I'm getting ready to build a new PC within the the next month. My last build, a Q6600, has lasted me for more than 7 years, so you can see that I generally am not a serial upgrader. My philosophy is to try and hit just below the bleeding edge to get good performance and long life without the price premium of the very best.
I use the PC for general web browsing, media consumption, light office work word processing and spreadsheets, and photography using Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop. No gaming at all. Here is what I am considering right now.
CPU: Intel Core i5 6500, it seems to be the best balance of performance and price for what I need. I will use the Intel cooler.
Motherboard: here is where I could use some advice. I will use the CPU integrated graphics. I will be buying a new monitor soon, not sure what right now. I want to preserve all of my options so the mb has to have Displayport as well as HDMI and DVI. I also want USB 3.1, right now I have nothing that demands that, but since I tend to build and use for a long time I want to have the 3.1 option for the future. I want lots of USB ports for the same reason. I have a desk with a built in cubicle for a full sized tower, since there is no advantage for going smaller I'm looking at ATX boards. I'm currently thinking about either the ASRock Z170 Extreme4 or the Asus Z170-A. I've used Asus and Gigabyte boards in the past, never ASRock. They seem comparable although the audio in the ASRock seems to be better. Any comments or suggestions on these or other boards?
Memory: here I need help. I want at least 16gb but I have not kept up on mem speeds. I even went to the ASRock website to look at their memory recommendations, but I'm still not sure what I really need. Again, nothing at the bleeding edge, just good memory for a good price. What do you suggest?
Case: Fractal Design R4 or R5, whichever gives me the best price. I like the sound deadening and the simple design with the ports and power on the top edge of the case.
Hard drive: Sandisk X400 1tb SSD. Again, the bleeding edge would be M.2 NVME, but a SATA based SSD I think will be OK for what I do. Since I have a large catalog of photos I need a larger drive and the price and warranty for this Sandisk make it very attractive.
Power supply: Seasonic SSP-450RT 450W 80 PLUS Gold. I'm going for the reliability of the Seasonic name here, although my current build has a Corsair PS that has been running for 7 years. This is negotiable, if I find a quality name for less I'd change.
So any general comments are welcome and specific comments about the motherboards and the memory would be a big help.
I use the PC for general web browsing, media consumption, light office work word processing and spreadsheets, and photography using Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop. No gaming at all. Here is what I am considering right now.
CPU: Intel Core i5 6500, it seems to be the best balance of performance and price for what I need. I will use the Intel cooler.
Motherboard: here is where I could use some advice. I will use the CPU integrated graphics. I will be buying a new monitor soon, not sure what right now. I want to preserve all of my options so the mb has to have Displayport as well as HDMI and DVI. I also want USB 3.1, right now I have nothing that demands that, but since I tend to build and use for a long time I want to have the 3.1 option for the future. I want lots of USB ports for the same reason. I have a desk with a built in cubicle for a full sized tower, since there is no advantage for going smaller I'm looking at ATX boards. I'm currently thinking about either the ASRock Z170 Extreme4 or the Asus Z170-A. I've used Asus and Gigabyte boards in the past, never ASRock. They seem comparable although the audio in the ASRock seems to be better. Any comments or suggestions on these or other boards?
Memory: here I need help. I want at least 16gb but I have not kept up on mem speeds. I even went to the ASRock website to look at their memory recommendations, but I'm still not sure what I really need. Again, nothing at the bleeding edge, just good memory for a good price. What do you suggest?
Case: Fractal Design R4 or R5, whichever gives me the best price. I like the sound deadening and the simple design with the ports and power on the top edge of the case.
Hard drive: Sandisk X400 1tb SSD. Again, the bleeding edge would be M.2 NVME, but a SATA based SSD I think will be OK for what I do. Since I have a large catalog of photos I need a larger drive and the price and warranty for this Sandisk make it very attractive.
Power supply: Seasonic SSP-450RT 450W 80 PLUS Gold. I'm going for the reliability of the Seasonic name here, although my current build has a Corsair PS that has been running for 7 years. This is negotiable, if I find a quality name for less I'd change.
So any general comments are welcome and specific comments about the motherboards and the memory would be a big help.
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