Today I Was Given A Computer.....

[Ron99]

Dell OptiPlex 780
Intel Core 2 Quad Q8300 2.5GHz
8GB RAM
64-bit (x64)
500GB HDD
Running Windows 10

What should I expect from it in terms of capabilities?

It's intended as an interim computer, filling the gap between my currently-dying computer* and the autumn when our household will need a decent gaming PC (kids eager to play a particular game which releases in the autumn so probably a good idea to wait and see what specs the new game will require).


(*)
Several people I know have told me their Windows 8 PCs stopped working or don't run well since doing updates in recent months.

[romeodelta]

Perfectly fine spec.

Depending how old it is, the HDD may have seen better days, so it may be worth chucking in a cheap cloned SSD or even a fresh install.

Should fly along then and you can put it in your new machine when you get it, to expand the storage.

[Slushbox]

What (s)he said.

The old Optiplexes are good 'business-class' machines and that's a decent CPU.

There might be eleven years of fluff in the PSU and cooling fans, under the CPU heat-sink. :-)

Ideally, the BIOS should be upgraded to the latest/last version pronto, (A15) it will be on the Dell web site, or you can download Dell SupportAssist from the Windows Store which will also check for missing drivers.

https://www.dell.com/support/home/uk/en/ukbsdt1/pr...

The hard drive will be the slowest part of the computer.

As mentioned, sticking a £30 SSD in it for a system disk (clone the OP sys over with Macrium or similar) will have the machine flying along. Windows 10 updates will be fine.

Q8300 is a quad core CPU which benchmarks at about 3000 (Passmark) - only slightly less than the later i3-2100 Sandy Bridge chip. 8GB ram is fine for an office machine.

I have Opti 790's here with SSDs, excellent W10 machines.

Edited by Slushbox on Wednesday 10th July 06:46

[peterperkins]

Another vote for Optiplex (790) in my case.
Solid, reliable, and with an SSD works very well.

[Derek Smith]

peterperkins said:

Another vote for Optiplex (790) in my case.
Solid, reliable, and with an SSD works very well.

I'd suggest an SSD as well. I got one for my desktop and it was the biggest single improvement in performance I've ever had from just one component. I bought SSDs for my two laptops within a couple of months. Very affordable nowadays. £60 for 480 gig and 250s ar at give-away prices.

[condor]

Ron99 said:

(*)
Several people I know have told me their Windows 8 PCs stopped working or don't run well since doing updates in recent months.

Last weekend I thought my laptop was dying - looked at task manager and found it was at 95% memory. Disc clean up revealed that there were windows update files that would free up 2GB of disc space. It took 6 hours for the disc clean up prog to remove them but I now have 46% memory and laptop is running well. There are lots of temporary files that can be deleted too.

Just a thought in case you hadn't tried using disc clean up.

[Ron99]

Thanks for the replies and some useful suggestions.

[Derek Smith]

condor said:

Last weekend I thought my laptop was dying - looked at task manager and found it was at 95% memory. Disc clean up revealed that there were windows update files that would free up 2GB of disc space. It took 6 hours for the disc clean up prog to remove them but I now have 46% memory and laptop is running well. There are lots of temporary files that can be deleted too.

Just a thought in case you hadn't tried using disc clean up.

I've got a couple of 'spare' HDDs that I use as clones of the SSD in my desktop. One is the current setup, completed every time I put new software on - not that often now. The other is a clone of a clean install of Windows with MS Office. I update every 6 months or so (more or so) and then clone that onto the SSD yearly (every 15-18 months).

The advantages are that clutter is removed. Further, when it comes to reloading programmes, I don't bother with those I never use.

I went from a 2TB HDD for the OS to a 480 SSD yet, with my method, there's still lots of space available.

[mattley]

Slushbox said:

The old Optiplexes are good 'business-class' machines and that's a decent CPU.

I would agree with the 'business-class' assessment but that CPU doesn't have AES NI which means all encryption has to be done in software. Not an issue for running local programs but things that use https like web mail or pretty much anything online these days might be a little bit frustratingly slow.

[Slushbox]

It's a good point. No BitCoin mining either. :-)

The later Opti 790s with Sandy Bridge i3-2100 processors also don't have AES-NI but they are very usable 'Office' and web surfing machines for general use with an SSD fitted. Lack of AES doesn't seem to cause any problems. (We've got two Opti's with them fitted.)

BitLocker on the other hand, is about 25% slower without AES-NI, should it be needed.

Edited by Slushbox on Wednesday 10th July 19:56

[anonymous-user]

Ron99 said:

Dell OptiPlex 780
Intel Core 2 Quad Q8300 2.5GHz
8GB RAM
64-bit (x64)
500GB HDD
Running Windows 10

What should I expect from it in terms of capabilities?

It's intended as an interim computer, filling the gap between my currently-dying computer* and the autumn when our household will need a decent gaming PC (kids eager to play a particular game which releases in the autumn so probably a good idea to wait and see what specs the new game will require).


(*)
Several people I know have told me their Windows 8 PCs stopped working or don't run well since doing updates in recent months.

It's fine for general use
They come in various forms don't they ? Mid tower/ SFF etc

Anyway we have similar in one of the places we use and its fine for most things
Personally I would
Pop in an SSD and new install of Windows 10 - you can download the SO and make a bootable USB drive from it
Even if its the SFF type you can still pop an SSD in there as well as existing drives
I would then after the SSD is in wipe the original drive and just use it for storage. You cannot put any more RAM in as 8GB is its limit so the SSD is the best improvement you can make

[Jinx]

I still have a Dell Inspiron 540s (Slimline) running as an HTPC (Core 2 Quad 8200, 4GB Memory) from April 2009. I put in a cheap SSD (£20) and a clean install of Linux Mint and it happily plays Amazon prime etc.
You may even be able to play some games if you drop a Nvidia 1650 in there (one of the 75W ones that don't require additional power) .

[Ron99]

Thanks again, folks!

Currently using the old girl to type this reply.

I got a friend to help and the computer has now been de-fluffed, fresh installation of Windows etc.
Haven't done the SSD upgrade. Haven't put Office on it yet.

It's running much better than what it replaced, probably mostly due to the new wine in the old bottle.

In one of the replies someone mentioned Intel i3 2100. In fact my previous mid-spec (for its time) Windows 8.1 computer (Compaq/HP) has i3 2120T 2.6GHz, 4GB RAM, 64-bit. It's actually one of the most hateful computers I've ever owned.

Many years ago I used to be a keen PC gamer, having spent £1-1.5k on a handful of occasions on well-spec'd computers but that ended when we moved to our 'family' house where the internet was almost unusable, with regular disconnections regardless of 'supplier' (because they were all having to use a decades-old BT cable to our village) and internet speed was only about 10% of what was then typical even when it did work.

But with us now having 'average' internet speed by todays standards and kids interested in computer games, it'll soon be time for a new gaming PC. I might even get back into gaming myself. I'll start a new topic on gaming PCs shortly.

Thanks again for the help and advice. It's appreciated.