Office PC upgrade - £600

[Big Bang]

Hi all,

I'm looking to upgrade a fairly standard i5 vanilla office PC from 5 years ago that is primarily used for the usual Word processing, spreadsheet etc. duties. The only specific task from the usual "run of the mill" business activities is that it is used for viewing engineering diagrams and parts, but I would imagine that task will be pretty much straight forward for virtually every graphics card out there.

The only other thing is that it will be running in a hot environment (30°C), so perhaps investing in a better CPU cooler rather than using the stock one might be worth investing in.

What I am looking for is something that will last at least 5-6 years without requiring components needing to be upgraded for a budget of circa £600.

Thanks all in advance.

 

[Tetras]

Intel Core i3-12100 3.30GHz (Alder Lake) Socket LGA1700 Processor - Retail - £134.99
Asrock B660M Pro RS - Intel B660 DDR4 Micro ATX Motherboard - £114.98
Kingston Fury Beast 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-25600C16 3200MHz Dual Channel Kit - £64.99
Phanteks AMP 550W 80 Plus Gold Modular Power Supply - £65.00
Crucial P5P 1TB M.2 2280 PCI-e 4.0 x4 3D NAND NVMe Solid State Drive - £112.99
Grand Total: £504.05

Leaves £100 for case and a better cooler.

 

[Big Bang]

Intel Core i3-12100 3.30GHz (Alder Lake) Socket LGA1700 Processor - Retail - £134.99
Asrock B660M Pro RS - Intel B660 DDR4 Micro ATX Motherboard - £114.98
Kingston Fury Beast 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-25600C16 3200MHz Dual Channel Kit - £64.99
Phanteks AMP 550W 80 Plus Gold Modular Power Supply - £65.00
Crucial P5P 1TB M.2 2280 PCI-e 4.0 x4 3D NAND NVMe Solid State Drive - £112.99
Grand Total: £504.05

Leaves £100 for case and a better cooler.

Thank you for your reply.

I should have said that the case is something that I will require, but I appreciate the spec with saving £100.

Do you have any suggestions for a CPU heatsink and if you think it's worth getting an M.2 cooler as well?

 

[Quartz]

The only specific task from the usual "run of the mill" business activities is that it is used for viewing engineering diagrams and parts,

Which software do you use?

The only other thing is that it will be running in a hot environment (30°C),

Intel's NUCs are good for up to 50C.

 

[Tetras]

Do you have any suggestions for a CPU heatsink and if you think it's worth getting an M.2 cooler as well?

M.2 cooler is not necessary for an office PC, but I think that motherboard has one anyway (most do nowadays).

 

[Big Bang]

Which software do you use?



Intel's NUCs are good for up to 50C.

It's for viewing automotive parts, put it isn't something that is going to require a lot of graphics card horsepower.

 

[Big Bang]

M.2 cooler is not necessary for an office PC, but I think that motherboard has one anyway (most do nowadays).

Great thanks for info.

 

[Sparx]

Thank you for your reply.

I should have said that the case is something that I will require, but I appreciate the spec with saving £100.

Do you have any suggestions for a CPU heatsink and if you think it's worth getting an M.2 cooler as well?

@Tetras spec is likely the best you'll get for the money.

Case and cooler wise, I'd probably go for something like this below... Nice mesh case with good airflow, along with a solid air cooler that'll do more than enough on a 12100 even in a warm environment.

• Case https://www.overclockers.co.uk/phanteks-eclipse-p400-air-midi-tower-case-black-ca-09f-pt.html
• Cooler https://www.overclockers.co.uk/alpenfohn-brocken-3-cpu-cooler-140mm-hs-05a-al.html

To get the LGA 1700 compatible bracket for the cooler, after ordering you'll need to complete Alpenfohn's website form here and they'll send you it FOC - https://www.alpenfoehn.de/en/kontakt-2/spare-parts-demand/upgradekit-intel-lga-1700

If you want a standard ATX mobo to fill the case, then you could swap the mobo to this Asus model below...

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/asus...ntel-b660-ddr4-atx-motherboard-mb-6ht-as.html

 

[JollyJamma]

Intel Core i3-12100 3.30GHz (Alder Lake) Socket LGA1700 Processor - Retail - £134.99
Asrock B660M Pro RS - Intel B660 DDR4 Micro ATX Motherboard - £114.98
Kingston Fury Beast 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-25600C16 3200MHz Dual Channel Kit - £64.99
Phanteks AMP 550W 80 Plus Gold Modular Power Supply - £65.00
Crucial P5P 1TB M.2 2280 PCI-e 4.0 x4 3D NAND NVMe Solid State Drive - £112.99
Grand Total: £504.05

Leaves £100 for case and a better cooler.

It’s a good system there. I’m a big fan of the 12100 - it’s potent for its price.