[SOLVED] New Build $500 to $700 Office+Video computer

[welchs101]

Hi, i want to build a computer for a family member where they plan to use it for office based things and some lite video editing.

They told me they want it to have lots of RAM (not sure what that means other than they want it to be fast). But really anything compared to what they have now will be fast. I was thinking of at least 8 to 16GB of ram.

A friend also mentioned that EEPROM hard drives are good and something about an EEPROM board that goes on the MOB should be good.

Any thoughts? I have no idea on Intel vs AMD

 

[cdrkf]

Hi, i want to build a computer for a family member where they plan to use it for office based things and some lite video editing.

They told me they want it to have lots of RAM (not sure what that means other than they want it to be fast). But really anything compared to what they have now will be fast. I was thinking of at least 8 to 16GB of ram.

A friend also mentioned that EEPROM hard drives are good and something about an EEPROM board that goes on the MOB should be good.

Any thoughts? I have no idea on Intel vs AMD

H, so for video editing plenty of ram is a good idea - 16gb should be fine (buy a 2 x 8gb kit for dual channel operation which will help boost performance a bit). I'd suggest buying a motherboard with 4 ram slots as that will give option to add more memory in future is required (editing higher resolution videos like 4k will use a lot of ram, 16gb should be fine for 1080p).

With regards to the hard drive, what I believe your friend was referring to is an NVME drive. These are the fastest type of storage drive available although do cost more for the same capacity than other drive types such as Sata SSD or traditional hard disk drives. You may want to consider a small (ish) NVME drive as a Windows boot drive with a slower, larger drive for storing video files given your budget.

In terms of value vs performance for this type of work, you probably want to look at an AMD system.

I would suggest one of 2 options, to keep costs down you could look at a Ryzen 5 3400G - this is a 4 core, 8 thread cpu and comes with a decent integrated GPU. Should be fine for light video work and the integrated graphics are enough for daily tasks and older games. That with a reasonable B450 motherboard should fit within your budget. For a bit more performance the best price - performance chip is the Ryzen 5 3600, that is 6 cores and 12 threads so will be quite a bit faster for video encoding and so on. The only downside to that cpu is it doesn't include any on chip graphics, so you will also need to buy a separate graphics card which will increase cost a bit. That said as the machine is mainly for video / office stuff you don't need to spent a lot of a graphics board - something basic like a GT 1030 or RX 550 card would do the job.

 

[welchs101]

thanks for the info.......much appreciated.
Question: I was looking at the Ryzen 5 3600 and i compared it to say Intel Core i7-8700K ..........the I7 is slightly less expensive ......would you still get the Ryzen 5 3600?

 

[cdrkf]

thanks for the info.......much appreciated.
Question: I was looking at the Ryzen 5 3600 and i compared it to say Intel Core i7-8700K ..........the I7 is slightly less expensive ......would you still get the Ryzen 5 3600?

Hmm - that is quite a good deal then and given your proposed usage I think the i7 makes sense. The main disadvantage to the 8700K (and probably why it's being sold off cheaply) is it's on a dead platform - the motherboard socket it fits to has been retired so there are no new cpu's being released for it anymore. However if you don't envisage wanting to upgrade the machine for a long time then chances are you would need a new motherboard anyway in the future.

Why I think this suits your needs well is the 8700K includes an Intel integrated graphics chip - it's useless for games but will run the desktop / video software fine and also includes Intels 'Quick Sync' engine which can really speed up video export (it does depend what video software and settings are being used).

One thing to note, the 8700K doesn't include a box cooler so you'll need to invest in an air cooler, it is an overclockable chip which could give a nice performance boost, but in order to be able to do that you will also need to get a 'Z' series motherboards as Intel doesn't allow overclocking on any of the cheaper boards. For a light duty video editing / desktop rig though probably don't need to worry too much about that.

 

[welchs101]

thanks for the information. speaking of games i have a question. For the Ryzen 5 3600 build........if i had to get its own dedicated graphics card.........could i play games on it like LordOfTheRings online? Just curious....something i had not considered doing with this computer AT ALL but just curious.

 

[cdrkf]

thanks for the information. speaking of games i have a question. For the Ryzen 5 3600 build........if i had to get its own dedicated graphics card.........could i play games on it like LordOfTheRings online? Just curious....something i had not considered doing with this computer AT ALL but just curious.

Yeah the Ryzen 5 3600 is a really good gaming cpu, so game performance will basically come down to what graphics board you put in. Reading up on the LOTRO system requirements, they look to be pretty low so either of the gpu's I suggested would work fine. If you wanted wider game support, might be worth investing in a more powerful graphics card, the AMD RX 5500 series and nVidia GTX 1650 Super / 1660 series cards are a good 'sweet spot' for smooth performance at 1080p resolution in current games. The older GTX 1060 and RX 570 / 580 cards are also worth a look as these offer similar performance but are older so you may be able to get a good deal on them.

Note you could also pair any of the above GPU's with the Intel setup if you prefer (although that negates the cost saving of not having to buy a gpu).

 

[welchs101]

hi, i am starting to put together the actual build ....i have decided to use the Ryzen 5 3600 and i have a budget of around 800 to 900 ........can someone put together a build.....not sure of the MOB and if i need a cpu cooler or what...i dont think i need one as i dont do any over clocking

 

[cdrkf]

hi, i am starting to put together the actual build ....i have decided to use the Ryzen 5 3600 and i have a budget of around 800 to 900 ........can someone put together a build.....not sure of the MOB and if i need a cpu cooler or what...i dont think i need one as i dont do any over clocking

I'd suggest look at a B450 motherboard for your budget - pretty much any board will work with the R5 3600 given it's only a 65W cpu, although if you want the option to upgrade to a higher core count part in the future you may want to invest a bit more in the motherboard and get one with a good VRM solution that can handle the higher wattage parts. The MSI B450 Tomahawk Max gets a lot of recommendations as it can handle any of the Ryzen cpu's (even the 12 and 16 core parts), at least at stock settings and doesn't cost a fortune. If you aren't really worried about that option than any of the cheaper B450 boards will be fine with the R5 3600. One side note is the B450 motherboards came out before Ryzen 3000 cpu's, so older boards might need a bios update before installing the cpu - I suggest checking with the retailer you buy the board from before hand as they can do this for you if it's an issue (many of the later boards are suppled as 'Ryzen 3000 ready' and will work, as will any 'B450 Max' board as the Max models are a more recent update).

In relation to cooling - the stock cooler should be fine for the 3600 for stock operation. It's a good idea to make sure your case has reasonable airflow - many cases include a couple of case fans which should be sufficient (usually one in the front configured to draw air into the case, with a rear fan to act as an exhaust).

Also make sure to get a decent quality PSU - for a budget build the Corsair CX power supplies offer decent performance and aren't too expensive. It's worth investing a bit in a PSU though as some of the cheap ones (often bundled with cheap cases) are very low quality and whilst they will likely work to start with they lack many of the protections better supplies offer meaning if they fail they are likely to damage other components. Here is a link to the Toms article on choosing a PSU:
https://www.tomshardware.com/uk/reviews/best-psus,4229.html

You probably want something in the 500 - 600W range for this build (depending on what GPU you go with).

Edit: Here is an example build: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/8gJ8QD

 

[welchs101]

this may sound like a dumb question but what would be the smallest case you would recommend.......like you would not go any smaller than this type of a case........the reason i ask is my family member wants a small case...i told her we may not be able to go as small as she would like but .....anyway, how small would you go......i know the GPU card may have some impact ...right?

 

[Flayed]

hi, i am starting to put together the actual build ....i have decided to use the Ryzen 5 3600 and i have a budget of around 800 to 900 ........can someone put together a build.....not sure of the MOB and if i need a cpu cooler or what...i dont think i need one as i dont do any over clocking

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor ($256.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI B550M PRO-VDH WIFI Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($111.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Team T-FORCE VULCAN Z 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Blue SN550 500 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($53.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 1650 SUPER 4 GB TUF GAMING OC Video Card ($173.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Silverstone PS15 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($63.95 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair CX (2017) 450 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($64.94 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($108.78 @ Other World Computing)
Total: $889.60
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-11-19 21:52 EST-0500

 

[Archaic59]

Hi, i want to build a computer for a family member where they plan to use it for office based things and some lite video editing.

They told me they want it to have lots of RAM (not sure what that means other than they want it to be fast). But really anything compared to what they have now will be fast. I was thinking of at least 8 to 16GB of ram.

A friend also mentioned that EEPROM hard drives are good and something about an EEPROM board that goes on the MOB should be good.

Any thoughts? I have no idea on Intel vs AMD

• Intel based solution
• 32GB ram
• 1TB NVME SSD
• micro-ATX case
• Semi-modular power supply

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i5-10400 2.9 GHz 6-Core Processor ($179.99 @ Adorama)
Motherboard: Gigabyte B460M DS3H AC Micro ATX LGA1200 Motherboard ($83.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-2666 CL15 Memory ($129.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Crucial P2 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($104.95 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 1650 SUPER 4 GB TUF GAMING OC Video Card ($173.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Antec Dark Phantom DP301M MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($59.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair CXM (2015) 450 W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($108.78 @ Other World Computing)
Total: $911.65
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-11-19 22:35 EST-0500

 

[cdrkf]

this may sound like a dumb question but what would be the smallest case you would recommend.......like you would not go any smaller than this type of a case........the reason i ask is my family member wants a small case...i told her we may not be able to go as small as she would like but .....anyway, how small would you go......i know the GPU card may have some impact ...right?

Here is a modified build using a small form factor case and Mini ITX motherboard. Note the main downside to this option is you will only get 2 memory slots on a Mini ITX board, so I have upped the ram to 32gb. This case supports standard ATX power supplies which makes things easy - also has reasonable room for graphics cards and actually doesn't cost much more than a more standard build.

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/ZWffdD

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor ($199.99 @ Best Buy)
Motherboard: ASRock B550M-ITX/ac Mini ITX AM4 Motherboard ($119.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3600 CL18 Memory ($124.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial P1 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($100.43 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 1650 SUPER 4 GB AERO ITX OC Video Card ($164.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Thermaltake Core V1 Mini ITX Desktop Case ($54.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair CXM 550 W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply ($79.98 @ Amazon)
Total: $845.36

 

[welchs101]

Hi, THanks so much for the info thus far. I have been reviewing and i am hoping to pull the trigger this weekend on something. i had a question or two about cases. This build is for my family member and my wife said she thinks my family member might prefer one of these two cases: Fractal Design Core 1100 or the Cooler Master N200.........each of these i think has a slot/position for a DVD drive and / or a card reader. Not planning on adding these just now.....but maybe in the future......unless someone has a dvd drive and card reader that is good and can recommend one. also, can someone recommend a wireless device so that the computer can connect to the internet.......this computer wont be hard wired.

 

[welchs101]

anyone out there?

 

[welchs101]

Quick question: It seems that the AMD Ryzen 5 3600 is out of stock every where.......anyone have an idea when it will get back in stock .....is there an alternative that is as good as the AMD Ryzen 5 3600?

 

[egda23]

thanks for the info.......much appreciated.
Question: I was looking at the Ryzen 5 3600 and i compared it to say Intel Core i7-8700K ..........the I7 is slightly less expensive ......would you still get the Ryzen 5 3600?

Where are you ?
In Europe some large online retailers have it in stock
https://www.alternate.de/AMD-Prozessoren/Sockel-AM4

https://www.alternate.be/Hardware/Processoren/AMD/Socket-AM4

 

[welchs101]

i am in the US......only one that has it is Amazon and they wanted like $300.......not paying that.

 

[welchs101]

Yeah i think the prices have gone up because supply is low.......even the links you sent me the prices seem high. Is there an alternative that you would recommend to the AMD either intel or another AMD.

 

[welchs101]

ok, now i am not sure of what the prices were any more for the amd ryzen 5 3600............$300 seems really high from what i remember..........am i going nuts?

 

[Flayed]

Archaic59 list above is a good alternate build

 

[cdrkf]

ok, now i am not sure of what the prices were any more for the amd ryzen 5 3600............$300 seems really high from what i remember..........am i going nuts?

The 3600 is typically around the $200 - $250 mark, $300 is quite high. Note sometimes the 3600X or XT might work out better value (they are both faster versions although the performance difference was so small typically everyone said to go for the 3600 as it was usually cheaper).

The motherboard I linked includes Wifi on the board so no additional hardware required for that.

I wouldn't worry too much about an optical drive these days, and it's easy enough to get an external card reader if required. For transferring files around a USB stick is faster and much larger capacity than a DVD.

Edit: In terms of options for other cpu's the Intel Core i5 10600K is a good alternative to the 3600 (similar performance, same core / thread count) - and since the launch of the AMD 5000 series there have been some good sales on the Intel 10th gen stuff so might be a good option.

 

[Archaic59]

Archaic59 list above is a good alternate build

Thanks, but after 11 days since I posted the build list, it has become irrelevant due to parts not in-stock for some of the items. I can't find a GTX 1650 Super anywhere in the states at all right now for the normal price of around $160 to $170 or even a GTX 1650.

This is what I can come up with today. Price and availability will probably change before the day is out the way things are going right now.
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/yC7QRT

 

[welchs101]

I do appreciate both of your builds....i do. And i am sorry i did not jump on it right away while the builds were still relevant been kinda busy with "stuff" but i do appreciate your build info. If anyone has current build info i would also appreciate that as well.

the AMD 5000 series and INTEL 10th gen stuff what are these cpus?

 

[cdrkf]

I do appreciate both of your builds....i do. And i am sorry i did not jump on it right away while the builds were still relevant been kinda busy with "stuff" but i do appreciate your build info. If anyone has current build info i would also appreciate that as well.

the AMD 5000 series and INTEL 10th gen stuff what are these cpus?

So AMD have just released the Ryzen 5000 series which are based on a new cpu core which is quite a bit faster than both AMD's 3000 series as well as Intels 10th gen (for example the new Ryzen 5600X replaces the older 3600 series, it's quite a bit more expensive though due to being roughly 20% faster per core).

Intel's '10th gen' processors are their current parts e.g. Core i3 10100 (like the above build), Core i5 10400 and so on. Intel 10XXX processors are roughly equal in performance to Ryzen 3000 series processors when comparing the same core / thread counts so for example the Core i5 10XXX processors are similar to Ryzen 5 3XXX processors. The newer Ryzen 5XXX parts are typically faster than Intel 10000 series at the same number of cores due to the newer design (Intel have an updated 11,000 series due out next year which should better compete).

 

[Archaic59]

I do appreciate both of your builds....i do. And i am sorry i did not jump on it right away while the builds were still relevant been kinda busy with "stuff" but i do appreciate your build info. If anyone has current build info i would also appreciate that as well.

the AMD 5000 series and INTEL 10th gen stuff what are these cpus?

The original build I posted and the revised build I posted this morning both use a new 10th gen Intel 'Comet Lake' CPU. The new AMD CPU's are a bit better, but finding one is another story and the prices are higher.