I finally decided to upgrade my work computer and build a new one! After spending loads of time reading and comparing (mostly using pcpartpicker until I landed on the following parts, which I bought from komplett:
| Source | Component | Price |
|---|---|---|
 |
16GB RAM card | €169 |
 |
Computer case - mid-tower | €44.90 |
 |
Power supply - 550watt | €58 |
 |
AMD motherboard - Asus prime X370-PRO | €139 |
 |
AMD processor - Ryzen 5 1600X | €215 |
 |
Processor cooler | €47.90 |
 |
3TB harddrive | €103.94 |
 |
2GB Lenovo graphics card | - |
| Total | €777.74 |
My aim was to build a completely upgradable improvement to my current machine - a windows computer with 32GB of RAM, a i7-3770 quad-core processor and a 1TB harddrive that will continue to be used.
Being my first build, I made a blunder. I covered the processor and motherboard with thermal paste!! Note to self, with this cooler it is easier to attach it to its braces and then the braces to the motherboard! Aside from that, just a few plugs not in the right place.
After working out how to attach the cooler and changing a couple of plugs, I am happy to say the new machine is running perfectly. It is extremely fast and I am looking forward to taking full advantage of its six cores!!! Here are some photos of the final build:
A quick note, almost two years later. I broke the motherboard (in transit I think), and got a replacement through warranty (thank you komplett!). This computer has worked amazingly and helped me out with some really interesting work at UCD. The photos below are of the re-build with the replacement motherboard. The case is a little dusty! 😅
