Ryzen
After many years of using a laptop I have decided to go back to a desktop pc.
My overriding decision for this was based mainly on everything being larger and faster for cheaper. Also I’m a sucker for more cores and AMD Ryzen’s offerings and reviews looked really good.
I had also got into the bad habit of having the laptop in front of the tv, so I was getting neck problems, and watching too much tv as you do.
Over the easter weekend PBTech Auckland was having a big sale so a perfect time to buy.
PC Parts
| Parts | Price $NZD ex GST 15% |
|---|---|
| AMD Ryzen 5 1600 | $309.05 |
| 275 Crucial MX300 SSD | $129.00 |
| 16GB (8GB x 2) Team Dark TDRRD4 3000 mhz memory | $195 |
| Sapphire Nitro RX460 2GB | $135 |
| Gigiabyte GA-AB350m-d3h mother board | $137 |
| LG 29UM69G-B 29” 21:9 UltraWide IPS 2560x1080 | |
| Zalman 500w Power supply | $71.25 |
| Cooler Master Lite mini ATX case | $50.3 |
| Loctek monitor stand | $45 |
Thoughts
As I am mainly developing I did not need top off the line although you may be mistaken given my parts list.
Ryzen CPU
- The Ryzen 5 1600 is more than adequate for my needs and also came with the Wraith cooler whereas than 1600X did not, saving a little bit here.
- The motherboard supports upto the Ryzen 7 1800X so when I feel the pc starting to get a little slow in the next 5 years hopefully the 2-3x speed upgrade should be cheap as chips…
Memory
LG 29” widescreen
- At work I have 3 monitors, for home to save a little space I went with the LG widescreen as I can have 2 windows open side by side without too much scrolling.
- Love the inputs of DVI, HDMI and USB-C. The
- I have a small standing desk so having the the monitor stand was essential to free up space.
Graphics card
- Wasn’t planning on purchasing the Sapphire graphics card but the Ryzen processor does not have an APU so the motherboards onboard graphics will not work.
- Now I play some games when I find some time………
Case
Was not expecting much from this case as I just said to get the cheapest so was pleasantly surprised.
- Has a black coating all over, so no slicing fingers opening the case…remembering 20+ years ago ouch.
- Like that it has usb ports and power on the top.
Conclusion
Very happy with purchase and find I am using the PC more productively at home in more than a few years.
Future upgrades in a couple of years
- Ryzen 1800x or faster?
- M.2 NVMe SSD drive when the prices drop.