Build Advice Help with 2 pc builds please.

xkira888

Commendable
Jan 11, 2020
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1,535
I would like suggestions for 2 pc builds.

One is for home office work and one is for gaming. Both pcs will probably have dual monitors of some sort.

Home office pc: Fast, able to handle multiple programs being open/used at the same time, maybe some videos. Programs include speech to text, MS office, accessing hospital medical records remotely (not sure how that affects the user's pc), and whatever else medical staff do these days.

Gaming pc: Fast, high (not top) performance, able to run multiple programs + game. Mainly play some older games like Starcraft 2 but would also like to play some of the new, more graphics intense games. Preferably with no lag and low-mid graphics settings. Normal usage would include game, browser game, youtube/netflix all running at the same time.

I am unfamiliar with budgets for desktop builds but would prefer budget (not cheapest) to mid range for both builds. Willing to spend a few extra $ if the quality/performance is worth the price. Would like the pc to be quiet/normal (no indoor aircraft please), have efficient cooling, and reasonable power usage. No expensive/flashy cases please. Definitely want an SSD for the operating system and I know RAM is important...but the difference between 8/16/whatever escapes me.

I am unfamiliar with most of the terminology and the different part versions. I'm currently at the point where "I recognize that word" and "I think that is for (memory/graphics/etc)". If you could point me to a guide that explains these things simply like "an idiot's guide..." Any suggestions and help would be greatly appreciated, thank you. Now I'm going to google idiots guide to build a pc because that JUST occurred to this idiot now >.<
 
A possibility here... If you do not need to use both PCs simultaneously, you can just build a single machine. The machine for Gaming will also be very capable for doing what you want the Office PC to do. Being said, I have some recommendations. I will make a PC Part Picker list, and explain what you can change if you want to. I am going to focus on building one machine for both purposes.
 
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/fstm3t

Here is a list of components I collected for you. There are a few things you can change.

If you want to go lower budget, the first thing I would get rid of is the CPU Cooler. The AMD CPU comes with a cooler already, so you do not need one. However, an aftermarket is going to run cooler and quieter.

If you still need to save money, the storage is something you can play around with. Here, I put a 1TB M.2 SSD. These SSDs are very fast, and not to bad cost wise. If you need more storage, you can look at a larger or second SSD, but a HDD will probably be just fine. If you need to save money, but still need that much storage, there are smaller SSDs, even that same one in a different size, and then get a cheaper HDD to get the rest of the storage you need.

The Ryzen 5 3600X as mentioned above is a very good choice as well, but I do not know your budget, so I assumed the 1 year old 2600 would be plenty for you, and keeping to a better budget. If you wish to significantly change the budget, just let me know, and I can give better advice with a target price in mind. That said, you should be able to get 60FPS in almost any game on High/Ultra settings with this PC.
 
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xkira888

Commendable
Jan 11, 2020
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Thank you very much for your help!!! Both lists look very good and I will take a more in-depth look this weekend to try and understand the difference between some of the parts.

These would be two separate computers. One for a family member that is strictly for work (not tech-savvy and they don't game at all) and the other for myself (casual gamer).

Both: good SSDs and a good amount of RAM (I think that helps with multiple running programs? I don't know how much of a difference 8/16/32 is). Both would probably have dual monitors. No need for fancy cases or flashy components. Good airflow and less/easy cleaning of dust, if possible, is a major plus (especially for the work pc). No need for the newest or top of the line components if an older/cheaper component is comparable and reliable. If possible, energy-efficient (or something that doesn't suck up unnecessary amounts of power, if that is even a thing?).

Work pc: fast, able to handle multiple programs being open at the same time and quiet without overheating. Budget is not an issue, but prefer not to spend on something they won't use. Preferably a small or moderately sized case, if at all possible.

Gaming pc: fast, multiple programs running at the same time, fairly quiet without overheating and medium-high graphics (ultra is a plus). Extra storage in the form of a second SSD or an HDD. Prefer to keep the budget between $750-$1000, but willing to pay more for a respectable increase in performance.

Thank you again for your help!!!
 
I agree that an older used prebuilt will probably be a decent option for a pretty cheap price. Look for one with an i7 though, since older hardware is not a good, so a higher end might be needed. However, You can also build a decent new one for pretty cheap, ill throw that together here.

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/GB2QGc

The Office PC does not need a GPU in my opinion, and If you need more storage for it, a HDD is probably best. You can obviously change the case as well. I wasn't sure how much you wanted to spend for a good case, but you can get some nice looking, but not flashy cases, with great airflow and filtering. I did not put much thought into that case I put here, just because that is a very opinion based thing.
 

86zx

Upstanding
Nov 1, 2019
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I agree that an older used prebuilt will probably be a decent option for a pretty cheap price. Look for one with an i7 though, since older hardware is not a good, so a higher end might be needed. However, You can also build a decent new one for pretty cheap, ill throw that together here.

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/GB2QGc

The Office PC does not need a GPU in my opinion, and If you need more storage for it, a HDD is probably best. You can obviously change the case as well. I wasn't sure how much you wanted to spend for a good case, but you can get some nice looking, but not flashy cases, with great airflow and filtering. I did not put much thought into that case I put here, just because that is a very opinion based thing.
The i5’s and i7’s aren’t too different in performance for that gen unless they were doing a lot of photoshop I think they will be fine without the extra threads I have one with a i5 4570 and it does plenty good I’m able to play games with it well too. You can pickup one with an i5 for a little over 100$ and for office stuff I figure 8gb is plenty it’s only when your playing tougher games or video editing that you need more than 8 but it will still be expandable later on
 

Vic 40

Titan
Ambassador
Two options,

Gaming,

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor ($179.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Black Edition 42 CFM CPU Cooler ($34.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI B450-A PRO MAX ATX AM4 Motherboard ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport LT 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($64.98 @ Amazon)
Storage: Kingston A2000 250 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($49.95 @ B&H)
Storage: Crucial MX500 1 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: XFX Radeon RX 5700 8 GB DD Ultra Video Card ($309.98 @ Amazon)
Case: Corsair Carbide 175R RGB ATX Mid Tower Case ($59.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair RMx (2018) 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $989.85
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-01-26 06:57 EST-0500


Office,

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3400G 3.7 GHz Quad-Core Processor ($147.00 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: ARCTIC Freezer 34 CPU Cooler ($24.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock B450M/AC Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($84.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport LT 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($64.98 @ Amazon)
Storage: Kingston A2000 250 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($49.95 @ B&H)
Storage: Crucial MX500 1 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($42.00 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair CX (2017) 450 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ Corsair)
Total: $563.89
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-01-26 06:58 EST-0500


Cases are abit personal as well,so you might want to look at different options.
Also don't know if the workpc needs that much storage. Used this on both since i like ssd's in a system,but if you think that an hdd is fine can you change to that for the storage drive.

Would rather use this ram in the game build since overall faster with the Ryzen 3600,
https://pcpartpicker.com/product/jB...-2-x-8-gb-ddr4-3600-memory-f4-3600c16d-16gvkc
 
I would get this for Office...

PCPartPicker Part List

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
CPU | AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor | $179.99 @ Amazon
Motherboard | MSI B450M PRO-VDH MAX Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard | $79.98 @ Amazon
Memory | Crucial Ballistix Sport LT 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory | $64.98 @ Amazon
Storage | Sabrent Rocket Q 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive | $109.99 @ Amazon
Video Card | MSI GeForce GT 710 1 GB Video Card | $36.99 @ Amazon
Case | Thermaltake Versa H21 ATX Mid Tower Case | $34.98 @ Newegg
Power Supply | Corsair CXM (2015) 450 W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply | $39.99 @ Newegg
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
| Total (before mail-in rebates) | $581.90
| Mail-in rebates | -$35.00
| Total | $546.90
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-01-26 07:21 EST-0500 |


And this for Gaming...

PCPartPicker Part List

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
CPU | AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 3.6 GHz 8-Core Processor | $324.99 @ B&H
CPU Cooler | Scythe Mugen 5 Rev. B 51.17 CFM CPU Cooler | $48.99 @ Amazon
Motherboard | MSI B450 TOMAHAWK MAX ATX AM4 Motherboard | $114.99 @ B&H
Memory | G.Skill Ripjaws V 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 Memory | $81.99 @ Newegg
Storage | Crucial P1 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive | $99.99 @ B&H
Video Card | Asus Radeon RX 5700 XT 8 GB TUF Gaming X3 OC Video Card | $369.99 @ Newegg
Case | Phanteks P300 ATX Mid Tower Case | $54.98 @ Newegg
Power Supply | Corsair TXM Gold 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply | $83.98 @ Newegg
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
| Total (before mail-in rebates) | $1209.90
| Mail-in rebates | -$30.00
| Total | $1179.90
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-01-26 07:19 EST-0500 |
 
Two options,

Gaming,

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor ($179.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Black Edition 42 CFM CPU Cooler ($34.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI B450-A PRO MAX ATX AM4 Motherboard ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport LT 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($64.98 @ Amazon)
Storage: Kingston A2000 250 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($49.95 @ B&H)
Storage: Crucial MX500 1 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: XFX Radeon RX 5700 8 GB DD Ultra Video Card ($309.98 @ Amazon)
Case: Corsair Carbide 175R RGB ATX Mid Tower Case ($59.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair RMx (2018) 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $989.85
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-01-26 06:57 EST-0500


Office,

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3400G 3.7 GHz Quad-Core Processor ($147.00 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: ARCTIC Freezer 34 CPU Cooler ($24.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock B450M/AC Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($84.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport LT 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($64.98 @ Amazon)
Storage: Kingston A2000 250 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($49.95 @ B&H)
Storage: Crucial MX500 1 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($42.00 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair CX (2017) 450 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ Corsair)
Total: $563.89
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-01-26 06:58 EST-0500


Cases are abit personal as well,so you might want to look at different options.
Also don't know if the workpc needs that much storage. Used this on both since i like ssd's in a system,but if you think that an hdd is fine can you change to that for the storage drive.

Would rather use this ram in the game build since overall faster with the Ryzen 3600,
https://pcpartpicker.com/product/jB...-2-x-8-gb-ddr4-3600-memory-f4-3600c16d-16gvkc
These seem like good options for the builds, but in my opinion having two separate SSDs just needlessly complicates things and adds unnecessary expense. Going with a single SSD in both builds probably makes more sense, with the size depending on each system's storage needs. If the home office PC is for a family member that is "not tech-savvy", they might not even know the second larger drive is there, making it a complete waste.
 
I would get this for Office...

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU | AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor | $179.99 @ Amazon

Video Card | MSI GeForce GT 710 1 GB Video Card | $36.99 @ Amazon
In regards to this, do not do this. If you were going to do something like this, get the Ryzen 5 2400G or Ryzen 5 3400G. Do not get a GT 710 for anything. The integrated GPU that comes with either of these processors is way better than a GT 710, easily 3x better performance. Even getting a GTX 750 would only be a marginal upgrade over integrated in this case.
 

xkira888

Commendable
Jan 11, 2020
29
6
1,535
Thank you for all the suggestions! It's a lot of info to take in and lookup. Would anyone be willing to go through each part with me and explain what some of the differences might be, in layman terms? I'm going through some of the options and have some questions about some of the components. It may take some time for me to get through all of the suggestions. Thank you again for your input!!!
 
In regards to this, do not do this. If you were going to do something like this, get the Ryzen 5 2400G or Ryzen 5 3400G. Do not get a GT 710 for anything. The integrated GPU that comes with either of these processors is way better than a GT 710, easily 3x better performance. Even getting a GTX 750 would only be a marginal upgrade over integrated in this case.
The workload mentioned in the initial post does not require anything graphically intensive that a basic card cannot support. But the extra cores can easily help in multitasking or supporting multicore workload. You do not need 3x better graphics performance for running multiple instances of office.
 

Vic 40

Titan
Ambassador
Thank you for all the suggestions! It's a lot of info to take in and lookup. Would anyone be willing to go through each part with me and explain what some of the differences might be, in layman terms?
Differences for gpu's are mostly performance, well what is important.Maybe power consumption is of value to you.

For cpu's it's about nrs of cores and speed. Again power consumption might be something you want to look at.

For ssd's is kinda personal, has to do with amount of storage and how you want to use it, might well be that in reall life you will not feel any difference between ssd's chosen in the builds above.

Would really suggest to just google them and read some reviews. For cpu's is the 3700X probably the latest you'll find reviews about looking at what is suggested above.
For gpu's something like the gtx 1660 ti,might be a strange option,but the ones above will probably be in it and otherwise google the 5700XT and/or 5700.
 

johnsoner13

Respectable
I would get this for Office...

PCPartPicker Part List

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
CPU | AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor | $179.99 @ Amazon
Motherboard | MSI B450M PRO-VDH MAX Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard | $79.98 @ Amazon
Memory | Crucial Ballistix Sport LT 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory | $64.98 @ Amazon
Storage | Sabrent Rocket Q 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive | $109.99 @ Amazon
Video Card | MSI GeForce GT 710 1 GB Video Card | $36.99 @ Amazon
Case | Thermaltake Versa H21 ATX Mid Tower Case | $34.98 @ Newegg
Power Supply | Corsair CXM (2015) 450 W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply | $39.99 @ Newegg
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
| Total (before mail-in rebates) | $581.90
| Mail-in rebates | -$35.00
| Total | $546.90
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-01-26 07:21 EST-0500 |


And this for Gaming...

PCPartPicker Part List

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
CPU | AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 3.6 GHz 8-Core Processor | $324.99 @ B&H
CPU Cooler | Scythe Mugen 5 Rev. B 51.17 CFM CPU Cooler | $48.99 @ Amazon
Motherboard | MSI B450 TOMAHAWK MAX ATX AM4 Motherboard | $114.99 @ B&H
Memory | G.Skill Ripjaws V 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 Memory | $81.99 @ Newegg
Storage | Crucial P1 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive | $99.99 @ B&H
Video Card | Asus Radeon RX 5700 XT 8 GB TUF Gaming X3 OC Video Card | $369.99 @ Newegg
Case | Phanteks P300 ATX Mid Tower Case | $54.98 @ Newegg
Power Supply | Corsair TXM Gold 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply | $83.98 @ Newegg
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
| Total (before mail-in rebates) | $1209.90
| Mail-in rebates | -$30.00
| Total | $1179.90
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-01-26 07:19 EST-0500 |
Research parts before, don’t just go off the cheapest pices. The Asus TUF 5700 XT is a piece of hot garbage and no one should buy it even at its low price. Also, as ttower2020 said, a ryzen 5 3600 and a gt 710 for an office build is just such a silly combination, way better off with a ryzen APU and the integrated vega graphics
 

xkira888

Commendable
Jan 11, 2020
29
6
1,535
Work pc:
CPU: Ryzen 5 2600
CPU Cooler: maybe?
Motherboard: haven't gotten to that yet.
Memory: 8gb or 16gb?
Storage: 250gb-500gb SSD, possibly additional HDD
Video Card: just getting into
Case: small/mid size, good airflow, convenient/easy dust filters, quiet (CPU cooler is supposed to help?)
Power Supply: will need to see what total power usage is, I believe. Something about copper/gold?

Gaming pc:
CPU: Ryzen 5 2600 or Ryzen 7 2700X EDIT: or Ryzen 5 3600
CPU Cooler: probably, not a water cooler though
Motherboard: haven't gotten to that yet.
Memory: 16gb or 32gb?
Storage: 1tb SSD and 1-2 HDD
Video Card: just getting into
Case: small (would be cool)/mid size, good airflow, convenient/easy dust filters, quiet (CPU cooler is supposed to help?)
Power Supply: will need to see what total power usage is, I believe. Something about copper/gold?

From my research ~300W to ~500W isn't too big of a difference, so I was probably overthinking it. This is where I am at with my research. Still looking up 6 core vs 8 core and not too sure about overclocking. I sort of understand graphics cards are similar and the different names/brands have to do with the number of fans/size of the thing. I also found out the monitor has something to do with the performance so I need to look into that some more. Hopefully, I can flesh it out a little more :) Thank you again for all your help!!!
 
Last edited:

Vic 40

Titan
Ambassador
The 2600 comes with a cooler,i personally would add a better one (maybe more silent),but it should do for stock clocks which would be fine for a work pc.

It however doesn't come with an integrated gpu so if you want to build with this is a dedicated gpu neccesary,also for the work pc.

Same applies to the 2700X.

Don't know where you live so prices might not be good there,but according to what i showed is the Ryzen 3600 an option so am abit confused why you look at the older series.

Get a good quality 550watt power supply at least for the gamepc,the work pc would be fine with a 450watt and even lower with a low power gpu,but at 450watt you have enough choice with decent quality.
 

xkira888

Commendable
Jan 11, 2020
29
6
1,535
I was just going off of price and core count. I actually don't know which one is older/newer. I just assumed more cores would be better? >.< Also assumed Ryzen 7 is newer than Ryzen 5? Assumptions always get me in trouble though...
 
I was just going off of price and core count. I actually don't know which one is older/newer. I just assumed more cores would be better? >.< Also assumed Ryzen 7 is newer than Ryzen 5? Assumptions always get me in trouble though...
Ryzen 3, 5, or 7 are a "level" of chip. The 3 has the least cores, 5 has more, 7 has the most. The number that comes after indicates the generation and the "power" A Ryzen 5 2600 is a 6 core 12 thread CPU, because it is a 5, and it is second generation, hence the 2 in 2600. The 600 is a relative power. There a usually 2 or more variants of the "same" CPU. The 2600, and the 2600X for example. The 2600X is overlocked, and therefore a little faster. If that number is different, like 3700 and 3800, the higher last three digits means that is the more powerful one.

To try simplifying it, the naming scheme follows this pattern -

(Name) (Level Indicator) (Generation) (Power Level)
(Ryzen) . (5) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (2) . . . . . . . . . . . (600)
 
Research parts before, don’t just go off the cheapest pices. The Asus TUF 5700 XT is a piece of hot garbage and no one should buy it even at its low price. Also, as ttower2020 said, a ryzen 5 3600 and a gt 710 for an office build is just such a silly combination, way better off with a ryzen APU and the integrated vega graphics
How many PC have you built? I am running that card in one of my machines and it works like a charm, like a beast. The reviews you see are under 100% loads stressed out which is usually different from real world scenarios. And if you have adequate case cooling, it should not be an issue.
Also the Vega iGPU of the 3400g wont even touch base for the kind of workload mentioned.
 
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