PC Purchase Lab - Jack Wells - 10/8/20

Note: I used PCPartpicker to find the items listed, but I also listed the website on which I found the final price for each individual item.

Overview:

Processor - Intel i5 - $194.00 - RAM - G.Skill Trident 16 GB - $149.99 - Motherboard - MSI Z170A SLI+ - $355.99 - Storage - Samsung 970 Evo SSD - $168.28 - OS - Windows 10 Home 64-Bit - $108.78 - Total Cost: $977.04

Uses: This desktop will mainly be used for desktop tasks such as online schoolwork, programming, and not many graphically or processing demanding tasks.

Processor:

Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5 GHz Quad-Core Processor ($194.00 - Amazon)

Why I chose this: I chose this processor because it is a good priced, 4-core processor from Intel. This number of cores and core speed (3.5 GHz) will easily perform any tasks I ask of it. Intel is also a very reliable processor manufacturer, and many people, including myself, trust their products to every extent.

Motherboard:

MSI Z170A SLI Plus ATX LGA1151 ($355.99 - Amazon)

Why I chose this: I chose this MSI motherboard because it has an intel chipset compatible with my processor and it supports DDR4 RAM of up to 3600 MHz and holds up to 64 GB, which covers the RAM I chose. Also, this motherboard has two M.2 slots for SSDs, one will be used immediately to hold a Samsung M.2 SSD, and the other is available when an upgrade is needed. This motherboard will have no problem holding the hardware I chose, with plenty of room to upgrade when necessary.

RAM Memory:

G.Skill Trident Z Royal 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL14 Memory ($149.99 - Newegg)

Why I chose this: I picked 16gb of DDR4-3200 MHz RAM simply because it is fast and I won’t need more than 16gb for any tasks I’m doing. When using chrome and programming at the same time, my PC hits at the most 70% RAM Usage. If I ever need more, my motherboard supports up to 64 GB of RAM, so upgrading will be easy.

Storage:

Samsung 970 EVO 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive
($168.28 - Amazon)

Why I chose this: I picked this SSD because M.2 drives are fast (Write Speed 2700 MB/S), it uses NVME, and is a powerful boot drive. My PC will boot fast on this drive, and the 1 TB of storage will last me a long time. And as I stated previously, If I ever get near 1 TB of storage, my motherboard allows for another M.2 drive, or a SATA drive for more storage.

Operating System:

Windows 10 Home OEM 64-Bit ($108.78 - OWC)

Why I chose this: I picked Windows 10 because it is the only OS supported by Intel. It is an easy installation and covers all my needs. I don’t have a need for any extra Windows 10 pro features, so Home works fine. It is however quite expensive in my opinion but you don’t really have a choice.