Advice for a capable ITX office pc?

eddiew · 1 Nov 2019 at 15:51

Hey peeps,

I've finally been given the nod to replace my ageing work computer. I'd like to do better than the usual 'massive black tower' office pc and put together something more graceful, but I'm not really sure where to go with it. My first thought was a B450 ITX board and a Ryzen 3rd gen - but is that going to 'just work' or are we still in that silly era where AMD have to send you a 'boot kit' to update your BIOS before you can get the combo running?

Hoping you folks can point me in the right direction

Requirements:

500gb+ m.2 drive, the faster the better
32gb memory
capable of running 2x monitors up to 2560x1440
6-core cpu preferred but willing to drop to 4 if needed

Budget in the region of 600-650 for the base unit. Only needs as much of a GPU as is required to support desktop applications (and probably a little youtube on the sly). I will run a lot of visual studio compilations and SQL queries.

Thanks in advance!

Minibiker · 1 Nov 2019 at 16:01

The only B450 boards that will work with a Ryzen 3000 CPU out the box is the MSI Max boards but I think they're mostly MATX and ATX boards... Otherwise you'll have to get a BIOS flash kit sent to you or buy an older Gen CPU with B450 board

eddiew · 3 Nov 2019 at 20:43

Minibiker said:
The only B450 boards that will work with a Ryzen 3000 CPU out the box is the MSI Max boards but I think they're mostly MATX and ATX boards... Otherwise you'll have to get a BIOS flash kit sent to you or buy an older Gen CPU with B450 board

Well... that's distressing, seeing as I can't see any alternative ITX options from AMD

Minibiker · 3 Nov 2019 at 21:24

eddiew said:
Well... that's distressing, seeing as I can't see any alternative ITX options from AMD

No I found it limiting finding an ITX board for the Ryzen 3000 CPU's I suppose its because of how fresh they are

Quartz · 3 Nov 2019 at 21:32

eddiew said:
I've finally been given the nod to replace my ageing work computer.

Take a look at the higher end Intel NUC boxes. Quad core / 8 thread maximum, though, and you'll have to look outside OCUK.

eddiew · 4 Nov 2019 at 10:09

Minibiker said:
No I found it limiting finding an ITX board for the Ryzen 3000 CPU's I suppose its because of how fresh they are

I'd kind of expected there'd be a slew of boards released at the same time as the CPUs, but I guess not :/ Pish poor, tbqh.

Quartz said:
Take a look at the higher end Intel NUC boxes. Quad core / 8 thread maximum, though, and you'll have to look outside OCUK.

Honestly, I don't fancy NUC because they're basically laptops without screens, and I have never found a laptop that felt satisfyingly fast. Desktop components all the way I think.

Also, only 1 video output?

Armageus · 4 Nov 2019 at 10:15

Have a look at HP Elitedesk 800 Mini (or 705 Mini if you'd prefer an AMD Ryzen based machine)

We use them at work, they have a decent selection of processors, support 32Gb ram, have an NVMe M2 slot as well as space for a 2.5" hard drive, they do 2 screens by default (and most come with an optional port for a 3rd - although the option port can be changed if needed)

Dell and Lenovo also do similar form factor machines.

Quartz · 4 Nov 2019 at 11:55

eddiew said:
Honestly, I don't fancy NUC because they're basically laptops without screens,

The CPUs still seem fast enough for the work you demand.

eddiew said:
Also, only 1 video output?

Some of them have two.

eddiew · 4 Nov 2019 at 13:51

Armageus said:
Have a look at HP Elitedesk 800 Min

Appreciate the suggestion, but all the prebuilts seem like they're about double the budget of a DIY job... It's not worth it to shrink the footprint further vs a 'regular' ITX case.

I guess I can go Ryzen 2 instead of 3. It won't make a huge difference to me, but I do need it to plug in and work without going through the faff of a boot kit.

Minibiker · 4 Nov 2019 at 14:09

eddiew said:
Appreciate the suggestion, but all the prebuilts seem like they're about double the budget of a DIY job... It's not worth it to shrink the footprint further vs a 'regular' ITX case.

I guess I can go Ryzen 2 instead of 3. It won't make a huge difference to me, but I do need it to plug in and work without going through the faff of a boot kit.

Just get a Ryzen 2600 and B450 ITX board... A used 2600 will cost between £85 and £100.. That way it will plug and play no BIOS updated needed