[SOLVED] Need Components Advice for Upgrade to Ryzen CPU on Gigabyte B450 Aorus

[joshepherd12]

Hello, I'm hoping someone can advise me on the right components for an upgrade, please. My current build is:

Corsair MidTower Obsidian Case
KINGWIN 550W PSU
ASRock H77 Pro4-M
Intel i5-3350p
Corsair Vengeance 16gb DDR3
Corsair 256gb SSD
(3) 320gb HDDs
CD ROM drive
Sapphire AMD Radeon HD 6450 1GB DDR3 HDMI VGA DVI-D Video Card
64bit Windows 10 Home

Knowledge level: enough to get by with advice and current research, (technician +/-25 yrs ago).

I built this PC 6 years ago and I’ve never been happy with it. I need to update now (and to an ATX board). I originally intended to connect to 3 monitors, but I didn’t know the Intel i5 required a graphics card until after assembly. So then I added the graphics card, but I only ever got 2 monitors to work anyhow. For many reasons, I want to get away from ASRock and Intel chips now.

I need an upgrade that will speed up everything for this heavy productivity use: One, I use my PC for authoring a book in MS Word 2010. When I’m in two, 200+ page manuscripts, and using the Review/Tracking feature, Word slows way down and sometimes crashes. I canceled my Grammarly Word add-in subscription because it was slow beyond use. I can’t use a similar Word grammar add-in that I purchased, due to the same problem.

I also do WordPress web designing, and I often need to use at least 2 of the browsers at the same time (IE, Firefox and Chrome). Having a lot of tabs open, and with other applications running, slows everything down, gives blank white browser screens or black boxes (all kinds of graphics problems). I also use Photoshop 7 with intermittent problems, Camtasia video editing software, Excel, and listen to music. Sometimes (from any combination of open applications) the CPU usage goes up to 100% and I have to close some programs, or reboot, do maintenance, change settings, etc.

I want the right upgrade this time, make everything very fast, all compatible parts, future upgradeable, and without spending on components that won’t make any difference for my current use. In the upgrade, I want to connect to an HDMI on my Denon X1100W 5.1 receiver (for the TV to be the 3rd monitor), and get the best sound possible too.

Plan:

Get a Gigabyte B450 Aorus Pro WiFi – I’m sold on this mb for its 64gb memory capacity, back panel connection to the mb without a separate bracket, and that the jumper pins section looks easier to manage. It also has onboard sound Realtek ALC1220, which is supposedly better than the onboard versions ALC887 or ALC892.

Questions:

1) I want a Ryzen CPU, but which one do I need – 2nd, 3rd, or 5th generation, and which specific model? I get lost in research on the Ryzen CPUs because it's all about gaming, overclocking, and fancy fans and lights. I find little information about productivity (like what can best speed up Word and web browsing). I want as many cores and threads that will make a difference, and that my budget will allow. And I want to avoid any Ryzen that requires you to flash the BIOS just to get it working (such as the Ryzen 5 2400G).

2) I didn’t have much luck with 16gb ram. With the upgrade, I might start with 16gb DDR4, or should I go with 32gb now?

3) What video card should I add to get a 3rd monitor port? I’m thinking I'll need a new video card, and one that will do multiple monitors without any problems.

4) What would be your list of components, for my situation?

Thank you all, any advice will be appreciated in advance.

 

[Lutfij]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

Get the 3000 series Ryzen. Since you don't game on the system, you can look at the Ryzen 5 3400G, pair that with DDR4-3200MHz rams and the board you've picked out. If the board you're looking at has supports Ryzen 3000 on the box, then you don't need to update the BIOS, if you're not sure, get the Ryzen 5 2400G.

Get a dual channel kit an forget about adding more, hence a 2x8GB kit will do you justice for a long while, even with multi tabbed brwosing.

You will need an SSD or two, and an HDD to store your work.

We will need a budget for your build, your location and a preferred site for purchase.

 

[joshepherd12]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

Get the 3000 series Ryzen. Since you don't game on the system, you can look at the Ryzen 5 3400G, pair that with DDR4-3200MHz rams and the board you've picked out. If the board you're looking at has supports Ryzen 3000 on the box, then you don't need to update the BIOS, if you're not sure, get the Ryzen 5 2400G.

Get a dual channel kit an forget about adding more, hence a 2x8GB kit will do you justice for a long while, even with multi tabbed brwosing.

You will need an SSD or two, and an HDD to store your work.

We will need a budget for your build, your location and a preferred site for purchase.

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

Get the 3000 series Ryzen. Since you don't game on the system, you can look at the Ryzen 5 3400G, pair that with DDR4-3200MHz rams and the board you've picked out. If the board you're looking at has supports Ryzen 3000 on the box, then you don't need to update the BIOS, if you're not sure, get the Ryzen 5 2400G.

Get a dual channel kit an forget about adding more, hence a 2x8GB kit will do you justice for a long while, even with multi tabbed brwosing.

You will need an SSD or two, and an HDD to store your work.

We will need a budget for your build, your location and a preferred site for purchase.

Thanks for your reply. The Ryzen 5 3400G looks good and the price is within my budget.

I plan to use my same drives for now, this is an upgrade.

I shop on Amazon, Newegg and eBay. Can you point me to a graphics card so I can connect 3 monitors (and suggest the minimum memory I should look for on the card)? I thought I'd see some $40-$80 but I see they've gone up in price since I last checked. I'll have to allow for today's cost, most budget friendly, but still don't want anything that will possibly slow me down.