About to order - What do you think ?

[Pooler]

I'm a casual gamer and have been debating whether to go for this instead of a Playstation Pro. I know this is twice the price but I will use it for a lot more than games

I want it to be silent - are the more expensive PSU's worthwhile ?

Also will be hooking up to a projector and audio receiver so wanted a motherboard with an optical out for sound and HDMI

Case
FRACTAL DEFINE R5 BLACK QUIET MID-TOWER CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-6600K (3.5GHz) 6MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® Z170 PRO GAMING/AURA: ATX, LG1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs, RGB Lighting
Memory (RAM)
16GB HyperX FURY DDR4 2133MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
INTEGRATED GRAPHICS ACCELERATOR (GPU)
1st Hard Disk
240GB KINGSTON UV400 2.5" SSD, SATA 6 Gb (550MB/R, 490MB/W)
2nd Hard Disk
1TB SEAGATE 3.5" SSHD, SATA 6Gb/s 7200 RPM (64MB + 8GB SSD CACHE)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 350W VS SERIES™ VS-350 POWER SUPPLY
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Super Quiet Titan DragonFly Heatpipe Intel CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
USB Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
DVD Recovery Media
Windows 10 (64-bit) Home DVD with paper sleeve
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
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 7 to 9 working days
Quantity
1

 

[Stephen M]

What is your budget? I would not bother with the SSHD, the hybrids are not up to much, the WD 7200rpm is a much better drive but possibly a bit more expensive.

 

[Oussebon]

As above, knowing you budget would be useful, and the value of an SSHD especially when your main drive is an SSD anyway is somewhat questionable.

I'm a casual gamer and have been debating whether to go for this instead of a Playstation Pro. I know this is twice the price but I will use it for a lot more than games

If you are going to be gaming at all on it you will probably want a graphics card. What else will you be doing on it? e.g. video editing?

Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-6600K (3.5GHz) 6MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® Z170 PRO GAMING/AURA: ATX, LG1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs, RGB Lighting
Memory (RAM)
16GB HyperX FURY DDR4 2133MHz (2 x 8GB)

If you're not overclocking and only going for 2133mhz DDR4, you could go use this configurator: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/computers/intel-skylake-home-office-pc/ which is cheaper. Use the i5 6600 instead of the 6600k and either the H110M-R M-ATX mobo or the Gigabyte Sniper (B150 chipset) ATX mobo.

I want it to be silent - are the more expensive PSU's worthwhile ?

If you really want it to be silent and are prepared to spend the money, the RM850x is the way to go as it has a passive cooling mode which in real terms means it will actually cool itself without needing to switch the fan on, even when under full gaming load with many modern GPUs.

 

[Pooler]

Sorry mistake - I accidentally left off the graphics card here is the update Spec.

In terms of budget I was hoping to keep it around the £1000 mark so not sure I can do much better than this ?

Case
FRACTAL DEFINE R5 BLACK QUIET MID-TOWER CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-6600K (3.5GHz) 6MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® Z170 PRO GAMING/AURA: ATX, LG1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs, RGB Lighting
Memory (RAM)
16GB HyperX FURY DDR4 2133MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
3GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1060 - DVI, HDMI, 3 x DP
1st Hard Disk
240GB KINGSTON UV400 2.5" SSD, SATA 6 Gb (550MB/R, 490MB/W)
2nd Hard Disk
1TB SEAGATE 3.5" SSHD, SATA 6Gb/s 7200 RPM (64MB + 8GB SSD CACHE)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 450W VS SERIES™ VS-450 POWER SUPPLY
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Super Quiet Titan DragonFly Heatpipe Intel CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
USB Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
DVD Recovery Media
Windows 10 (64-bit) Home DVD with paper sleeve
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
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

 

[ubuysa]

I completely agree with the others on the SSHD. The 1TB WD Black is about the same price but is a better drive IMO and probably faster too in normal use.

 

[Dayve]

Pay the extra £5 for 1 year collect and return. For that extra fiver if anything dies for one year after you buy it you just send it back and get it repaired or get a new one.

Happened with my GTX 770, died just 3 or 4 days before my one year warranty ran out

Also, I was advised that the motherboard - the pro gaming one that you chose - can be dropped down to the P or E version to save a little extra, as the pro-gaming one is for overclocking and has some RGB features (not sure what those even are, which means I probably don't want them lol). So if the E or P motherboard has the connectors you need and you aren't going to be overclocking or using those RGB features, you could save a bit there.

 

[Oussebon]

Pooler, if you go with the H110M-R motherboard in this configurator and the i5 6600 instead it's £150 cheaper: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/computers/intel-skylake-home-office-pc/
In fact you could stuff a GTX 1070 8gb into the H110M-R build, up the PSU to 550W, and still have it cost £1 less. At the very least you could go for the 6gb GTX 1060 and save a ton of cash on stuff that isn't worth that much for your uses.

Case	Case
FRACTAL DEFINE R5 BLACK QUIET MID-TOWER CASE	FRACTAL DEFINE R5 BLACK QUIET MID-TOWER CASE
Processor (CPU)	Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-6600 (3.3GHz) 6MB Cache	Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-6600K (3.5GHz) 6MB Cache
Motherboard	Motherboard
ASUS® H110M-R: Micro-ATX, DDR4, LG1151, USB 3.0, SATA 6GBs	ASUS® Z170 PRO GAMING/AURA: ATX, LG1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs, RGB Lighting
	FREE MAFIA III game code with select ASUS*® Motherboards!
Memory (RAM)	Memory (RAM)
16GB HyperX FURY DDR4 2133MHz (2 x 8GB)	16GB HyperX FURY DDR4 2133MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card	Graphics Card
3GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1060 - DVI, HDMI, 3 x DP	3GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1060 - DVI, HDMI, 3 x DP
1[SUP]st[/SUP] Hard Disk	1[SUP]st[/SUP] Hard Disk
240GB KINGSTON UV400 2.5" SSD, SATA 6 Gb (550MB/R, 490MB/W)	240GB KINGSTON UV400 2.5" SSD, SATA 6 Gb (550MB/R, 490MB/W)
2[SUP]nd[/SUP] Hard Disk	2[SUP]nd[/SUP] Hard Disk
1TB SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 32MB CACHE	1TB SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 32MB CACHE
1[SUP]st[/SUP] DVD/BLU-RAY Drive	1[SUP]st[/SUP] DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM	24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply	Power Supply
CORSAIR 450W VS SERIES™ VS-450 POWER SUPPLY	CORSAIR 450W VS SERIES™ VS-450 POWER SUPPLY
Power Cable	Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)	1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling	Processor Cooling
Super Quiet Titan DragonFly Heatpipe Intel CPU Cooler	Super Quiet Titan DragonFly Heatpipe Intel CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste	Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING	STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card	Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)	ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking	Wireless/Wired Networking
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)	10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
USB Options	USB Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS	MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System	Operating System
Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence	Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence
Operating System Language	Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language	United Kingdom - English Language
Office Software	Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365	FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365
Anti-Virus	Anti-Virus
BullGuard™ Internet Security - Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode	BullGuard™ Internet Security - Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode
Browser	Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)	Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Warranty	Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)	3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery	Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)	STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time	Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 6 to 8 working days	Standard Build - Approximately 6 to 8 working days
Quantity	Quantity
1	1
Price: £917.00 including VAT and delivery.	Price: £1,066.00 including VAT and delivery.
Unique URL to re-configure: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/quotes/intel-skylake-home-office-pc/m7ZTUzsEJg/	Unique URL to re-configure: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/quotes/intel-skylake-pc/N8RZ7zUMff/

 

[Pooler]

Thanks Oussebon

One think I do require though is an audio optical out so that I can connect my sound to my audio receiver. Having said that I do have a Creative Labs sound card in my current set up that may have an optical out that I could transfer over.

Is there anything else I am losing out on by downgrading the motherboard ?

So with the 6gb version of the card and the super quiet PSU it ends up like this -

Case
FRACTAL DEFINE R5 BLACK QUIET MID-TOWER CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-6600 (3.3GHz) 6MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® H110M-R: Micro-ATX, DDR4, LG1151, USB 3.0, SATA 6GBs
Memory (RAM)
16GB HyperX FURY DDR4 2133MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1060 - DVI, HDMI, 3 x DP - GeForce GTX VR Ready!
1st Hard Disk
240GB KINGSTON UV400 2.5" SSD, SATA 6 Gb (550MB/R, 490MB/W)
2nd Hard Disk
1TB WD BLACK 3.5" WD1003FZEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W CS SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Super Quiet Titan DragonFly Heatpipe Intel CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
USB Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
DVD Recovery Media
Windows 10 (64-bit) Home DVD with paper sleeve
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
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 7 to 9 working days
Quantity
1

 

[Oussebon]

You could upgrade the motherboard to the Gigabyte G1.Sniper B7 - it has an ALC 1150 instead of ALC 887, and has more expansion slots. The specs page details the audio it has a bit more: http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=5526#sp It also has an M.2 slot (which could allow you to add a super fast SSD in future). It's over £50 more than the H110M-R but still cheaper than the Z170 motherboards

There are features that the Z170 pro gaming has that the H110M-R doesn't, but you seemed not to using many of them (e.g. SLI, faster RAM, M.2 slot) making the extra cost very questionable. You can compare what they have in details in the PCS configurator pages or on the Asus Website possibly. The H110-R seems to be aimed at OEMs rather than consumers so only has a support section, not the full product page, however the manual is there and gives a mobo overview.
http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/LGA1151/H110M-R/E11428_H110M-R_UM_V2_WEB.pdf
https://www.asus.com/uk/Motherboards/Z170-PRO-GAMING/specifications/

The UV400 series isn't the fastest of SSDs, being quite a value oriented model. You could put some of the savings towards a HyperX Savage or 850 Evo. UV400 is still a good cut above an HDD though ofc.

The RM850x PSU will be quieter than the CS650 - if fact I imagine the RM850x will be completely silent as iirc it will cool itself passively without even switching its fan on when under 50% of its total load and I don't see that your system would push 400W while under load with a GTX 1060.

The one other thing I'd mention is the GPU fan. Many of the GPUs at the more value friendly end of the spectrum have squirrel cage coolers (link). These don't turn themselves off when the GPU is idle, unlike most modern third party cards with 2 or 3 fan cooler designs that do spin down under about 60 degrees. The GPU models PCS use will vary and so you may want to find out from them what's currently on the menu and if they can give you an assurances about the kind you're likely to get. Otherwise you can order without the GPU and just fit it yourself. PCS do have an open case policy: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/terms/

Unlike with most computer companies, we allow you to open your case and install your own components without voiding your warranty on the following conditions:

• if the actions of the person installing the components cause damage to the computer, your warranty will be void;
• if you install components that are not purchased from us and they cause problems with your computer, your warranty will be void;
• if you install components that are not purchased from us we will in no way support you in installing them or with any problems you have relating to the components you have installed.
• we will support you in installing components purchased from us providing you have purchased them through the upgrade service available on your online account.