Advice on PC Build

[AntonBotha]

Hi everyone,

 

I am currently in the process of getting a new computer. However, I am looking at keeping my components sourced through a local supplier to keep hassles with warranty to a minimum and importing components to South Africa wont really save me a lot of money with import duties.

 

Budget and Location

I am currently looking at around R20000.00 (already a little bit over budget but it is acceptable). I am looking to source all parts from a single supplier (www.wootware.co.za) as they are actually less than 8 kilometers (5 miles) from my house which means I can just drive through to them if needed and they have exceptional service (I have used them before).

 

Aim of the Build

The PC will be used for development (running a 1-3 Virtual Machines during development times), gaming (not fussed at ultra high 144fps gaming), some light office work and general browsing and streaming video's and series. During development I would normally have music streaming and will be alt-tabbing between programs (as needed) and during gaming I would normally have either music or a podcast streaming in the background.

 

Monitors

I am including a monitor in the build. I unfortunately do not have space for multiple monitors, but with my development I do need something I can easily run two windows side by side. With that I chose a 29" Widescreen monitor.

 

Peripherals

Not currently including any extra peripherals as I have recently bought a new keyboard, mouse and headset. I do have a spare Windows 7 and Windows 10 license key I can use for this build.

 

Why am I Upgrading

Motherboard failed on current rig (using a temp cheap one borrowed from a friend). Also, the old system was getting hit hard with the requirements of my development at points. Old rig is an i5 4660, 2x4GB DDR3 3200MHz, 2GB GTX960. I will also be re purposing my old rig for my brothers children so that they have something that they can do their school work on, do some light gaming and watch movies/series on.

 

When to buy

I don't need to buy my computer within the next few days. I am however starting with a new project that I will need to get working on within the next +/- 4 weeks and would like to get the new rig set up and tested before the time. As I am buying the computer through a single supplier, I am actually just going to let them build and stress test it as well, which if any problems do occur during that time they can just resolve it themselves. With that said, I might be able to have a widow of time to wait for the new AMD Ryzen processors to come out.

 

Components (link for each component to the suppliers site embedded in the component type)

• Case - Phanteks PH-EC300PTG_BK Eclipse P300 Tempered Glass Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Desktop Chassis @ R839.00
• PSU - Super Flower SF-550F14MT Leadex 550W 80 Plus Silver Certified Fully Modular Desktop Power Supply @ R969.00
• Motherboard - Asus ROG Strix B350-F Gaming AMD Ryzen Socket AM4 ATX Desktop Motherboard @ R2156.00
• CPU - AMD Ryzen 5 1600X Hex-Core 3.6GHz (4.0GHz Turbo) Socket AM4 Desktop CPU @ R 3099.00
• CPU Cooler - Phanteks PH-TC12DX 120mm White PWM Aluminium & Copper Dual-Fan Premium High-End CPU Cooler @ R539.00
• RAM - G.Skill F4-3200C16D-16GTZKW TridentZ Series 16GB (2x8GB) 3200MHz DDR4 CL16 1.35V Black/White Desktop Memory @ R2679.00
• Storage - Crucial CT500MX500SSD1 MX500 500GB SATA 2.5" Internal Solid State Drive @ R2099.00
• Graphics - Galax GeForce GTX 1060 EXOC 6GB GDDR5 PCI-E 3.0 Desktop Graphics Card @ R5199.00
• Monitor - LG 29UM68 29" UltraWide Full HD (2560x1080) IPS LED Desktop Monitor @ R3992.00
• Assembly and testing of system @ R350.00

This puts me at a total of R21921.00 which is a little bit over what I budget for.

 

Would like advice and feedback on the above, and if there is suggestions for changes. I however cannot spend anymore that I currently am doing.

[stealth80]

You could save a little going with a Ryzen 1600 (non X) but I wouldn't build just yet, Ryzen 2 should be here in 3 weeks

[AntonBotha]

On 4/1/2018 at 2:04 PM, stealth80 said:

You could save a little going with a Ryzen 1600 (non X) but I wouldn't build just yet, Ryzen 2 should be here in 3 weeks

Indeed, I am going to try and put off the purchase as long as possible to try and get the next generation of Ryzen. Though, if it is going to take too long to get the new processor (not sure how long since release it will be before we will be able to get it, depends on the suppliers) I might just have to unfortunately take the current generation.

 

Though instead of then taking a 1600 over a 1600x I would most likely go for a 1700 which would cost me around R361.00 (after removing the cost of the extra cooler) more expensive but something I can live with.

 

I am fine with being a little bit over budget, but don't want to go overboard. I can always go for a bit of a cheaper motherboard like a ASRock AB350 Pro4 (R408.00 saving), ASRock AB350 Fatal1ty (R283.00 saving) or Asus Prime X370-A (R157.00 saving). Would love if someone can give me feedback on the motherboards as they all seem to be within my requirements (I am not sure if I am going to over-clock or not, but from what I have gathered should I wish to, the ASRock motherboards is the poorer choice).

 

Unfortunately 3000MHz RAM is more expensive than 3200MHz, so can't even save a bit there. I can swop to Ripjaws V from TridentZ saving around R150.00.

 

Case I can probably look at something cheaper, though I am not happy (aesthetics) with any of the cheaper options the supplier does have. With the power supply I am not willing to budge for a cheaper one, unless if someone can tell me that it is a horrible choice for a power supply which I would probably then have to look at a more expensive one.

 

On the storage side, I can go with a 256GB SSD (I do have a 1TB HDD I am going to put into the system as well), but I would rather have the extra SSD capacity for my VM's and my most played game(s).

 

I could probably save on the monitor going for a non ultra wide, but I do have to say I am inclined to have the ability to have more workspace on a single monitor. With that said, I could go the route of taking dual 21.5" monitors, like the Dell E2216H 21.5" Full HD (R612.00 saving) which will just fit within the workspace I am currently working on. I am not fussed about 1440p and 1080p is fine for me, so I don't think I need something extreme on the monitor side.

Edited April 2, 2018 by AntonBotha
Changed monitor options from LG to Dell that has DisplayPort instead of HDMI.