Is this $1,500 PC build suitable for office work and dual 4K monitors?
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MellowPine47
I'm putting together a work-focused PC with a budget of about $1,500 USD. I want it to remain useful for at least 5–10 years, mainly for spreadsheets, 30 or more browser tabs, and two 4K monitors. I'm planning to use the Ryzen 7 8700G's integrated graphics instead of buying a dedicated GPU. I chose a motherboard with four memory slots so I can upgrade later. The current parts list includes a Ryzen 7 8700G, an ASRock B650M Pro RS WiFi motherboard, 32GB of DDR5-6000 memory, a 1TB NVMe SSD, a 750W Corsair power supply, a compact Lian Li case, Windows 11 Home, extra case fans, and a UPS. The estimated total is around $1,500. Are there any parts you would change or upgrade for this use case?
Answers
There are a few ways to improve the value: use a faster DDR5-6000 CL30 kit, move to a 2TB NVMe drive, and consider a larger aftermarket CPU cooler for quieter operation. You can also compare case and power-supply pricing, since a quality 750W Gold unit may not cost much more and leaves room for a future GPU. The savings could cover the extra storage and cooler while keeping the build near budget.
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A 750W power supply is much more capacity than this system needs without a dedicated graphics card; the system should stay well below 200W under normal workloads. It’s still reasonable if you might add a GPU later, but otherwise a good-quality 500–550W unit would be plenty. Don’t sacrifice build quality just to reduce wattage.
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The integrated graphics should handle two 4K displays, but check the motherboard’s physical outputs and your monitor cables. This board provides one HDMI and one DisplayPort output, which is enough for two monitors as long as they match those connections or you have suitable adapters. The platform supports up to 4K at 120Hz, although office work usually won’t require that much refresh rate.
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The build should work well, but be careful about planning to populate all four DDR5 slots later. AM5 systems can become harder to stabilize with four DIMMs, especially at higher memory speeds. When you need more capacity, replacing the current 2x16GB kit with a 2x32GB kit is usually the better approach.
MellowPine47: That was my plan—when I need more memory, I’ll replace the two existing sticks with a 2x32GB kit instead of filling all four slots.
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MellowPine47: I looked for a reputable 550W model but didn’t find many good options, so I may keep the 750W unit for future expansion.