Decent desktop PC for work

[D45m5g]

Budget (including currency): £1,000 - £1,500 GBP

Country: UK

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Mainly standard desktop work; lots of Excel spreadsheet, lots of browser tabs for web based apps, Citrix receiver to run hosted software, Sage50, Outlook, OneDrive syncing, Teams. No single application is particularly demanding, but I tend to have most things running at once and use several apps simultaneously split over a couple of screens. I'm currently using a HP Elitebook 850 G7, i7-10710U, 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD and it's struggling to keep up. There's no need for decent graphics; if this machine goes well, I might build another for gaming at home.

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): Dual 27inch monitors and all other peripherals already owned.

 

Never built a PC before, but keen to give it a go. I'm looking to order within the next couple of weeks. First effort at a parts list:

 

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/sQPCZw

 

Any thoughts on whether these parts work well together, and whether any areas are over/under specced would be very welcome. Apologies if I've missed anything; let me know and I will update the post.

 

Thank you!

[Fasauceome]

You can downcost the motherboard and opt for a locked i7 instead of an unlocked i5, since overclocking won't be a priority.

 

PCPartPicker Part List: https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/PWz4Zw

 

CPU: Intel Core i7-12700 2.1 GHz 12-Core Processor (£359.47 @ NeoComputers) 

Motherboard: MSI MAG H670 TOMAHAWK WIFI DDR4 ATX LGA1700 Motherboard (£209.99 @ Amazon UK) 

Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3600 CL18 Memory (£107.99 @ Amazon UK) 

Storage: Sabrent Rocket 2 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive (£165.69 @ Amazon UK) 

Case: Corsair 4000D Airflow ATX Mid Tower Case (£74.98 @ Amazon UK) 

Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA GA 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply (£140.37 @ Amazon UK) 

Case Fan: Noctua Ax25 chromax 60.09 CFM 120 mm Fan (£29.90 @ Amazon UK) 

Case Fan: Noctua Ax25 chromax 60.09 CFM 120 mm Fan (£29.90 @ Amazon UK) 

Case Fan: Noctua Ax25 chromax 60.09 CFM 120 mm Fan (£29.90 @ Amazon UK) 

Total: £1148.19

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2022-08-09 22:23 BST+0100 

 

You can still add a decent CPU cooler, I also suggest a less expensive SSD, still fast for daily use. 

 

Your fan setup is really expensive, that many noctua fans in conjunction with a large tower CPU cooler and no GPU means you're targeting a ton of airflow for not much reason. Unless you will replace every fan in the case with one of these noctua fans, you should just get one or two and lower the fan rpm a lot. In fact, you might as well get the fans after the fact, only if you're dissatisfied with temps and noise levels of the fans that come pre-installed 

[D45m5g]

12 minutes ago, Fasauceome said:

You can downcost the motherboard and opt for a locked i7 instead of an unlocked i5, since overclocking won't be a priority.

 

PCPartPicker Part List: https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/PWz4Zw

 

CPU: Intel Core i7-12700 2.1 GHz 12-Core Processor (£359.47 @ NeoComputers) 

Motherboard: MSI MAG H670 TOMAHAWK WIFI DDR4 ATX LGA1700 Motherboard (£209.99 @ Amazon UK) 

Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3600 CL18 Memory (£107.99 @ Amazon UK) 

Storage: Sabrent Rocket 2 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive (£165.69 @ Amazon UK) 

Case: Corsair 4000D Airflow ATX Mid Tower Case (£74.98 @ Amazon UK) 

Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA GA 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply (£140.37 @ Amazon UK) 

Case Fan: Noctua Ax25 chromax 60.09 CFM 120 mm Fan (£29.90 @ Amazon UK) 

Case Fan: Noctua Ax25 chromax 60.09 CFM 120 mm Fan (£29.90 @ Amazon UK) 

Case Fan: Noctua Ax25 chromax 60.09 CFM 120 mm Fan (£29.90 @ Amazon UK) 

Total: £1148.19

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2022-08-09 22:23 BST+0100 

 

You can still add a decent CPU cooler, I also suggest a less expensive SSD, still fast for daily use. 

 

Your fan setup is really expensive, that many noctua fans in conjunction with a large tower CPU cooler and no GPU means you're targeting a ton of airflow for not much reason. Unless you will replace every fan in the case with one of these noctua fans, you should just get one or two and lower the fan rpm a lot. In fact, you might as well get the fans after the fact, only if you're dissatisfied with temps and noise levels of the fans that come pre-installed 

Thanks for the quick reply!

 

The recommendation to go with i7-12700 and cheaper motherboard makes sense - thanks 

 

Cooling is the main thing I was unsure about; if I ditch the extra fans and go with the standard case fans, what cooler would you recommend for the 12700?

[Fasauceome]

4 minutes ago, D45m5g said:

Cooling is the main thing I was unsure about; if I ditch the extra fans and go with the standard case fans, what cooler would you recommend for the 12700?

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/xHytt6/zalman-cnps10x-performa-7516-cfm-cpu-cooler-c10x-performa-bk

 

An inexpensive tower cooler of decent size like this one would do the trick

[D45m5g]

4 minutes ago, Fasauceome said:

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/xHytt6/zalman-cnps10x-performa-7516-cfm-cpu-cooler-c10x-performa-bk

 

An inexpensive tower cooler of decent size like this one would do the trick

Great, thanks!

[An0maly_76]

@D45m5g

 

Couple thoughts here. The HP Elitebook you refer to likely uses a passive cooling system, which usually requires disabling turbo boost for thermals. If that is the case, this means your 10710U is probably capped at its base 1.1Ghz, and you'll never see the 4.7 Ghz it is capable of. Hence, for your purposes, you're right to go desktop, where you have ample room for monster cooling to allow maximum performance. And I think you'll be more pleasantly surprised at the performance difference than you think.

 

That said, I think you should probably check MSI's RAM QVL list for this board. The RAM in your parts list is not on it, and it appears unsupported RAM may have been a factor in random, irritating issues with my recent 5900X build. So you might want to see what available RAM on this list fits your purposes, to avoid any issues like I've had. I might also recommend the WD Blue SN570, I feel these are a much better bang for the buck unless you're running PCIe4 with DDR5 RAM.

 

Thoughts on the cooler. Noctuas are great, but also expensive and not always necessary. I run a Scythe Mugen 5 on a 12-core, 24-thread 5900X without issue. Here is a write-up I did on cooling and what to know and look for.

 

Additionally, having done a build in a 4000X Corsair, they are known for doing things a bit differently. Corsair cases typically include Corsair fans as well as Corsair's basic fan controller, the Lighting Node Core. Corsair stuff tends to be proprietary, so I would ensure that the Noctua fans you selected will connect to it, which I'm not sure is likely. If the Noctuas will not work and you want some uniformity, the fans Corsair typically includes with these cases tend to be SP120s. Just my $0.02.

Edited August 9, 2022 by An0maly_76
Revised, more info

[D45m5g]

Thanks for the reply and assistance @An0maly_76

 

Thanks for the tip on RAM compatibility; I'll make sure I double check this before I order anything. Thanks for the cooling article as well; it's an interesting read.

 

I hadn't given too much thought to the case, I was just looking for something with decent reviews...something a little stealthier would probably be better for an office environment, but all the stealthy cases I'd found were ugly/had bad front IO; any suggestions for a case with good airflow, solid side panel and decent front IO would be very much appreciated.

[An0maly_76]

11 hours ago, D45m5g said:

Thanks for the reply and assistance @An0maly_76

 

Thanks for the tip on RAM compatibility; I'll make sure I double check this before I order anything. Thanks for the cooling article as well; it's an interesting read.

 

I hadn't given too much thought to the case, I was just looking for something with decent reviews...something a little stealthier would probably be better for an office environment, but all the stealthy cases I'd found were ugly/had bad front IO; any suggestions for a case with good airflow, solid side panel and decent front IO would be very much appreciated.

My 5900X build stayed within limits with the 4000X Corsair, which has a glass front panel with just enough surrounding recess to allow about 34 square inches of intake area. With six fans, it keeps my 5900X within limits (38-43C idle, 57-65C moderate load, 70-72C heaviest gaming use, 76C-87C Cinebench R23 stress test).

 

But when the build started really acting up and the board had to be sent off for diagnosis, I saw an opportunity to do things a little differently, since I wanted an internal optical drive and I had to reassemble anyway. So a Fractal Pop Air XL is on the way as well. Discovering the RAM issue was just something I'm glad I caught before reassembly. It's something that will have to be corrected on three machines, the 5900X, a 3600X, and a 1700.

 

That said, decent front panel I/O is in the eye of the beholder. What exactly are you needing on front panel? C-type? 3.2?