Opinions on Ryzen desktop system as suitable buy?

[jmwest1987]

So I've been a laptop only user for quite a few years and now find myself needing a new computer. I think the better solution is a desktop as it gives more flexibility and probably a lower price point for the same performance. Having not bought a desktop for a long time, and being a bit out of touch with the industry, I've done some basic and quick research but would really value some input. I've also always been Intel, but now? Maybe I'll switch!

I do lots of office work (documents, spreadsheets and so on), some light gaming, and use a quite heavy app called Logos that benefits from good IO (disk/RAM) and a decent processor.

I don't want to spend loads of money, but do have a few requirements.

I want to run two monitors (I currently have a couple of LED/LCD monitors with VGA/DVI-D capability - I run one landscape and one portrait - I want to keep some cash to upgrade one of them which is an old HP that runs 1280 max).

I also want an SSD as the primary drive for speed reasons.

So I read the Ryzen chip has decent onboard graphics which means you don't need separate graphics unless you want really serious performance for the latest games. Digging around I found this spec for under £500 (GBP) (from Mesh - I had PCs from them in the old days and always found them decent and reliable)


Ryzen 3 2200G
CiT F3 Black/Red Micro-ATX Case + Card Reader - External Optical Drive Only
400W Power Supply
ASUS Prime A320M-K Micro-ATX Motherboard
AMD Ryzen 3-2200G Quad Core Processor (3.7GHz) with Vega Graphics
8GB 2400MHz DDR4 (1x8GB) - Major Brand
Integrated AMD RADEON RX VEGA 8 Graphics
250GB 2.5" SATA III SSD
1TB SATA III 6GB/s 7200rpm 64MB Cache 8ms
Integrated 7.1 High Definition 8-Channel Audio
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN Port (Wi-Fi Not Included)
Microsoft Windows 10 Home 64 Bit
£417

So I'm asking for people's opinions...

Any thoughts/opinions/ideas for possible tweaks?

I've bought a Synology 218j with 2x3TB disks to run a network drive, so is it feasible to run a Windows 10 desktop with just a 240GB SSD and junk the HDD (is that enough space for Windows and several apps?)

And finally what kind of boost would a Ryzen 5 2400G chip give (any good reasons to choose that upgrade? - makes system cost £474)

Thanks.

 

[RARRAF]

the Synology 218j with 2x3TB is great but I very much doubt that a 240gb ssd is going to do you for the desktop but it depends on your usage requirements but a 4tb hd would be my choice

 

[jmwest1987]

Thanks for the input. I guessed this would the case. The system by default includes 1TB which I think will be plenty for my needs (especially with the NAS) - storing loads of photos but not much video.

 

[RARRAF]

not a great deal of difference but it is slightly faster https://www.trustedreviews.com/reviews/amd-ryzen-5-2400g-2200g

 

[jmwest1987]

not a great deal of difference but it is slightly faster https://www.trustedreviews.com/reviews/amd-ryzen-5-2400g-2200g

Thank you. Seems like the 2400G's main advantage is in graphics performance. And probably more than adequate for my needs. Looking at the ASUS site, it seems like a B450M-A upgrade might be worthwhile as it supports DVD-D natively? Alongside HDMI so if I upgrade the monitor I can run both using HD graphics.

 

[RARRAF]

its been a long while since I had to put a new rig together but one thing I will not change is I always buy asus boards but you did not mention the PSU manufacturer that you are using important I feel and would not go below 500 as a rule as they degrade over time.