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Question - help me build a system - is it all about AMD now? Intel is gone?

restorestore
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So I need to quote/build a new system for a customer/friend.

 

background:

 

His last one is an early gen i7 and it's lasted nearly 10 years I believe. High feature motherboard, lots of ram for the period.

 

He wants a new one, and wants it to last "a long time" again. Also doesn't want to spend "ridiculous" $.

 

my conundrum:

 

I watch linus vids so I know about how Intel is dropping the ball and it's all AMD's game now. What's weird is I go to Amazon and it's like there isn't even much Intel stuff out there. Is this real life?

 

My question

 

So if I want to build a system that will be solid and snappy for heavy office use (not gaming, not media encoding) for THE NEXT 10 YEARS, what do I get?

 

This?

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07Y35WYBB/?coliid=I582MW3QRXHMP&colid=DJQC6RS4RTSA&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

 

2x 8 GB sticks leaving room for 2x more in the future?

 

This drive? https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07RL7TSM1/?coliid=I2BI8MDSSYSJBS&colid=DJQC6RS4RTSA&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

 

It's just office use, but it must be snappy. For 10 years.

 

Oh, and needs to be able to run 3x 4k monitors. What is the best card that can do that, but doesn't need to be a gamer card?

 

TIA.

 

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Office use? A ryzen 3100 + 16gb of ram a b450 board and a cheap gpu will more than do. This system doesn't even have to cost more than 500. Why would the old pc not be enough anymore if it's just office use? Does it have an ssd? If not just slap that in there and it will be good to go again for years.

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whats your budget? about intel you have to pay a lot and that bandel is overkill for basic office work!

if it was useful give it a like :) btw if your into linux pay a visit here

 

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The existing box has some "special" software on it that is a) no longer available - period and b) needs to run on windows 7 so c) can't upgrade to 10 - tried.

 

So the existing box is going to go into a server room and exist solely to run that special software. It does have an SSD. Otherwise it would not need replaced.

 

So a 3100 will be snappy for the long haul? I know it's a really good chip...

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Just now, restorestore said:

The existing box has some "special" software on it that is a) no longer available - period and b) needs to run on windows 7 so c) can't upgrade to 10 - tried.

 

So the existing box is going to go into a server room and exist solely to run that special software. It does have an SSD. Otherwise it would not need replaced.

 

So a 3100 will be snappy for the long haul? I know it's a really good chip...

depends on your workload 3100 is a very good cpu but what is your exact workload?

if it was useful give it a like :) btw if your into linux pay a visit here

 

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It's really just office stuff. This is a local LEO so - office stuff. Heavy "mapping" websites. Running 24x7x365. Playing surveillance videos. No games, no media creation as far as I know.

 

My instructions are not be "ridiculous" but overkill is probably ok. Spending a little more for a ryzen 7 is probably ok?

 

I've just not used AMD for a long time, I'm more familiar with Intel's products.

 

See, the last AMD I built was an A8 and it just didn't FEEL snappy. I've always had a better FEEL with intel. (why is that?) I want this guy to have a snappy feeling system for a long time.

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3600 is for you its good cpu in a lot of ways and 16gb of ram and a nvme ssd

if it was useful give it a like :) btw if your into linux pay a visit here

 

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2 minutes ago, restorestore said:

 

See, the last AMD I built was an A8 and it just didn't FEEL snappy. I've always had a better FEEL with intel. (why is that?) I want this guy to have a snappy feeling system for a long time.

AMD feels just as snappy if not snappier thanks to more cores!

 

I have a 3700X and I absolutely love it!

 

 

Current System: Ryzen 7 3700X, Noctua NH L12 Ghost S1 Edition, 32GB DDR4 @ 3200MHz, MAG B550i Gaming Edge, 1TB WD SN550 NVME, SF750, RTX 3080 Founders Edition, Louqe Ghost S1

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15 minutes ago, restorestore said:

It's really just office stuff. This is a local LEO so - office stuff. Heavy "mapping" websites. Running 24x7x365. Playing surveillance videos. No games, no media creation as far as I know.

 

My instructions are not be "ridiculous" but overkill is probably ok. Spending a little more for a ryzen 7 is probably ok?

 

I've just not used AMD for a long time, I'm more familiar with Intel's products.

 

See, the last AMD I built was an A8 and it just didn't FEEL snappy. I've always had a better FEEL with intel. (why is that?) I want this guy to have a snappy feeling system for a long time.

Yeah a 3100 would be more than plenty for that use.

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21 minutes ago, restorestore said:

See, the last AMD I built was an A8 and it just didn't FEEL snappy. I've always had a better FEEL with intel. (why is that?) I want this guy to have a snappy feeling system for a long time.

Any modern PC with any current gen CPU will feel exactly the same for office use. In a blind test, you would NOT be able to tell the difference between a Ryzen 3100 or 3950X. Or between an intel i3 and i9.

 

Looking at "future proofing" the PC, I expect more and more future software and versions of windows to utilize more and more cores effectively. So I would get at least a Ryzen 5 with 6 cores (3600) or an Ryzen 7 with 8 cores (3700). They are definitely not ridiculous in price. I did the same thing for my parents PC 5 years ago, got them a quad core, even though everyone recommended a dual core at the time. Glad I did it, because the quadcore is still very capable today. A dual core would have started showing its age.

 

Get good fast memory (3200 mhz or above), 16GB should be plenty. But if you want to be safe, 32 GB is not a bad idea.


What will matter is good fast storage. But again, any decent SSD will do. If there are no big storage requirements, just get a cheap 512 GB Sata SSD. Or get an NVME pci-e SSD to be on the safer side.


So bottom line. More budget oriented:

Ryzen 5 3600

3200 mhz 16gb ram

Sata SSD

 

More safely future proof:

Ryzen 7 3700

3600 mhz 32GB ram

NVME SSD.

 

Remember, 10 years is a long time. By that time 8 core CPU's will be considered very budget things.

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Ryzen 3000 isn't compatible with Windows 7 natively, IIRC. You have to tinker with some things including USB drivers to get them to work with legacy software.

 

If you are using legacy software, Intel is better. 

Before you reply to my post, REFRESH. 99.99% chance I edited my post. 

 

My System: i7-13700KF // Corsair iCUE H150i Elite Capellix // MSI MPG Z690 Edge Wifi // 32GB DDR5 G. SKILL RIPJAWS S5 6000 CL32 // Nvidia RTX 4070 Super FE // Corsair 5000D Airflow // Corsair SP120 RGB Pro x7 // Seasonic Focus Plus Gold 850w //1TB ADATA XPG SX8200 Pro/1TB Teamgroup MP33/2TB Seagate 7200RPM Hard Drive // Displays: LG Ultragear 32GP83B x2 // Royal Kludge RK100 // Logitech G Pro X Superlight // Sennheiser DROP PC38x

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That said newer Intel CPU's don't natively support Windows either, but you're losing less by going with an older 7th generation.


And typically Intel runs legacy software better.

Before you reply to my post, REFRESH. 99.99% chance I edited my post. 

 

My System: i7-13700KF // Corsair iCUE H150i Elite Capellix // MSI MPG Z690 Edge Wifi // 32GB DDR5 G. SKILL RIPJAWS S5 6000 CL32 // Nvidia RTX 4070 Super FE // Corsair 5000D Airflow // Corsair SP120 RGB Pro x7 // Seasonic Focus Plus Gold 850w //1TB ADATA XPG SX8200 Pro/1TB Teamgroup MP33/2TB Seagate 7200RPM Hard Drive // Displays: LG Ultragear 32GP83B x2 // Royal Kludge RK100 // Logitech G Pro X Superlight // Sennheiser DROP PC38x

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I should clarify, the guy's existing PC is still perfectly serviceable, but it's still on 7 and 10 won't upgrade. Can't do a clean install because he has on some critical software that still needs to run on 7, which is no longer available for whatever reason so we wouldn't be able to reinstall it. I don't remember exactly why but we established that this is the situation.

 

So, his existing box will be left on 7 and moved into a server closet where people will get to the special software via RDP.

 

 

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2 hours ago, restorestore said:

I should clarify, the guy's existing PC is still perfectly serviceable, but it's still on 7 and 10 won't upgrade. Can't do a clean install because he has on some critical software that still needs to run on 7, which is no longer available for whatever reason so we wouldn't be able to reinstall it. I don't remember exactly why but we established that this is the situation.

 

So, his existing box will be left on 7 and moved into a server closet where people will get to the special software via RDP.

 

 

Got it, new setup won't be limited to W7 then?

 

By all means, get them what's already been mentioned.

Before you reply to my post, REFRESH. 99.99% chance I edited my post. 

 

My System: i7-13700KF // Corsair iCUE H150i Elite Capellix // MSI MPG Z690 Edge Wifi // 32GB DDR5 G. SKILL RIPJAWS S5 6000 CL32 // Nvidia RTX 4070 Super FE // Corsair 5000D Airflow // Corsair SP120 RGB Pro x7 // Seasonic Focus Plus Gold 850w //1TB ADATA XPG SX8200 Pro/1TB Teamgroup MP33/2TB Seagate 7200RPM Hard Drive // Displays: LG Ultragear 32GP83B x2 // Royal Kludge RK100 // Logitech G Pro X Superlight // Sennheiser DROP PC38x

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