[SOLVED] Building a computer to run TRADOS Studio

[Nathan-08]

Hello,

I am currently preparing to build a PC for my wife who works from home. Her work laptop is no longer cutting it, so I am looking to build her a PC replacement. She is a translator who uses TRADOS Studio (currently the 2017 edition.) I have read that TRADOS tends to run better on Intel processors more so than Ryzen, so I went with an Intel build. Even if you do not have any experience with TRADOS, I would be interested in hearing your advice on the build I have prepared for a work desktop.

Proposed budget - About $650 Canadian (or $500 USD)
Time frame: the next 2-3 weeks
Case: Rosewill Dual Fans MicroATX Mini Tower Case - M Black - 39.99 CAD/$30.63USD + local tax
PSU: Apevia ATX-AS450W Astro 450W ATX Power Supply with Auto-Thermally Controlled 120mm Fan, 115/230V Switch, All Protections - $41.27CAD/31.61USD + local taxes
Motherboard: Asus Intel 8th Gen DDR4 HDMI VGA Micro ATX Motherboards (Prime H310M-E R2.0) - 81.99CAD/62.80USD + local taxes
CPU: Intel i5-9400 with onboard graphics - $284.50CAD/217.93USD + local taxes OR i3-8100 - 0$ as I already have it
RAM - Patriot Signature Premium DDR4 16GB (1x16GB) 2666MHz (PC4-21300) UDIMM with Heatshield PSP416G26662H1 - $70.99CAD/54.38USD + local taxes
SSD - Kingston Digital SA1000M8/240G A1000 240GB PCIe NVMe M.2 2280 Internal SSD High Performance Solid State Drive $54.52CAD/41.76USD + local taxes
Total with local taxes - 659CAD/504USD with i5-9600, OR $332.74CAD/254.78 USD
-We already have an aditional HD for storage, so I did not include one with this build.
-All parts are sourced from Amazon, as they had better prices/shipping than newegg

Note: I have an i3 8100 processor at home that is not being used. Would that be sufficient, or do I need to go for the i5 or even greater? Budget wise, I could always begin with the i3 and see how it works, and then upgrade to the i5 9400 or the i7 9700 if need be. It would save me about 300 canadian if I went with the i3-8100, but at the same time, I am looking to build a PC as a workstation and would like it to run well.

-The board I selected only has 2 RAM slots, which is why I went with 1 stick of 16gb instead of 2x8gb dual channel. I wanted to leave it open to upgrading later on without having to take out a stick.

Any comments would be appreciated. Is the PSU and case a good mix? Is this an alright build for a work pc? Does anyone have any experience with TRADOS that can say if this build will work well?

Thanks again to the community

 

[kanewolf]

Your RAM choice is wrong. You want a matched set of two DIMMs. So either 2x8GB set or 2x16GB set. A single DIMM hurts the CPU by limiting the memory bandwidth.
I would keep the i3 and spend the CPU money on 2x16GB RAM and a bigger/better disk. Get a Samsung NVMe 500GB SSD.

 

[Flayed]

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i3-8100 3.6 GHz Quad-Core Processor ($0.00)
Motherboard: ASRock B365M Pro4 Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($90.59 @ Vuugo)
Memory: G.Skill Aegis 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($134.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: ADATA XPG SX8200 Pro 512 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($94.99 @ Memory Express)
Case: Rosewill FBM-X1 MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($39.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Power Supply: Corsair CXM (2015) 450 W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply ($69.98 @ Amazon Canada)
Total: $430.54
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-01-12 16:31 EST-0500

 

[Nathan-08]

Your RAM choice is wrong. You want a matched set of two DIMMs. So either 2x8GB set or 2x16GB set. A single DIMM hurts the CPU by limiting the memory bandwidth.
I would keep the i3 and spend the CPU money on 2x16GB RAM and a bigger/better disk. Get a Samsung NVMe 500GB SSD.

I had a feeling about that. Dual Channel is the way to go. My worry was that 2x8gb would take both slots, thus limiting the chance of upgrading in the future. At the same time, limiting the CPU doesn't help neither. I will do one or the other. Thanks for the advice.

 

[Nathan-08]

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i3-8100 3.6 GHz Quad-Core Processor ($0.00)
Motherboard: ASRock B365M Pro4 Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($90.59 @ Vuugo)
Memory: G.Skill Aegis 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($134.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: ADATA XPG SX8200 Pro 512 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($94.99 @ Memory Express)
Case: Rosewill FBM-X1 MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($39.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Power Supply: Corsair CXM (2015) 450 W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply ($69.98 @ Amazon Canada)
Total: $430.54
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-01-12 16:31 EST-0500

Thanks for the reply. This is the second time I have seen an upgrade on storage, and I think it is sound advice. I like the idea of 32gb, as TRADOS is apparently a program that uses a lot of RAM. I will have to think about that for sure. Thanks for the post!