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Hello again, another dumb idea: I was looking at 're-configuring' my Dell SFF - since I haven't used it lately - and transforming it into an exclusive 'Linux machine.' I was entertaining investing in a '2nd system' to be my Linux box -preferably, since I would get an RX 6800 XT or 6900 XT (used) for it - and compare performance to my 'Intel dual-boot' box - which has a 12700K and 3060 (currently). I was considering upgrading that card to a 3080 - yes, Nvidia again - since my use/tasks are video editing (Davinci Resolve, Premiere Pro) and Blender. I'll dual boot but I'll mostly be in Windows - majority of the time.
I would like to have a 2nd box - e.g. Ryzen R5 5600 (good deal right now), cheapo B550 and the aforementioned AMD card - then I can just change my 4K Tv's video input to hdmi 1/hdmi 2 - whatever computer I need. I could probably buy a friend's RX 570 - and just wait for the RNDA 2 cards to come down in price - for ppl to stop demanding so much $.
Alas, my pricing on pcpartpicker seems to indicate a cost of about $1K and probably a couple hundred more with the (used) video card.
The SFF Dell would just be a basic Linux machine - I wouldn't do much on it except use it for web browsing and just keeping up with Linux stuff - There's a GT 1030 in there now - and I only want to deal with Nvidia on one Linux machine, not two. The caveat or problem is that low profile RX 6400 cards are expensive and really difficult to find used - I haven't found any yet. A low profile RX 500 is a bit cheaper but I don't find them to be a good investment - too old? At least, a lp 6400 @ $220 isn't as expensive as a new build with a much better gpu, right?
Does this make sense to make use of the Dell? I would also have to upgrade the SSD - it's a cheap low capacity one and I suspect it's failing or at least, something negative is going on - the system would crash and output linux error messages that would indicate a drive issue. 2.5" SATA SSDs are kind of expensive still unless you go with a no-name or wait for a sale. 2x4gb - 8GB RAM currently - should probably get 2 sticks of 8gb - for 16GB. So, that's another expense. I figure, $450-ish to 'upgrade' this old Dell - specs: i5-4570, 16GB*, RX 6400 LP* (*after upgrades)
I just think that $ could go towards a better machine but I'd still need way more $ to finish the build.
I would like to have a 2nd box - e.g. Ryzen R5 5600 (good deal right now), cheapo B550 and the aforementioned AMD card - then I can just change my 4K Tv's video input to hdmi 1/hdmi 2 - whatever computer I need. I could probably buy a friend's RX 570 - and just wait for the RNDA 2 cards to come down in price - for ppl to stop demanding so much $.
Alas, my pricing on pcpartpicker seems to indicate a cost of about $1K and probably a couple hundred more with the (used) video card.
The SFF Dell would just be a basic Linux machine - I wouldn't do much on it except use it for web browsing and just keeping up with Linux stuff - There's a GT 1030 in there now - and I only want to deal with Nvidia on one Linux machine, not two. The caveat or problem is that low profile RX 6400 cards are expensive and really difficult to find used - I haven't found any yet. A low profile RX 500 is a bit cheaper but I don't find them to be a good investment - too old? At least, a lp 6400 @ $220 isn't as expensive as a new build with a much better gpu, right?
Does this make sense to make use of the Dell? I would also have to upgrade the SSD - it's a cheap low capacity one and I suspect it's failing or at least, something negative is going on - the system would crash and output linux error messages that would indicate a drive issue. 2.5" SATA SSDs are kind of expensive still unless you go with a no-name or wait for a sale. 2x4gb - 8GB RAM currently - should probably get 2 sticks of 8gb - for 16GB. So, that's another expense. I figure, $450-ish to 'upgrade' this old Dell - specs: i5-4570, 16GB*, RX 6400 LP* (*after upgrades)
I just think that $ could go towards a better machine but I'd still need way more $ to finish the build.
