I'm building a micro ATX PC for my girlfriend, and I want to make sure it's perfect for her needs. I've already selected some components: an Intel i7 14700k CPU with 20 cores, an AMD RX9060XT GPU with 16GB, and 32GB of RAM. My main question is whether to go with DDR4 or DDR5 memory. Also, should I consider switching to an Intel i5 13600k instead? She regularly uses Adobe software like Lightroom and Photoshop, so I picked Intel for stability. She's coming from a MacBook, and I want her workflow to be seamless. While she does some gaming, it's mostly with mods and light titles that aren't too demanding. The build is about $1400 with DDR4, but it jumps to around $1800 with DDR5. What do you all think?
2 Answers
Have you looked into the Core Ultra series? The pricing is quite appealing right now, and I’d avoid the 13th and 14th gen due to some stability concerns I’ve heard about. I made a build with an all-white aesthetic for her approval if you're interested! [link]
For software like Photoshop, AMD CPUs can sometimes outperform Intel. I couldn’t find specific benchmarks for Lightroom, but you might want to double-check that. If her primary tasks depend on Adobe, AMD might be worth considering, despite your preference for Intel.
Thanks for sharing that! I agree the display is overpriced but looks good! She wanted everything in white, so I really appreciate your help in putting together that list! I’ll likely go with the Ultra series.