ZEN AND THE ART OF PC PURCHASING
Raw power is important, but make sure you don’t make a purchase you regret by considering the bigger, philosophical picture
For this month’s Labs we approached the UK’s bestknown system builders – plus a handful of big global manufacturers – and asked them to send us the best PC they could for £799. We deliberately kept the requirements open, asking them to deliver a well-balanced desktop PC for enthusiast home users with strong performance in mainstream 2D applications. We also requested enough 3D horsepower to run new games, but we weren’t looking for a thoroughbred games machine.
The manufacturers answered our brief in different ways, some focusing on CPU or GPU horsepower, others trying to bring something extra to the table in terms of storage, audio or future upgrade potential. And while some Labs are predictable, this one had us witnessing something of a sea change. Intel has dominated every lineup, from budget systems through to the high-end, for years, but AMD’s new Ryzen processors have really shaken up the market, particularly at a price point where customers are looking for maximum performance on what’s still quite a tight budget.
We knew that selecting the right stuff for these £799 systems would be a challenge, just as it would be for us were we speccing out a system for this kind of money. The way to desktop PC nirvana is, therefore, to clear your mind, ponder your requirements and take each decision step-by-step.
STEP 1: The right platform and processor
We tend to think of PCs from a processor-first perspective, but it can be more sensible to think of them in terms of the whole platform. After all, this will define not just how the PC runs now, but how far (if at all) you’ll be able to upgrade it in the future. Right now you have three choices. You can move to AMD’s Socket AM4 platform, which supports the new Ryzen processors; Intel’s outgoing Socket 1151/Kaby Lake platform; or Intel’s newer Socket 1151/Coffee Lake platform.
The first gives you a great choice of quad-core, six-core and eight-core processors with plenty of scope for future upgrades, as AMD sees AM4 as a platform for long-term development. Opting for the old Intel platform, based on a motherboard with a Z170, B250 or Z270 chipset could be a good idea for now, as Intel’s seventh-generation Core i processors are affordable and still very powerful. However, you will have no upgrade path to the eighth-generation Coffee Lake processors or those that come after. This might not be an issue – surprisingly few people ever upgrade their CPU – but if you want to keep your Intel options open, opt for Coffee Lake and a motherboard with the new z370 chipset.
Now, it’s time to think processors. Up until now, many applications – even games – have placed more demands on single-threaded performance than multi-threaded. Things are changing, though, and the more threads you can run simultaneously, the faster and more responsive your PC will seem. For a future-proof PC, we would suggest starting with AMD’s quad-core/four thread Ryzen 3 processors or Intel’s Core i3 and Core i5 equivalents, then scaling upwards according to your budget.
Given that AMD’s Ryzen 5 processors can give you quad—core/ eight thread or six-core/12-thread performance for the same money as a Core i5, that puts them in pole position, although Intel’s new six-core i5 processors look set to start an Intel fightback in the very near future. Basically, you want the fastest processor with the most cores you can get, without emptying the pot so that you can’t afford a decent graphics card or adequate RAM and storage. The key, as with so many things in life, is balance.
STEP 2: A balanced specification
You see, the processor isn’t the be-all and end-all. For a start, you will need at least 8GB or 16GB of DDR4 RAM – 4GB is no longer good enough for more demanding apps – although there’s no need to get too caught up in speeds. In most applications, there’s very little difference between basic DDR4-2133 and higher-end DDR4-2400, and it’s only when you start overclocking that you
“The way to desktop PC nirvana is, therefore, to clear your mind, ponder your requirements and take each decision step-by-step”
will see a real distinction with the faster modules.
Then there’s the graphics card. Here, you really do need to clear your mind of hype and buy what you genuinely need. If you don’t play demanding games, a budget card based on an Nvidia GT1030 or AMD Radeon RX550 will serve you perfectly well, and you may get away with your processor’s integrated graphics. If you just want to play new games at medium-to-high graphics settings on a 1080p monitor, a GTX1050 or GTX 1050Ti or a Radeon RX 560 or 570 will suffice. That’s exactly what some manufacturers in this Labs have opted for, giving them more budget for the CPU, RAM and storage. If you’re serious about gaming, then the GTX 1060 3GB is pretty much unbeatable at the moment. Having 3GB instead of 6GB of GDDR5 video RAM might hold you back on a 4K screen, but at 1080p or 1440p the impact is negligible.
STEP 3: How much is enough?
Storage is your next consideration. Every machine on test has an SSD connected through an M.2 or SATA 6GB/sec connection, giving optimal performance when booting Windows or running your most-used mainstream applications. Going M.2 can mean a performance premium, but the drives in this Labs aren’t fast enough to make a difference.
SSDs still struggle when it comes to capacity at affordable costs, so most manufacturers this month have paired them with a larger, slower mechanical hard disk, which you can use to store data, media, other applications and games. 1TB is fine for most users, but if you work with a lot of high-resolution images or 1080p and 4K video, then a 2TB drive gives you more breathing room. Of course, you can usually add another drive or plug in an external USB 3 drive later.
STEP 4: Consider the future
This really starts with your choice of motherboard and platform, but it also factors into the case you choose. As a rule of thumb, a larger case will give you more space for more drives and more PCI-E expansion cards, but this doesn’t always hold true. Many of us now ignore PCI-E cards altogether, preferring to stick with the sound built into our motherboard and getting Wi-Fi through a plug-in USB module. All the same, if you think you might upgrade later, look for a motherboard that can take future processors, more DIMM sockets for additional RAM, extra unused SATA or M.2 connectivity and a case that gives you plenty of room to work.
Similarly, take a careful look at the connectivity. Can you connect multiple monitors? Is there support for emerging standards such as USB 3.1 and USB-C? This is the kind of stuff you don’t think about when buying, but that comes back and bites you later on.
STEP 5: Don’t ignore the small stuff
On that note, look beyond the core specification and think about the small stuff that might impact usage every day. Noise, for example, can be a nightmare; your late night gaming or video-editing sessions won’t be popular if fan noise wakes the household up. (We mention noise levels where appropriate in reviews and some systems run silently or use dampening to cut down any racket.) Similarly, a more energy-efficient PC could save you money over its lifespan. Again, we talk about those systems that use a lot of power or prove more frugal than their peers.
STEP 6: Remember service and support
Sadly, not all PC manufacturers offer great service and support, and some fall by the wayside every year. That’s why we try to work with credible system builders with a good reputation and some years behind them, and why we cover where they’re based, who they employ and any results from our unique annual service and reliability survey in the feature table. Having someone on the line who’s willing and able to fix things fast makes all the difference when you have a problem.
Before you buy, check out the warranty carefully, too. Some manufacturers offer, say, three years, but only one of these is covered for parts and labour, while offers to collect and return a malfunctioning PC might run out within months of purchase, leaving you to send it back yourself. Weigh this up before you buy and you’ll not only get a great PC, but one that you can keep running for many years to come.
“If you don’t really play games, a budget card based on an Nvidia GT1030 or AMD Radeon RX550 will serve you perfectly well”