Basic productivity Ryzen 1700 build

E

exe

Limp Gawd
Joined
Mar 4, 2005
Messages
292
Hey all, I need a new computer for productivity/office work. This only means stock charts, graphs, multiple web browsers (over 20 tabs open) on multiple monitors (4 DVI monitors plus 2 4k monitors). In my thinking, really not pushing much CPU power, but my C2Q 9550 8GB RAM. bogs way down with multiple browsers open. Specifically, I'm using Tradingview.com, a web based stock charting software and this bogs down the computer.

I was thinking:
Ryzen 1700 (from Aliexpress)
B450 mobo mATX with two x16 slots : ASrock B450M Pro4 or MSI Arsenal gaming.
Existing video cards which are R9 280 and a dual output basic Nvidia GT640card.

What DDR4 speed ram do I need? Going with 8GBx2. Do I need to buy from the qualified list from the mobo manufacturer?
What NVME M.2 SSD do you all recommend. I only need 256MB or less as all my data is stored elsewhere on the home network.

I am hoping this will solve the issue of high CPU usage, but I am not sure since Tradingview.com bogging down is actually the only issue that I have.

Any insights appreciated. Thank you.
(Location Canada)
 
Why such an old CPU? Budget limits? For a 8/16 AMD CPU, I'd be looking at the 5800X (if available), or the 3800XT, 3800X, or 3700X. Any of those will perform better not just in raw clock speed, but actual instructions per clock (IPC).

As for RAM, unless you plan to overclock I'd just get whatever speed the CPU specifies (IIRC 2666 for the 1000 series, 3200 for the 3000 and 5000 series). Sticking to the qualified list can't hurt, but probably isn't necessary.

PCIe 4 NVMe SSDs are still a large cost premium for not much real benefit. The Samsung 970 Evo+/Evo are still the top PCIe 3 SSDs. The WD SN750 and SK Hynix Gold P31 are also very good. Maybe it's different up there, but from what I've seen a given model of 500 GB SSD really don't cost too much more than the like 250 GB unit (and the $/GB cost of the former is much lower), so I'd consider that.
 
I don't use this particular computer for anything but looking at stocks charts on tradingview.com. It is currently using 80-90% CPU utilization. I don't think getting anything greater is necessary, but this is just a guess. After all, C2Q is my ancient reference point.

As for the RAM, can I get whatever is on sale that might be faster than 2666 or 3200 and it will be backward compatible to the slower speed? I assume the days of AMD vs Intel specific RAM is over?
 
exe said:
I don't use this particular computer for anything but looking at stocks charts on tradingview.com. It is currently using 80-90% CPU utilization. I don't think getting anything greater is necessary, but this is just a guess. After all, C2Q is my ancient reference point.

As for the RAM, can I get whatever is on sale that might be faster than 2666 or 3200 and it will be backward compatible to the slower speed? I assume the days of AMD vs Intel specific RAM is over?
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Specific branding of RAM doesn't really matter in regards to AMD or Intel. Just getting a quality kit at the fastest speed within your budget. Definitely shoot for 3200 as a minimum. Like BlueLineSwinger stated, if you can grab a 3700X or better you'll be a lot better off. Having said that, the 1700 will still be absolutely lightyears faster than that old C2Q and if you've been managing with that then you'll be wowed with upgrade to Ryzen.
 
The main thing you need is more ram. I've got an old laptop with 8GB and a Sandy Bridge quad core i7 in it that bogged down with too many browser windows open and it's a good bit newer than your Core2 quad. CPU was fine for browsing but not quite enough memory. Chrome has turned into a bit of a pig.

Other than that you're past due for a new work machine anyway. Design life on computer stuff is about 5 years. Many keep working long after that, but every year the chance of failure goes up.

BlueLineSwinger is right about the cost of SSDs. Once you get below 500GB the price per gig starts going up. I was going to put a 250GB in my file server as a boot drive, but ended up with a 500GB since it wasn't much more $. I wouldn't worry too much about speed. For what you're doing pretty much anything PCIe will be blazing fast, so I'd look for cost and reliability instead. I've picked up a couple of WD and Crucial drives. So far so good with them. Samsung is good but tends to be more expensive.

For a work machine I'd just go with the fastest officially supported speed of ram and either get something on the mainboard vendor's QVL or something a reputable ram vendor says will work on your board. I usually just check with Crucial and Kingston and don't worry about the QVL. The modules on the QVL will work, but mainboard vendors don't test nearly all the modules that will work just fine.

As for the CPU I'm not sure why you'd go with a Ryzen 1700. For that load I'd think you'd be better off with a couple less cores and higher clock speed and IPC. For a basic productivity machine in the current buying environment I'd likely go with an Intel chip just because they're easy to get. Ryzen 5xxx chips are a pain to find and are a bit on the pricey side, and even the 3xxx models are getting harder to find. I'd probably also look for a 65W chip rather than one of the high performance models. Most of the time they're less expensive. i7-10700, i5-10600, Ryzen 5 3600, Ryzen 7 3700X, something like that. Maybe even an i3 or Ryzen 3. Even those would blow away an old Core 2 quad.
 
For your application I don't think RAM speed will matter much at all. An 8 core Ryzen of any generation will burn through your application now and in the future. In fact I doubt there would be any decernable difference between any of them as the CPU will be so far from the bottleneck. Just get it at a good price and pair it with a highly rated drive.
 
Nothing wrong with a Ryzen 1700 if you get a good price on one. It is certainly overkill for what you want, and you'd be just as good with the Ryzen 5 1600. Of course 2000, 3000, and 5000 series Ryzen chips are faster than the 1000 series, but I wouldn't fork out a premium for that for your stated use case. As to RAM, a pair of DDR4-3200 8G sticks should serve you well. As far as RAM compatibility, the integrated memory controller on Ryzen 1000 series CPUs in particular are a bit touchy with that, but it has gotten a lot better with BIOS updates. As long as you have a reasonably up-to-date BIOS on your board, and select RAM either from the board's QVL list or RAM that is specified by the vendor as Ryzen compatible you will be good. (Quick Note: "Ryzen Compatible" RAM modules are just modules using RAM chips that are known to work well with the more finicky Ryzen 1000 and 2000 CPUs)

I'd definitely stay with Ryzen as opposed to Intel though, simply because if you decide you want a more capable machine in the future for minimum additional cash outlay that B450 mainboard can accommodate the newer 2000, 3000, and 5000 CPUs as drop-in replacements.
 
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