Question CPU for office use

[JD007]

Hi Guys,

Need to build couple of office PCs which last 3-4 years. Currently, I have one PC with Intel E6500, SSD and 4gb DDR2, other one Q9550, SSD and 4 GB DDR2. both PC have nVidia GT730 video cards for 3 monitors support. Apps requirement, multiple QuickBooks files open simultaneously, 3 to 4 tabs Google Chrome, couple Excel files, and couple other programs.

My dilemma is should I go with AMD Ryzen 3 2200g with 8 GB DDR4, ASUS PRIME B450M-A/CSM or Intel Pentium Gold G5400, 8GB DDR4, which mobo would you recommend for office use. I am leaning towards AMD due to better mobo options between $100-$125 Canadian price range (newegg.ca). Also, does it matter in the office environment to use one stick of Ram DDR4 vs dual channel ram 2x4. There is a small saving but not noticeable which affect my decision … if two sticks offer a better performance and stability. For mobo, cpu and Ram the budget is around $300 Canadian before taxes. I want to stick either with Gigabyte or Asus mobo due to a better experience in the past.

Thanks for your feedback.

 

[Mind Games]

You will notice an incredible difference in how programs run with single channel memory installed (4GB or 8)
Chrome is one of the first programs you will see behave more slowly, however it does not seem like you will be doing very resource intensive tasks other than utilizing Excel spreadsheets which can tax a CPU if its below specifications.

Given the information you provided I would safely recommend the G5400, as you will already have a graphics processor that would outperform the APU. The motherboard I'd recommend would be the
GIGABYTE GA-H110M-S2H (rev. 1.0)
https://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIAHEB7NR8047

 

[doolittle]

Was thinking the opposite, get the 2200G and leave the GT730s with the ancient rigs. They should also double the performance (benches here and here).

Decent budget boards I would go with, the Gigabyte B450M, the MSI B450M Pro VDH Plus or the Gigabyte B450 Aorus M

Or get the G5400 and use the onboard 610, more than sufficient without a GPU for office use and should work well enough with any compatible board you like.

 

[geofelt]

I am curious, do you see any difference in performance between the E6500 and the Q9550 ??
E6500 has 2 threads and a passmark rating of 1764 with a single thread rating of 1192.
The Q9550 has 4 threads and a better rating of 3964 but a similar single thread rating of 1196.
If the Q9550 is significantly better, it indicates that your workload can use more than 2 threads.
OTOH, if performance is similar, it indicates that single thread performance is the limiting factor.
Of your two candidates, both have 4 threads.
The G5400 has a rating of 5189 and a single thread rating of 2178.
The 2200g has a better overall rating of 7312 but a lesser single thread rating of 1836. It also costs a bit more.
I used a G5400 in a build for my grandkids and their reaction was it is quick.
Chrome can use lots of ram and you need to keep it all in ram.
8gb is minimum, but I suggest a 2 x 8gb kit with either build.
ryzen responds to fast ram, intel not so much.
Regardless you want a 2 stick ram kit.
You could budget $70 for a H310 motherboard like this asus unit:
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA6ZP79D1840
A G5400 is $75
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16819117875
A 2 x 8gb g.skil ram kit is $75
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820232251
Total $260.
The integrated graphics will run your monitors, obviating the need for a discrete graqphics card.

For ryzen, I leave it to the ryzen experts for a suitable 2200g comparable

 

[JD007]

I am curious, do you see any difference in performance between the E6500 and the Q9550 ??
E6500 has 2 threads and a passmark rating of 1764 with a single thread rating of 1192.
The Q9550 has 4 threads and a better rating of 3964 but a similar single thread rating of 1196.
If the Q9550 is significantly better, it indicates that your workload can use more than 2 threads.
OTOH, if performance is similar, it indicates that single thread performance is the limiting factor.
Of your two candidates, both have 4 threads.
The G5400 has a rating of 5189 and a single thread rating of 2178.
The 2200g has a better overall rating of 7312 but a lesser single thread rating of 1836. It also costs a bit more.
I used a G5400 in a build for my grandkids and their reaction was it is quick.
Chrome can use lots of ram and you need to keep it all in ram.
8gb is minimum, but I suggest a 2 x 8gb kit with either build.
ryzen responds to fast ram, intel not so much.
Regardless you want a 2 stick ram kit.
You could budget $70 for a H310 motherboard like this asus unit:
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA6ZP79D1840
A G5400 is $75
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16819117875
A 2 x 8gb g.skil ram kit is $75
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820232251
Total $260.
The integrated graphics will run your monitors, obviating the need for a discrete graqphics card.

For ryzen, I leave it to the ryzen experts for a suitable 2200g comparable

Geofelt, you raised a very interesting point, the person who is using Q9550 now said the Q9550 performance is better than E6500, she worked few months on E6500 prior to working on Q9550...perhaps it could also be more cache of Q9550 ...

If this is true then AMD ryzen 3 would be a better option, I guess.

 

[Bearmann]

I got a refurbished Dell Pentium for the office several years ago. It did fine at first, but seemed kind of sluggish after 2-3 years. I felt like if I had ponyed up and purchased an I3 that it would have lasted another year or two. In this case the Ryzen 2200G seems like the better buy to me, since an i3 would be much more.

 

[geofelt]

I got a refurbished Dell Pentium for the office several years ago. It did fine at first, but seemed kind of sluggish after 2-3 years. I felt like if I had ponyed up and gotton an I3 that it would have lasted another year or two. In this case the Ryzen 2200G seems like the better buy to me, since an i3 would be much more.

The i3 of yesteryear like the i3-2100 is perhaps only 2/3 the capability of today's G5400.
The key to a good office system is a good SSD and sufficient ram.

 

[Bearmann]

The i3 of yesteryear like the i3-2100 is perhaps only 2/3 the capability of today's G5400.
The key to a good office system is a good SSD and sufficient ram.

That's a good point about yesterday's i3 versus today's G5400.

I looked it up. It was an Intel Core 2 Duo E7500 / 2.93 GHz with 4 GB of DDR3. I remember watching my RAM in the task manager, and as I remember, it didn't seem like I was near the max.