Can I Improve On This Spec?

Associate
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Currently considering building a new PC (had originally planned to go for a new Mac Mini). My budget is about £1200 but can increase it slightly if needed, so just wondered what you guys think of the following spec.

My uses are generally Photoshop (can often have 10 or so 1GB+ files open at once), lots of usual business tasks, plus around 50 tabs open in Chrome/Firefox.

This is the spec I'm considering and will be using with either 2 x Dell U2417's or 2 x Dell U2518D's.

ASROCK Pro4 Intel Z390 Motherboard
Intel Core i7 9700K CPU
16GB (2X8gb) Corsair Vengeance LPX PC4-21300 Ram
512GB Intel 760p NVMe SSD
Gigabyte GeForce GTX1050Ti D5 4GB GPU
Corsair CX550 PSU
Fractal Design R6 White Case
Cooler Master Hyper H411R CPU Cooler

Total Cost £1147.98
 
Soldato
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https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/a...2018-Core-i7-9700K-i9-9900K-Performance-1248/

ryzen 2700x will match 8700k (both stock) for all round photoshop performance, This is still down to Adobe finally adapting to multicore but can see that core speed still wins out , hence the 8 core Ryzen beating the 12 core Thread Ripper and like wise with intel Z chips beating higher X core CPUs.

Better designed board and uk rma.
same price but better performing GPU plus 2 free games.
Good case with 2 silent 140mm ans (£20 per fan) plus free £60 Air cooler which you should be able to auto overclock (enable M.C.E) or manual to 5ghz all cores.
better PSU
better performing NVMe , dont tend to quote them much for gaming systems but as this is for a workstation and you'll be processing a lot of images, worth the increase in speed, SPECIALLY if your doing by batches.

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £1,150.03 (includes shipping: £14.10)


ryzen based, MSI b450 out of stock and older x370 boards perform better then B450 do at not to much extra cost

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £1,055.03 (includes shipping: £14.10)​
 
Soldato
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need to mention what sort of photoshop software you use as until a family member had to get a new computer i didnt realise there were versions limited to only intel which is what they use, im not sure how many people on the forums will know that.
 
Man of Honour
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MATX build, just to mix it up.
also has 32gb ram right off the bat - seems like you'll need it - room to increase to 64gb should you need (2 ram slots free)
cheap gpu (gt 1030 gddr5) - have more budget should you need to up to gpu grunt

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £1,126.54 (includes shipping: £11.70)​
 
Associate
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Thanks for the replies. I must admit I'm more of an Intel fan than an AMD fan. Granted, the last time I used AMD was about 15 years ago but I think I'd just prefer to stick with Intel.

I have a Samsung Evo 960 NVMe in my laptop and while I appreciate it over a spinning disk, the reviews weren't great. Is the Evo 970 a lot better?
I'll have a look at the cases, and those gigabyte boards.

Thanks :)
 
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need to mention what sort of photoshop software you use as until a family member had to get a new computer i didnt realise there were versions limited to only intel which is what they use, im not sure how many people on the forums will know that.
I've never heard of Photoshop working on Intel only, but as I say, I've not ventured into AMD's camp for 15 years. I am using Photoshop Creative Cloud edition, and also Adobe Illustrator/Indesign.
 
Soldato
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adobe loves intel , what will really change is if Apple go ARM or AMD for CPU then adobe will update coding pretty quickly, to be fair latest 2018 version does make 2700x (8 cores at 3.7ghz) match 8700k ( 6 cores at 4.3ghz)

illustrator is about core speed and not very well optimised for multi core
 
Soldato
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i
I've never heard of Photoshop working on Intel only, but as I say, I've not ventured into AMD's camp for 15 years. I am using Photoshop Creative Cloud edition, and also Adobe Illustrator/Indesign.
havent used any sort of photoshop software in years and i mostly had intel anyways, but the family member is my sister in law and my brother knows more about computers/tech etc much more and better than me and when i quizzed him, he told me the adobe software she uses for her photography stuff is only supported fully by intel, i havent asked that software version as im not interested lol.


anyways i was just making it a point in case the OP or any OP stumbles on software only working best with intel and nobody realised, so they went AMD lol
 
Soldato
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Just to clarify, there is no version of any Adobe software that only works on Intel. It will work just the same on AMD and Intel CPU's.
That being said if you are not counting the pennies too much then I would opt for an Intel system and the 9700K would be my CPU of choice. The only time that multi core systems shine is when doing batch stuff like import and export. outside of this is it the high Mhz with IPC that wins out which is why, at the moment, Intel is simply the best. Though if on a budget then I would recommend the AMD 2600 which is hard to beat in bang for buck.
 
Soldato
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Just to clarify, there is no version of any Adobe software that only works on Intel. It will work just the same on AMD and Intel CPU's.
That being said if you are not counting the pennies too much then I would opt for an Intel system and the 9700K would be my CPU of choice. The only time that multi core systems shine is when doing batch stuff like import and export. outside of this is it the high Mhz with IPC that wins out which is why, at the moment, Intel is simply the best. Though if on a budget then I would recommend the AMD 2600 which is hard to beat in bang for buck.

i said fully supported not anything about it wouldnt work, just because you might not of heard it doesnt make it false, ive seen many software stuff over the years than all favor intel, doesnt really matter as the OP prefers intel, so debating this is irrelevant ;)
 
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looks solid !

dont forget to claim to 2 free games from AMD!!!!

sell he key codes if you dont intend to play them

if you can push extra £40... go for Gigabyte Aorus Pro board.

reason being USB C port on the board, 12+1 vs 10+2 VRM design (still higher then 90% of rivals) and the Bequiet case also has USB C port on it. great for transferring Files if you use USB C SD reader or phone

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/giga...cket-1151-ddr4-atx-motherboard-mb-57a-gi.html

also use the NEWER version of that PSU , £5 cheaper

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/be-quiet-pure-power-11-500w-80-plus-gold-power-supply-ca-12x-bq.html
 
Last edited:
Associate
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looks solid !

dont forget to claim to 2 free games from AMD!!!!

sell he key codes if you dont intend to play them

if you can push extra £40... go for Gigabyte Aorus Pro board.

reason being USB C port on the board, 12+1 vs 10+2 VRM design (still higher then 90% of rivals) and the Bequiet case also has USB C port on it. great for transferring Files if you use USB C SD reader or phone

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/giga...cket-1151-ddr4-atx-motherboard-mb-57a-gi.html

also use the NEWER version of that PSU , £5 cheaper

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/be-quiet-pure-power-11-500w-80-plus-gold-power-supply-ca-12x-bq.html
Will I still be able to use the USB C on the case if I go for the board in my spec? Was hoping for USB C but if the board in my spec has the ability with the case, that might be sufficient.
 
Soldato
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Will I still be able to use the USB C on the case if I go for the board in my spec? Was hoping for USB C but if the board in my spec has the ability with the case, that might be sufficient.

not internal, so couldn't use the front of the case

https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/Z390-GAMING-X-rev-10#kf

how Gigabyte has kept costs down but allowed VRMs to outmatch rivals - also keep aorus/gigabyte/designare brands separate (latter has Thunderbolt 3 support built in)

Cheapest Aorus - elite has the Internal USB C port just under the ram

https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/Z390-AORUS-ELITE-rev-10#kf

again, vrm is unmatched by rivals
 
Soldato
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Ok, so sorry for sounding thick but is there a performance difference between USB 3.1 and USB type C (as I thought USB type C was USB 3.1)?

Same thing, only difference is USB C can be 3.1 Gen 2 - which is the ports on the back of the mobo .
Usb 3.1 standard tends to be the normal bigger plug sockets and C is the mini one found on most good phones etc
 
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This is what I ended up with...

Intel Core i7-9700K 3.6GHz (Coffee Lake) Socket LGA1151 Processor - Retail
Gigabyte Z390 Gaming X Intel Z390 (Socket 1151) DDR4 ATX Motherboard
I couldn't justify the extra for USB C at this stage (I've nothing that used it at the moment)
Team Group Vulcan T-Force 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-24000C16 3000MHz Dual Channel Kit
Gigabyte Radeon RX 570 Gaming 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
Be Quiet! Dark Base 700 RGB Midi Tower Case - Black Tempered Glass ** FREE DARK ROCK 4 COOLER **
500W Be Quiet! PURE POWER 11 CM, Semi Modular PSU
500GB Samsung 970 EVO M.2 SSD
2TB Seagate BarraCuda, 3.5" HDD

Have I missed anything?? Might be a DVDRW Drive in the future but not sure yet.


 
Last edited:
Soldato
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Posts
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This is what I ended up with...

Intel Core i7-9700K 3.6GHz (Coffee Lake) Socket LGA1151 Processor - Retail
Gigabyte Z390 Gaming X Intel Z390 (Socket 1151) DDR4 ATX Motherboard
I couldn't justify the extra for USB C at this stage (I've nothing that used it at the moment)
Team Group Vulcan T-Force 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-24000C16 3000MHz Dual Channel Kit
Gigabyte Radeon RX 570 Gaming 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
Be Quiet! Dark Base 700 RGB Midi Tower Case - Black Tempered Glass ** FREE DARK ROCK 4 COOLER **
500W Be Quiet! PURE POWER 11 CM, Semi Modular PSU
500GB Samsung 970 EVO M.2 SSD
2TB Seagate BarraCuda, 3.5" HDD

Have I missed anything?? Might be a DVDRW Drive in the future but not sure yet.


Have a look at 580 Devil card going for £169 . Know it's not Gigabyte (and i like Gigabyte) but for that kind of cash and 2 games .you'll be a fool not to !

If you can't stretch, don't worry to much

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/powe...ddr5-pci-express-graphics-card-gx-18l-pc.html

Case would need external DVD drive btw
 
Man of Honour
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I don't know why you keep getting recommended 16 GB ram, when your:
My uses are generally Photoshop (can often have 10 or so 1GB+ files open at once), lots of usual business tasks, plus around 50 tabs open in Chrome/Firefox
Should have 32gb ideally If all of those are open at once.
 
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