Build for software development and business analysis

[TobyL]

Hi! I'm a law student and hobbyist programmer. I'm located in Norway. Together with my girlfriend I run a medium sized eyelash-extension salon. I'm currently using a 12" MacBook. In the past I've built one gaming rig, but that's a few years ago, and I'm not too caught up on the latest hardware. My new build will be used for two things:

 

1. Software development (mainly python/node.js for web app development with Google AppEngine. I use the PyCharm IDE. This is not too demanding, and runs ok on my MacBook, but with occasional, but very annoying slowdowns. This work is not too demanding, but I don't mind spending some extra cash to have maximum performance in this area.
2. Business analysis. I've created an Excel sheet that pulls data from Google Analytics and thousands of booking confirmation e-mails and analyses things such as customer retention, conversion rates and other trends. A few moths my MacBook was able to pull it off, however horrifically slowly (a few hours of calculation until the results were ready). The dataset has now become too large for the MacBook to handle. It grinds to a halt and Excel often crashes. I realize now that using Excel for this task is not ideal, however spending some extra money on a computer that can handle it is a better option for me than redesigning the whole thing using a different system. I have enough money for a new computer, but not enough time in my schedule to redesign the analysis system. It's not too much of a problem if it still takes a while to finish, as I only do the analysis once every other week or so.

 

I will not be doing any gaming, photo editing or video editing. Because of this I figure I can get away with using integrated graphics. I would however, like to have 3 monitors. I don't save lots of data either. I can fit everything I use in about 200 GB, so 512 GB should give me more than enough room for the foreseeable future. 

 

Budget: preferably around 1900 USD.

 

The build I currently have in mind:

• Intel Core i5-7600K
• ASUS Prime Z270-A (3 video outputs)
• Intel TS15A CPU Air Cooler
• Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3000MHz 16GB
• Samsung 960 PRO 512GB M.2 PCIe SSD
• Cooler Master CM Force 500 Midi Tower
• EVGA BQ 600W Hybrid Modular 80+ PSU
• 3x Samsung 22" LED S22F350H
• HDMI cable (already have one)
• DisplayPort -> HDMI cable (already have one)
• DVI cable (already have one)
• Windows 10
• I have a mouse and keyboard lying around somewhere. 

 

Build price from Norwegian retailer komplett.no, including shipping and VAT: 1850 USD. 

 

Does this seem like a reasonable build for my tasks? Would you suggest any changes?

[LienusLateTips]

Ryzen 5.

[ARikozuM]

@SpaceGhostC2C is an economist...

Spoiler

or some sh#t... /s

and might be able to tell what his machines use for analysis. 

[TobyL]

13 minutes ago, JDE said:

Ryzen 5.

I considered the Ryzen 5, but then I need a discrete graphics card, yes? My thinking was that the i5's only about 50 USD more expensive than the Ryzen 5 1500X (in my local store anyways), and I can skip the graphics card. Could you elaborate on why you think the Ryzen 5 would be better?

[LienusLateTips]

Just now, TobyL said:

I considered the Ryzen 5, but then I need a discrete graphics card, yes? My thinking was that the i5's only about 50 USD more expensive than the Ryzen 5 1500X (in my local store anyways), and I can skip the graphics card. Could you elaborate on why you think the Ryzen 5 would be better?

With the R5 1600, you get 6 cores, which MAY be a lot better, but IDK about this type of work. Ask @SpaceGhostC2C first.

[seon123]

Don't bother with the 7600K. 

The 1500X and 1600 perform better, and you can pick up a GT710 for ~300 kr. 

Another option would be the 7700K, which has dropped to 2900 kr recently. 

Intel doesn't benefit from father RAM as much as Ryzen, but IIRC, the cheapest 16GB kits only cost ~300 kr less. 

The 960 Pro is really expensive. Are you sure you need it? The 850 Evo 500 GB costs half as much. 

The CX450 costs a few hundred less than the BQ600. 

 

I usually look at prisjakt for prices, so some of them may be off from Komplett. 

[TobyL]

6 minutes ago, seon123 said:

Don't bother with the 7600K. 

The 1500X and 1600 perform better, and you can pick up a GT710 for ~300 kr. 

Another option would be the 7700K, which has dropped to 2900 kr recently. 

Intel doesn't benefit from father RAM as much as Ryzen, but IIRC, the cheapest 16GB kits only cost ~300 kr less. 

The 960 Pro is really expensive. Are you sure you need it? The 850 Evo 500 GB costs half as much. 

The CX450 costs a few hundred less than the BQ600. 

 

I usually look at prisjakt for prices, so some of them may be off from Komplett. 

 

Interesting! This is a great help!

 

From what I could find GT710 will not be able to handle 3 monitors at 1080p resolution. Perhaps something like the Sapphire Radeon RX 550 2GB Pulse will do the trick? I'm having some trouble finding out which cards can pull it off. You're totally right about the 690 Pro. I was so tempted by the crazy speeds possible with NVMe (which I just learned about today ). I like the idea of switching to 960 EVO, but then upgrading to the i7-7700K. This way I get to try NVMe, while keeping the total price at about the same. A Ryzen 5 + cheap graphics card might still be a better option than the i7-7700K though. Even going with the 1600X version I'd have 500kr (63 USD) left for a gpu before I reach the price of the i7-7700K. 

 

Switching to the CX450 makes sense too. According to a PSU calculator I found the gpu-less build will use about 212W.

[SpaceGhostC2C]

I would double check your current resource usage while running your excel workload. 

@seon123's link contrasts with these other results for excel:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/amd-ryzen-5-1600-cpu,5073-9.html

which is a problem with quick benchmarks: they need not be representative of all excel tasks. I can't tell you a priori which one is more relevant to you. 

There are also a couple of tricks to excel's performance. First, make sure to install 64 bit Office, since sometimes the installation defaults to 32 bit even in a 64 bit OS. Then check the formula settings for an option stating "use all cores" or similar (I have to check exactly where it was). Finally, the kind of task you describe tells me you need a lot of RAM, and fast RAM and I/O. But 16GB is a lot already. Again, check resource usage when you run your excel thing to confirm this. 

If a properly tuned excel uses all available cores in your case, the Ryzen 5 1600 will be a better use of your money, even if you need a separate GPU. If not, you may get away with any fast single threading  CPU, and the i5 would probably the most efficient way to get it. It is just a shame to buy it now, as Intel's Coffee Lake release is expected to reduce prices  on their side significantly, meaning the equivalent of the 7600k will probably be closer to i3 or low end Ryzen 5 in terms of price. 

But if you need it now, and you can't leverage the cores at all, it may still be better for you to get the i5, even though in general I'd say R5 or wait. 

Edited September 19, 2017 by SpaceGhostC2C
Harribel spelling. Luckily, I can no longer post from mobile :P