get some feedback on the following low-end refurbished desktop I’m considering. It will not be my primary work machine: I am days away from receiving my custom-built MSI GS63 STEALTH-061 from HIDevolution, and that will be my premier work unit, in and out of my office.

However, I also use a desktop when I’m in need of a larger screen (a monitor, in this case, which I already have); the desktop I have now is fairly low-end and beginning to get wonky on me. I bought it in 2012 for $300, and it’s performed admirably, all things considered.

Anyway, I need a desktop to replace it--nothing fancy, just powerful and fast enough to deal with Word documents, .pdf docs, a few installed apps to help with my work (dictionary, etc.), my ESET AV, and a decent amount of Internet research (8 windows open) via Firefox—no interminable circling, just straight to what I need. (Unfortunately, the wireless setup for this unit is 1x1, which won’t make connectivity all that speedy.) And, yes, I will occasionally use the DVD tray to watch a movie--or stream one from Netflix or whatever; but that wouldn't be a frequent activity.

I will clearly need help to reinstall a clean version of Windows 10 to remove as much bloatware as possible. But that’s after I receive whatever I buy.

And since this wouldn’t be a HIDevolution purchase—they don’t really offer those kinds of desktops—I’m thinking of using one of the big box resellers.

Anyway, here’s what I found today (again, this is a refurbished desktop). Opinions would be very welcome!

Refurbished HP Pavilion 570-p030 Desktop Intel Core i7, 1TB HDD, 12GB RAM, Windows 10.
PRICE $490:

Processor: 7th generation Intel Core i7-7700 Quad-Core processor, 3.60 GHz.

Memory: 12GB DDR4-2400 SDRAM memory (1x4 GB, 1x8 GB).

Hard Drive: 1TB 7200RPM SATA hard drive

Operating System: Windows 10 Home

Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 630

Connectivity: Wireless LAN 802.11a/b/g/n/ac (1x1) and Bluetooth 4.2 M.2

Optical Drive: DVD-Writer, to watch DVD movies or write your own media

Ports: 6 (2 x 2.0, 3 x 3.0, 1 x USB 3.0 Type-C), 1 x HDMI Out to transmit digital HD video and sound to an external display

Sound: 5.1 surround sound

1 x HDMI and 1 x VGA at rear I/O area for multi-display capabilities

Dimensions (H x W x D): 12.09" x 6.42" x 12.40" (unpackaged)

Weight: 12.57 lbs. (unpackaged)

HP USB Wired Keyboard with volume control and Wired Optical Mouse

Warranty: 1-Year limited Hardware warranty, 90 days Limited Technical support for Software and Initial Setup (from date of purchase)
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Thanks!

 

I would say that the refurbished one your looking at will do what you need it to do. Especially since it has a 7th gen 7700 (non K) CPU which is no slouch.

I'm not a fan of onboard graphics. As long as your not going to be playing graphic extensive games, then it will do just fine IMO.

Below is a link to help with a clean install of Windows 10. Kudos to Phoenix, he knows how to tweak Windows 10, no doubt.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/nbr-windows-10-clean-installation-guide.781178/

EDIT***Link below. If possibly someday you wanted to put a GPU in it and do some light gaming on it.

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-3352680/graphics-card-510-p030.html

 

Terrific! Thank you, @KY_BULLET--I appreciate the feedback. I know I'll be asking @Phoenix for help when the time comes (for my MSI laptop especially), and maybe when I'm ready for a better GPU, who knows? I might be experienced enough to change it myself.

The links are great--thank you for them as well!

Best, Sona

 

I just carried home a new case for my computer, it alone was like 50% of that price... So yea, that is a nice price indeed.

Until new graphics cards are released, nVidia GTX1050Ti would be my choise. There are select models that only need power from the PCIE slot so the current power supply is good enough.

Someone else has been asking the same thing:
https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Deskt...i-fit-inside-a-Pavilion-570-p020/td-p/6245202

Upgrading the graphics card will bring other benefits than just more gaming power. It will add more (digital) monitor ports, as the PC has only one now. Better image quality than VGA in case you want to use dual screens.

Edit: I almost forgot. In that linked thread there was a picture ( https://imgur.com/a/CJQqm ) and I can see the motherboard has m.2 slot for SSD too. One possible upgrade route there.

 

Thank you, @KLF--that's very interesting about changing the graphics card, similar to what @KY_BULLET said. That time may come.

The immediate question (as in "Will I regret buying this?") was the wireless connection, which ID'd itself as Wireless LAN 802.11a/b/g/n/ac (1x1) and Bluetooth 4.2 M.2.

As I understand it, that 1x1 will limit my download speed (in some cases by half) vs. 2x2, no matter what router or modem or whatever I'm using. Ideally I'd want 2x2--but that doesn't seem to be a perk of the less expensive desktop options.

Frustrating...

 

I have a strong feeling right now that the m.2 slot I mentioned earlier is used by that wlan/bluetooth card, so it is not available for ssd upgrade afterall.

How fast is your home internet? If it is slower than the speeds you will achieve with 1x1 card, then it doesn't actually matter.

 

Well, that's a good question. The PCs I use now have older wireless cards, so I've no way to know how fast the modem would be with good cards.

We are working off of a Ubee Model DDW36C modem/router from Spectrum (it isn't MU-MIMO, I don't think)--and my two PCs, each about 5-7 years old (the low-end desktop I'd like to replace and an Inspiron 15R that's doing well but is too heavy to lug around when I need to work out of my office) don't get higher download speeds than 35 Mbps or so; uploads are worse. My husband's PCs are older than mine.

That doesn't mean the Ubee wouldn't get me faster downloads with a more recent wireless card, but I've no way to tell. The MSI laptop that's coming will have an Intel Wireless AC 8265 2x2 (if I don't like it, I'll order a Killer). So I'll have a chance to compare when I run a speed test with that.

One of the problems I've found with the "big box" resellers is that they don't provide the intricate details of what-all is going into a PC they want to sell you. You get some info, basic stuff, and every now and then a bit more. But rarely everything you want to know. And the salespeople--and even the technicians--don't know how to answer your questions (or they answer them incorrectly). They also renumber or recategorize a PC so that you can't go on to the brand's site to find out for sure!

 

I guess it is this one: http://www.ubeeinteractive.com/products/cable/wireless-gateways/ddw36c-advanced-wireless-gateway "up to 686 Mbps downstream and 122 Mbps upstream"
It is capable enough but probably slowed down to more moderate speed by your internet provider.

There is a simple way to test: connect a laptop with a cable to that modem and disable wireless temporarily. Then run speedtest and see the result. If wireless speeds are close to the wired speed, I would do nothing. If there is a big difference however, even when close to the modem, then it might be worth checking into.

 

I can easily do a wired speed test, and I will, later today. But I'm not sure what you mean by "checking into" if there's a big difference. Do you mean speaking with Spectrum's tech support people (or having one come to fiddle with the modem)? Or do you mean playing with the configuration of the wireless cards in my current PCs?

I may also disconnect from Spectrum and connect to my Verizon MiFi unit and do a speed check with that, just to see.

Thank you very much for your input, @KLF--I'm sorry to be so ignorant, but there are so many variables in any single issue that it gets to be a bit confusing!

 

A simple driver upgrade and one of my laptops went from under 100mbps to 250+mbps speeds. That's what I meant by checking, things such are drivers up to date, anything else that might affect or is the particular network card just that slow...

On a wired connection I get over 900+mbps down, 130 up with that same laptop. Officially my connection is 1Gbit down, 100Mbit up but I don't expect to always hit maximum at those speeds. I even rate my wireless that varies from 200 to 250 as good enough (I can stream everything I want without problems) and my wired computers get the 800-900 every time I test.

 

Whoa! That's a pretty dramatic increase, just from a driver upgrade. Now I'm motivated to check that part out on my two current PCs, at the very least!

First I'll see what a wired connection does, speedwise.

Thanks!

 

Well, I thought I'd check in, @KY_BULLET, to let you know that I ended up checking my drivers first (my husband's watching TV right now, and it's right next to the Ubee modem/router, so...I'll have to wait to do a wired speed test).

Both PCs tell me that their wireless drivers are up-to-date. Now, I have never updated them consciously; perhaps they update themselves, I'm not sure. Or perhaps no driver updates have been issued for either wireless setup since I bought the PCs. I don't know.

The desktop, which is what I'm focused on in this thread, primarily, uses a Qualcomm Atheros AR9485 802.11 b/g/n adapter for wireless connectivity--and I found it in device manager, clicked on checking for updates, and was told everything is up-to-date, nothing new to be done.

So there we are.

I'll check back when I have the wired speed test.

Thanks!