Looking for help with spec please

[Scooby]

Hi,
Looking for help please to spec a pc with the following requirements.
- manage very large and quite complex excel spreadsheets
- run up to 3 x 4k monitors at 60hz (will purchase separately so no issues with connectivity)
- have 25+ chrome/edge browser tabs open all the time
- cope with some gaming (nothing too demanding or cutting edge but would like the option for some gaming in future -1440 preferred.
- perform hobby photo editing tasks
- have USB-C port(s) on front of case
- pc will run for minimum 18 hours a day
- most important is reliability, relatively quiet and maintenance free (no complex/high maintenance water cooling please)
- Windows 11 pro for Bitlocker



My budget is <£ 2000

 

[JUNI0R]

Hi,
Looking for help please to spec a pc with the following requirements.
- manage very large and quite complex excel spreadsheets
- run up to 3 x 4k monitors at 60hz (will purchase separately so no issues with connectivity)
- have 25+ chrome/edge browser tabs open all the time
- cope with some gaming (nothing too demanding or cutting edge but would like the option for some gaming in future -1440 preferred.
- perform hobby photo editing tasks
- have USB-C port(s) on front of case
- pc will run for minimum 18 hours a day
- most important is reliability, relatively quiet and maintenance free (no complex/high maintenance water cooling please)
- Windows 11 pro for Bitlocker



My budget is <£ 2000

Heya! I've managed to create a spec that gets almost all of your requirements. The one that I couldn't fit was the USB C one. While not the most elegant way of doing it something like this should get that ticked off too!

Any questions, ask away!

Case
COOLERMASTER MASTERBOX TD500 MESH ARGB GAMING CASE High airflow case which will keep temps and noise down. My other pick here would be the 4000X as it has a proper dust filter that'll allow for less frequent and easier cleaning but is about £20 more
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 5800X Eight Core CPU (3.8GHz-4.7GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4) Good performance CPU that should chew through spreadsheets without an issue
Motherboard
ASUS® STRIX B550-F GAMING (DDR4, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s) - ARGB Ready! Good quality motherboard to handle the 5800X
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 16GB) Plenty of RAM for the spreadsheets, chrome tabs and video editing
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3060 Ti - HDMI, DP, LHR Should be plenty of GPU for gaming at 1440p, although I would recommend gaming at the monitors native resolution for the best experience. Ideally you'd want ther 3070 for 4K 60hz gaming, but it's currently out of stock and the 60TI doesn't sit that far behind it performance wise
1st Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 256MB CACHE HDD for bulk storage of general files
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 6900MB/R, 5000MB/W) Super fast boot SSD for Windows and applications
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (2200 MB/R, 1500 MB/W) Speedy secondary drive for games and active projects
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET High quality and quiet PSU that'll allow for an upgrade to the GPU later down the line
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H100i ELITE CAPELLIX RGB Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler This is a liquid cooler but it's an all in one unit so doesn't require any more maintainence than an air cooler and will perform much better than one. The Capellix units are also super quiet!
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 If you need WiFi then this is the card you'll want
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 Professional 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence I'd personally stick to W10 for now, but stuck W11 in as a requirement of yours
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 Windows defender is fine
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) Well worth the £5
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 13 to 16 working days
Price: £2,022.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/DTaxBUXtHF/

 

[Scooby]

Thanks Junior, much appreciated.

Are these AIO coolers really maintenance free or do they develop air bubbles or evaporate over time? is there any real benefit over something like a Noctua 14S?

Should I discard Intel CPU's entirley from prospective builds?

 

[JUNI0R]

Are these AIO coolers really maintenance free or do they develop air bubbles or evaporate over time? is there any real benefit over something like a Noctua 14S?

They aren't quite maintainence free, they'll need a dusting every few months, although so would a tower cooler. And they'll lose a little water over the lifetime of the cooler through permeation, but they're built bulletproof these days. Corsair themselves give the Capellix a 5 year "Cooling Warranty". Honestly I'm not sure how it'd compare to a U14S, although having a quick read it looks like it'd be adequately handled by that cooler if you wanted to do a self fit.

Should I discard Intel CPU's entirley from prospective builds?

10th and 11th gen, yes. 12th gen is a split opinion. It's a brand new platform and they're currently topping the performance tables, but chewing through power and needing high end solutions to cool them. I'd be happy enough to spec one up if you'd prefer to be on team blue but I'm not sure that opinion is shared amongst our fellow forum user.

 

[David689]

The one that I couldn't fit was the USB C one. While not the most elegant way of doing it something like this should get that ticked off too!

I'm don't know what you need the USB-c for - be aware that this dongle is only USB 2.

 

[Scooby]

They aren't quite maintainence free, they'll need a dusting every few months, although so would a tower cooler. And they'll lose a little water over the lifetime of the cooler through permeation, but they're built bulletproof these days. Corsair themselves give the Capellix a 5 year "Cooling Warranty". Honestly I'm not sure how it'd compare to a U14S, although having a quick read it looks like it'd be adequately handled by that cooler if you wanted to do a self fit.


10th and 11th gen, yes. 12th gen is a split opinion. It's a brand new platform and they're currently topping the performance tables, but chewing through power and needing high end solutions to cool them. I'd be happy enough to spec one up if you'd prefer to be on team blue but I'm not sure that opinion is shared amongst our fellow forum user.

Thanks again Junior.

I think I'd be more comfortable with an air cooler if its uptown the job, my experience with them is good and I've never had a failure or needed to replace despite running some very old machines in the past.

I've no preference between AMD/Intel but would prefer the cooler (more reliable) option rather than trying to squeeze the last drop of performance from it.

All said I like the build you suggest with the 3 HDD, it's a shame the case options are a bit limited.