I recently purchased a Dell OptiPlex 9020 SFF and this is some of my thought process on choosing which one to buy. Find me here https://twitter.com/eric81766 Timestamps: 0:00 Buying a used PC on eBay for a great computer power to cost ratio 0:11 Need a PC for compiling software, editing video, and gameplay capture 0:50 Pick a computer model to learn about so that you can recognize when a system is a good setup. I picked the Dell OptiPlex 9020 because there's a lot of info about upgrading and repairing them and they are a solid quality standard. 1:30 The 9020 is about 5 to 7 years old now so they are coming off corporate leases and resellers have a LOT of them (making it easier to get one in good condition). 1:53 Other machines I was looking at (7020, 3020, 5040, 3040) 2:17 Better features don't cost much more in a used machine 2:39 Used machines maintain their resale value better 2:54 See the wikipedia OptiPlex page for detailed specs on each model 3:01 Dell has mainstream and "high tier" lines but they cost about the same used 3:15 Look for eBay sellers with lots of feedback and near 100% positive\ 4:10 Sellers that offer "choose your own configuration" 4:40 All hard drives fail eventually 4:55 I prefer SSD 5:18 I run HD Sentinel to monitor my drives 5:32 I got a SFF (small form factor) PC 6:07 Watch the return policy and warranty 6:22 I only look at "Buy it now" 6:43 watch for terminology and acronyms you don't understand 7:09 there's a lot of inexpensive computing power available Dell Support - you can use this page to look up the Dell Service Tag for your machine and learn how old it is and what options it shipped with: https://www.dell.com/support/home/en-us My video about Sundance (the machine I bought) Dell OptiPlex 9020 SFF Intel Core i5-4590@ 3.30GHz 8GB RAM 128GB SSD https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdGvrlDLoro This was the video that inspired me to start looking on eBay: Deal Alert - $150 Intel i5-2400 Quad Core - Desktop Windows Computer - How to buy one on eBay - Tech Deals https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_mJOsjB-mo some other useful Tech Deals videos Safely setup a used computer - Step-by-Step Guide by Tech Deals https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHktdf3je44 Windows Performance Review - $300 Gaming Computer - i5-2400 - GTX 750 TI - 120GB SSD - Tech Deals https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHpionFbpws $250 Gaming PC - Play games at 1080p - Tech Deals https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPJGVbdXgrs The Dell Optiplex Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dell_OptiPlex Hard Disk Sentinel https://www.hdsentinel.com/ Godot logo from Godot https://godotengine.org/ I use Shotcut as my video editor software http://shotcut.org/ If you get a Dell Optiplex or have questions about one, check out the facebook group where people who actually know stuff can answer your questions https://www.facebook.com/groups/DellOptiplexOG/ Best wishes on inexpensively finding a new PC! - Eric