Please help me buying a new PC!

[whm1974]

That's interesting, maybe I need to get the best processor I can. My last system I kept 8-9 years, upgrading RAM and an SSD along the way. Not sure I could've upgraded the CPU in the Mac mini.

Tough to know for a casual user if new processors are a big improvement or just marketing, since clock speed and version numbers can be so similar.

Maybe I'll spend a bit more on the processor and get a slightly lower GPU for now. Is there an Intel chip that would be similar to the Ryzen 5 1600 with regard to cores and threads?

Thanks again! Trying not to drive myself completely crazy deciding on what to get!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Get the I7-8700 if you can afford it, otherwise get the i5-8400. Either one should last you for years.

 

[DaveSimmons]

FYI, I have 2 Acer prebuilt PCs and both are well-designed, small, and very quiet:

- An old i3-2100 mini-ITX from 2012, used as a music jukebox, was $400-500 at the time.
- A modern i7-7700 mATX non-K "gaming" PC from 2017 for work, was $1400.

It's going to be hard to put together a good PC with legal copy of Windows for less than a prebuilt.

 

[imported_blip]

Definitely looking for something long lasting so maybe I will up my price a bit too get more processor. My last one layer 8-9 years with RAM and an SSD upgrade. I guess it's easy to upgrade my RAM, GPU, etc down the line of needed. Is there something from Intel that is comparable to the ryzen 5 1600? Not sure which chip I'm going to go with. Thanks again!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[UsandThem]

Probably the i5-8400 or the i7-8700 would be the two Intel CPUs you should be comparing to Ryzen. Just take a look at a few reviews that shows the relative performance between Coffee Lake and Ryzen CPUs.

https://www.gamersnexus.net/hwrevie...k-review-overclocking-vs-8700k-8400?showall=1

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/intel-coffee-lake-core-i5-8400-cpu,5281.html

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/d...-coffee-lake-s-core-i5-8400-i5-8600k-review_1

Definitely looking for something long lasting so maybe I will up my price a bit too get more processor. My last one layer 8-9 years with RAM and an SSD upgrade. I guess it's easy to upgrade my RAM, GPU, etc down the line of needed. Is there something from Intel that is comparable to the ryzen 5 1600? Not sure which chip I'm going to go with. Thanks again!

 

[whm1974]

Definitely looking for something long lasting so maybe I will up my price a bit too get more processor. My last one layer 8-9 years with RAM and an SSD upgrade. I guess it's easy to upgrade my RAM, GPU, etc down the line of needed. Is there something from Intel that is comparable to the ryzen 5 1600? Not sure which chip I'm going to go with. Thanks again!

The i7-8700 will give you 6 cores and 12 threads and have better performance then the Ryzen 5 1600.

 

[VirtualLarry]

The i7-8700 will give you 6 cores and 12 threads and have better performance then the Ryzen 5 1600.

Primarily "in games", but if you want to compare CineBench R15, then Ryzen compares very favorably in that benchmark, and performs well in productivity apps. Plus, Ryzen is cheaper. The i5-8400 is the closet competitor to R5 1600, price-wise, but the Intel CPU lacks HT, but R5 1600 has SMT. Ryzen also gains more from SMT than Intel gains from HT. (People argue that that is because Intel is more efficient with a single thread per core, and that could be true.)

 

[whm1974]

Primarily "in games", but if you want to compare CineBench R15, then Ryzen compares very favorably in that benchmark, and performs well in productivity apps. Plus, Ryzen is cheaper. The i5-8400 is the closet competitor to R5 1600, price-wise, but the Intel CPU lacks HT, but R5 1600 has SMT. Ryzen also gains more from SMT than Intel gains from HT. (People argue that that is because Intel is more efficient with a single thread per core, and that could be true.)

The OP did ask for which Intel CPU is comparable to AMD's Ryzen R5 1600, and I mention the 8700 due to having the same number of cores and threads. Granted it is more expensive.

 

[imported_blip]

[Sorry in advance for the length of this post! I think I’m reaching the home stretch at least…)

First off, thanks to everyone for all the helpful input. I’ve been researching myself to death (see below), so it really helps! I searched the Googles and found a lot of custom builders, many of which were aimed more toward gaming enthusiasts, so their packages were usually a little more than I needed. CyberpowerPC seemed to have a really good price on their Intel SFF custom build. I’ve copied an i5-8400/8GB RAM/240GB SSD/RX 550 build below, as well as a PCpartspicker list with everything as close as I could get. It looks like the CyberpowerPC came in about $20 cheaper, and obviously includes them assembling everything. Does this look correct?

CyberPowerPC:
--System: Windows 10 Home (64-bit)
--Extra Instant Rebate: $50 Instant Rebate l
--Case: APEVIA X-Qpack3 Micro ATX Cube
--Optical Drive: 24X DVD+-R/+-RW
--CPU: Intel Core Processor i5-8400 2.80GHZ 9MB
--CPU / Processor Cooling Fan: Intel Certified CPU Fan & Heatsink
--Motherboard: ASRock Z370M-ITX/ac mini-ITX
--RAM: 8GB (4GBx2) DDR4/3000MHz
--Video Card: AMD Radeon RX 550 2GB GDDR5 Video Card
--Power Supply: 450 Watts - Corsair CX450 80 PLUS BRONZE
--Hard Drive: 240GB WD Green Series Sata-III 6Gb/s SSD
Warranty: standard warranty: 1 Year Parts Warranty
Service: 3 Years FREE Service Plan (includes labor and lifetime technical support)
Total: $782

PCPartsPicker
--CPU: Intel - Core i5-8400 2.8GHz 6-Core ($209.89 @ B&H)
--Motherboard: ASRock - Z370M-ITX/ac Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard ($126.98 @ Newegg)
--Memory: Team - Vulcan 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($104.99 @ Newegg)
--Storage: 240GB WD Green Series Sata-III 6Gb/s SSD ($90.00 @ Amazon)
--Video Card: XFX - Radeon RX 550 2GB ($89.99 @ SuperBiiz)
--Case: Apevia - X-QPACK3-WHT MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($48.56 @ Newegg)
--Power Supply: Corsair - CX (2017) 450W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($23.98 @ Newegg)
--Optical Drive: LG - GH24NSC0B DVD/CD Writer ($16.88 @ OutletPC)
--Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($89.89 @ OutletPC)
--Case Fan: be quiet! - Pure Wings 2 120 PWM 87.0 CFM 120mm Fan ($8.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $810.15


I’m hoping spending more on the processor now will, in fact, help future-proof me as much as possible. Never know if I’ll have the money/permission to upgrade items in a couple of years or not, and I'm guessing upgrading the processor is more work, may need a new Mobo, etc. But, since my uses are quite basic, I’m also worried that I may have gone with too much computer. I could probably knock $100-200 off the price by just getting a more mainstream build. Such as:

HP ENVY Desktop - 750-625rz
$549.99
Windows 10 Home 64
AMD Ryzen 3 1200 4-Core processor
8 GB memory; 1 TB HDD storage
AMD Radeon RX 550 Graphics (4 GB GDDR5 dedicated)
DVD-Writer

CyberpowerPC Desktop Computer Gamer Master 2019W
$600
Ryzen 3 1200 (3.10 GHz)
8 GB DDR4
1 TB HDD
NVIDIA GeForce GT 1030
Windows 10 Home 64-Bit

Acer GX-281-UR11
REFURBISHED
$600
AMD Ryzen 5-1400 3.2GHz
8GB RAM
1TB HDD
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 2GB
Windows 10

Acer Desktop PC Aspire T TC-780-UR11
$630
Intel Core i7 7th Gen 7700 (3.60 GHz)
8 GB DDR4
1 TB HDD
Intel HD Graphics 630
Windows 10 Home 64-Bit

Dell Inspiron 5675 Desktop
$554.00
Certified Refurbished
Processor: AMD Ryzen 5 1400 Processor
Windows 10 Home 64bit English
1TB SATA Hard Drive (7200 RPM)
8GB DDR4 Non-ECC UDIMM 2400MHz (1x8GB)
AMD Radeon RX 560 with 2GB GDDR5

Dell Inspiron 5675 Desktop
$791.00
Certified Refurbished
Processor: AMD Ryzen 7 1700X Processor (Octa Core, 3.4GHz, 4M cache,95W)
Windows 10 Home 64bit English
1TB SATA Hard Drive (7200 RPM)
8GB DDR4 Non-ECC UDIMM 2400MHz (1x8GB)
AMD Radeon RX 570 4GB GDDR5

Or one of the XPS models, which have older gen processors and varying GPUs:
http://outlet.us.dell.com/ARBOnline...id=2202&c=us&cs=22&l=en&s=dfh&frid=197&~ck=mn

Thanks again!!!

 

[whm1974]

[Sorry in advance for the length of this post! I think I’m reaching the home stretch at least…)

First off, thanks to everyone for all the helpful input. I’ve been researching myself to death (see below), so it really helps! I searched the Googles and found a lot of custom builders, many of which were aimed more toward gaming enthusiasts, so their packages were usually a little more than I needed. CyberpowerPC seemed to have a really good price on their Intel SFF custom build. I’ve copied an i5-8400/8GB RAM/240GB SSD/RX 550 build below, as well as a PCpartspicker list with everything as close as I could get. It looks like the CyberpowerPC came in about $20 cheaper, and obviously includes them assembling everything. Does this look correct?

CyberPowerPC:
--System: Windows 10 Home (64-bit)
--Extra Instant Rebate: $50 Instant Rebate l
--Case: APEVIA X-Qpack3 Micro ATX Cube
--Optical Drive: 24X DVD+-R/+-RW
--CPU: Intel Core Processor i5-8400 2.80GHZ 9MB
--CPU / Processor Cooling Fan: Intel Certified CPU Fan & Heatsink
--Motherboard: ASRock Z370M-ITX/ac mini-ITX
--RAM: 8GB (4GBx2) DDR4/3000MHz
--Video Card: AMD Radeon RX 550 2GB GDDR5 Video Card
--Power Supply: 450 Watts - Corsair CX450 80 PLUS BRONZE
--Hard Drive: 240GB WD Green Series Sata-III 6Gb/s SSD
Warranty: standard warranty: 1 Year Parts Warranty
Service: 3 Years FREE Service Plan (includes labor and lifetime technical support)
Total: $782

PCPartsPicker
--CPU: Intel - Core i5-8400 2.8GHz 6-Core ($209.89 @ B&H)
--Motherboard: ASRock - Z370M-ITX/ac Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard ($126.98 @ Newegg)
--Memory: Team - Vulcan 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($104.99 @ Newegg)
--Storage: 240GB WD Green Series Sata-III 6Gb/s SSD ($90.00 @ Amazon)
--Video Card: XFX - Radeon RX 550 2GB ($89.99 @ SuperBiiz)
--Case: Apevia - X-QPACK3-WHT MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($48.56 @ Newegg)
--Power Supply: Corsair - CX (2017) 450W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($23.98 @ Newegg)
--Optical Drive: LG - GH24NSC0B DVD/CD Writer ($16.88 @ OutletPC)
--Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($89.89 @ OutletPC)
--Case Fan: be quiet! - Pure Wings 2 120 PWM 87.0 CFM 120mm Fan ($8.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $810.15


I’m hoping spending more on the processor now will, in fact, help future-proof me as much as possible. Never know if I’ll have the money/permission to upgrade items in a couple of years or not, and I'm guessing upgrading the processor is more work, may need a new Mobo, etc. But, since my uses are quite basic, I’m also worried that I may have gone with too much computer. I could probably knock $100-200 off the price by just getting a more mainstream build. Such as:

HP ENVY Desktop - 750-625rz
$549.99
Windows 10 Home 64
AMD Ryzen 3 1200 4-Core processor
8 GB memory; 1 TB HDD storage
AMD Radeon RX 550 Graphics (4 GB GDDR5 dedicated)
DVD-Writer

CyberpowerPC Desktop Computer Gamer Master 2019W
$600
Ryzen 3 1200 (3.10 GHz)
8 GB DDR4
1 TB HDD
NVIDIA GeForce GT 1030
Windows 10 Home 64-Bit

Acer GX-281-UR11
REFURBISHED
$600
AMD Ryzen 5-1400 3.2GHz
8GB RAM
1TB HDD
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 2GB
Windows 10

Acer Desktop PC Aspire T TC-780-UR11
$630
Intel Core i7 7th Gen 7700 (3.60 GHz)
8 GB DDR4
1 TB HDD
Intel HD Graphics 630
Windows 10 Home 64-Bit

Dell Inspiron 5675 Desktop
$554.00
Certified Refurbished
Processor: AMD Ryzen 5 1400 Processor
Windows 10 Home 64bit English
1TB SATA Hard Drive (7200 RPM)
8GB DDR4 Non-ECC UDIMM 2400MHz (1x8GB)
AMD Radeon RX 560 with 2GB GDDR5

Dell Inspiron 5675 Desktop
$791.00
Certified Refurbished
Processor: AMD Ryzen 7 1700X Processor (Octa Core, 3.4GHz, 4M cache,95W)
Windows 10 Home 64bit English
1TB SATA Hard Drive (7200 RPM)
8GB DDR4 Non-ECC UDIMM 2400MHz (1x8GB)
AMD Radeon RX 570 4GB GDDR5

Or one of the XPS models, which have older gen processors and varying GPUs:
http://outlet.us.dell.com/ARBOnline...id=2202&c=us&cs=22&l=en&s=dfh&frid=197&~ck=mn

Thanks again!!!

I would still get a system with both a SSD and HDD, with the HDD for your wife's files.

 

[imported_blip]

I would still get a system with both a SSD and HDD, with the HDD for your wife's files.

Thanks, we have a 2TB external HDD now that I plan on using with the SSD as a boot drive.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Dell Inspiron 5675 Desktop
$791.00
Certified Refurbished
Processor: AMD Ryzen 7 1700X Processor (Octa Core, 3.4GHz, 4M cache,95W)
Windows 10 Home 64bit English
1TB SATA Hard Drive (7200 RPM)
8GB DDR4 Non-ECC UDIMM 2400MHz (1x8GB)
AMD Radeon RX 570 4GB GDDR5

This one is a contender. You can also mine crypto-currency in the background to pay for itself, over 6-8 months. (Check out NiceHash.com.)

 

[imported_blip]

This one is a contender. You can also mine crypto-currency in the background to pay for itself, over 6-8 months. (Check out NiceHash.com.)

I saw that one, and was thinking if I got it I could sell the GPU and put on l in something simpler, like an Rx 550 or gt 1050. Would that make sense? Or would that defeat the purpose of such a system? It would reduce the price by about $150, which would then make it a definite buy. And that processor should be powerful enough for a nice long life.

Is nicehash legit? Seems simple enough. I would have to look into power costs etc. Do you tell it when you want it running?

Thanks again for the help!

 

[DeadlyTitan]

[Sorry in advance for the length of this post! I think I’m reaching the home stretch at least…)

First off, thanks to everyone for all the helpful input. I’ve been researching myself to death (see below), so it really helps! I searched the Googles and found a lot of custom builders, many of which were aimed more toward gaming enthusiasts, so their packages were usually a little more than I needed. CyberpowerPC seemed to have a really good price on their Intel SFF custom build. I’ve copied an i5-8400/8GB RAM/240GB SSD/RX 550 build below, as well as a PCpartspicker list with everything as close as I could get. It looks like the CyberpowerPC came in about $20 cheaper, and obviously includes them assembling everything. Does this look correct?

CyberPowerPC:
--System: Windows 10 Home (64-bit)
--Extra Instant Rebate: $50 Instant Rebate l
--Case: APEVIA X-Qpack3 Micro ATX Cube
--Optical Drive: 24X DVD+-R/+-RW
--CPU: Intel Core Processor i5-8400 2.80GHZ 9MB
--CPU / Processor Cooling Fan: Intel Certified CPU Fan & Heatsink
--Motherboard: ASRock Z370M-ITX/ac mini-ITX
--RAM: 8GB (4GBx2) DDR4/3000MHz
--Video Card: AMD Radeon RX 550 2GB GDDR5 Video Card
--Power Supply: 450 Watts - Corsair CX450 80 PLUS BRONZE
--Hard Drive: 240GB WD Green Series Sata-III 6Gb/s SSD
Warranty: standard warranty: 1 Year Parts Warranty
Service: 3 Years FREE Service Plan (includes labor and lifetime technical support)
Total: $782

PCPartsPicker
--CPU: Intel - Core i5-8400 2.8GHz 6-Core ($209.89 @ B&H)
--Motherboard: ASRock - Z370M-ITX/ac Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard ($126.98 @ Newegg)
--Memory: Team - Vulcan 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($104.99 @ Newegg)
--Storage: 240GB WD Green Series Sata-III 6Gb/s SSD ($90.00 @ Amazon)
--Video Card: XFX - Radeon RX 550 2GB ($89.99 @ SuperBiiz)
--Case: Apevia - X-QPACK3-WHT MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($48.56 @ Newegg)
--Power Supply: Corsair - CX (2017) 450W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($23.98 @ Newegg)
--Optical Drive: LG - GH24NSC0B DVD/CD Writer ($16.88 @ OutletPC)
--Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($89.89 @ OutletPC)
--Case Fan: be quiet! - Pure Wings 2 120 PWM 87.0 CFM 120mm Fan ($8.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $810.15


I’m hoping spending more on the processor now will, in fact, help future-proof me as much as possible. Never know if I’ll have the money/permission to upgrade items in a couple of years or not, and I'm guessing upgrading the processor is more work, may need a new Mobo, etc. But, since my uses are quite basic, I’m also worried that I may have gone with too much computer. I could probably knock $100-200 off the price by just getting a more mainstream build. Such as:

HP ENVY Desktop - 750-625rz
$549.99
Windows 10 Home 64
AMD Ryzen 3 1200 4-Core processor
8 GB memory; 1 TB HDD storage
AMD Radeon RX 550 Graphics (4 GB GDDR5 dedicated)
DVD-Writer

CyberpowerPC Desktop Computer Gamer Master 2019W
$600
Ryzen 3 1200 (3.10 GHz)
8 GB DDR4
1 TB HDD
NVIDIA GeForce GT 1030
Windows 10 Home 64-Bit

Acer GX-281-UR11
REFURBISHED
$600
AMD Ryzen 5-1400 3.2GHz
8GB RAM
1TB HDD
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 2GB
Windows 10

Acer Desktop PC Aspire T TC-780-UR11
$630
Intel Core i7 7th Gen 7700 (3.60 GHz)
8 GB DDR4
1 TB HDD
Intel HD Graphics 630
Windows 10 Home 64-Bit

Dell Inspiron 5675 Desktop
$554.00
Certified Refurbished
Processor: AMD Ryzen 5 1400 Processor
Windows 10 Home 64bit English
1TB SATA Hard Drive (7200 RPM)
8GB DDR4 Non-ECC UDIMM 2400MHz (1x8GB)
AMD Radeon RX 560 with 2GB GDDR5

Dell Inspiron 5675 Desktop
$791.00
Certified Refurbished
Processor: AMD Ryzen 7 1700X Processor (Octa Core, 3.4GHz, 4M cache,95W)
Windows 10 Home 64bit English
1TB SATA Hard Drive (7200 RPM)
8GB DDR4 Non-ECC UDIMM 2400MHz (1x8GB)
AMD Radeon RX 570 4GB GDDR5

Or one of the XPS models, which have older gen processors and varying GPUs:
http://outlet.us.dell.com/ARBOnline...id=2202&c=us&cs=22&l=en&s=dfh&frid=197&~ck=mn

Thanks again!!!

Sorry for delayed reply , i had some work that i needed to finish before i can start my vacation.

Personally i would not suggest an i5 for you since i5 are only 6C/6T and r5 1600 comes with double the threads (6C/12T), so the only thing more powerful than an r5 1600 would be an i7 8700 and am not sure you would want to spend $350 ~ $400 on the CPU alone.

But then again i would suggest you to stay away from intel cause of a recent bug to which the only fix will slow down intel CPU's anywhere between 5% ~ 35%. Although it would not effect general public and even gamers (to some extent) cause of the type of bug that only effects I/O writes, networking, data transfer, virtual machines, Video encoding and some other server related stuff.

Go with the ryzen 5 1600 its got the best bang for buck. The r7 1700 have very similar performance to a r5 1600 in single threaded applications but i would not suggest it cause if you are going to spend that kinda money on a CPU then go intel i7 8700. An i7 8700 that is slowed down by 30% is still significantly faster and snappier than an R7 1700 but that seems to be seen after patch.

As of now we still dont know how the patch is going to effect AMD systems cause MS claims to deploy the patch to all the systems regardless of the CPU they are using.

It’s worth pointing out that not only does Windows have KPTI/KVA shadowing enabled for AMD processors as well, it even has specialized shadow system call entry stubs for AMD vs Intel. This either suggests they know how to embargo properly or that Tom’s PR is not entirely accurate

— Alex Ionescu (@aionescu) January 3, 2018