Best bang for buck?

[FILTHY-WZARD]

Could anyone spec me up a Desktop PC?

I'm looking to replace my PC Specialist laptop now which is showing its age

Budget: £1,000

My use cases:

- Home office working
- Virtual machine work (only 1 or 2 instances though)
- Lightroom
- General browsing/media consumption
- 1440p Monitor


Whats important to me?

- Speed
- Must be as quiet as possible
- Last 5 years
- Not look hideous
- Capacity for growth, may slap a graphics card in down the line

 

[Oussebon]

This might not qualify as best bang for buck as it is investing heavily in certain components to max out quietness (case, PSU, CPU cooler)

Case
FRACTAL DEFINE R6 BLACK QUIET MID-TOWER CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 2600X Six Core CPU (3.6GHz-4.25GHz/19MB CACHE/AM4)

World War Z & Division 2: Gold Edition FREE w/ select AMD Ryzen CPUs!
Motherboard
Gigabyte X470 AORUS Ultra Gaming: ATX, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs - RGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 2933MHz ~ (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
1GB NVIDIA GEFORCE 710 - DVI, HDMI, VGA
1st Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 256MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
250GB WD Black™ SN750 M.2 NVMe SSD (up to 3100MB/s R | 1600MB/s W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Noctua NH-U14S Ultra Quiet Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KK3-00002]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
BullGuard™ Internet Security - Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 7 to 9 working days
Price: £978.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-pc/ehghN52zDe/

Ditch the wifi card if not needed... I always forget PCS include it by default these days.

 

[FILTHY-WZARD]

Thanks for the suggestion.

Out of interest, why 850W power supply, is it that much quieter?

I was wondering if it worth getting the Ryzen 7 over the 5 and going a bit cheaper on the power supply? I'm sure I'll tip over the £1k a bit though. I have a second harddrive ready to go so I can get rid of that cost too

 

[Oussebon]

Out of interest, why 850W power supply, is it that much quieter?

The RMx PSU is semi-passive, and so can cool itself under many load conditions without using the fan, making it literally silent. It's also a very good quality PSU model (I have the RMi, which is almost identical)

Regardless of the PSU, I wouldn't bother with the R7. For your uses, performance differences should be minimal, the R7 costs a whole lot more, and Zen 2 is coming out very soon anyway (which undermines any argument for the R7 in terms of futureproofing).

You could wait and see what is revealed about Zen 2 at Computex at the end of the month.

 

[polycrac]

Regardless of the PSU, I wouldn't bother with the R7. For your uses, performance differences should be minimal, the R7 costs a whole lot more, and Zen 2 is coming out very soon anyway (which undermines any argument for the R7 in terms of futureproofing).

You could wait and see what is revealed about Zen 2 at Computex at the end of the month.

I have the R7 and I agree, looking back, I'd have been near as well off with the R5 and the new ones coming out (which are compatible with the suggested MOBO) are thought to be a big step forwards. Either waiting for Zen 2 or, if time is an issue, getting the R5 now and having an upgrade path on the horizon is a good move.

 

[FILTHY-WZARD]

The RMx PSU is semi-passive, and so can cool itself under many load conditions without using the fan, making it literally silent. It's also a very good quality PSU model (I have the RMi, which is almost identical)

Regardless of the PSU, I wouldn't bother with the R7. For your uses, performance differences should be minimal, the R7 costs a whole lot more, and Zen 2 is coming out very soon anyway (which undermines any argument for the R7 in terms of futureproofing).

You could wait and see what is revealed about Zen 2 at Computex at the end of the month.

Thanks for the info on the PSU, really interested in that one! As for the CPU, I'll wait to see what's coming in terms of the zen 2. Also be interesting to see if any prices shift with it arrival.


Thanks to other responders too