The PC Build Thread

[Herr der Verboten]

Built myself a workstation type PC using a Fractal Design Focus G case with three chassis fans (two front and one rear). This runs CAD and also far heavier workloads. The i7-8700 processor can run with all cores at 100% for extended periods without a problem. One advantage of this case is that it is light, making it more portable. https://www.fractal-design.com/products/cases/focus/focus-g/gunmetal-grey/

What's the preferred intel cpu and nvidia gpu, mid range-ish for adobe photoshop? Obviously there isn't an infinite budget but I would prefer to keep it to ±15-20k range for a complete pc if possible. Cheaper, haha would be good..

 

[ponder]

What's the preferred intel cpu and nvidia gpu, mid range-ish for adobe photoshop? Obviously there isn't an infinite budget but I would prefer to keep it to ±15-20k range for a complete pc if possible. Cheaper, haha would be good..

go have a look at the pudget systems site, they build workstations and have a whole lot of benchmarks for different apps.

 

[Herr der Verboten]

go have a look at the pudget systems site, they build workstations and have a whole lot of benchmarks for different apps.

Will do, thanks.

 

[garyc]

What's the preferred intel cpu and nvidia gpu, mid range-ish for adobe photoshop? Obviously there isn't an infinite budget but I would prefer to keep it to ±15-20k range for a complete pc if possible. Cheaper, haha would be good..

The graphics card should ideally be a GTX 1050 or better. Adobe have also tested and certified the 1080 and 1660. Naturally most of their certified cards are in the Quadro range, although these can be pricey. Intel onboard UHD 630 graphics is also supported. If you want to see what other cards are certified go to https://helpx.adobe.com/africa/photoshop/system-requirements.html.

Regarding CPUs: Adobe claims that Photoshop can have speed gains up to six cores, and more than that is a waste of money. My general impression is that it does not scale evenly as the number of cores increase and it may be best to select a CPU based on the GHz rating rather than the core count.

Don't forget the RAM and HDD. The minimum RAM for acceptable performance is 8 GB, but more may be to your advantage. With the HDD speed and size obviously both matter, so this will be a compromise based on affordability.

You may also want to tweak your Photoshop settings based on your hardware.

Puget systems is known for custom building high-end workstations for various applications. You can see their Photoshop benchmarks at https://www.pugetsystems.com/recomm...-Adobe-Photoshop-139/Hardware-Recommendations. Note that they do advanced workstations and that you may get away with a little less.

Edit: See Ponder has already recommended Puget Systems.

 

[Herr der Verboten]

The graphics card should ideally be a GTX 1050 or better. Adobe have also tested and certified the 1080 and 1660. Naturally most of their certified cards are in the Quadro range, although these can be pricey. Intel onboard UHD 630 graphics is also supported. If you want to see what other cards are certified go to https://helpx.adobe.com/africa/photoshop/system-requirements.html.

Regarding CPUs: Adobe claims that Photoshop can have speed gains up to six cores, and more than that is a waste of money. My general impression is that it does not scale evenly as the number of cores increase and it may be best to select a CPU based on the GHz rating rather than the core count.

Don't forget the RAM and HDD. The minimum RAM for acceptable performance is 8 GB, but more may be to your advantage. With the HDD speed and size obviously both matter, so this will be a compromise based on affordability.

You may also want to tweak your Photoshop settings based on your hardware.

Puget systems is known for custom building high-end workstations for various applications. You can see their Photoshop benchmarks at https://www.pugetsystems.com/recomm...-Adobe-Photoshop-139/Hardware-Recommendations. Note that they do advanced workstations and that you may get away with a little less.

Edit: See Ponder has already recommended Puget Systems.

Thanks for the detailed response. I've been so long out of the 'it game'

 

[ponder]

You can see their Photoshop benchmarks at https://www.pugetsystems.com/recomm...-Adobe-Photoshop-139/Hardware-Recommendations.

Obviously there isn't an infinite budget but I would prefer to keep it to ±15-20k range for a complete pc if possible. Cheaper, haha would be good..

Based on the graph in the above link and the OPs budget I would say a ryzen 5 3600 build would strike a good performance/value balance.

 

[ponder]

@Nemoneiros

R3799 - AMD Ryzen 5 3600
R1899 - MSI B450M MORTAR MAX AMD AM4 B450 Micro-ATX Desktop Motherboard
R1299 - G.Skill F4-3200C16D-16GVKB Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4-3200MHz CL16 1.35V Black Desktop Memory
R3999 - Palit GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER GamingPro OC NE6166SS18J9-1160A 6GB GDDR6 192-bit PCI-E 3.0 Desktop Graphics Card
R749 - Super Flower SF-550P14HE Bronze King 550W 80 Plus Bronze Non-Modular Black Desktop Power Supply
R1049- Mushkin MKNSSDHL500GB-D8 Helix-L 500GB M.2 (2280) PCIe NVMe Solid State Drive
R747 - Western-Digital WD10EZEX Blue 1TB 7200rpm SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache 3.5 Inch Internal Hard Drive
R1149 - Phanteks PH-EC400ATG_BK01 Eclipse P400A Tempered Glass Satin Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Desktop Chassis
R4099 - Dell P2418D 24" QHD (2560x1440) 60Hz 5ms IPS LED-Backlit Desktop Monitor
R713 - Cooler Master SGM-4006-KFOA1 MasterMouse Pro L Black Gaming Mouse
R271 - HP DTHPN3R87AAS USB Slim Business Keyboard
R19773 - TOTAL

There are cheaper cases, picked this one as it has really good airflow.
Monitor is 1440p IPS, picked it due to your main use being Photoshop, you can shave off R1.5-R2k going with a 1080p IPS monitor.
Mouse and keyboard are placeholders, pick a mouse with a good sensor that feels good in your hand.
Windows 10 Pro & Office you can get for cheap here on the forum, example https://mybroadband.co.za/forum/threads/r499-windows-10-pro-office-2019-professional.1052687/

 

[Herr der Verboten]

@Nemoneiros

R3799 - AMD Ryzen 5 3600
R1899 - MSI B450M MORTAR MAX AMD AM4 B450 Micro-ATX Desktop Motherboard
R1299 - G.Skill F4-3200C16D-16GVKB Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4-3200MHz CL16 1.35V Black Desktop Memory
R3999 - Palit GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER GamingPro OC NE6166SS18J9-1160A 6GB GDDR6 192-bit PCI-E 3.0 Desktop Graphics Card
R749 - Super Flower SF-550P14HE Bronze King 550W 80 Plus Bronze Non-Modular Black Desktop Power Supply
R1049- Mushkin MKNSSDHL500GB-D8 Helix-L 500GB M.2 (2280) PCIe NVMe Solid State Drive
R747 - Western-Digital WD10EZEX Blue 1TB 7200rpm SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache 3.5 Inch Internal Hard Drive
R1149 - Phanteks PH-EC400ATG_BK01 Eclipse P400A Tempered Glass Satin Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Desktop Chassis
R4099 - Dell P2418D 24" QHD (2560x1440) 60Hz 5ms IPS LED-Backlit Desktop Monitor
R713 - Cooler Master SGM-4006-KFOA1 MasterMouse Pro L Black Gaming Mouse
R271 - HP DTHPN3R87AAS USB Slim Business Keyboard
R19773 - TOTAL

There are cheaper cases, picked this one as it has really good airflow.
Monitor is 1440p IPS, picked it due to your main use being Photoshop, you can shave off R1.5-R2k going with a 1080p IPS monitor.
Mouse and keyboard are placeholders, pick a mouse with a good sensor that feels good in your hand.
Windows 10 Pro & Office you can get for cheap here on the forum, example https://mybroadband.co.za/forum/threads/r499-windows-10-pro-office-2019-professional.1052687/

Thank you. I appreciate your time and effort.

 

[GWC]

Some advice would be appreciated.

Have a Strix GTX 1070 GPU, would like to upgrade, using my 4k TV for now. A new 120hz/144hz monitor will be acquired some time early next year. Would you go for a secondhand Asus Strix 1080 TI or rather spend a few k more and get a new RTX 2080 Super. The RTX 2080 Ti is just too darn expensive.

 

[ponder]

Some advice would be appreciated.

Have a Strix GTX 1070 GPU, would like to upgrade, using my 4k TV for now. A new 120hz/144hz monitor will be acquired some time early next year. Would you go for a secondhand Asus Strix 1080 TI or rather spend a few k more and get a new RTX 2080 Super. The RTX 2080 Ti is just too darn expensive.

What resolution will the new monitor be?
And which cpu do you have?


1080ti (used) is better value for money and only 9% slower than the 2080s, your money you decide...

 

[GWC]

Thanks, I have an i5-8600k oc to 4.7ghz. Monitor will be 1440 at minimum, if I want to go higher I would need a 2080 Ti. I agree one can get a second hand 1080 Ti for between R7.5k and R8K and it is not that much slower, but a RTX is so much newer if one wants to future proof, but within the hardware world that notion is laughable.

 

[The Voice]

So. Black Friday/Cyber Monday is looming and I'm beginning to get that new GPU itch.

Right now, best bang for the buck to replace my GTX 1070 looks to be the RX 5700 XT. The Gigabyte OC is currently below £400, and it doesn't look like anything even comes close (also comes with Borderlands 3 or Ghost Recon).

 

[Neoprod]

Who woulda thunk it before Ryzen?

 

[Kung Fu Porkchop]

I'd like to get some input from everyone here. I'm looking to get myself a new keyboard, mouse and wireless headset. The kb and mouse will probably be wired, but I'm not entirely sure what to look at. Razer comes to mind with the mouse, but I'm not sold on a replacement kb yet. I'm seriously considering getting a Steelseries Arctis 7 2019 headset to replace my Asus ROG 7.1.

I'm sitting with a Logitech G19s keyboard and a Logitech G502 mouse at the moment.

If you had to replace your peripherals, what would you be looking at?

 

[The Voice]

I'd like to get some input from everyone here. I'm looking to get myself a new keyboard, mouse and wireless headset. The kb and mouse will probably be wired, but I'm not entirely sure what to look at. Razer comes to mind with the mouse, but I'm not sold on a replacement kb yet. I'm seriously considering getting a Steelseries Arctis 7 2019 headset to replace my Asus ROG 7.1.

I'm sitting with a Logitech G19s keyboard and a Logitech G502 mouse at the moment.

If you had to replace your peripherals, what would you be looking at?

Arctis is really good apparently, but I'm going to steer clear of Razer for the foreseeable future. Haven't had a good experience with their kit, and thousands more feel the same - poor build quality for how much you're paying. Next round will probably be Corsair - their peripherals are second to none.

 

[ponder]

I'm sitting with a Logitech G19s keyboard and a Logitech G502 mouse at the moment.

What games do you play? That mouse is pretty heavy.

 

[Kung Fu Porkchop]

What games do you play? That mouse is pretty heavy.

A bit of everything really. PUBG, Ark, COD, GTA etc. I try to not stick to anything specific

 

[PilgrimToHyperion]

I had some lightning damage and one of the things that needs to be replaced is my PC. My usage was probably 50% internet, 30% gaming (GTAV, RDR2, retro gaming like MAME and DOS) and 20% work. I am struggling a little to decide on what to buy as I wouldn't have upgraded the damaged PC (first gen I5, GTX970, 8GB, SSD for O/S, tons of slow storage filled with crap) if I had to pay for it myself due to my limited usage. I was getting mighty gatvol of it being slower though. Insurance claim was approved and I have around R22k to spend on a PC that hopefully lasts me 10 years like that last one did. Willing to shell out another R3k if needed.

Was looking at this https://www.evetech.co.za/ryzen-7-3700x-rtx-2070-super-8gb-oc-gaming-pc/best-pc-deal/6467.aspx . Seems pretty decent for what you pay?

CPU:
I like the Ryzen 3700x. Seems like good value.

RAM:
16GB's should be fine.

Motherboard:
I really don't know. People are suggesting the 470-F range. Don't know if the 570s are worth it. Warned to stay away from MSI and go for ASUS. Apparently the ASUS ones run cooler. Have never overclocked any of my previous rigs if it helps.

Storage requirements:
Not bothered about NVME as it seems the performance gains are negligible for the average Joe. SSD for games / apps / O/S though.

Was thinking 250GB for O/S maybe 2TB for the rest.

Case:
Not too fussed about crazy RGB. The Evetech Trio cases seem okay without look to crazy. No idea about airflow on those though. I like something with a display window.

PSU:
Whatever it is, needs to be neat. So I guess full-modular like the corsair ones.

Keyboard / Mouse:
Coming from an original Razer DeathAdder and Lycosa. They need to be replaced with something similar. Not tied to any brand.

Monitors:
None needed. Still fine with my 2x 27" Samsung screens at 1080p.

GPU:
This comes with the 2070 super, but people are suggesting the 5700xt as an alternative. Hear that they're quite noisy / hot.

General:
Probably new cables for monitors if I buy a new GPU as mine only support HDMI and DVI ports.
Assembly costs and shipping (unless close to Midrand / Pretoria).

Would like to hear your thoughts to give me some ideas. Perhaps there'll be good deal on BF? I thank you for your time.

 

[weelzSA]

Just want to confirm if the following RAM will work with this laptop:

Dell INSPIRON 3581

Kingston ValueRAM 4GB

 

[ponder]

Just want to confirm if the following RAM will work with this laptop:

Dell INSPIRON 3581

Kingston ValueRAM 4GB

Yes it's fine. I suggest you check first how many dimms you currently have installed, sometimes these idiots will populate both dimm slots with 2x2gb sticks instead of a single 4gb stick.

Your laptop has 2 slots so if it says 1 of 2 you're good.