Older man seeks new computer for typing and fun times

[Uncle Bill]

Our old windows 7 PC is almost as decrepit as I am, so it's time for something to bring me into the 20th 21st century.
It will mainly be used for document creation (I can't do without MS Office), nipping on the internet, watching 80's music videos that my wife hates, and for playing games a little more advanced than Quake Arcane Dimensions.
The chosen monitor is the 23.8" AOC 24B3HA2 at 100 hertz refresh rate.
Budget is £1200

I've been going over the specs and am happy with them, but what do you, the viewer think?


Case
FRACTAL NORTH TG GAMING CASE (BLACK)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 5600X Six Core CPU (3.7GHz-4.6GHz/35MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
GIGABYTE B550 GAMING X V2 (AM4, DDR4, PCIe 4.0)
Memory (RAM)
16GB PCS PRO DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
6GB MSI GEFORCE RTX 3050 VENTUS 2X OC - 2 x HDMI, DP
Graphics Card Support Bracket
PCS GRAPHICS CARD SUPPORT BRACKET
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB SOLIDIGM P41+ GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3500MB/sR, 1625MB/sW)
1st Storage Drive
1TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 256MB CACHE
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W RMe SERIES™ ATX 3.1, MODULAR, CYBENETICS GOLD
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 100 V3 Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Extra Case Fans
1 x 120mm Thermaltake TOUGHFAN 12 Case Fan
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
Wireless Network Card
NONE OR ONBOARD Wi-Fi (MOTHERBOARD DEPENDENT)
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 11 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10/11 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
Microsoft® Office Home 2024 (1 Digital License)
Anti-Virus
Norton 360 inc. Game Optimizer - Free 90 Day License
Browser
Microsoft® Edge
Monitor
AOC 23.8" 24B3HA2 - 1920 x 1080,4MS, VGA, HDMI
Webcam
CREATIVE Live! Cam Sync 1080P V2
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 6 to 8 working days
Price: £1,190.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-home-office/vEXgBVQHuQ/

​

 

[AgentCooper]

I’m a little behind the times with the most recent tech updates so I will leave the advice to someone else but allow me to welcome you to the forum and bestow a hundred bonus points for a thread title that genuinely made me laugh and for having Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin as your profile pic.

 

[SimonPeters116]

First thing I'd do is remove Norton Antivirus. Not even have the 90 days free on my drive.
Windows Defender is as good as, if not better than, any other antivirus. I use Malwarebytes Free as a double check, not premium.
Norton is terrible to get rid of, once it's installed. And it's a huge resources hog.
Defender is built into Windows and isn't greedy.
You don't need it for the 'game optimiser' either. Nvidia's own GPU software can do that for you.
You'll want Nvidias software for driver updates etc, anyway.

 

[Uncle Bill]

Thank you AgentCooper for the welcome. The Man from U.N.C.L.E has always held a fascination for me, but nowadays I just have a damn fine cup of coffee with Mr Waverly.

Thank you SimonPeters116 . I was wondering the very same thing, having done some reading. - As a result, I am going to remove Norton from my list.

One thing I am pondering, 16 GB or 32 GB RAM. 32 will just push me over budget, and do I really need it? - It's a worry
Any answers appreciated.

 

[AgentCooper]

I’d go with 16GB, it’ll cover your intended use cases nicely. If you did get into something a bit more memory intensive in future you can just buy another two matched sticks of RAM and double up to make 32GB. The motherboard has four slots so you’re not dead ending yourself by going for the lower amount now 👍

 

[Uncle Bill]

Thank you AgentCooper. 16 GB it is then. Phew! no more dithering for me.

 

[Scott]

I would make some changes to the core platform. The one you have chosen is pretty good, but it's quite old now. You would be starting a few years behind what's currently available. Below is the current platform. There isn't any real difference in price worth noting, I upgraded the storage which has had the most impact in pricing.

You could actually save ITRO £100 if you were to upgrade your current Win7 to Win10 and then link it to a Microsoft account. You can transfer the license. It may be a bit of faff that you don't want to do though.

Case
FRACTAL NORTH TG GAMING CASE (BLACK)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 7600 Six Core CPU (4.0GHz-5.2GHz/38MB CACHE/AM5)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B850-PLUS WIFI (AM5, DDR5, M.2 PCIe 5.0, Wi-Fi 7)
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR5 6000MHz CL30 (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
6GB PALIT GEFORCE RTX 3050 STORM X - DVI, HDMI, DP
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB CORSAIR ELITE MP600 NVMe PCIe M.2 SSD (up to 7000 MB/R, 6200 MB/W)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB CORSAIR ELITE MP600 NVMe PCIe M.2 SSD (up to 7000 MB/R, 6200 MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W RMe SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 150 Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
ONBOARD 2.5Gbe LAN PORT
Wireless Network Card
NONE OR ONBOARD Wi-Fi (MOTHERBOARD DEPENDENT)
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 11 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
NO RECOVERY MEDIA REQUIRED
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Microsoft® Edge
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 6 to 8 working days
Price: £1,261.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am5-pc/6XtCmumg03/

 

[Scott]

Ahh apologies. I hadn't noticed all the accessories and the Office license. Again, if you already have this registered you should be able to transfer. With those additions it does push the budget.

Case
FRACTAL NORTH TG GAMING CASE (BLACK)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 7600 Six Core CPU (4.0GHz-5.2GHz/38MB CACHE/AM5)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B850-PLUS WIFI (AM5, DDR5, M.2 PCIe 5.0, Wi-Fi 7)
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR5 6000MHz CL30 (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
6GB PALIT GEFORCE RTX 3050 STORM X - DVI, HDMI, DP
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB CORSAIR ELITE MP600 NVMe PCIe M.2 SSD (up to 7000 MB/R, 6200 MB/W)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB CORSAIR ELITE MP600 NVMe PCIe M.2 SSD (up to 7000 MB/R, 6200 MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W RMe SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 150 Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
ONBOARD 2.5Gbe LAN PORT
Wireless Network Card
NONE OR ONBOARD Wi-Fi (MOTHERBOARD DEPENDENT)
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 11 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
NO RECOVERY MEDIA REQUIRED
Office Software
Microsoft® Office Home 2024 (1 Digital License)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Microsoft® Edge
Monitor
AOC 23.8" 24B3HA2 - 1920 x 1080,4MS, VGA, HDMI
Webcam
CREATIVE Live! Cam Sync 1080P V2
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 6 to 8 working days
Price: £1,498.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am5-pc/zNBE9akGVq/

 

[Uncle Bill]

Thank you Scott for taking the time to put together your improved version of my original.
I do notice a few things though. The CPU, motherboard and RAM cards you mention do not appear to be on the PC Specialist configurator, at least I couldn't find them.
(EDIT: Oh dear, sorry Scott. All of your information IS available, e.g CPU, Motherboard etc. But when I did my configuration I clicked on "custom PC- home/office/gaming - AMD". And that's why I couldn't find the above. - Essentially, I was looking at the wrong configurator 😵‍💫.)

It reads like it would be a fantastic system, though sadly is outside of my budget.

 

[Scott]

Thank you Scott for taking the time to put together your improved version of my original.
I do notice a few things though. The CPU, motherboard and RAM cards you mention do not appear to be on the PC Specialist configurator, at least I couldn't find them.
(EDIT: Oh dear, sorry Scott. All of your information IS available, e.g CPU, Motherboard etc. But when I did my configuration I clicked on "custom PC- home/office/gaming - AMD". And that's why I couldn't find the above. - Essentially, I was looking at the wrong configurator 😵‍💫.)

It reads like it would be a fantastic system, though sadly is outside of my budget.

Yes, that configurator is for the older hardware unfortunately. There's absolutely nothing wrong with it, the previous generation from AMD was very good. I only try to avoid in order to keep things current and as per your initial query it seemed that you were essentially looking to do just that.

With that being said, given your modest graphical requirements, I think you could likely get away with the on-board graphics from the CPU itself. This would allow for most of the options to be selected. If it wasn't for the monitor, webcam and license additions you could do well with the build but £1200 is a big ask with all those additions. This was why I queried if you already had any of them that you could utilise and transfer over to the new build in order to modernise and prop up the other areas.

Below is minus the GPU and 2nd M2 drive to get you nearly on budget.

Case
FRACTAL NORTH TG GAMING CASE (BLACK)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 7600 Six Core CPU (4.0GHz-5.2GHz/38MB CACHE/AM5)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B850-PLUS WIFI (AM5, DDR5, M.2 PCIe 5.0, Wi-Fi 7)
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR5 6000MHz CL30 (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
INTEGRATED GRAPHICS ACCELERATOR (GPU)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB CORSAIR ELITE MP600 NVMe PCIe M.2 SSD (up to 7000 MB/R, 6200 MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W RMe SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 150 Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
ONBOARD 2.5Gbe LAN PORT
Wireless Network Card
NONE OR ONBOARD Wi-Fi (MOTHERBOARD DEPENDENT)
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 11 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
NO RECOVERY MEDIA REQUIRED
Office Software
Microsoft® Office Home 2024 (1 Digital License)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Microsoft® Edge
Monitor
AOC 23.8" 24B3HA2 - 1920 x 1080,4MS, VGA, HDMI
Webcam
CREATIVE Live! Cam Sync 1080P V2
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 6 to 8 working days
Price: £1,210.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am5-pc/sP6NPbCpWW/