Advice on a budget (€400) build

gnolan

1. What is your budget?
€400

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer?
Internet/Software Dev

3. Do you need a copy of Windows?
Not strictly, I may use Linux

4. Can you use any parts from an old computer?
Monitor
Mouse
Keyboard
Cooler Master PC case (unknown model)
Corsair CX430 PSU
1TB Seagate HDD

5. Do you need a monitor?
No

5a. If yes, what size do you need.
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?
No

7. Are you willing to try overclocking?
Probably not

8. How can you pay?
Debit card

9. When are you purchasing?
This week

10. If you need help building it, where are you based?
n/a

I'm looking for what i consider to be a basic build but I'd also like the option to upgrade components over the next few years.

This is the following part list I've got:

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/LMLwjy

A few questions I have on the above are:

1. Is the thermal paste required for the Ryzen 2200G?
2. Is there any issue adding a single 8GB RAM or is 2 x 4GB preferred?
3. Is 2666Mhz the correct choice?

The following is my basket on overclockers which includes some a SATA cable and SSD mounting bracket.



I'm hoping someone can tell me if this build seems appropriate and whether I'm missing anything that would prevent me from assembling this build on the day it arrives.

TerrorFirmer

2x4GB is preferred. Look for a board with 4 ram banks if you want to upgrade to 16 down the line without having to replace the kit. You don't need thermal paste, it's already pre-applied to the cooler.

Sata cables come with the motherboard - but you could also get an M2 SSD as the board has an M2 slot, less hassle and no cables required. (but if you stick with the 2.5 SSD, you don't need the sata cable.... or mounting bracket either really, even if your case doesn't have as SSD mount there are no moving parts so an SSD can just sit anywhere)

gnolan

Thanks for the quick response.

2x4GB is preferred. Look for a board with 4 ram banks

The B450M DS3H has 4 x 288-pin DIMM, so that should be good right? Any opinion on the 2666Mhz? I'm not really sure on the significance of this.

you could also get an M2 SSD as the board has an M2 slot

I was thinking the 2.5 inch SSD might be handy if I wanted to remove the drive and use a SATA -> USB cable to easily transfer files. Is there any difference in the performance of an M2 vs. the standard 2.5 inch SSD?

K.O.Kiki

The Samsung 860 Evo is SATA-based even in M.2 form factor, so it should perform same as the 2.5" version.
For RAM, you can save a few quid by going for 2400MHz and manually overclocking.
Thermal paste is not required (there will be some on the included heatsink) but it doesn't hurt to get a tube. I'd recommend Cryorig CP15 or Arctic MX-2 (under £4).

Change the motherboard to MSI B450M GAMING PLUS for an extra £5, it has better heatsinks.

gnolan

K.O.Kiki wrote: »

The Samsung 860 Evo is SATA-based even in M.2 form factor, so it should perform same as the 2.5" version.
For RAM, you can save a few quid by going for 2400MHz and manually overclocking.
Thermal paste is not required (there will be some on the included heatsink) but it doesn't hurt to get a tube. I'd recommend Cryorig CP15 or Arctic MX-2 (under £4).

Change the motherboard to MSI B450M GAMING PLUS for an extra £5, it has better heatsinks.

If I'm not comfortable overclocking will 2666Mhz be enough? I've read quite a few things about getting higher speed RAM to fully utilize the APU and how dual channel is a must. A lot of it is over my head though.

K.O.Kiki

Yeah 2666 is fine.
The RAM speed is more for the internal GPU anyway (example).

gnolan

K.O.Kiki wrote: »

Yeah 2666 is fine.
The RAM speed is more for the internal GPU anyway (example).

Thanks for that. Is it a safe generalization to say that when it comes to RAM, faster = better?

K.O.Kiki

gnolan wrote: »

Thanks for that. Is it a safe generalization to say that when it comes to RAM, faster = better?

Kind of.

Performance of the APU scales linearly with RAM speed.
However, you lose potential performance by getting RAM with high CAS Latency (CL).


Again though: this is for game performance. Day-to-day you shouldn't notice.