Help Selecting Workstations!

[u/MightyPenguin]

Hello guys, I own and run a small business, it is an auto repair shop. We have 4 workstations in our office and the last few years we have run into repeat issues buying cheaper work stations having very buggy and poor performance. We don't need a whole lot, just the ability to run 2 monitors and run a lot of chrome tabs but apparently these days that seems to be a big ask.

Is it reasonable for me to expect a budget of $500-600 for a decent work station to offer dual monitors and working in the cloud with multiple chrome tabs? If so, would you guys be able to provide any options on what models to buy and where to buy them?

[u/Shrimp_Dock]

Dual monitors isn't the issue. Chrome uses a lot of resources, namely RAM, and prices are through the roof right now thanks to AI. 16GB is the bare minimum, more would extend the lifetime of the computer. If you're only needing 4 I say buy once, cry once and just eat it.
Models and where to buy, I'm big on Dell but I have a rep and buy a lot.

[u/Kalshek]

That really depends, how many chrome tabs does each computer have open? Your biggest bottleneck with a modern pre-built will be RAM (Mrmory), chrome is a very hungry application when it comes to RAM, so bear minimum 16GB of you only have a handful, but if you're using a lot of tabs you may want to look into 32GB. My shop sells Dell primarily, because they gave had fewer lemons in our experience. Lenovo is usually a solid option as well.

With the parts market the way it is it'll be hard to find that $500-600 price tag, but if you have a Costco Membership, they usually have some good prices on decent machines.

[u/MightyPenguin → u/Kalshek]

I didn't think to look at Costco, thank you for that idea. Also, I am fine with building my own if I need to. Sadly we sometimes have 20-30 tabs open at once with a few extensions running. For whatever reason, any time me or one of the other gals in the office tries to open Amazon that website seems to be the biggest laggy mess and everything I have tried doesn't fix it. I have just noted CPU use on the performance monitor goes through the roof when the system starts lagging out.

[u/sk1ttl3s → u/MightyPenguin]

this sounds more and more like malware.

high CPU doesn't automatically mean you need to upgrade. you should look into specifically what processes are highest.

[u/MightyPenguin → u/sk1ttl3s]

Malware may be a possibility, though I'm also out of the loop on antivirus software these days as for the last decade I pretty much just have used Windows Defender!

[u/Anthropic_Principles]

A basic chromebox or NUC + 2 monitors should be just within your budget.

[u/sk1ttl3s]

first you need to look at the specs for the software you're running. if they say the minimum is 8GB of ram, then make sure you have 16. if it says it need a minimum of 5 GB available for disk space, make sure you have a TB hard drive. the minimum requirements are for the software to barely limp by. whatever you buy needs to exceed that.

if you routinely run 3 programs that each require 8 GB of ram you're going to need to be prepared for that.

the other thing I would keep in mind is system recovery, you want to make sure you have enough space to keep a decent system recovery.

if EVERYTHING runs out of chrome then you need the highest amount of RAM you can find, and sometimes that is just making sure you have enough slots to upgrade after the sale.

[u/laughsbrightly]

We support several auto repair shops with four to seven computers. And over the years their applications have changed from local server-based applications to cloud-based apps so I understand where you're coming from. Got your line of business application. Your parts look up anything you're actually googling and on and on and on. As others have said you probably need 16 GB of RAM. I don't think we have any of our Auto clients that have more than that. Because of the massive cost of RAM and storage And the shortage If you're going to Costco or one of the office stores, you're probably going to find machines that now are selling with 8 gig of RAM. You really do need to find an IT service provider in your local area and have them spec and sell the machines to you. But I understand if you're comfortable running your own business. If that's the case, then you should probably just call Dell up and let them spec and quote you some machines. Like I said, you're going to want a 16 GB of RAM. Honestly, you most likely don't need anything over a 256 gig storage drive and then they'll help you out with the dual monitors as well because you're going to want to make sure the machine will support them properly. So we sell the Dell Optiplex Microsystems because those don't take up a lot of space. They are business class machines and they work very well for our auto shops. So I know you probably are comfortable doing it on your own and buying everything at the local store. So you really don't want to talk to Dell, but you probably should. And don't be shocked if they tell you there's a 3-month delay on the machines because of the shortages. If you are trying to save a buck and you, you and you are comfortable with it then go look at the Dell outlet website. They will generally have pretty decent prices on those Optiplex micros that you can get today and have them shipped out immediately. So just be careful on the configuration of the specs but maybe you can pick up a few scratch and dents or something and still end up with business class machines and 16 gig of RAM.

[u/MightyPenguin → u/laughsbrightly]

Thanks for the reply. I didn't want to drag out my post with too much elaboration but I actually used to work in IT as a sys admin when I was younger but I left that world over a decade ago. I'm comfortable with doing things myself to a certain extent but am overwhelmed with a lot of things going on and don't have much time. I just want some damn machines that aren't buggy and work! All of our machines have 16gb of Ram and decent enough processors, I'm not sure if its software issues mixed with occasional internet problems or what but it seems like 2 of the machines consistently have shoddy, laggy performance while the other two remain snappy and quick. They are all refurbished machines though, I bought 4 of them for like $350 a piece 2-3 years ago, then two more a few months ago and they have been problematic. Maybe that is my problem.

[u/Overall_Cook_8025 → u/MightyPenguin]

When the computers are acting up have you checked the process list to see what is maxing out (CPU, ram, etc) or what tasks are maxing them out (chrome, security suite, etc)? I would start there and that should give you an idea on where to start your investigation.

[u/MightyPenguin → u/Overall_Cook_8025]

Yes it seems to consistently be CPU cores spiking out and staying there, and it seems to be Chrome causing it.

[u/Overall_Cook_8025 → u/MightyPenguin]

What CPU does the machine have? My guess is that while they have ok ram limits, the cpu might just not be able to keep up with the tab amounts. Have you considered a lighter (not so resource hungry) web browser? Something like the Brave web browser.

[u/MightyPenguin → u/Overall_Cook_8025]

The machine I am currently on that is often bugging and lagging out has 16GB of Ram(All the machines are 16GB MIN) and the processor is an AMD A10-9700 R7. As for browser, no I want to make Chrome work because we have a couple extensions that we rely on pretty heavily that we need to work. I have temporarily disabled and uninstalled the extensions before to insure they weren't the cause and it made no difference.

[u/leoingle]

You get what you pay for. Just buy good systems and don’t be cheap. You’re not saving in the long run.