Two low spec PCs, build or buy.

smacl

Currently looking to replace two older PCs which are part of a continuous integration system in my development setup. They don't need to be particularly high spec, but will be running a lot of the time so need to be reliable. Don't need monitors or O/S. Looking for mid-range Intel or Ryzen processor, basic graphics, 8gb or 16gb ram, quiet and runs cool. Looking at Dell, budget gets me Optiplex or Inspiron with i3 and 8gb, and O/S that I don't want.

1. What is your budget? ~ €1,000

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer? Running regression tests and building installations

3. Do you need a copy of Windows? No

4. Can you use any parts from an old computer? SSD / Hard drives, DVD

5. Do you need a monitor? No

5b. If no, what resolution is your current monitor and do you plan to upgrade in the near future? 1280x1024, but rarely actually switched on, run through remote desktop.

6. Do you need any of these peripherals? No

7. Are you willing to try overclocking? No

8. How can you pay? Card, Paypal or transfer

9. When are you purchasing? Next couple of months

10. If you need help building it, where are you based? Dublin

I've also a bunch of older Optiplexs knocking around (3 x 720s, 2 x 620s) and am toying around with the idea of simply getting new mobos, CPUs and RAM for these as an option. They're all small form factor, but wondering if mini-ATX would work. Anyone done this?

K.O.Kiki

Like this?

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 3 2200G 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£77.99 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: ARCTIC - Freezer 33 CPU Cooler (£23.50 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: ASRock - AB350M Pro4 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard (£63.32 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Team - Vulcan 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory (£128.99 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Case: Cooler Master - MasterBox Lite 3 (Windowed) MicroATX Mini Tower Case (£35.99 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: be quiet! - Pure Power 10 400W 80+ Silver Certified ATX Power Supply (£45.97 @ Amazon UK)
Case Fan: ARCTIC - F12 PWM 74.0 CFM 120mm Fan (£4.99 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Total: £380.75
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-07-19 01:43 BST+0100

€427.

smacl

Thanks K.O.Kiki. Do you reckon the wraith stealth cooler included with the Ryzen 3 isn't up to the job for long term use? I know the older AMD 8350 stuff all needed an after market cooler but I thought they'd sorted this with Ryzen.

Xenoronin

Personal preference I'd say with the fan. Makes it possible to overclock and eek out a little more performance. The stock is fine if you don't plan on that for a while.

cherryghost

Ryzen 3 (either gen) runs quite cool on stock cooler due to low power consumption. Stock is fine on Ryzen 3.

smacl

Xenoronin wrote: »

Personal preference I'd say with the fan. Makes it possible to overclock and eek out a little more performance. The stock is fine if you don't plan on that for a while.

Not looking for much performance on these PCs, they're basically sitting in a corner building software installations and running test cases on an ongoing basis, typically accessed through remote desktop. Was actually looking to replace with a rack server, but it seems to come out way more expensive.

Xenoronin

Any reason why you wouldn't buy a single machine and create VMs? It'd be a little more flexible.

smacl

Xenoronin wrote: »

Any reason why you wouldn't buy a single machine and create VMs? It'd be a little more flexible.

Mainly because the build / installation side of things is very disk bound in terms of performance and would potentially hinder the testing which can also be quite disk intensive. I'm also measuring performance (i.e. total time taken per test) on the testing, so shared resources would interfere with this. Apart from knowing that a new build breaks a piece of existing functionality, I need to know if it significantly hinders it or improves it. Something like a Ryzen 7 with specific VMs locked to specific sets of cores and physical HDDs might work but it's a fair bit of messing for no more gain than a few square feet of floor space and would possible cost as much or more.