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didnt really know where to post this... also general discussion on old shitty pcs...

so ive been looking around at some older refurbished towers and im lost. heres the deal.. i dont need anything too high powered. ive never been too smart with the hardware ive basically just had machines and worked with what i got.. also im relatively broke due to other investments on a camera and a yeti mic.. so i got like $200 max..

things i would like to use it for:

renoise
fl studio (older version like 7)
google hangouts
skype
video streaming (youtube, netflix, crunchyroll)
discord
very light video editing
deflemask
emulator stuff mainly gba and snes
audacity
famitracker
basic media player stuff
going to hook a camera up to it

would also like to dual boot with a lighter distro of linux

i mean ive been looking at the dell optiplex machines but theres seems to be compatability issues between different models with random shit...

is what i want unrealistic for my budget?

ive been looking at stuff for almost 2 weeks and i feel like a huge pleb.

what should i be looking for?

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200 is a tough price point. Consider this: a windows licence is $120 right there.Most of the things you want are on the web. But you want to run some video editing and music software, there are free versions for Linux! What you need is a Linux laptop. I buy mine through ava direct for around 500. But there is the Alpha Litebook for 250. Linux is not for the feint of heart.

I would suggest saving a little for a $500 machine with Windows 10.

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SRAM wrote:

200 is a tough price point. Consider this: a windows licence is $120 right there.Most of the things you want are on the web. But you want to run some video editing and music software, there are free versions for Linux! What you need is a Linux laptop. I buy mine through ava direct for around 500. But there is the Alpha Litebook for 250. Linux is not for the feint of heart.

I would suggest saving a little for a $500 machine with Windows 10.


im actually well versed in linux being that my last 2 machines were debian and ive ran ubuntu on 2 other machines. im not limiting myself to a windows machine..

ive been looking at stuff like this https://www.amazon.com/Refurbished-Opti … B0155KLQ2K

i dont need a keyboard, mouse or monitor.. idk i feel since the most intensive stuff im going to do is video chat theres gotta be a cheap alternative

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São Paulo, Brazil

Got a ThinkPad x220 (i5, 4mb ram) for 120 usd on ebay a couple of years ago. Put a SSD on it, installed Ubuntu and it's a great machine, Renoise runs smoothly.

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I got a thinkpad l430 a few years ago used on Amazon for $200. I used linux for a year or two until I could get a windows license, and it works fine for all the things you listed, if you baby it. You can even record games if you turn the settings down low (most Source engine games, minecraft with optifine, some RPGs, etc.) FL Studio works fine, but you'll need a wide buffer, and you'll have to prerender any cpu intensive sounds with the recording and rendering features.

   If you get a thinkpad and install windows, then make sure to install all the drivers and to configure your system to use all the cores. You can have a lot of things open, but if the system gets slow, use task manager to shut down processes. I recommend Firefox, because it doesn't run in the background like chrome or chromium, and it can preload entire videos into memory using the html5 player. For Linux, you can download a desktop environment that isn't resource intensive, or for full performance on windows, go to control panel, system, advanced system settings, performance, and optimize for best performance.

   OBS is really good for recording, and I've never had a problem with it.
I use Shotcut, and Openshot for video editing, and they are both pretty easy to edit with as long as you wait for the programs to catch up with you, and rendering doesn't take too long at all, though I wouldn't recommend doing anything while it works.

   On Thinkpads, and laptops in general, you can usually install an extra sodimm. I upgraded to 4 GB.
The L430 has 3 USB 2.0 ports and a USB 3.0 port.
You can definately buy one of these and run with it, but you should get a newer model.

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Hey guys! I'm in the market to buy a PC. This isn't for my personal use; it's for the family.

Specs in mind:
-Processor: atleast Intel core i7 / AMD Threadripper 1900X
-8-16GB RAM
-1 TB SSD
-USB 3.0 ports
-DVD/Blu-ray player

My budget is about $1200-1500. Though I don't plan on doing any PC gaming, I don't know what it may be used for down the line. Plus, I want it to last. I also already have a VGA monitor, keyboard, and speakers. Thanks all!

(okay, I know I'm not talking about old/used PCs)

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IL, US
Arc-Demon wrote:

Hey guys! I'm in the market to buy a PC. This isn't for my personal use; it's for the family.

Specs in mind:
-Processor: atleast Intel core i7 / AMD Threadripper 1900X
-8-16GB RAM
-1 TB SSD
-USB 3.0 ports
-DVD/Blu-ray player

My budget is about $1200-1500. Though I don't plan on doing any PC gaming, I don't know what it may be used for down the line. Plus, I want it to last. I also already have a VGA monitor, keyboard, and speakers. Thanks all!

(okay, I know I'm not talking about old/used PCs)

what do you need an i7 for if you aren't gaming with it? heavy video editing use? for just a general purpose family computer, the i7 is probably overkill, all your other specs can be had for around half your budget (with an i5 instead of the i7, even the i7 would leave it well below your budget the last i checked). don't spend more than you need to, that money can go towards gear, beer, delicious food, or if you really just don't care you can always paypal me any excess funds wink

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The Forest, WA

get an old late 2011 macbook for music my dude. you can boot into windows if you want too. macbooks are better with mid in my experience.
my macbook pro is upgradable and now has 16g ram and duel i7 core. but sinc eyou use fruity loops your gunna need to boo into windows.. or you could start using ableton wink

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e.s.c. wrote:

what do you need an i7 for if you aren't gaming with it? heavy video editing use?

Yes. The reason for the higher-end processor is because I already know I can install more RAM. I could even add another hard drive, but how easily can I upgrade the processor? Do I need to know how to solder?

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The intel NUCs are a really good bang for the buck https://www.staples.com/Intel-NUC-NUC6C … lsrc=aw.ds

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You need to consider for what purposes you buy the PC