Appreciate comments on new PC

[JoeFranks372]

Hi, I would appreciate any comments replacing my10-year old Dell (Core i5 2320, etc) with a new machine, as it doesn't always power up & is showing its age (like its owner!). The usage will be fairly basic: a lot of web browsing (with many tabs left open) & email, simple apps (genealogy, spreadsheet, and similar), no online gaming (Chess doesn't really count does it?), Zoom calls, etc. The main thing though is that we have an enormous number of family / holiday photos & videos which require straight editing & moving into various folders - hence the amount of SSD I am going for. I will retain my monitor and keyboard & mouse combo.

I am going for the on-board sound rather than a sound card as I assume that if we get into using it for music in the future then it would be easy to buy a sound card then. Am I right?

Case
PCS 3601 CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i5 Six Core Processor i5-11400F (2.6GHz) 12MB Cache
Motherboard
GIGABYTE B560M DS3H (rev. 1.0) : LGA1200, DDR4, USB 3.2
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 2400MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GT 1030
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3500MB/sR | 2700MB/sW)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3500MB/sR | 2700MB/sW)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Memory Card Reader
USB 3.0 EXTERNAL SD/MICRO SD CARD READER
Power Supply
CORSAIR 450W CV SERIES™ CV-450 POWER SUPPLY
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 120 Series RGB High Performance Liquid Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
Wireless Network Card
WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 11 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00003]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10/11 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Microsoft® Edge
Webcam
Microsoft LifeCam Cinema
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 9 to 12 working days
Price: £1,146.00 including VAT and Delivery

 

[Salmon Fisher]

Hi, what is you budge? Is there any wriggle room? What monitor will you be pairing it with. The more info the better really.b as far as sound is concerned the onboard sound is actually pretty good these days.

 

[sck451]

Hi Joe

We can definitely help you with this. I'd actually suggest a very different direction: I'd go for an integrated graphics solution, with an AMD CPU: the 5600G. Currently Intel are just about on top, but for integrated graphics AMD are way ahead. You won't have much need for the better graphics, but some photo editing will use it so it's nice to have.

If you will be doing any significant video editing in professional apps (e.g. Premiere Pro or Resolve) I'd suggest a beefier graphics card, but for hobbyist stuff you'll be fine with the 5600G; the upgrade would in any case be easy. The 1030, incidentally, is about on a par with the 5600G's graphics.

Here's the build I'd suggest. If you really need a DVD drive, I'd get an external USB one, as very few good cases have the space for them these days.

Case
LIAN LI LANCOOL 215 GAMING CASE Better case for airflow and therefore cooling and therefore performance. The lights can be turned off.
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 5600G Six Core CPU with Radeon™ Graphics (3.9GHz-4.4GHz/19MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® PRIME B550-PLUS (DDR4, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 16GB) Faster RAM is good for Ryzen, especially on an iGPU
Graphics Card
INTEGRATED GRAPHICS ACCELERATOR (GPU)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3000MB/sR | 1600MB/sW) Good boot drive
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (2200 MB/R, 1500 MB/W) For current projects
1st Storage Drive
3TB SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE For storage of old photos/videos: there's no benefit to keeping them on SSDs and a lot of extra cost
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET All the power you'll ever need
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
STANDARD AMD CPU COOLER Just fine for the 5600G
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
Wireless Network Card
WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 2,400Mbps/5GHz, 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD + BT 5.0 A much better, more modern WiFi card
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 11 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00003]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10/11 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Google Chrome™
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) A fiver for a much improved warranty
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 9 to 12 working days
Price: £995.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/aQJjVuGwzD/

 

[JoeFranks372]

Hi Salmon, the monitor I will retain is the Dell 24" - SE2417HG. & it is a Logitech MK 710 keyboard & mouse combo. The budget is flexible. On top of the PC Specialist system (£1,146) I will be buying the MS Home & Student Office 2021 (PC Specialist only offer the 2019 version).

 

[JoeFranks372]

Hi SCK451, many thanks for your comments. Back to the drawing board for me! I will definitely take on board some of your suggestions. One point though, I thought that I would need a graphics card (& was worried that those on the Forum would be suggesting I go for a better one) rather than an integrated one. Wouldn't YouTube videos and such like would play better with a graphics card (& I have a NVIDIA GeForce one on my current Dell).

 

[sck451]

Hi SCK451, many thanks for your comments. Back to the drawing board for me! I will definitely take on board some of your suggestions. One point though, I thought that I would need a graphics card (& was worried that those on the Forum would be suggesting I go for a better one) rather than an integrated one. Wouldn't YouTube videos and such like would play better with a graphics card (& I have a NVIDIA GeForce one on my current Dell).

No, not at all. Watching YouTube videos is not terribly demanding on a PC and any computer with integrated graphics will manage it. To demonstrate this, look at any kid in a school where they have a Chromebook: they all use integrated graphics (much worse than the 5600G's!) and you can't stop them using YouTube!

Video cards are important for gaming and serious video production, along with more niche things like crypto mining and machine learning. If you do end up needing a graphics card down the line, they're really easy to add and the machine I specced would easily be able to take one.

Having seen your above message about the monitor, if I were you I'd be upgrading that display with the savings I suggested. You could get something like LG's 27UL500-W for £209, which will be far better, especially for media production and consumption. It is IPS (rather than the horrid TN panel on your Dell display, so it'll have much better colours), 4K (rather than 1080p, so four times the pixel count and much better picture quality) and 27" (rather than 24", so more screen space). It would make an enormous difference to your quality of life using it.