New PC for BI recommendation

[bsk997]

Hi Guys,
Finally go back to BI and upgrading the old Alienware i3 machine and was looking for recommendations.

I have some Microcenter credit so I'd like to get something there if possible.
I'll eventually have 8-10 Dahau 1080@15fps cameras for the house.
It'll record continuously with motion events.

Here's the cheapest option at $250 which is an i5-4570 4th gen, 8gb ram. I'd get a SSD and 4gb purple HD.
Micro Center - Computers and Electronics
Would this computer work with room to grow to H265 when BI implements?

Another option is the same HP at $330 but with an I7-4770
Micro Center - Computers and Electronics

Last option would be a new Acer at $400 with an 8th gen I5-8400. I'd get a SSD and 4gb purple as well.
Micro Center - Computers and Electronics
Would this newer 8th gen give me the most room to grow laters?

Thanks for the input!

 

[fenderman]

Hi Guys,
Finally go back to BI and upgrading the old Alienware i3 machine and was looking for recommendations.

I have some Microcenter credit so I'd like to get something there if possible.
I'll eventually have 8-10 Dahau 1080@15fps cameras for the house.
It'll record continuously with motion events.

Here's the cheapest option at $250 which is an i5-4570 4th gen, 8gb ram. I'd get a SSD and 4gb purple HD.
Micro Center - Computers and Electronics
Would this computer work with room to grow to H265 when BI implements?

Another option is the same HP at $330 but with an I7-4770
Micro Center - Computers and Electronics

Last option would be a new Acer at $400 with an 8th gen I5-8400. I'd get a SSD and 4gb purple as well.
Micro Center - Computers and Electronics
Would this newer 8th gen give me the most room to grow laters?

Thanks for the input!

first two are way overpriced....check the drive capacity of acer...also note that it has windows home...4gb of memory is low, 8 is ideal

 

[zlandar]

I would not get the twp HPs. The case looks small form factor which severely limits your ability to add hard drives unless you wanted to put them in an external bay.

The Acer is fine. Bigger case with room to put in extra HDs.

 

[fenderman]

I would not get the twp HPs. The case looks small form factor which severely limits your ability to add hard drives unless you wanted to put them in an external bay.

The Acer is fine. Bigger case with room to put in extra HDs.

actually that is incorrect...the size of the case is irrelevant. Many of the acer "towers" only have two sata ports and not room to install an additional drive...those hp's have room for a 2.5 drive for ssd as well as a 3.5 drive...if you want more room you need to move to an hp tower

 

[zlandar]

actually that is incorrect...the size of the case is irrelevant. Many of the acer "towers" only have two sata ports and not room to install an additional drive...those hp's have room for a 2.5 drive for ssd as well as a 3.5 drive...if you want more room you need to move to an hp tower

I can't tell how many SATA ports any of them have. It's not listed in the specs and I don't see a bank of ports on the provided pictures.

I would DIY or choose a different prebuilt box.

 

[fenderman]

I can't tell how many SATA ports any of them have. It's not listed in the specs and I don't see a bank of ports on the provided pictures.

I would DIY or choose a different prebuilt box.

diy is way more expensive..like i said, it supports a 2.5 and a 3.5, that is sufficient for most...if they want more than 1 3.5 drive they can move to the tower or the g3 elitedesk sff that supports 2x3.5 the op wants to record continuously so he will need at least two 3.5 slots or a nas to offload video.

 

[aaronwt]

I would not get the twp HPs. The case looks small form factor which severely limits your ability to add hard drives unless you wanted to put them in an external bay.

The Acer is fine. Bigger case with room to put in extra HDs.

The Acer only has 4GB of memory. Plus it comes with 16GB of Optane storage. Which is a waste if you are going to install an SSD. Plus Optane storage is slow and expensive compared to an M2 NVMe drive. I got a cheaper M2 NVME 250GB drive for my new BI PC. And it is two to three times as fast as the Optane storage for only a little more in cost. Boot times are only two to three seconds. Then I will transplant my 1TB SAmsung SSD from my current BI machine to the new one. And a 1TB or 2TB platter drive. And possibly the 500GB SSD from my current BI machine.

I got a Dell Inspiron 3670 for around $460 for my new BI machine. That had 12GB of memory plus space for an M2 drive, two 2.5 inch drives and one 3.5 inch drive. And has a Core i5 8400 CPU.
It has four sata ports so you can have the M2 drive plus four sata connections.

A core i5 8400 is much faster than a core i7-4770 and uses less power. Hopefully I'll get my new BI machine configured this weekend. But I got three of the Dell 3670 PCs since it was a good price. And am setting up a dedicated Plex machine on one. And replacing my regular desktop machine with another. But at least I will finally get a chance to use my second BI license. So I can keep my original BI machine up and running until I get everything configured on the new BI machine.