On 4/24/25 10:21, Eddie wrote:
I am looking at the Staples Dell refurbished desktops for a debian
machine. No windows! I believe a hard drive and around 16gb but am not
sure of processor and do not want nvidia card. Thoughts appreciated.
Dell factory refurbished computers are pricey. Used Dell computers can
be found at lower prices on eBay, but you may have to deal with issues.
For a graphical desktop computer, a SATA III SSD will be much more
responsive than a HDD. An NVMe PCIe 3.0 x4 SSD is even better.
16 GB of memory should be enough for typical desktop usage. I prefer
and recommend ECC memory.
I prefer Intel built-in graphics alone; no alternate or additional GPU.
For several months last year, my daily driver was a Dell Precision 3630
with a Xeon E-2174G processor, 2 @ 16 GB ECC memory modules, a 1 TB NVMe
PCIe 3.0 x4 SSD (Windows 10 Workstation), and a 60 GB SATA III SSD
(Debian). Performance was impressive, but the compact tower case used
by this and similar models has some common problems -- power supplies
(PSU) tend to fail, power button LED's tend to fail, slim optical drives
tend to fail, and cooling is inadequate when you add components. I
replaced the Dell 300 W PSU with an aftermarket 430 W PSU. I replaced
the power button assembly with a new Dell assembly. When I added two 3
TB HDD's, I also added a Dell 120 mm front fan (power adapter required).
My current daily driver is a Dell PowerEdge T30 with a Xeon E3-1225 v5
processor, 2 @ 8 GB ECC memory, and a 60 GB SATA 6 Gbps SSD (Debian).
Performance is good and standard fans are adequate (and quiet).
David
