General purpose usage PC for cousin.

[SaiyanGoku]

Posting on behalf of my cousin. He wants a PC for school work and general usage.

1. What is the purpose of the computer? What all applications and games are you going to run? (Be exact. Which games? Which applications? Avoid the word 'et cetera.' Vague answers like 'gaming' or 'office work' will not work.)
Ans: Studying, general purpose usage, browsing, watching movies/anime/tv series. low end gaming (old games and rarely) and would add GPU after ~2 years maybe (equivalent to used 1650 super or whatever best option comes around 7k at that time).

2. What is your overall budget? If you can extend a bit for a more balanced configuration, then please mention.
Ans: 40-45k

3. Planning to overclock?
Ans: No

4. Which Operating System are you planning to use?
Ans: Windows 10

5. How much hard drive / solid-state drive space is needed?
Ans: 240-256 GB ssd only. Would use existing 2.5" 500 GB HDD for media content.

6. Do you want to buy a monitor? If yes, please mention the screen size and resolution you prefer. If you already have a monitor and want to reuse it, then do mention the screen size and resolution of the monitor you have.
Ans: Yes, a 22-24" 1080p IPS monitor is required. Would be better if it came with freesync.

7. Which components you DON'T want to buy? i.e. which components you already have and plan on reusing?
Ans: GPU for now, speakers and keyboard + mouse.

8. When are you planning to buy the system?
Ans: Next 2 weeks.

9. Have you ever built a desktop before? Or, will this be done by an assembler?
Ans: No but I can guide him if needed. Build guides are available on youtube so he shouldn't have any problems.

10. Where do you live? Are you buying locally? Are you open to buying stuff from online shops if you don't get locally?
Ans: Buying everything online. He lives in Jabalpur and I don't trust any local shops to have good components there

11. Anything else which you would like to say?
Ans: Open to have any CPU config as long as it is current gen. He wanted 3200G or 3400G but I think i3- 10100 would be a better option since UHD 630 doesn't eats up ram like Vega 8 or 11.

 

[ico]

He wanted 3200G or 3400G but I think i3- 10100 would be a better option since UHD 630 doesn't eats up ram like Vega 8 or 11.

i3-10100 seems a good choice since prices are under control for Intel in India. But can you explain the RAM issue with Vega IGP? I am unaware about it.

 

[SaiyanGoku]

i3-10100 seems a good choice since prices are under control for Intel in India. But can you explain the RAM issue with Vega IGP? I am unaware about it.

In my experience with new AMD APU based PCs in office, vega iGPUs take ~2 GB from ram without any option to reduce it to 128 mb for just display output. I guess 8 GB ram would be the default choice in this budget. Windows 10 takes 2-3 GB itself. He'd be left with only 4 GB usable ram as a best case scenario if he goes with AMD APUs.

 

[ico]

In my experience with new AMD APU based PCs in office, vega iGPUs take ~2 GB from ram without any option to reduce it to 128 mb for just display output. I guess 8 GB ram would be the default choice in this budget. Windows 10 takes 2-3 GB itself. He'd be left with only 4 GB usable ram as a best case scenario if he goes with AMD APUs.

The option to reduce is definitely there unless the motherboard or OEM locked it out. It's called "UMA frame buffer size". You can go down to 512 MB, typically.

 

[SaiyanGoku]

Bump!
Any thoughts @whitestar_999 @omega44-xt @Nerevarine @Desmond David @bssunilreddy @quicky008?

 

[quicky008]

Sadly i dont have much experience with AMD cpus,thus i cannot possibly comment on this excessive ram usage issue that might be present in apus manufactured by AMD.

But considering his budget,an i3 seems like a better choice overall as its got better IPC and has 8 threads in total,which will make it more future proof.

Also the fact that intel igpus are unsuitable for gaming might prove to be a deterrent to his gaming proclivities for now(as he wont be buying a gpu at the moment but plans on adding it a few years later)-for a school goer that's really important as he can't waste his time playing games even if he wants to(unless he likes playing retro games that are many years old and run well even on potato pcs).

With an AMD apu,this may not be the case as it can run even some of today's AAA titles at low settings,unlike intel's UHD graphics.Also 8gb ram seems fine for an intel setup.

 

[Nerevarine]

Processor : AMD 4650G - 17100
Mobo : Good B450M motherboard (You decide) should be around 5500 (ASRock B450M-HDV R4.0 Motherboard (AMD Socket AM4/Ryzen Series CPU/Max 32GB DDR4 3200MHz Memory))
RAM : 8x2 GB DDR4 - Corsair or crucial - 8.5k
PSU : Antec VP550p (Check if you want better) - 3100
Case : Antec NX130 - 2580
Storage : WD Green SSD 3200

Total = 39980. This is a no compromise rig, which has 16 GB RAM, 6 core processor with good integrated graphics and expandability.

That leaves around 5k for monitor which isnt enough for a 1080p panel.

*www.amazon.in/LG-inch-55cm-LCD-Mon...80p+monitor&qid=1617080239&s=computers&sr=1-3

You can go for this if you increase budget by 3k. Alternately, you can decrease your ram by 8GB only and fit your monitor accordingly and increase by 8 GB in the future. when you need it.

 

[nac]

Ryzen 4350G
Asrock B450M Pro4 (make sure it has latest BIOS)
8GB 3200mhz DDR4
CM MWE 450W Bronze
A2000 NVME 250GB
Corsair Spec 1 (or any case of his choice)
22" 1080p IPS panel from Dell or LG or BenQ

All this should come in his budget.

I am using 2200G with 8GB RAM. RAM usage hits about 80% (of usable 6GB) when I use emulator to play PUBGM. So for now, 8GB is good enough. He can add more if he needs.

 

[whitestar_999]

AMD configs already suggested so here is intel config:
core i3 10100--12750

Buy Online ASROCK H410M-HDV MOTHERBOARD (INTEL SOCKET 1200/10TH GENERATION CORE SERIES CPU/MAX 64GB DDR4 2933MHZ MEMORY) - in India 5500

Buy Online Crucial Ballistix Sport LT 8GB 3200 MHz DDR4 Grey Desktop Gaming Memory BLS8G4D32AESBK - in India 3650

@chimera201 what's the typically recommended budget psu nowadays since CX white label series is gone now.

 

[SaiyanGoku]

I am using 2200G with 8GB RAM. RAM usage hits about 80% (of usable 6GB) when I use emulator to play PUBGM. So for now, 8GB is good enough. He can add more if he needs.

Is 2 GB reserved by vega 8? @ico this is most probably the same issue I am talking about.

 

[nac]

Is 2 GB reserved by vega 8? @ico this is most probably the same issue I am talking about.

Yes, it's auto reserved since I have set it to auto. You can pick lower value, you can go as low as 64MB (I have never tried that, but there is that option 64M-128M-512M-1G-2G). When I had only 4GB, it was 512MB reserved (Auto). For general use, like browsing, youtube videos probably even 4k video 512MB should do. I even played PUBGM with just 4GB (512MB reserved). If the games are demanding (demanding enough for the APU), 512M may not be good enough and the game would crash or perform poorly. The most demanding thing I do with this setup is running emulators. I don't see any huge performance jump from 4GB to 8GB, it's pretty much the same. So IMO 8GB is good enough for the use case.

There was this video, this snapshot is from that video. It shows how many processes it takes before we see activity in paging file and how much it takes before going unusable. I hope this helps.

*i.imgur.com/x8m0irI.png

i3 10100 neither performs better than 4350G (both cpu and gpu wise) nor costs cheaper than 4350G to even consider that as an option. Yeah it was okay to consider few months back when it was priced under 10k.

 

[chimera201]

*www.primeabgb.com/online-price-reviews-india/antec-ne550m-550w-80-plus-bronze-certified-psu/

Not as good as the Corsair CX though

 

[omega44-xt]

Bump!
Any thoughts @whitestar_999 @omega44-xt @Nerevarine @Desmond David @bssunilreddy @quicky008?

Find some clarity on the warranty of R3 4350G, seems like a better bet than i3 10100. The i3 was good when it was 10k IMO.

CPU - AMD Ryzen 3 4350G - 12.3k

Mobo - Asrock B450M Pro4 ATX - 6.8k

RAM - 2x8GB DDR4 3000MHz - 6k

GPU - None

SSD - Kingston A400 240GB 2.5″ - 3.1k

HDD - Your 500GB

PSU - Gigabyte P550B 80+ Bronze - 3.1k (cheap, should suffice for low end GPUs)

Cabinet - Corsair SPEC 01 - 3k

Monitor - LG 24MP59G 24" 1080p 75Hz Freesync - 9.5k

Total - 43.8k

 

[SaiyanGoku]

Find some clarity on the warranty of R3 4350G, seems like a better bet than i3 10100. The i3 was good when it was 10k IMO.

CPU - AMD Ryzen 3 4350G - 12.3k

Mobo - Asrock B450M Pro4 ATX - 6.8k

RAM - 2x8GB DDR4 3000MHz - 6k

GPU - None

SSD - Kingston A400 240GB 2.5″ - 3.1k

HDD - Your 500GB

PSU - Gigabyte P550B 80+ Bronze - 3.1k (cheap, should suffice for low end GPUs)

Cabinet - Corsair SPEC 01 - 3k

Monitor - LG 24MP59G 24" 1080p 75Hz Freesync - 9.5k

Total - 43.8k

Have shared links to these with my cousin.

BTW, how do these look to you?

*www.primeabgb.com/online-price-reviews-india/gaming-pc-combo-3-13022021/

*www.primeabgb.com/online-price-rev...ent-side-panel-rgb-controller-cc-9011203-spt/

 

[quicky008]

the second one looks ok,but they haven't mentioned which psu they are using in this build.

 

[khalil1210]

they haven't mentioned which psu they are using in this build.

It is mentioned below in description section. SMPS - Cooler Master MWE 450W 80+ WHITE SMPS MPE-4501-ACABW-IN

 

[Nerevarine]

Dont go for A320 board, go for a b550m mobo for future ryzen support + PCIE Gen 4 support or b450m for only upgradable cpu (no gen 4 pcie)

 

[desiibond]

Agree. I have A320 board that I paired with Ryzen 3 3200G (temporary rig). This board is too basic and a B450M board is any day better than A320, even for basic usage. The main difference being more PCIe lanes that will be very helpful if a GPU and M.2 SSD are used. Also, B450M generally has better VRMs and cooling.

Some B550/A320 boards have RAM slots too close to CPU socket and some cpu coolers will block installation of RAMs with taller heat sink (eg: XPG Gammix). So, keep an eye on this. In such cases, you will end up with unusable slot 1 or you have to remove the cooler fan to install/remove RAM.

 

[omega44-xt]

Have shared links to these with my cousin.

BTW, how do these look to you?

*www.primeabgb.com/online-price-reviews-india/gaming-pc-combo-3-13022021/

*www.primeabgb.com/online-price-rev...ent-side-panel-rgb-controller-cc-9011203-spt/

Both are basic desktops & will work well. The major cons of 2nd build are 2400MHz RAM (not sure why they mentioned it as laptop one) & non-bronze PSU. The A320 also has 2 RAM slots & 1 M2 slot like the cheap B450 included with first (i mean those are the differences that a normal person will look for when comparing say A320 vs B450).

The rig I suggested with R3 is like 33-34k without a monitor & 1TB HDD but with 16GB RAM & better mobo. If your cousin can build, that will be better.

 

[ico]

Is 2 GB reserved by vega 8? @ico this is most probably the same issue I am talking about.

It's possible to change that like @nac said.

Before buying any B450 motherboard, double check whether Renoir APU is listed as compatible.

A320 probably doesn't support Renoir. Don't make any assumption.