AdviceBuilding PC. need advice, present build ideas listed
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AdviceBuilding PC. need advice, present build ideas listedPosted:

Fletchdad
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My first post here.

As the title says. I am building a new PC as my present one is starting to get sticky. Clean install helped so I have some time, but will eventually need to build.

I do mainly office work - tables etc. - and a lot of photo editing. I no longer use Photoshop, am now using GIMP if it matters. I do some video editing, mainly compressing cut vids for youtube. I am a musician and tour guide who also does photography, build my websites (WP with Elementor pro) but my music is done on a Mac, so only photo and video on my PC. I don't want to do these on my mac - it is my music workstation and in my studio so no need to suggest using it.

I game in my spare time (very little of that) so not a priority but when I do I want to have it work and be fun. However, I mainly do Minecraft type games, and browser games, so gaming not topping the list of importance. I can also go months at a time without playing a thing, so...... Photo editing mainly, some video editing and streaming stuff. Office stuff would work on any old machine.

Budget: Hmmmm, what I need to spend I will spend, but I do want to save where it makes sense. I would like to stay around Euro 1000- (approx. US$ 1100) but if I can get lower, great. If it makes more sense to spend a bit more, also ok. Tops would be around 1300, but my needs are top priority, price a close second.

Here is what I am already considering:
Ryzen 3700x (Extra cooler??? I dont plan on overclocking)

ASUS x570 pro

Radeon RX 570. Is a big expensive grafix card a thing I need to worry about for photo and video editing? I was always under the impression that the big expensive cards were aimed at the gaming community so please feel free to wise me up if need be.

16 GB RAM - type not yet determined, I can always add later(mobo 4 slots, so not an issue now if I find 16GB to limiting in the future) But I would like your thoughts on which RAM I should consider.

Samsung EVO 1TB
Maybe an HDD for storage??

PSU, I guess around 600W but I dont know about that yet so, any suggestions.

Case: I don't care much about aesthetics, but will be open to suggestions. I do want room, good airflow and easy cable management opportunity.

Monitor, keyboard and mouse I already have. I would like to have a DVD burner as well, but those are so cheap for decent ones anymore, still, any suggestions here??

Will use Windows 10, have a digital licence form a W8 upgrade, so don't know if I need to get it new or if my licence is transferable.

I was thinking a mobo x570 for possible future upgrades, I know it is overkill now. But is this line of thinking sensible for my needs? One thing I do want to have on my radar is possible future upgrades or repairs. I have heard a lot about b450 and x470 mobo. Is my thinking a low end x570 a bad way of looking at my present build idea? Maybe b450 is fine? Is it better to have a higher-end mobo of a lesser grade? (did I word that right?)

So, being a relative noob I am not real sure what I need to consider. Threads? Cores? Future upgrades? (I have built my last 3 PCs so have a basic understanding, but the last 3 I let myself be advised by the shop where I bought my parts, so am not sure how much was objectivity and how much was "lets sell him this"....)


Thanks in advance for looking at my tl;dr. Any comments, advice or suggestions are very much appreciated. I live in Germany, if that matters as far as availability etc.
#2. Posted:
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Fletchdad wrote My first post here.

As the title says. I am building a new PC as my present one is starting to get sticky. Clean install helped so I have some time, but will eventually need to build.

I do mainly office work - tables etc. - and a lot of photo editing. I no longer use Photoshop, am now using GIMP if it matters. I do some video editing, mainly compressing cut vids for youtube. I am a musician and tour guide who also does photography, build my websites (WP with Elementor pro) but my music is done on a Mac, so only photo and video on my PC. I don't want to do these on my mac - it is my music workstation and in my studio so no need to suggest using it.

I game in my spare time (very little of that) so not a priority but when I do I want to have it work and be fun. However, I mainly do Minecraft type games, and browser games, so gaming not topping the list of importance. I can also go months at a time without playing a thing, so...... Photo editing mainly, some video editing and streaming stuff. Office stuff would work on any old machine.

Budget: Hmmmm, what I need to spend I will spend, but I do want to save where it makes sense. I would like to stay around Euro 1000- (approx. US$ 1100) but if I can get lower, great. If it makes more sense to spend a bit more, also ok. Tops would be around 1300, but my needs are top priority, price a close second.

Here is what I am already considering:
Ryzen 3700x (Extra cooler??? I dont plan on overclocking)

ASUS x570 pro

Radeon RX 570. Is a big expensive grafix card a thing I need to worry about for photo and video editing? I was always under the impression that the big expensive cards were aimed at the gaming community so please feel free to wise me up if need be.

16 GB RAM - type not yet determined, I can always add later(mobo 4 slots, so not an issue now if I find 16GB to limiting in the future) But I would like your thoughts on which RAM I should consider.

Samsung EVO 1TB
Maybe an HDD for storage??

PSU, I guess around 600W but I dont know about that yet so, any suggestions.

Case: I don't care much about aesthetics, but will be open to suggestions. I do want room, good airflow and easy cable management opportunity.

Monitor, keyboard and mouse I already have. I would like to have a DVD burner as well, but those are so cheap for decent ones anymore, still, any suggestions here??

Will use Windows 10, have a digital licence form a W8 upgrade, so don't know if I need to get it new or if my licence is transferable.

I was thinking a mobo x570 for possible future upgrades, I know it is overkill now. But is this line of thinking sensible for my needs? One thing I do want to have on my radar is possible future upgrades or repairs. I have heard a lot about b450 and x470 mobo. Is my thinking a low end x570 a bad way of looking at my present build idea? Maybe b450 is fine? Is it better to have a higher-end mobo of a lesser grade? (did I word that right?)

So, being a relative noob I am not real sure what I need to consider. Threads? Cores? Future upgrades? (I have built my last 3 PCs so have a basic understanding, but the last 3 I let myself be advised by the shop where I bought my parts, so am not sure how much was objectivity and how much was "lets sell him this"....)


Thanks in advance for looking at my tl;dr. Any comments, advice or suggestions are very much appreciated. I live in Germany, if that matters as far as availability etc.


hi there you have the right jist which is good so there are a few changes i would make...the x570 you wont need as the x470 is plentiful as it comes which can save you some cash also...

the 3700x is a good processor with 8 cores 16 threads (im currently running the 2700x and its an absolute behemoth of a processor 8C 16T) so we will stick with that ...you should be okay with the stock cooler as they are decent but can always go with an aftermarket one or water cooling IF needed

the graphics card is good id personally go for a rx 580 or even a 1060 super/1070...i wouldnt advise touching the 5700xt as its plagued with issues at the moment but if you wish to the 5700xt is an amazing card but it has a load of problems (crashes BSOD etc) so id personally steer clear from it

the ram i would advise Gskill trident Z which are great at bumping up speeds and reliability in which i would personally suggest a 3600+ kit as ryzen operates better with higher speed ram

i personally would suggest a 500gb ssd and a 1TB HDD for storage but dependant on your work feel free to get what you think youll need but a bigger SSD is going to enquire a bigger price hike

the PSU you are correct about 600/650 i will highly advise checking this link linustechtips.com/main/topic/6310...-list-old/ ..its an oldish link but gives you a reference of what to get and what to stay clear of

the case if you want a nice bit of space i could suggest would be the h500M its beefy but its got so much space and potential..there are tons of others which im sure someone could suggest

but yes if you are video editting try to stick with more cores as it will benefit you in the long run especially with rendering in a quicker time so a 3700x is a good pick hell even the 2700x is a good pick but the 3700x does have some added benefits ..

this is a rough help for you im sure there will be people that will be able to help you better !
#3. Posted:
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PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 3.6 GHz 8-Core Processor (317.99 @ Mindfactory)
Motherboard: ASRock B450 Pro4 ATX AM4 Motherboard (91.96 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (1 x 16 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory (80.70 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Storage: Intel 660p Series 1.02 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive (126.80 @ Alza)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda Compute 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (61.57 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1650 4 GB WINDFORCE OC Video Card (163.99 @ Mindfactory)
Case: Cougar MX330 ATX Mid Tower Case (48.42 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12III 500 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (51.98 @ Alternate)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer (18.55 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Total: 958.76
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-02-18 17:42 CET+0100


Additional options to consider:
  • Buy an X570 motherboard to guarantee compatibility with your CPU. Most vendors will already update the bios so you don't need to; you can probably submit a support ticket to get them to do this.
    (Suggestions: MSI X570-A Pro)
  • Aftermarket cooler - I doubt you would require one as the one it comes with is pretty decent. This is more down to whether you prefer quieter coolers or not. (Suggestions: Cryorig H7, Dark Rock Pro 4)
  • 32GB RAM (Buy 2x16GB) - Additional RAM may benefit you considering you will have multiple high-end applications open (photo video editing and music editing)
  • 1TB SSD instead of 2TB HDD - SSD storage is a lot faster than HDD storage. That said, I would imagine you would keep work-in-progress items on the Intel 660p and transfer the work to the HDD when you are finished with them, like an archive. (Suggestions: Samsung 960 Evo)
  • Cases are pretty much all decent nowadays, if you wanted to swap it out to a better looking one, or just one you prefer then you could do that. This is mostly dependent on the DVD drive. If you want to use an internal one, you need to choose a case that can fit it. Otherwise, you can buy an external DVD writer and then just plug it in via USB 3.0.


In terms of your questions:
Extra cooler?
Optional. Discussed above.

Is a big expensive grafix card a thing I need to worry about for photo and video editing?
Depends on what software you are using, what you are doing, etc. A lot of programs can utilise the GPU via hardware acceleration. That said, the CPU will be the main source of your computing power for the tasks you have specified above.

Maybe an HDD for storage?
Optional. Discussed above.

Will use Windows 10, have a digital licence form a W8 upgrade, so don't know if I need to get it new or if my licence is transferable.
I think you can now attach licenses to your Microsoft account and are able to swap hardware three times? I can't remember off the top of my head but you will be able to install Windows 10 for free directly from Microsoft.

But is this line of thinking sensible for my needs?
If you buy an X570 motherboard now, you're likely future proofing against upcoming CPUs for quite a while, unless AMD release a new socket. (X570 is the latest version of the AM4 socket that the Ryzen CPUs use)

Is my thinking a low end x570 a bad way of looking at my present build idea? Maybe b450 is fine? Is it better to have a higher-end mobo of a lesser grade?
Realistically, motherboards all function the same way, it's the tiny extras like built-in heatsinks, m.2 support, 8-pin vs 4-pin CPU power (for the big CPUs). You'll likely be fine buying "higher-end" B450 just as much as you are "lower-end" X570.


Last edited by -Deano ; edited 1 time in total
#4. Posted:
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Fletchdad wrote Ryzen 3700x (Extra cooler??? I dont plan on overclocking)

Good choice of CPU. Though, you may want to also consider an R7 2700(x) since they're about half the price of a 3700x. As for cooler, the included cooler with either the R7 2700, 2700x, or 3700x will suffice, but better cooling is never a bad idea. A nice mid ranged air cooler, like a Dark Rock 4 would be great(I use one of these with my R7 1700x).

Fletchdad wrote ASUS x570 pro

You mean the Prime X570-Pro? If so, that's a fine choice but you could easily save some money if you wanted. The X570 TUF, Prime X570-Pro, and X570 Strix are all pretty close to each other in pricing in Germany it seems, so I'd personally take the Strix. They all use the same VRM set-up, and are all great quality but the Strix has more/better features, and the TUF has the least features.

Fletchdad wrote Radeon RX 570. Is a big expensive grafix card a thing I need to worry about for photo and video editing?

For photo editing, yeah doesn't matter. For video editing, depends entirely what application(s) you're using, and what kind of editing/rendering you're doing. GPU acceleration can help in some instances, but I'd probably go for an NVidia GPU in that case so that you have the option to use CUDA acceleration.
Also, I'd just avoid the RX 570 at this point anyway. A GTX 1650 Super will out-perform it and will be far more efficient. Only reason to go with the RX 570 is if you get a used one for a great price, but since a 1650S is around the same price new, the 570 really doesn't make much sense IMO.
I would definitely avoid a vanilla GTX 1650 though since it uses Volta's NVENC, instead of the Turing encoder. The vanilla 1650 is also just a poor performing GPU at a terrible price- the GTX 1650 Super is a pretty huge upgrade for like 15 euros more.

Fletchdad wrote 16 GB RAM - type not yet determined, I can always add later(mobo 4 slots, so not an issue now if I find 16GB to limiting in the future) But I would like your thoughts on which RAM I should consider.

Honestly, I'd aim for 32GB. As for which kit to buy, brand doesn't matter. I'd just be looking for the cheapest kit you like the look of in 3200MHz speeds @ CL16 or 3600MHz @ CL18.

Fletchdad wrote Samsung EVO 1TB
Maybe an HDD for storage??

Which one? 860 EVO, 960 EVO, 970 EVO? The 860 EVO doesn't make much sense anymore IMO, it is definitely one of the best options for a SATA SSD but with how well priced entry level NVMe SSD's are these days, it makes much more sense to go with one of those. 960/970 EVO is an alright choice if you want a high end NVMe SSD, but depends on the price of course.

Fletchdad wrote PSU, I guess around 600W but I dont know about that yet so, any suggestions.

450W would be enough. Wattage is nowhere near as relevant as quality.

Fletchdad wrote I was thinking a mobo x570 for possible future upgrades, I know it is overkill now.

The only real upgrade option X570 gives you over a decent B450/X470 board is PCIe 4.0 SSD's. For a CPU upgrade, even some mid ranged B450 motherboards are going to be enough to handle an R9 3950x. Zen3(Ryzen 4000) isn't going to bump core counts, just IPC and clock speeds, so even for unreleased CPU's, I doubt X570 is going to be necessary. After Zen3, AMD will almost definitely be changing socket anyway so you really only have one more generation of CPU's coming that will be compatible with any AM4 motherboard, whether it's B450 or X570.

Fletchdad wrote Is it better to have a higher-end mobo of a lesser grade? (did I word that right?)

Depends. If you require X570 exclusive features, like PCIe 4.0, then you would probably be better off with a low-end X570 motherboard.
If you don't care so much about features, then yeah a decent B450 motherboard would be perfectly adequate tbh.

There are plenty of piss poor quality AM4 motherboards, regardless of their chipset though. A lot of the entry level X570 mobo's("entry level" being like 150 euros starting price) are just not good quality, especially for their price. Higher end X570 boards though, can be really quite good. I'm sure there are some higher quality B450 mobo's that have better VRM's than some low end X570 boards, but if you require X570 specific features, that doesn't really matter.

So, for around 1000 euros in Germany, this is what I'd be looking at with your requirements;
PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 3.6 GHz 8-Core Processor (309.00 @ Mindfactory)
Motherboard: MSI B450 TOMAHAWK MAX ATX AM4 Motherboard (115.99 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Memory: Team T-FORCE VULCAN Z 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory (151.79 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Storage: Sabrent Rocket Q 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive (109.94 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 1650 SUPER 4 GB Phoenix OC Video Card (171.99 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Case: Cooler Master MasterBox NR600 (w/ODD) ATX Mid Tower Case (69.95 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Power Supply: Super Flower Leadex III Gold 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply (85.90 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Total: 1014.56

Then you can think about whether or not you want a higher end motherboard. If you do, then Asus X570 TUF, Prime Pro, and Strix are the 3 I'd be choosing between. I wouldn't recommend any of Asus' B450 or X470 motherboards though. In fact, I'd probably just skip X470 completely. Either buy a good B450 board, or go X570.

You can also add an aftermarket cooler if you want, and don't mind upping the budget. Plenty of good options, just depends what you like the look of personally and how much you want to pay.

If you want some faster RAM, this is the kit I'd look at;
de.pcpartpicker.com/product/Yg3mP...m2d3600c18
or this if you want RGB;
de.pcpartpicker.com/product/khmFf...m2z3600c18

Lastly, storage. The Sabrent Rocket Q is going to be faster than an Intel 660p and is cheaper, so is just a better option at this point. Though the 660p has gone on sales for an absolute steal now and again, if you can get the 1TB 660p for like 15/20 euros less than the Sabrent then it's not a bad option. However, at 15 euros more it just doesn't make sense IMO.
You're most likely also going to want an HDD for mass storage, but only you know how much storage capacity you require so that's entirely up to you. You should be able to get a 2TB or 3TB HDD for 50-75 euros pretty easily, but maybe you'll need more than that?
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First of all, thanks to everyone for your great responses. Amazing forum, exactly what I was looking for. Very detailed, informative and helpful comments! Big Thumbs Up to you all!

OK, so here is what I am thinking now.... lol (after reading responses)

3700x - Yep, gonna stay there. I could go 2700x, but I also am kinda getting off on the idea of a better processor, just cause its fun.. :-)


ASUS x570 Pro - Hmm, on the fence here. But I think I will save some $s, and go b450. It seems everyone is in agreement that the x570 may be overkill for what I am looking for, and I guess if I ever need to upgrade, my 3700x and RAM would probably still be relevant (but lol @ myself for thinking that, my lat mobo upgrade cost me a new CPU and RAM, so I do want something that will keep me :-) for a while)
Stay away from entry level x570 mobo? Seems between b450 and x470, b450 wins.

Grafix: I will x the RX 570 from my list. Sounds like either RX 580 or GTX 1650, and on reading the 1650 looks like how I will go.

RAM- still on the fence of 16GB or 32GB, but I suppose I could always add (so need a mobo with 4 slots, yes? or am I thinking wrong about extra RAM, meaning is 2x 16GB better than 4x 8GB or does it matter? If I upgrade, I don't want to can my present RAM and buy all new if I don't have to)) Min. 3200MHz (perhaps 1gGB 2600MHz for a start?)

Storage, I was looking at was the Samsung 970 Evo 1TB. I have 3 external HDD, both LaCie, 3TB and 4TB(love em both) and an Intenso 1TB (wouldn't buy again, very slow but still chugging along, so ok I guess). So 1TB cause I do like to have an abundance of storage in my pocket so to speak. So I was thinking, until I bite the bullet and go pure SDD, I am golden for a while. I have 2 LaCie cause I am a backup freak. Have 1000's of photos and all my business stuff. Of course, all HDD in one house...... But that is another topic......

PSU, looked at the list - thanks for that -, and will go for a quality PSU. Seems wattage has some different takes, I will go for quality and around 600W just in case I add stuff in the future.

Case? This seems like a simple decision, I will look at all the links above closer.

Thanks all of you for your very helpful comment.

Oh yea, one more thing which may be relevant: I am not building now, I am planning, so it may be a month, or it could be not until summer/fall, so maybe things change? My machine seems to be running a lot more stable since my new install, so I am not in a big hurry,
#6. Posted:
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21 wrote I would definitely avoid a vanilla GTX 1650 though since it uses Volta's NVENC, instead of the Turing encoder. The vanilla 1650 is also just a poor performing GPU at a terrible price- the GTX 1650 Super is a pretty huge upgrade for like 15 euros more.


Absolutely agree. I noticed I put a 1650 and not a 1650S when I submitted the post; I thought I had gone back and edited the post but I guess I didn't click submit or something
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