Help please with speccing new system

Tuvoc

Tuvoc

Tuvoc

Soldato
Joined
19 Dec 2002
Posts
3,745
Hi all,

I've been out of the PC buying and building game for a ridiculously long time, my last build was an FX8350! I'm therefore not that familiar with the current state of play but I have seen the noise around Ryzen Zen 2 and Zen 3.

I'm looking at building a new box. I've got a decent new-ish PSU and a graphics card and SSDs to use. I can select a case myself.

It is a computational box not a gaming machine. The more cores the better, even at trade-off of slightly lower clocks. So I'd like recommendations for motherboard, CPU, cooler and 32GB Ram. I'm thinking AMD but whatever works best. I know there are no guarantees, but perhaps a socket that enables a CPU upgrade in future. I'm wondering if AMD, potentially a zen2 if they are cheaper and more available, with Zen3 upgrade later as they expand that range?

Budget flexible but I was thinking max £1,000 for the above, and I'd have to buy the case on top and I might need to review my PSU as well.

Advice appreciated, thanks.
 
music4mybumhole said:
As far as 'computational' goes, what is it you're actually going to be using it for? Video editing / office work etc?
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Chess analyses and large Excel spreadsheets.

I'm thinking the Ryzen 7 5800X is a reasonable value option. In terms of mother board and RAM, I think I'll look at what OCUK are using in their system builds as that is surely a good recommendation. Still haven't looked at the x570 vs b550 chipsets as to what the difference is.

I've never had water-cooling, I think for simplicity I'll go for a beefy air cooler.
 
mickyflinn said:
The msi tomahawk b550 or x570 are the go to boards the x570 comes Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Also you would need a bios flashback to update the motherboard to take the cpu ,the tomahawk has this feature.

Whichever motherboard you choose make sure you get one with bios flashback feature otherwise you will need a cpu to update the bios.
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Thanks, yes I've noted the fact that not all motherboards are compatible without a BIOS update, and some can be flashed without a CPU - that is new, wouldn't have thought that possible. Smart move by mobo manufacturers concerned.
 
Thanks for all your help. I think now I'm going to go with a pre-built system, everything new. Unpack the box, turn it on and ready to go. Will have to double the budget, but given that I run my machines for many years the outlay is worth it. (e.g. The FX850 is still in use, although not right at the moment as I'm moving it out into a new case)
 
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