Desktop PC Build Advice

[rhysduck]

Looking to upgrade a relatives desktop PC internals.

Usage includes general browsing, a little photo editing, low intensity radio programs... i.e nothing heavy.

Whats the general go to board and cpu bundle these days? I built a decent FM2 desktop build around 10/11 years ago, which has done brilliantly but time to upgrade.

Have been looking at the R5 7600X for about £200 but not sure if thats overkill and to maybe go AM4 instead?

 

[jms198]

What do they have? If they do nothing intensive, a spring clean, an SSD and some ram may see them through. The biggest concern would be windows 11 compatibility when 10 support ends at the end of next year. Unless buying used I would leave off am4.

 

[tamzzy]

If no heavy use then just get a used ex-corp desktop (eg dell/hp/Lenovo)

 

[rhysduck]

What do they have? If they do nothing intensive, a spring clean, an SSD and some ram may see them through. The biggest concern would be windows 11 compatibility when 10 support ends at the end of next year. Unless buying used I would leave off am4.

Off the top of my head I'm not sure! will find out.
W11 is part of the reason for upgrading, current board/cpu doesn't support W11 upgrade. So to future proof would like to upgrade now.
Will stay away from AM4 then thank you, any reason though? CPU's are quite cheaper... I'm not up to speed with current tech and roadmap on future gens/releases.

 

[tamzzy]

Any CPU from Ryzen 2000 and 8th gen intel will support windows 11

My question would be if there's any need to buy the computer new. If they're happy with the performance of FM2+, which is a pig of a CPU even back in the day then any semi-recent CPU in the last 5 years would be sufficient.

 

[jms198]

The am5 is a bit more expensive but the worst am5 CPU is better than the best am4 one. Unless you need some performance, as Tetras said, the ex office machine may be the best budget option.

 

[jms198]

Any CPU from Ryzen 2000 and 8th gen intel will support windows 11

My question would be if there's any need to buy the computer new. If they're happy with the performance of FM2+, which is a pig of a CPU even back in the day then any semi-recent CPU in the last 5 years would be sufficient.

I thought you just needed uefi?

 

[tamzzy]

I thought you just needed uefi?

Yes but not quite.
Windows 11 requires (though can be bypassed)
- CPU list as above
- Uefi + secure boot
- Tpm 2.0 (1.2 minimum)

CPU that supports Sse4.2 instructions set mandatory with the release of 24h2 update

 

[Tetras]

Off the top of my head I'm not sure! will find out.
W11 is part of the reason for upgrading, current board/cpu doesn't support W11 upgrade. So to future proof would like to upgrade now.
Will stay away from AM4 then thank you, any reason though? CPU's are quite cheaper... I'm not up to speed with current tech and roadmap on future gens/releases.

My base CPUs to buy for a lower-end build are a Ryzen 5600 or 12400, but AM4 has no integrated graphics unless you buy a G model and Intel only has integrated graphics if you do not buy a KF/F model.

Ryzen 7600(+) would likely be big overkill for the usage you described, but since it is the newer platform the future upgradability (e.g. CPU, RAM, M.2) will be better. AM5 CPUs except the F have integrated graphics.

Cooler is optional on the following build, because the CPU has one in the box. Ryzen 7600 does too, but 7600X does not.

My basket at OcUK:

• 1 x Intel Core i5-12400 2.50GHz (Alder Lake) Socket LGA1700 Processor - Retail (SKU: CP-6AL-IN) = £139.99
• 1 x Asus Prime B760M-A WIFI D4 (LGA 1700) DDR4 Micro-ATX Motherboard (SKU: MB-6KG-AS) = £109.99
• 1 x Team Group Vulcan Z T-Force 32GB (2x16GB) DDR4 PC4-25600C16 3200MHz Dual Channel Kit - Grey (SKU: MY-0AJ-TG) = £56.00
• 1 x WD Black SN770 1TB SSD M.2 2280 NVME PCI-E Gen4 Solid State Drive (WDS100T3X0E) (SKU: HD-58F-WD) = £59.98
• 1 x Kolink KLA-003 Midi Tower Case - Black (SKU: CA-053-KK) = £29.99
• 1 x Phanteks AMP GH 750W 80PLUS Gold ATX Power Supply Modular - Black (SKU: POW-PHK-02517) = £84.95

• 1 x Arctic Freezer 36 120m Black CPU Cooler - 2x 120mm (SKU: COO-ARC-02420) = £22.99

Total: £503.89 (includes delivery: £0.00)​

 

[rhysduck]

My base CPUs to buy for a lower-end build are a Ryzen 5600 or 12400, but AM4 has no integrated graphics unless you buy a G model and Intel only has integrated graphics if you do not buy a KF/F model.

Ryzen 7600(+) would likely be big overkill for the usage you described, but since it is the newer platform the future upgradability (e.g. CPU, RAM, M.2) will be better. AM5 CPUs except the F have integrated graphics.

Cooler is optional on the following build, because the CPU has one in the box. Ryzen 7600 does too, but 7600X does not.

My basket at OcUK:

• 1 x Intel Core i5-12400 2.50GHz (Alder Lake) Socket LGA1700 Processor - Retail (SKU: CP-6AL-IN) = £139.99
• 1 x Asus Prime B760M-A WIFI D4 (LGA 1700) DDR4 Micro-ATX Motherboard (SKU: MB-6KG-AS) = £109.99
• 1 x Team Group Vulcan Z T-Force 32GB (2x16GB) DDR4 PC4-25600C16 3200MHz Dual Channel Kit - Grey (SKU: MY-0AJ-TG) = £56.00
• 1 x WD Black SN770 1TB SSD M.2 2280 NVME PCI-E Gen4 Solid State Drive (WDS100T3X0E) (SKU: HD-58F-WD) = £59.98
• 1 x Kolink KLA-003 Midi Tower Case - Black (SKU: CA-053-KK) = £29.99
• 1 x Phanteks AMP GH 750W 80PLUS Gold ATX Power Supply Modular - Black (SKU: POW-PHK-02517) = £84.95
• 1 x Arctic Freezer 36 120m Black CPU Cooler - 2x 120mm (SKU: COO-ARC-02420) = £22.99

Total: £503.89 (includes delivery: £0.00)​

That's great thank you. Will look into the 5600's and 12400 CPUs this evening and post back with a possible build. Thank you again.

 

[Tetras]

Will look into the 5600's

5600G or 5600GT, I believe (if you need the graphics)

 

[rhysduck]

5600G or 5600GT, I believe (if you need the graphics)

Was just coming back to change that to AM5 (8600G)

 

[Tetras]

AM5 (8600G)

They've got kind of cheap those, FYI: the 8500G is a lot different to the 8600G. It has no NPU and uses 4x 4c cores (they're clocked lower), but it does have good power consumption. The 8600G is "full-fat", with no 4c cores.

 

[rhysduck]

They've got kind of cheap those, FYI: the 8500G is a lot different to the 8600G. It has no NPU and uses 4x 4c cores (they're clocked lower), but it does have good power consumption. The 8600G is "full-fat", with no 4c cores.

Thank you.
This is what I've been looking at:

AMD Ryzen 5 8600G Six Core 4.3GHz (Socket AM5) APU with Radeon 760M Graphics

Order AMD Ryzen 5 8600G Six Core 4.3GHz (Socket AM5) APU with Radeon 760M Graphics now online and benefit from fast delivery.

www.overclockers.co.uk

Asus Prime B650M-A WIFI II (Socket AM5) DDR5 Micro-ATX Motherboard

Order Asus Prime B650M-A WIFI II (Socket AM5) DDR5 Micro-ATX Motherboard now online and benefit from fast delivery.

www.overclockers.co.uk

TeamGroup Delta RGB 32GB (2X16GB) DDR5 PC5-44800C30 6000MHz Dual Channel Kit - White (FF4D532G6000HC30DC01)

Order TeamGroup Delta RGB 32GB (2X16GB) DDR5 PC5-44800C30 6000MHz Dual Channel Kit - White (FF4D532G6000HC30DC01) now online and benefit from fast delivery.

www.overclockers.co.uk

RAM checked for compatibility with Mobo.

 

[Tetras]

Thank you.
This is what I've been looking at:

AMD Ryzen 5 8600G Six Core 4.3GHz (Socket AM5) APU with Radeon 760M Graphics

Order AMD Ryzen 5 8600G Six Core 4.3GHz (Socket AM5) APU with Radeon 760M Graphics now online and benefit from fast delivery.

www.overclockers.co.uk

Asus Prime B650M-A WIFI II (Socket AM5) DDR5 Micro-ATX Motherboard

Order Asus Prime B650M-A WIFI II (Socket AM5) DDR5 Micro-ATX Motherboard now online and benefit from fast delivery.

www.overclockers.co.uk

TeamGroup Delta RGB 32GB (2X16GB) DDR5 PC5-44800C30 6000MHz Dual Channel Kit - White (FF4D532G6000HC30DC01)

Order TeamGroup Delta RGB 32GB (2X16GB) DDR5 PC5-44800C30 6000MHz Dual Channel Kit - White (FF4D532G6000HC30DC01) now online and benefit from fast delivery.

www.overclockers.co.uk

RAM checked for compatibility with Mobo.

Looks fine. If it was me, I'd get stock memory (like: Kingston KVR52U42BS8-16 ) 'cos I wouldn't want to be troubleshooting XMP for a relative in 2 months time, but your pick would give you the best performance.

 

[rhysduck]

Looks fine. If it was me, I'd get stock memory (like: Kingston KVR52U42BS8-16 ) 'cos I wouldn't want to be troubleshooting XMP for a relative in 2 months time, but your pick would give you the best performance.

Thank you - will look at that stock RAM. What would be the issue with XMP in a few months time?

 

[Tetras]

What would be the issue with XMP in a few months time?

Potentially nothing, but I just wouldn't want to be fiddling around with an unstable build when they have such low usage requirements.