Office Desktop Build

[Sushil K]

Budget (including currency): 400 USD

Country: USA

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word, Google Chrome

Other details (existing parts lists, whether any peripherals are needed, what you're upgrading from, when you're going to buy, what resolution and refresh rate you want to play at, etc): Already have 1tb hdd and 256gb samsung. Here is the link to the build: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/gRQKwh Any suggestions? Not used for gaming or anything gpu heavy software, so no GPU required.

 

[SupaKomputa]

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Athlon 3000G 3.5 GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($49.00 @ B&H) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte B450M DS3H Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($72.99 @ Best Buy) 
Memory: G.Skill Value 8 GB (1 x 8 GB) DDR4-2666 CL19 Memory  ($26.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Western Digital Green  240 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($31.99 @ Western Digital) 
Case: Deepcool MATREXX 50 ATX Mid Tower Case  ($49.99 @ B&H) 
Power Supply: Thermaltake Smart 500 W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply  ($50.99 @ Newegg) 
Total: $281.95
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-07-22 17:06 EDT-0400

 

This should do it.

- Athlon is enough, good performance for those task. (it can game too).

- 8 GB is enough, you can add more if you want.

- 240gb SSD will be enough for most people, add another HDD for people that need more storage.

[SupaKomputa]

Just now, BlueScope819 said:

No no no no no

The 3000G is an APU which means you are losing a ton of performance by running in single channel mode

You can get a 3200g for his price, as shown in my list

I disagree, for gaming yes, for office / browsing no.

It's a very light task, a core 2 duo can do it well.

A ton? no, at worst 5% in these types of scenario.

3000g is half the price of 3200g, same design, same everything, just less cores, and most office app probably single cored.

If you can game with that cpu, i bet office is a walk in the park.

[SupaKomputa]

4 minutes ago, BlueScope819 said:

half the cores, lower clocks, it's just not a great value.

Half the price too. with $50 you can add other things.

I've build these machines with zen athlons for office clients, they pretty happy with it.

Anything is better than their old core 2.

[dizmo]

1 hour ago, BlueScope819 said:

No no no no no

The 3000G is an APU which means you are losing a ton of performance by running in single channel mode

You can get a 3200g for his price, as shown in my list

Not really. Lower performance? Sure. Will it matter in the OPs use case? No.

32 minutes ago, BlueScope819 said:

half the cores, lower clocks, it's just not a great value.

So? You're over spending on things that he doesn't really need.

[dizmo]

2 minutes ago, BlueScope819 said:

I would not recommend buying anything below a quad core processor in 2020. This isn't Q3 '15.

Ah, I see. So you'd rather suggest things that the OP doesn't need because it goes against what you value. Makes no sense at all.

Also, the CPU has SMT. So the other threads are there if needed.

[dizmo]

1 minute ago, BlueScope819 said:

I am simply suggesting it because

1. It fits in the OPs budget
2. It is higher performing
3. Because of 2., it negates the need for an upgrade if say OP wishes to do stuff such as more complex analysis computations
4. It has a much better IGP which will accelerate some workloads
5. It's only $50 more expensive

 

What workload is the better iGPU going to improve in Excel? Or Word?

You're grasping at straws trying to justify an overpriced build. Yes, it fits his budget, but you don't have to max out a budget, and most would prefer to spend less.

I did extensive office work on my ultrabook. Spreadsheets, Word, probably very similar to his use case. What was I using? A 3rd gen mobile i5.

Unnecessary spending is still uneccesary spending.

[Mateyyy]

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Athlon 3000G 3.5 GHz Dual-Core Processor	$49.00 @ B&H
Motherboard	Gigabyte B450M DS3H Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard	$72.99 @ Best Buy
Memory	G.Skill Aegis 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 CL16 Memory	$55.99 @ Amazon
Case	Fractal Design Core 1000 USB 3.0 MicroATX Mid Tower Case	$46.98 @ Newegg
Power Supply	Corsair VS 450 W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply	$49.99 @ Corsair
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	$274.95
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-07-22 19:23 EDT-0400

An 8GB memory kit was only about ~$15-20 cheaper, so I put in the 16GB kit since the extra capacity could come in handy if you often have loads of Chrome tabs open.

The 3000G should handle your workloads just fine. Granted the 3200G does have four real cores instead of just two with SMT, and it's also on the Zen+ architecture instead of Zen 1, but honestly I don't see it aging that much better compared to the 3000G; the biggest uplift would probably be in graphics performance, and that's really not a necessity in your case.