What EliteDesk for BI?

M

MacFun

Getting the hang of it
Aug 1, 2017
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Houston, TX
@fenderman as I recall your recent favorite PC for BI is an HP EliteDesk. I spent a couple of hours studying the different models and searching the net... is there a certain sweet spot model? I assume 800 G4 is too new and the G1 is too old. What would you be looking for today for your personal rig—I’m assuming you have more than a few cameras and that I might grow to your cam datarate need? What size ssd/HDD are you running? How much memory? Are we buying through eBay or direct from HP? I see some people say no OS while some people saw Win 10 pro yet the license might not be valid if you had to install on a new ssd. And there was some talk about the os is irrelevant if it came with Windows.... and has a sticker.... not sure what that was about. Sorry for the piddly questions the used PC market is a vast ocean and I’m just but a simple Mac guy where we had few choices for many years... yes, I could buy a new EliteDesk from b&h (but these machines seem to nice for BI duty only) and I could build one but I see that you mentioned that financially it’s not the best move. Please share the recipe for success. Where we buy a certain model computer and perhaps add a drive or two and move on!

Thanks!

Robert
 
What form factor is preferred? It looks like the SFF is the one to have. I’m not seeing any cheap computers on eBay that are the 6th generation or newer i7. They are asking more than $700. Brand new g4 is about a 1,000 and slightly more if you add a few accessories OR upgrades like HDMI. Notice that many used ones on eBay do not have hdmi and I’ve learned from this forum that this is the preferred way to show your feed.
 
MacFun said:
What form factor is preferred? It looks like the SFF is the one to have. I’m not seeing any cheap computers on eBay that are the 6th generation or newer i7. They are asking more than $700. Brand new g4 is about a 1,000 and slightly more if you add a few accessories OR upgrades like HDMI. Notice that many used ones on eBay do not have hdmi and I’ve learned from this forum that this is the preferred way to show your feed.
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You want a tower if you want two 3.5 drives... The small form factor only allows 3.5 drive and an SSD... You certainly don't want the ultra slim desktop...
These units have dual DisplayPort outs which can be converted to HDMI with a simple cable or adapter
 
You do not need an i7... It will vary by your load and generation of processor... Elite desk with I-5 6th generation processors are available for under $200
 
Hi Fenderman thanks for the reply, I spoke with HP today and they said that the SFF has two m.2 drive slots and one 2.5 slot for a regular SATA ssd and 2 empty 3.5” slots. Do you typically fit all of your BI media on a single HDD?

Thanks,

Robert
 
MacFun said:
Hi Fenderman thanks for the reply, I spoke with HP today and they said that the SFF has two m.2 drive slots and one 2.5 slot for a regular SATA ssd and 2 empty 3.5” slots. Do you typically fit all of your BI media on a single HDD?

Thanks,

Robert
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That is correct only for the latest redesigned units according to the specs... I have not seen them myself to confirm I can't imagine where they fit that second drive though....
I typically use an SSD and a single 3.5 Drive, but that may not work depending on how many cameras and the bitrates you are using as well as if you record continuously
 
Some of the EliteDesk units on eBay don’t come with an OS or it’s outdated like win7. I’d like to avoid having to purchase Win 10 Pro. Please advise what to consider regarding the OS. Is the EliteDesk entitled to a version of Windows?

Thanks,

Robert
 
MacFun said:
Some of the EliteDesk units on eBay don’t come with an OS or it’s outdated like win7. I’d like to avoid having to purchase Win 10 Pro. Please advise what to consider regarding the OS. Is the EliteDesk entitled to a version of Windows?

Thanks,

Robert
Click to expand...
Any 6th generation system will almost certainly have a Windows 10 key tied to it... You can look for the windows sticker on the unit... Once Windows 10 is installed on a PC it will automatically activate Windows 10 in the future... you can download Windows 10 from Microsoft directly using the Windows media creation tool would you should do anyways to apply a clean copy of windows... I have purchased a bunch of systems that say no OS and have had no problems installing the operating system... This won't be the case with older systems like 3rd or 4th generation systems that may have had Windows 7... So for those systems you would want it to clearly State Windows 10
 
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I’m sure you know this already but I was surprised to see that building my own PC from the pcpartpicker.com web site I can quickly get to more than $1,000 and a new HP G4 EliteDesk is about the same price and that comes build to order with a fresh 3 year warranty! I’m surprised how competitive HP is with their business PCs. Okay, I know I can get 3.2 GHZ G3 with 6th gen i5 for about $330. And a newer 3.4ghz G3 with 7th gen i5 and a near certainty to have Windows 10 Pro key in the bios for about $500 or so (some are new for $599). BTW: if you get the serial number from the intended used PC you can verify what os came with that computer. I’m assuming that if it didn’t come with Windows 10 that it will not have the product key in the bios. For some reason I don’t feel as luck as Fenderman getting some of the older EliteDesk computers updated to Win 10 Pro.

R
 
Right I assume you are referring to the: HP EliteDesk 800 G2 - SFF - Core i5 6500 3.2 GHz (2015 vintage)? I was looking at the G3 initially.
 
MacFun said:
@fenderman you mentioned before that some of the older SFF EliteDesk units did not have two open 3.5" bays it looks like the G2 has two-bays on the SFF. Perhaps the G1 has only one? Do you still prefer the tower size over the SFF?

HP EliteDesk 800 G2 and HP EliteOne 800 G2 Business Desktop Specs:
http://www8.hp.com/h20195/v2/GetPDF.aspx/c04818335.pdf
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The specs are misleading. There is not proper spot for a second 3.5 drive. The g1 and g2 chassis are identical. The second 3.5 slot is designed for a card reader and while you can dump a drive in there it will not be properly secured to prevent vibration which causes damage and noise.
Here is an example of what not to do
I suspect the same issue arises in the g3
 
I assume that you would no longer purchase the older i5-4590 (in a G1) and would shoot for the i5-6500 for about $85 more and that would be the sweet spot.

Also, when you buy these older computers I'm assuming that you almost always have to add your own SSD and HDD media drive. Do you ever need or desire to have two or more HDDs?

Thanks,

R
 
MacFun said:
I assume that you would no longer purchase the older i5-4590 (in a G1) and would shoot for the i5-6500 for about $85 more and that would be the sweet spot.

Also, when you buy these older computers I'm assuming that you almost always have to add your own SSD and HDD media drive. Do you ever need or desire to have two or more HDDs?

Thanks,

R
Click to expand...
yes. Go for the i5-6500.
Yes you have to add your own ssd - that is true on many newer systems as well. A 250gb samsung 850 or crucial mx500 ssd is 60 bux. You will also want to add your own storage drive depending on your needs.
You may need more than 1 storage drive, it all depends on how you record and the retention time you need.
 
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