Build Advice Advice on First Build I am Planning on Purchasing

[Frank$]

Hello, I am deciding on purchasing a new desktop workstation. I always purchased pre-built desktops in the past so this will be the first build I am attempting. I would like to keep the budget at no more than $2000 which is around what this build is at currently- including peripherals.

I suffer from impulse buying so at first I made a build that was way too overkill for what I wanted. I tend to overspend just because I want the best of the best. I know PC builds can be very expensive, but I want something much more reasonable - as long as it can meet all my needs with no issues I will be very very happy.


My needs/questions:

1. My plan for the desktop is to use it to run a Remote Desktop server on one monitor while running automated software/scripts as well as search engines, discord, etc on the other monitor. So pretty much something powerful that will allow me to be running a lot of memory-heavy programs at once with no issues whatsoever.
2. Speed is very crucial. Some automated softwares I use are running and updating/checking 100 different tasks each at 4 times a second(250ms) so it is crucial that I will be able to handle this type of power needed without losing any performance.
3. I will not be using the desktop for gaming as I am a console gamer and play on my xbox.
4. I have included a dual monitor stand in the list, not sure if theres any better ones out there for cheaper as $379 is pretty steep.
5. I would really love to have a full RGB setup as I love changing colors regularly depending on holiday seasons and whatnot, I don't care for rainbow effects but I may need to have a blend between 2 or 3 colors at one given time so syncing is important to me.
6. Im not sure if since the board is a Micro ATX that It will have enough slots for all the fans included in this set up. I know that it says everything is compatable on the website but I was doing some research and read that micro ATX boards usually lack enough fan ports.
7. I have absolutely no clue what I am doing with the storage, I chose an SSD and a internal hard drive but have seen other builds with only ssds. What is the difference/is there any benefit? Should I change these?
8. Should I consider a cooling option for the cpu? I have no clue on what overclocking is and may try to learn about it in the future but I would like a nice build that is a beast without having to overclock. This build will be in an enclosed room so if it produces a lot of heat that could be an issue.

I hope this wasn't too much or too little information. I am just worried I will end up buying the most expensive components out there for no reason. Any help would be heavily appreciated.

This is the build I have created so far, https://pcpartpicker.com/list/9bLV8Y

Side Note:
I currently own one monitor that I use with my xbox One so that's why only one monitor is selected in the build. I dont want to get two different monitors as I dont know if that would cause any issues so Im currently planning on just getting another one of the same monitor to play it safe. And the Seagate Backup 2TB External Drive is for my xbox as well so you can ignore that.

 

[Frank$]

Any advice/opinion/recommendations for any parts in this build is so greatly appreciated as I am a complete newbie at this. Eager to hear your guys replies before I go ahead and purchase this setup!

 

[g-unit1111]

My needs/questions:

1. My plan for the desktop is to use it to run a Remote Desktop server on one monitor while running automated software/scripts as well as search engines, discord, etc on the other monitor. So pretty much something powerful that will allow me to be running a lot of memory-heavy programs at once with no issues whatsoever.

If you want no issues I'd highly suggest paying extra money for a better motherboard. That motherboard is rather low end and won't handle high overclocks on a 2700X very well. It would be OK for a 2600 setup but if you're running an R7 on any decent overclocks you will almost certainly wind up replacing that board at some point.

2. Speed is very crucial. Some automated softwares I use are running and updating/checking 100 different tasks each at 4 times a second(250ms) so it is crucial that I will be able to handle this type of power needed without losing any performance.

Then in that case definitely get a better motherboard. I'd almost suggest going X470 in that case but a strong B450 like an Asus TUF or ROG would be a better purchase than your selected motherboard. Both boards are much better than the MSI Tomahawk I was using.

3. I will not be using the desktop for gaming as I am a console gamer and play on my xbox.

That's fine. You can run components marked as "gaming" for your uses. I run an Asus ROG board on my work PC.
The gaming brands are usually just for marketing purposes anyways.

4. have included a dual monitor stand in the list, not sure if theres any better ones out there for cheaper as $379 is pretty steep.

You would be wise to check out a company called Monoprice - they specialize in monitor accessories and you can generally find stuff like that for way cheaper than you would at Amazon or Newegg. This is a fraction of that $379 monitor stand and should be the same quality: https://www.monoprice.com/product?c_id=109&cp_id=10828&cs_id=1082808&p_id=13815&seq=1&format=2

5. I would really love to have a full RGB setup as I love changing colors regularly depending on holiday seasons and whatnot, I don't care for rainbow effects but I may need to have a blend between 2 or 3 colors at one given time so syncing is important to me.

I just built a setup like that. I have a Phanteks Enthoo Pro M which is a very nice case to display an RGB build. I run a Corsair Lighting Node Pro (PITA but worth it when it works) and a couple of Corsair LL140s to replace the included fans and the fan on my heat sink. You could do a CLL if you wanted to.

6. Im not sure if since the board is a Micro ATX that It will have enough slots for all the fans included in this set up. I know that it says everything is compatable on the website but I was doing some research and read that micro ATX boards usually lack enough fan ports.

You honestly don't need a ton of fans. All you need is enough to make sure that air flows properly through your case and doesn't need circulating. Most motherboards regardless of size only include about 4 onboard ports. You can always buy PWM splitter cables if you need more, as well as an extra USB / PWM hub. NZXT and Corsair manufacture those devices and they're pretty reasonable.

7. I have absolutely no clue what I am doing with the storage, I chose an SSD and a internal hard drive but have seen other builds with only ssds. What is the difference/is there any benefit? Should I change these?

The trend is ditching the mechanical drives for SSDs especially because they are super cheap right now and will eventually get cheaper. They're still expensive per TB so anything over 1TB you should go mechanical HD to save some money.

8. Should I consider a cooling option for the cpu? I have no clue on what overclocking is and may try to learn about it in the future but I would like a nice build that is a beast without having to overclock. This build will be in an enclosed room so if it produces a lot of heat that could be an issue.

The included AMD stock cooler is actually very nice for an included CPU cooler. But if you want something more you can't go wrong with anything from Noctua, Phanteks or Cryorig. There's also a few other options you could go with that aren't that costly. Outside temperature really doesn't have any affect on your CPU temperature unless it were something crazy like it was really hot or really cold.

 

[g-unit1111]

This is what I would suggest for a build:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 7 2700X 3.7 GHz 8-Core Processor ($308.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG - H5 Ultimate 76 CFM CPU Cooler ($74.57 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus - ROG STRIX B450-F GAMING ATX AM4 Motherboard ($129.00 @ B&H)
Memory: G.Skill - Trident Z RGB 32 GB (4 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($280.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung - 970 Evo 500 GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($149.99 @ Dell)
Storage: Western Digital - BLACK SERIES 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($119.17 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Asus - GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6 GB ROG Strix Gaming Advanced Video Card ($247.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair - Crystal 460X RGB ATX Mid Tower Case ($129.99 @ B&H)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - FOCUS Plus Gold 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($79.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($98.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $1619.66
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-02-19 17:22 EST-0500

Then you can add whatever monitor and accessories you want.

 

[Frank$]

This is what I would suggest for a build:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 7 2700X 3.7 GHz 8-Core Processor ($308.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG - H5 Ultimate 76 CFM CPU Cooler ($74.57 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus - ROG STRIX B450-F GAMING ATX AM4 Motherboard ($129.00 @ B&H)
Memory: G.Skill - Trident Z RGB 32 GB (4 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($280.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung - 970 Evo 500 GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($149.99 @ Dell)
Storage: Western Digital - BLACK SERIES 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($119.17 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Asus - GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6 GB ROG Strix Gaming Advanced Video Card ($247.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair - Crystal 460X RGB ATX Mid Tower Case ($129.99 @ B&H)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - FOCUS Plus Gold 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($79.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($98.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $1619.66
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-02-19 17:22 EST-0500

Then you can add whatever monitor and accessories you want.

Thank you so much for all the information!! You don't know how much I appreciate it. I will definetely consider the build you suggested, but sadly I do not think I will be overclocking as I was watching some videos to understand how to overclock and it just seems too confusing for me so I will most likely just stick with the stock cooler.

Now for the motherboard, I really like the Fractal Design - Meshify C Mini Dark TG MicroATX Mini Tower Case, so that motherboard you recommended would not be compatable sadly. The room I am planning on setting up my build in isn't quite so big so a mini case would be a big help in limiting how much space the setup takes up. Would there be any possible motherboards that would handle the power I am looking for like the one you reccommended- but a Micro ATX AM4 version so that it is compatable with the case? That was one of my main issues I ran into when looking for a better motherboard myself, as a lot of the better ones seemed to not be compatable.

I still have a lot to learn so by all means any constructive critiscm is appreciated. I am just looking to keep the cpu and case as I really like both after researching them and reading a lot of reviews. Everything else can be changed/upgraded if it will make my build better and meet the performance standards I am looking for! Thanks again for all the help!