Planning a Ryzen build for my father

[Stryke]

Hello everybody! I'm a Canadian guy trying to build my father a new computer. We have already determined we are either going with a Ryzen 3200G or Ryzen 3400G. The i3's we looked at and the i5-9400 just didn't make sense from a price standpoint compared to team red. Price isn't entirely determined yet but since this is my 2nd build I'm looking for advice and input on components. Think Honda Civic for this build. Something that gets us from point A to point B while understanding the owner doesn't know what IPS or TN are.

 

We have access to Amazon Prime.

 

My father will use the computer for some web browsing but more importantly he does some photo-shopping for his amateur photography and will be transcoding blu-ray discs to more reasonably sized files. The video transcoding will be the heaviest workload his PC needs to handle. Also, longevity is an important factor. He is just now upgrading off an i3-540 to give you an idea of the timeline. With that in mind here is what I'm planning and here are my questions:

 

CPU: It's going to be the R3 3200G or the R5 3400G. When it comes to Photoshop and video transcoding what kind of real-world performance difference will there be? Benchmarks of video transcodes would be helpful here.

 

Cooler: Sticking with the stock cooler unless suggested otherwise.

 

GPU: We're sticking with onboard graphics, he doesn't game.

 

Mobo: By far the most important thing is reasonably good onboard audio with a line-in. My dad needs to plug his turntable into his computer for his business and while he doesn't require incredible audio (hence using onboard), I'm again looking for the Honda Civic of onboard audio. Something that 50 year-olds with dilapidated hearing won't complain about while not breaking the bank. If I can avoid X470 or X370 that'd be nice since I don't think we need the features of those chipsets.

 

Blu-Ray Drive: I'm looking for the Honda Civic of Blu-Ray drives and this really isn't my forte. I just need something that will run at a reasonable speed, with good reliability, for a reasonable price. An internal drive is preferable unless an external one offers better performance/reliability.

Storage: We're getting about 500GB of solid-state storage and I've been eyeing the 860 Evo since it'll be a large jump in performance from his hard drives while maintaining a reasonable price. I've looked at the Intel 660p but the QLC NAND makes me a bit nervous and I've personally experienced Samsung's good reliability - something important to him.

 

We'll also be getting 4-5TB worth of storage in hard drives. Whether that's a single 4TB WD hard drive or a 3TB + 2TB remains to be seen. Recommendations are welcome but we will most likely be sticking to WD due to poor experiences with Seagate and Hitachi.

 

RAM: We're looking at  getting 16GB. I know Ryzen prefers faster memory but given his workload, will we really see benefits of faster RAM? What brands and what speeds should I be gunning for?

 

PSU: All recommendations from well-known brands are welcome.

 

Case: Here's one I'm very flexible on. We don't want tempered glass and something plain and black would be nice. I'm hoping for a case with a reasonable number of USB ports (with some on the top of the case since it will be below his desk). He's used to a full-sized ATX case so we're not picky on that. A good bang for the buck that won't impede airflow or fall apart.

 

Fans: Speaking of airflow... what should my fan setup look like?

 

OS: Windows 10 Home was probably what I was going to get. I'm avoiding grey-market keys because I dislike G2A and Kinguin's business practices - we can pay full price. Are there any everyday benefits from upgrading to another copy of Win 10? I'm used to Windows 10 Student (similar features to Pro) so I'm not sure if he'd be missing out on anything.

 

Monitor: My dad is currently using an old 4:3 monitor with only VGA connectivity. We might relegate this to being his 2nd monitor but I really want him to get a new one. 1080p will suffice with decent-ish colour accuracy (keep in mind he's been editing off a rather crappy monitor for a decade) that is again a good bang for our buck. We don't need onboard audio and even a TN panel will suffice since anything is an upgrade at this point.

 

Mouse and Keyboard: He needs a new wireless mouse, think $20-30 CAD while not being absolutely tiny. He has an ancient Microsoft Multimedia Keyboard 1.0A that doesn't even have proper drivers for Windows 10. Are there any reasonably priced keyboards with a similar feel to that keyboard? I was also considering taking him to Canada Computers to test out mechanical keyboards and seeing if a budget one would be worth it for him.

 

We have speakers covered.

 

Again, any and all feedback is appreciated - especially if you see something that doesn't make sense. Hopefully I didn't forget anything and cheers!

 

Edit: Suggestions for an internal SD card reader and VGA adapter for his old monitor would be welcome.

 

 

[brob]

Get the Intel 660p. The 500GB model has a write endurance of 100TB. That works out to more than 27GB written every day for 10 years.

 

It's a bit pricey but I think the beQuiet Pure Base 600 would be a good case choice. It has two stock fans, (front intake, rear exhaust), that should be more than sufficient for such a light build.

 

I'm not a fan of internal card readers but if you get one that requires a USB 3.0 / 3.1 header, make sure the motherboard has two such headers. One for the case front panel and one for the reader. There are usually a couple of USB 2.0 headers on modern motherboards.

 

Good psu choices for this build would be the Corsair CX450M and the Cooler Master MasterWatt 450.

 

Some other suggestions:

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3400G 3.7 GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($189.99 @ Mike's Computer Shop) 
Motherboard: MSI B450-A PRO ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($119.99 @ Newegg Canada) 
Memory: Team T-FORCE VULCAN Z 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  ($82.99 @ Newegg Canada) 
Storage: Intel 660p Series 512 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive  ($69.79 @ Amazon Canada) 
Case: be quiet! Pure Base 600 ATX Mid Tower Case  ($141.72 @ Amazon Canada) 
Optical Drive: LG UH12NS40 Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer  ($69.99 @ Amazon Canada) 
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home Full - USB 32/64-bit  ($113.00 @ Amazon Canada) 
Monitor: Asus MX259H 25.0" 1920x1080 60 Hz Monitor  ($236.99 @ PC-Canada) 
Keyboard: Microsoft Wireless Desktop 2000 Wireless Ergonomic Keyboard With Optical Mouse  ($46.99 @ Powertop) 
Total: $1071.45
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-08-13 21:16 EDT-0400

 

 

[m777y]

suggest to monitor :

https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/product/Kpckcf/nec-monitor-pa231wbk

https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/product/NHyV3C/benq-gw2480-238-1920x1080-60-hz-monitor-gw2480

[Stryke]

12 hours ago, m777y said:

suggest to monitor :

https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/product/Kpckcf/nec-monitor-pa231wbk

https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/product/NHyV3C/benq-gw2480-238-1920x1080-60-hz-monitor-gw2480

How much of a compromise would it to drop to the ~$120 range for a monitor?

 

edit: remember, anything is better than the shit panel he's using rn

[m777y]

33 minutes ago, Stryke said:

How much of a compromise would it to drop to the ~$120 range for a monitor?

 

edit: remember, anything is better than the shit panel he's using rn

AOC 22V2H 

AOC 24V2H 

Phillips 246E9QDSB

Phillips 226E9QDSB

 

[Akira Shimazu]

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 2600 3.4 GHz 6-Core Processor  ($133.00 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: ASRock B450M PRO4 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($79.78 @ OutletPC) 
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  ($79.99 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Samsung 860 Evo 500 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($86.99 @ Adorama) 
Case: Aerocool Cylon ATX Mid Tower Case  ($52.53 @ Amazon) 
Power Supply: Corsair CX (2017) 450 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($44.89 @ OutletPC) 
Total: $477.18
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-08-14 23:53 EDT-0400

 

i dont know about Peripheral and monitor and good Blu-ray disk so i dont put it in the Partpicker.

 

CPU

If you are going with Photoshop and not playing any games. i recommend 2600 over 3400G. the 3400G might be newer but 2600 gives you additional 2 core and 4 thread, which increase performance for workstation such as editing. the difference inside the performance is around 15% in term of workstation alone. but it might be double as 40% or more speaking in multi-core performance. the stock cooler also good

RAM

Ryzen utilizes ram a lot. for example, the ryzen APU can increase the frame rate by 10-20% by increasing the ram speed from 2333mhz to 3000mhz. in term of working is also affect well. 3000mhz its the sweet spot for ryzen

MOBO

the b450 ASRock pro 4, its a decent mobo that is not expensive. the other partner as well the Steel Legend series also better but a  little bit expensive. personally many people use this mobo for the early build. i suggest at least use b450 not the AB350.

SSD

samsung evo 860 evo is good. intel 660p also good. some people use the 660p as bot and the second storage for samsung evo. so either is fine.

PSU

CX series grey one which is 2017 450/550Watt is good for the price. its already at least bronze 80+. 450 is enough 

[VEXICUS]

On 8/15/2019 at 9:38 AM, Wolfycapt said:

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 2600 3.4 GHz 6-Core Processor  ($133.00 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: ASRock B450M PRO4 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($79.78 @ OutletPC) 
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  ($79.99 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Samsung 860 Evo 500 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($86.99 @ Adorama) 
Case: Aerocool Cylon ATX Mid Tower Case  ($52.53 @ Amazon) 
Power Supply: Corsair CX (2017) 450 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($44.89 @ OutletPC) 
Total: $477.18
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-08-14 23:53 EDT-0400

 

i dont know about Peripheral and monitor and good Blu-ray disk so i dont put it in the Partpicker.

 

CPU

If you are going with Photoshop and not playing any games. i recommend 2600 over 3400G. the 3400G might be newer but 2600 gives you additional 2 core and 4 thread, which increase performance for workstation such as editing. the difference inside the performance is around 15% in term of workstation alone. but it might be double as 40% or more speaking in multi-core performance. the stock cooler also good

RAM

Ryzen utilizes ram a lot. for example, the ryzen APU can increase the frame rate by 10-20% by increasing the ram speed from 2333mhz to 3000mhz. in term of working is also affect well. 3000mhz its the sweet spot for ryzen

MOBO

the b450 ASRock pro 4, its a decent mobo that is not expensive. the other partner as well the Steel Legend series also better but a  little bit expensive. personally many people use this mobo for the early build. i suggest at least use b450 not the AB350.

SSD

samsung evo 860 evo is good. intel 660p also good. some people use the 660p as bot and the second storage for samsung evo. so either is fine.

PSU

CX series grey one which is 2017 450/550Watt is good for the price. its already at least bronze 80+. 450 is enough 

R5 2600 doesn't have integrated graphics..

[Akira Shimazu]

2 minutes ago, VEXICUS said:

R5 2600 doesn't have integrated graphics..

pardon me i forgot. yeah 3400G then

[Stryke]

Final part list

 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3400G 3.7 GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($189.75 @ Vuugo) 
Motherboard: Asus PRIME B450M-A/CSM Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($99.99 @ Amazon Canada) 
Memory: Team T-FORCE VULCAN Z 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  ($92.99 @ Newegg Canada) 
Storage: Intel 660p Series 512 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive  ($74.99 @ Amazon Canada) 
Storage: Western Digital Blue 4 TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($104.00 @ Vuugo) 
Case: Corsair 100R ATX Mid Tower Case  ($49.99 @ Canada Computers) 
Power Supply: Corsair CXM (2015) 450 W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply  ($39.99 @ Canada Computers) 
Optical Drive: LG WH14NS40 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer  ($67.99 @ PC-Canada) 
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home Full - USB 32/64-bit  ($112.99 @ Amazon Canada) 
Case Fan: ARCTIC F12 PWM 53 CFM 120 mm Fan  ($9.75 @ Vuugo) 
Total: $842.43
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-08-20 13:42 EDT-0400