Some advice please before ordering for a semi computer literate woman!

Hi

I need a new desktop/mini computer and have little space hence looking at the Mini PCs.
I am not a gamer at all, but do have a lot of stuff open at any one time and it slows my current laptop down to the point of unusable.
It is also used for Webinars, so not sure if that affects things as well.
I need it to be fast so have been looking at SSD drive rather HDD and am happy to get the biggest I can afford, plus 16gb ram.
But the gfx, processors and motherboard info baffle me, I am looking at i7 as I know it is the latest, but am unsure if it is relevant?
I don't edit photos much and so that is not important but speed is. At the moment everything is slow to open to the point of painful.

I am happy to go to about £1000-1200 if it is something I am unlikely to change in the next three years (I know that is optimistic in technology terms) and would rather get a higher spec now so that I don't have to change it too quickly.

I already have a monitor which I connect via mini hdmi to my laptop - stupid question, but do I need a different cable if I get a pc? Guessing I do! But not sure what I need.

Sorry for all the questions

Many thanks in advance
 

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
Potentially something like:


Case
FRACTAL DESIGN NODE 202 Mini ITX Case
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Six Core Processor i5-8400 (2.8GHz) 9MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® ROG STRIX Z370-I GAMING: Mini-ITX, USB 3.0, SATA 6GBs
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3000MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
4GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1050 Ti - DVI, HDMI, DP
1[SUP]st[/SUP] Hard Disk
NOT REQUIRED
M.2 SSD Drive
256GB SAMSUNG PM961 M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 2800MB/R, 1100MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply
INTEGRATED FRACTAL INTEGRA 450W SFX PSU (For Fractal Node 202 Case Only)
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Noctua NH-L9i Low Profile, Super Quiet CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
EK-TIM ECTOTHERM THERMAL COMPOUND
Extra Case Fans
2x 120mm Black Case Fan (configured to extract from rear/roof)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
GIGABIT LAN PORT + Wi-Fi (Wi-Fi excluded on H110I-PLUS)
USB Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 4 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc DVD & Single Licence
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365
Anti-Virus
BullGuard™ Internet Security - Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 6 to 8 working days
Quantity
1

Price £1,138.00 including VAT and delivery

Unique URL to re-configure : https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-sff-gaming/KAS0ecQ9d8/

The i5 8400 is a pretty solid performer for a lot of different tasks including Photoshop and should be more than ample for your needs. Unless you're encoding video a lot, or doing 3d rendering, there's not much call for the i7.

The build above has a GTX 1050 ti, which could be a big help in photoshop vs just the CPU's onboard graphics. However, if your photo editing really is very occasional, you may prefer to save the cash instead.

You will probably need a new cable, as the motherboard and GPU are unlikely to have mini-HDMI. However, regular HDMI cables are very cheap and you may well have some spares lying around from TVs/monitors/Now TV boxes/ etc
 

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
Glad it was of interest :)

The Fractal Node 202 should be more than fine for what you're looking for. Its small size and its design does mean there are limits to cooling potential however, so if you think you'll go into heavy video editing or 3d rendering (or gaming) then it may struggle with powerful GPUs.
 
OK thank you for that. I don't plan to do anything like that so I am happy to go with your recommendations
Is there benefit in getting a bigger ssd? I am happy to do that even if it does cost more.
One other stupid question, for the monitor connection, I am assuming I need hdmi to hdmi and not hdmi to mini hdmi?
Thank you in advance
I am nearly ready to order!!
 

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
Is there benefit in getting a bigger ssd?
Probably not. If it's just Windows, programs, and relatively small files the above ought to be fine. If you have lots of large files then an HDD would be a cheaper way of storing them. Most files (e.g. your music collection) wouldn't benefit from being on an SSD.

I am assuming I need hdmi to hdmi
If your monitor's input is regular HDMI then yes. The graphics card will almost certainly have a regular sized HDMI output.
 
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