1st Custom PC Build - Advice Sought

Diceicle

Hello all,

Got a good steer on a PC build for a work colleague previously - so thought I'd seek some advice for myself this time.
I'm considering building/sourcing my own PC and would appreciate your input and knowledge of anything to look out for.

1. What is your budget? €900 - €1000

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer? Web Design, Gen. Digital Marketing / SEO Software, Some Photoshop / InDesign / AutoCad - a worhorse

3. Do you need a copy of Windows? Don't know - wouldn't be opposed to Ubuntu in theory.

4. Can you use any parts from an old computer? No - with the exception of 8Gb Ram

5. Do you need a monitor? No

5a. If yes, what size do you need. [19'/20'/22'/24'/etc.] N/A

5b. If no, what resolution is your current monitor and do you plan to upgrade in the near future? 1920x1080 & No

6. Do you need any of these peripherals? Keyboard/Mouse/Wireless Card

7. Are you willing to try overclocking? Yes (theoretically though not sure how)

8. How can you pay?Bank Transfer/Credit Card/Laser

9. When are you purchasing? [In the next 45 days - hoping to make use of Black Friday]

10. If you need help building it, where are you based? South Dublin City

Extras Info:

I put together the below spec and would appreciate your input on where to tweak to get it within budget. Currently coming in at €1250+

Where can I make savings and do I need a CPU Cooler really?

CPU AMD - Ryzen 7 1700 3.0GHz 8-Core Processor €292.99
CPU Cooler Corsair - H60 54.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler €79.87
Motherboard MSI - B350 GAMING PRO CARBON ATX AM4 Motherboard €121.48
Memory G.Skill - Aegis 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory €69.99
Storage SanDisk - X400 512GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive €171.25
Seagate - BarraCuda 4TB 3.5" 5900RPM Internal Hard Drive €109.19
Video Card EVGA - GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB SC GAMING Video Card €269.90
Case Raidmax - Vortex ATX Mid Tower Case €34.99
Power Supply Corsair - Vengeance 650W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply €72.02
Operating System Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit
Wireless Network Adapter TP-Link - TL-WDN4800 PCI-Express x1 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi Adapter €36.90
Keyboard Logitech - Solar Keyboard K750 for Mac Wireless Slim Keyboard

Billy86

Possible suggestion here to get you closer to budget:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor (£179.99 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: MSI - B350M BAZOOKA Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard (£63.99 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: ADATA - XPG Z1 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR4-2800 Memory (£89.92 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: SanDisk - Ultra II 480GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£105.60 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Seagate - BarraCuda Pro 4TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£99.00)
Video Card: MSI - Radeon RX 580 8GB ARMOR OC Video Card (£280.46 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Thermaltake - Versa H15 MicroATX Mid Tower Case (£34.99 @ Novatech)
Power Supply: Corsair - CSM 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (£65.15 @ Box Limited)
Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit (£0.00)
Other: URANT Mini USB WiFi Dongle, 600M Dual Band Wifi Adapter Wireless Hotspot Network Card (5G 433Mbps+ 2.4G 150Mbps) 802.11ac/b/g/n with WPS for Computer,Laptop and Desktop,Support Windows XP/VISTA/Win7/8/10/Linux/Mac (£12.49)
Total: £931.59
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-09-25 12:51 BST+0100

€1,057.61 (+ up to €12 more for the case and PSU to be delivered if Parcel Motel are required - PSU would be €4 to one of their locker sites, case would likely be to big but they do home or office delivery for €8).

The RAM you have unfortunately won't be very well suited to Ryzen as it needs 2666mhz or higher to really begin to get to it's best, but found 16GB 2800mhz at a great price. I guess some good news is that the HDD from your current system should be recyclable automatically to this build. This could allow you to get a smaller HDD at a lower cost (4TB Seagate is currently , but most importantly should save you €90+ on Windows as people often forget their current system they are getting rid of already has Windows (this is also true for any old laptops etc you might have lying around), failing that maybe go with the Windows evaluation copy and save a bit away at a time to activate late down the line. Also moved to a less expensive SSD again for budget reasons, if speed is more of a requirement then you might be better off getting a 250GB 960 Evo or somesuch for around the same price as this (480GB) one.

Moved the CPU to a 1600 for budget reasons but it's an overclockable motherboard which will work out well, and at a glance a 1600 should very easily be able to handle your tasks; the added RAM will be a good boost there too. On the GPU, getting a 580 8GB for any price has been pretty much impossible for close to six months due to bitcoin mining, getting one at £280 is doing really, really well. It is better than a 1060 6GB (best price I could find was £240) and a 1070 (best price £380) so I felt it kind of fit what was needed most - but if you can splurge on a 1070 or need to keep within €1,000 and go back to the 1060 6GB, all three are very good cards.

Gold+ semi modular PSU, couldn't find your case so got put a decent looking one around the same price as a stand in, same wifi adapter I used on a budget build as a gift that worked really well... I'm not that up to speed on keyboards/mice but you can usually get a decent starter combo for about £25/€30 or below.

Now for the fun part... don't buy this ! Or at least not the CPU/motherboard... Coffee Lake CPUs are out in 1-2 weeks (think I saw Oct 5th?) and are meant to be moving up to have 6 core i5s and such. AMD's Ryzen range of CPUs have been massively successful against i5s and most i7s even as recent as a month or two back with the 1200 and 1300X essentially making the G4560 budget range obsolete, so Intel will want to really make a statement. you might be as well to get the other components, especially those on sale, however in the mean time

Diceicle

Billy86 wrote: »

Possible suggestion here to get you closer to budget:

Hi Billy,

Much appreciated for taking the time to look at that spec.
I'll be hanging on for a couple of weeks - with the intention of getting some of the bigger piece around Black Friday.
Thanks again.

Billy86

No worries - I'd advise you to check Amazon UK for 1060 6GB, 1070 and 580 8GB GPUs more or less every day in the meantime. They'll often give out the release date 2-3 weeks in advance and sell at a hugely discounted rate for a few days - I saw a 580 8GB for £220 and a 1070 for about £340 there only a week or two back for example. If you find either of those around those prices (any of these will do great for 1080p gaming on ultra - the 580 is apparently OK on some 1440p and the 1070 is really more geared toward that resolution) dive on them asap because Amazon do some great flash sales, but it's a killer when you see it on lunch and then it's gone by the time you get back from work.