So my PC arrived.
4k AIO
Ryzen 1400
8gb RAM @2600Mhz
128gb ssd
1Tb hdd
8Gb rx580
Wondows 10
Disappointments ... lets get those out of the way.
1. Dell supplied the PC with 2x4Gb sticks of RAM. Dual channel doesn't make much difference for most things. I'd rather they gave me 1x8Gb and then if I wanted more RAM, I could buy a single 8gb stick and add it. Now if I want 16gb I have to buy a full 16gb. So Thork you very much for that Dell.
2. ... no, I'm all out.
Bonuses
1. It arrived with no crapware on it. I don't know if it had its brains scrabbled when they refurbished it, but no McAfee, no stupid games, nothing that wants to ring Dell and report my data ... just wondows.
2. It is in mint condition. Not a scratch, a smudge, no fingerprints on the screen. It is new. I worried being refurbished what that might mean as to the prior owner, but it looks like they just sent the box back without even opening it. It could just be Dell wanting to shift a bit of stock. I've no idea but its brand new and I saved almost 50% on it. Well worth the risk in this case.
3. Came with a sturdy little mouse that has a mouse wheel. I am not going to use it, but knowing I have one and Parsifal would like one can be chalked up as a little bonus.
Surprises
1. The 4k screen is epic. I know I only bought a PC because I wanted a 4k screen, but now I have one ... even on this site the text is so crisp, the logo is sharp ... and I can see where I came from because the smileys are like little smudges at this point. Its like I popped on some glasses and now everything is so smooth. I thought I may have scaling issues but haven't encountered any so far ... I think the world is now ready for 4k where as 3 years ago 4k would have been a ball ache.
2. Holy crap that rx580 is a beast. So much more graphics card than I wanted, but really nice to have. Forza 7 runs really well and I'm just downloading the Witcher 3. Yes, its an older game but I haven't played many games in the last 10 years. Pretty much all games are new to me. It doesn't seem cut down in any way. Comparing benchmarks on things like Heaven 4.0 it runs exactly as you'd expect any other stock rx580 to run ... so I'm guessing it just pulls as much power as it wants.
3. Quieter than I anticipated. I thought I would take a hit in the sound department, but during everyday work its like having a baby rabbit sleeping on the desk. Playing games is a different story. It really ramps up but isn't so loud as to ruin the sound of the game. The machine deals with the heat really well and the fan stops pumping so hard the instant you take the load off the machine and the back is still cool to the touch. The CPU and GPU temps stay as cool as any desktop I've seen those parts in.
4. I was thinking of getting an NVMe drive for the boot drive because I had one in my last PC. To be honest the ssd in this although slower isn't really noticeable in general use. Everything boots instantly. I'm not even going to bother.
I had the wasted half day of loading MS office, getting my mail accounts on it, putting all my favourite software on there, putting all the settings how I like them, doing all the updates, adding my NAS drive etc ... but now its all done this is by far the best computer I have ever owned by some distance. I didn't really need a new computer and thought I'd be tinged with buyers remorse, but for £719 I think I got an absolute steal.
Oh, and I picked a name. She is called Adele ... because that's what she is.