Spec me a PC

Daze

Daze

Daze

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Joined
17 May 2011
Posts
1,987
Location
UK
Work from home and my laptop just isn't up to the job anymore. At any one time I will have Chrome open with 10+ tabs, skype, whatsapp desktop, photoshop, illustrator, maybe even excel and word + others, so looking something a bit more powerful. I would like to be able to play cs go and maybe a few other games - but nothing extensive and not fussed with maxing out settings as the main use of the pc will be work.

My budget is roughly up to £1000, but if I could get it cheaper that would be cool. Will be buying 2x monitors separate so leave those out of the spec, I also have a keyboard and mouse.

Things I would like:
16gb of ram
i5 at least - or AMD equivalent
Need a Windows USB copy
The BitFenix case I have listed
Modular or semi modular PSU

Apart from that just whichever you think is best!

This is what I have so far:

My basket at Overclockers UK:

Total: £1,015.09
(includes shipping: £12.30)



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Many thanks! :)
 
As you have stated that you'll be mainly using this for editing, workflow and such more so than gaming then I would suggest AMD Ryzen is the route you take. It'll offer more cores for better multi-tasking performance. Also, swap out the Baracuda drive for a Firecuda drive, as it'll offer better performance also, I'll spec you something. Also, you could find it cheaper to purchase a License for Windows 10, and then download the files from Microsoft and make your own USB, little more hassle but depends on how much you want to save money I guess.
 
Hi

I would definitely go for a Ryzen cpu over an i5.


My basket at Overclockers UK:

Total: £317.44
(includes shipping: £10.50)



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That 650W psu is also more than you need. A 450W would be enough. The 24 pin cable is a bit ugly/bulky on the Whisper psu but it won't be seen anyway.


My basket at Overclockers UK:

Total: £80.45
(includes shipping: £10.50)



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bioshockeruk said:
As you have stated that you'll be mainly using this for editing, workflow and such more so than gaming then I would suggest AMD Ryzen is the route you take. It'll offer more cores for better multi-tasking performance. Also, swap out the Baracuda drive for a Firecuda drive, as it'll offer better performance also, I'll spec you something. Also, you could find it cheaper to purchase a License for Windows 10, and then download the files from Microsoft and make your own USB, little more hassle but depends on how much you want to save money I guess.
Click to expand...

Why would you need/want a hybrid HDD when you already have an SSD ? Doesn't make any sense.
 
 
lee32uk said:
Why would you need/want a hybrid HDD when you already have an SSD ? Doesn't make any sense.
Click to expand...

Makes perfect sense, using SSD for OS and core programs such as photoshop and illustrator, then using the hybrid drive for you files such as .psd or .ai will be read faster from the drive using the cache of the hybrid drives. It seems like the OP is using this as a workstation, and seeing as he listed those two programs, from personal experience with dealing in large numbers of these files and accessing both of these applications daily, I can say for sure it's faster and snappier reading and writing those files on a hybrid drive.
 
bioshockeruk said:
My basket at Overclockers UK:

Total: £819.10
(includes shipping: £12.30)



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Click to expand...

That board is awful. You can't overclock on the A320 chipset.

Where is the cooler ? No stock cooler with that cpu.

Only 8GB Ram ? Also expensive as hell.

Again you don't need a SSHD.

Why swap the gpu for something worse ?

There was nothing wrong with the op's spec tbh so it didn't need much tweaking.
 
lee32uk said:
That board is awful. You can't overclock on the A320 chipset.

Where is the cooler ? No stock cooler with that cpu.

Only 8GB Ram ? Also expensive as hell.

Again you don't need a SSHD.

Why swap the gpu for something worse ?

There was nothing wrong with the op's spec tbh so it didn't need much tweaking.
Click to expand...


Haha, didnt mean to change GPU and RAM, was tweaking the basket, as said above, SSHD is going to be of benefit, also might not be the best board, but in all honesty, he hasn't mentioned overclocking, and doesn't really need to in his scenario, also for a cooler I'd say get a 212 by coolermaster.
 
My basket at Overclockers UK:

Total: £890.09
(includes shipping: £12.30)



​


UPDATED WITH CORRECTIONS
 
You might not need a 500GB SSD but it fits in your budget.

The R5 1600 comes with a decent stock cooler.

My basket at Overclockers UK:

Total: £976.09
(includes shipping: £12.30)



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Thanks for the help/input gents, couple more questions:

Any real benefits to the 4ghz Ryzen CPU over the 3.6ghz?
Opinions on going solely with SSHD and no SSD?
Should I look for a mobo with HD audio or something built in or will I not notice?
Will a 450w psu be working too hard and therefore noisy? ie will i benefit from spending a bit more on a bigger psu for less noise
 
bioshockeruk said:
Haha, didnt mean to change GPU and RAM, was tweaking the basket, as said above, SSHD is going to be of benefit, also might not be the best board, but in all honesty, he hasn't mentioned overclocking, and doesn't really need to in his scenario, also for a cooler I'd say get a 212 by coolermaster.
Click to expand...

Only a tiny portion (8GB) is dedicated to the SSD portion. Not worth an extra £27 for that. Anything that needs quick access should be on the SSD.
 
Daze said:
Thanks for the help/input gents, couple more questions:

Any real benefits to the 4ghz Ryzen CPU over the 3.6ghz?
Opinions on going solely with SSHD and no SSD?
Should I look for a mobo with HD audio or something built in or will I not notice?
Will a 450w psu be working too hard and therefore noisy? ie will i benefit from spending a bit more on a bigger psu for less noise
Click to expand...

That is the boost speed. The base speed for the 1600x is 3.6GHz and 3.2GHz on the 1600. Just overclock the R5 1600 with the stock cooler up to 3.6GHz.

I would always go SSD + HDD.

You should be fine with the audio on the B350 board. Onboard is pretty good these days.

A 450W psu is way more than enough. A GTX 1050 ti and R5 cpu won't get anywhere near that.
 
lee32uk said:
That is the boost speed. The base speed for the 1600x is 3.6GHz and 3.2GHz on the 1600. Just overclock the R5 1600 with the stock cooler up to 3.6GHz.

I would always go SSD + HDD.

You should be fine with the audio on the B350 board. Onboard is pretty good these days.

A 450W psu is way more than enough. A GTX 1050 ti and R5 cpu won't get anywhere near that.
Click to expand...

Opinions on this mobo over the gigabyte one - not a massive fan of the red: https://www.overclockers.co.uk/asus...am4-ddr4-micro-atx-motherboard-mb-69l-as.html

Also, further reading shows that the 1600 comes with a cooler and the 1600x doesn't, so may opt for it as it seems better value.
 
i only got an ssd late last year, and have to admit there good, but not essential! Wanna game? Ryzen 1600 , and put all your money after a 'B' motherboard onto your gpu!

I'd even settle for 8meg ram

Sorry! you want a workhorse, re- read post But good advice for budget gamer!
 
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