Which PC would you buy - new or refurbished?

MothballsWallet

I'm looking into replacing my 12 year old Windows 7 PC with something more modern, and based on what my wife and I want to use the system for (word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, emails, web browsing, watching YouTube, programming and some content creation), I've come down to either Intel i7 or AMD Ryzen 7, but Google searches suggest that both processors have 8 cores but the AMD can handle 16 threads, which would be better for video content creation and livestreaming (the i7 runs up to 8 threads).

I've come up with 4 options from 2 companies and I was wondering what other Forumites thought, or if anyone has any better suggestions for me please?

(I've put links to the specific shop pages in the make and model boxes so you can check the details for yourselves.)

	Gigante i7	Bedrock Granite i7	Gigante Ryzen 7	Bedrock Saturn Ryzen 7
CPU	Intel i7-9700K	Intel i7-9700	AMD Ryzen 7 2700X	AMD Ryzen 7 8700F
Clock (GHz)	3.6 (Base), 4.9 (Boost)	3.6 (Base), 4.7 (Boost)	3.7 (Base), 4.34 (Boost)	? (Base), 5 (Boost)
Cores / Threads	8 / 8	8 / 8	8 / 16	8 / 16
RAM	16 GB DDR4	16 GB DDR4	16 GB DDR4	32 GB DDR5
SSD 1	512 GB NVMe	1 TB M.2	1 TB NVMe	2 TB M.2
SSD 2	1 TB SATA	None	None	None
GPU	Gigabyte GTX 1660 Super OC 6 GB	GTX 1070 8 GB	Asus Phoenix RTX 2060 6 GB	AMD 9070 XT 16 GB
Motherboard	Asus Prime Z390-A	AsRock B360M	Asus Prime B450M-K	ASUS Prime B650M-K AM5
PSU	Corsair TX750M 750W	Vida 500W 80+	Kolink 600W 80+ Bronze	CoolerMaster 850W 80+ Gold
Case	Antec NX410 White	CiT Jet Stream	DeepCool CC360	Cooler Master Elite 502
Cooler	Valkyrie Surge High Performance	Intel Stock	AMD Wraith Prism	ARCTIC Liquid Freezer III Pro
OS	Windows 11 Home	Windows 11 Home	Windows 11 Home	Windows 11 Home
Networking	Dual Band WiFi + Ethernet	Ethernet, WiFi?	Dual Band WiFi + Ethernet	Ethernet, WiFi?
Condition	Refurbished	New	Refurbished	New
Warranty	12 months	36 months	12 months	36 months
Price	£635.00	£610.00	£695.00	£1,650.00

Gigante Computers are a small, independent, computer shop in my city who I've used before to do repairs on my existing PC.

Bedrock Computers are another small, independent, computer company in Woking who I've seen adverts for on YouTube.

I don't mind going with 16 GB RAM and a lower/mid-spec graphics card for now and then upgrading them later when perhaps the prices return to something more reasonable.

I do know a YouTube creator who now does that for his full-time job and has set up his own business and he spent almost £3,000 for his system from PC Specialist that he used for video editing, live streaming and gaming, but he's able to justify that cost as it's for his job.

Neil_Jones

Define "content creation".

content creation aside everything you've posted is a bit OTT for what you've said you want to do besides that.

If "content creation" is playing video games and recording them and putting them on YouTube you can make the case for them. If content creation is simply filming on a GoPro and editing them later, we're into overkill territory because you can do that on a laptop.

Frozen_up_north

All that potential processing power and multiple threads are meaningless for general purpose computer use.

An i5 processor is more than enough, indeed for general purpose use an i3 is fine. These days I would look at something that consumes as little power as possible when sat idle. The desktop PC I am typing on at the moment is a Dell Optiplex with an i5, 16 GB of RAM and 500 GB SSD. It draws 20 Watts when idle, as measured by me.

Glad

Following with interest as I have a PC that will need replacing soon. Apart from normal use I use it to write blogs and create family history books using Affinity Publisher.

MothballsWallet

@Neil_Jones Since you asked, I'm defining "content creation" as taking footage recorded on my phone (for now, I may upgrade to a proper camera later), or captured via OBS Studio (for stuff like reactions and commentary), and editing in software like OpenShot (again, for now, but I may upgrade to DaVinci Resolve later which has more features and includes AI-based effects and editing tools), perhaps doing some animation as well.

So, would we be okay with an Intel i5 or AMD Ryzen 5 coupled with integrated graphics for now? I want to get a good balance of performance for now and upgradeability.

forgotmyname

Prices seem high for what maybe an 8 year old system. Check sellers on ebay where the £700 system listed
is available for half the prices you mentioned.

R7 2700, 16GB, 2TB HDD + 240GB SSD with a 1660Super for under £350 and open to offers. Several similar systems
in that price range and slightly different specifications.