Any thoughts or suggestions

Captain01

Member
This spec follows the excellent advice given on creating a self-build.
I'm marrying this upto a Dell S2718D Monitor.

Any thoughts or suggestions?
Patrick

Case
FRACTAL DEFINE 7 BLACK QUIET MID-TOWER CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 3600 Six Core CPU (3.6GHz-4.2GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF X570-PLUS GAMING (USB 3.2 Gen 2, PCIe 4.0, CrossFireX) - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2060 SUPER - HDMI, DP - VR Ready!
2nd Storage Drive
1TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA 120 2.5" SSD, (up to 560MB/sR | 540MB/sW)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SEAGATE FIRECUDA 520 GEN 4 PCIe NVMe (up to 5000MB/R, 2500MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 550W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 100 V2 Series High Performance CPU Cooler (AMD)
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/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
 

Dan79

Bronze Level Poster
Assuming only for gaming, Personally i'd drop the cooler - 3600 stock cooler is good enough and the DVD writer (get an external to help with case thermals and up the RAM to 2x8 3600mhz (usually not much more cost).

edit - removed 'advice' because I can't read.
 
Last edited:

Captain01

Member
Thanks for your input people,
I aim for light gaming, otherwise used for work involving some high end graphics and networking with multiple clients in differing offices/countries at the same time plus working with multiple monitors.
Quietness is important, but I also want to future proof as much as possible.
Budget around £1500, and will probably upgrade a monitor at some point. I tend to leapfrog monitor upgrades if you get my drift.
Hadn't thought on the DVD writer interfering with the thermals, I still occasionally receive/send work related DVD's with documents, photos etc on.
All best.
 

Captain01

Member
Following advice on upgrading the Memory to 3600MHz and removing the DVD writer to aid thermals, does anyone have any more suggestions?
Will use a Dell S2718D Monitor for the immediate future.
Used for some slight gaming, but more for work which includes graphics and networking.
Thanks for help and suggestions.


Case FRACTAL DEFINE 7 BLACK QUIET MID-TOWER CASE
Processor (CPU)AMD Ryzen 5 3600 Six Core CPU (3.6GHz-4.2GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
MotherboardASUS® TUF X570-PLUS GAMING (USB 3.2 Gen 2, PCIe 4.0, CrossFireX) - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
down_right_arrow.gif
Change to: 16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3600MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2060 SUPER - HDMI, DP - VR Ready!
1st Storage DriveNOT REQUIRED
2nd Storage Drive1TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA 120 2.5" SSD, (up to 560MB/sR | 540MB/sW)
1st M.2 SSD Drive500GB SEAGATE FIRECUDA 520 GEN 4 PCIe NVMe (up to 5000MB/R, 2500MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
down_right_arrow.gif
Change to: NOT REQUIRED
Power SupplyCORSAIR 550W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor CoolingPCS FrostFlow 100 V2 Series High Performance CPU Cooler (AMD)
Thermal PasteSTANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound CardONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
USB/Thunderbolt OptionsMIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating SystemWindows 10 Professional 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence
Operating System LanguageUnited Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery MediaWindows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office SoftwareFREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-VirusBullGuard™ Internet Security - Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode
BrowserGoogle Chrome™
Warranty3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)



Case
FRACTAL DEFINE 7 BLACK QUIET MID-TOWER CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 3600 Six Core CPU (3.6GHz-4.2GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF X570-PLUS GAMING (USB 3.2 Gen 2, PCIe 4.0, CrossFireX) - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2060 SUPER - HDMI, DP - VR Ready!
2nd Storage Drive
1TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA 120 2.5" SSD, (up to 560MB/sR | 540MB/sW)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SEAGATE FIRECUDA 520 GEN 4 PCIe NVMe (up to 5000MB/R, 2500MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 550W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 100 V2 Series High Performance CPU Cooler (AMD)
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/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 10 Professional 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
BullGuard™ Internet Security - Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode
Browser
Google Chrome™
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)

...............................


Case
FRACTAL DEFINE 7 BLACK QUIET MID-TOWER CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 3600 Six Core CPU (3.6GHz-4.2GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF X570-PLUS GAMING (USB 3.2 Gen 2, PCIe 4.0, CrossFireX) - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2060 SUPER - HDMI, DP - VR Ready!
2nd Storage Drive
1TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA 120 2.5" SSD, (up to 560MB/sR | 540MB/sW)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SEAGATE FIRECUDA 520 GEN 4 PCIe NVMe (up to 5000MB/R, 2500MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 550W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 100 V2 Series High Performance CPU Cooler (AMD)
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/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 10 Professional 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
BullGuard™ Internet Security - Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode
Browser
Google Chrome™
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
 

Captain01

Member
After following the excellent Guide (whoever produced that deserves a medal) and reading many of the answers posted by PCS moderators etc in response to customers queries, I have come up with the following spec which, rightly or not, I believe fits my requirements.

Those requirements would be for moderate work loads involving multiple excel, word, pdf and sometimes power-point documents open at the same time together with photos and large drawings, all involving access to both a local pc and remote office networks. (fyi - I work as a ship accident investigator, specialising in chemical cargo damage/contamination).

Gaming is not really a concern, but the ability to conduct some light gaming would be nice - I find that by conducting another activity other then work often results in a solution to the problem.

Some serious thought was given to going to 32GB RAM, since I frequently max out on the 8GB RAM that I have installed on my present very venerable machine but I was eventually dissuaded by the posted comments. Was I correct?

Quietness is essential - which is the reason for choosing the Define 7 case, as well as the power supply.

I run two, sometimes three, monitors, the main one being a Dell S2781D (27 inch - 2560 x 1440 resolution at 60 Hz) at the moment, a possibility of upgrading in a year or so would be a factor.

Comments anyone?


Case
FRACTAL DEFINE 7 BLACK QUIET MID-TOWER CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 3600 Six Core CPU (3.6GHz-4.2GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF X570-PLUS GAMING (USB 3.2 Gen 2, PCIe 4.0, CrossFireX) - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2060 SUPER - HDMI, DP - VR Ready!
2nd Storage Drive
1TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA 120 2.5" SSD, (up to 560MB/sR | 540MB/sW)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SEAGATE FIRECUDA 520 GEN 4 PCIe NVMe (up to 5000MB/R, 2500MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 550W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 100 V2 Series High Performance CPU Cooler (AMD)
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/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 10 Professional 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
BullGuard™ Internet Security - Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode
Browser
Google Chrome™
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 18 to 20 working days
Promotional Item
Get Horizon Zero Dawn: Complete Edition with select AMD Ryzen CPUs
Welcome Book
PCSpecialist Welcome Book - United Kingdom & Republic of Ireland
Logo Branding
PCSpecialist Logo
Price: £0.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/0PYXDfgarm/
 

Captain01

Member
Thank you for your thoughts, much appreciated.
Yes, there would be 'spare' budget - but............................

I've just suddenly realised that the spec downloaded using the 'link' is actually NOT the final version.
Which is:

Showing Order Reference 1740526
Case FRACTAL DEFINE 7 BLACK QUIET MID-TOWER CASE
Processor (CPU)AMD Ryzen 5 3600 Six Core CPU (3.6GHz-4.2GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
down_right_arrow.gif
Change to: AMD Ryzen 7 3800X Eight Core CPU (3.9GHz-4.5GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
MotherboardASUS® TUF X570-PLUS GAMING (USB 3.2 Gen 2, PCIe 4.0, CrossFireX) - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2060 SUPER - HDMI, DP - VR Ready!
1st Storage DriveNOT REQUIRED
down_right_arrow.gif
Change to: 1TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
2nd Storage Drive1TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA 120 2.5" SSD, (up to 560MB/sR | 540MB/sW)
down_right_arrow.gif
Change to: NONE
1st M.2 SSD Drive500GB SEAGATE FIRECUDA 520 GEN 4 PCIe NVMe (up to 5000MB/R, 2500MB/W)
down_right_arrow.gif
Change to: 500GB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 3200MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
down_right_arrow.gif
Change to: NOT REQUIRED
Power SupplyCORSAIR 550W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
down_right_arrow.gif
Change to: CORSAIR 750W RM SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor CoolingPCS FrostFlow 100 V2 Series High Performance CPU Cooler (AMD)
down_right_arrow.gif
Change to: CoolerMaster MasterLiquid Lite 240 High Performance Liquid Cooler
Thermal PasteSTANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound CardONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
USB/Thunderbolt OptionsMIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating SystemWindows 10 Professional 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence
Operating System LanguageUnited Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery MediaWindows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office SoftwareFREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-VirusBullGuard™ Internet Security - Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode
down_right_arrow.gif
Change to: NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
BrowserGoogle Chrome™
Warranty3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)

Don't understand why that doesn't come up on the 'link'
Apologies for not checking.
 

Captain01

Member
Apologies for posting this as a copy from the Order, however the 'Post thread' button does not repeat the changes made to the original order.
Hence this repeat.

Details of update order below.
Thoughts would be appreciated.

After following the excellent Guide (whoever produced that deserves a medal) and reading many of the answers posted by PCS moderators etc in response to customers queries, I have come up with the following spec which, rightly or not, I believe fits my requirements.

Those requirements would be for moderate work loads involving multiple excel, word, pdf and sometimes power-point documents open at the same time together with photos and large drawings, all involving access to both a local pc and remote office networks. (fyi - I work as a ship accident investigator, specialising in chemical cargo damage/contamination).

Gaming is not really a concern, but the ability to conduct some light gaming would be nice - I find that by conducting another activity other then work often results in a solution to the problem.

Some serious thought was given to going to 32GB RAM, since I frequently max out on the 8GB RAM that I have installed on my present very venerable machine but I was eventually dissuaded by the posted comments. Was I correct?

Quietness is essential - which is the reason for choosing the Define 7 case, as well as the power supply.

I run two, sometimes three, monitors, the main one being a Dell S2781D (27 inch - 2560 x 1440 resolution at 60 Hz) at the moment, a possibility of upgrading in a year or so would be a factor.

Comments anyone?


Showing Order Reference 1740526
Case FRACTAL DEFINE 7 BLACK QUIET MID-TOWER CASE
Processor (CPU)AMD Ryzen 5 3600 Six Core CPU (3.6GHz-4.2GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
down_right_arrow.gif
Change to: AMD Ryzen 7 3800X Eight Core CPU (3.9GHz-4.5GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
MotherboardASUS® TUF X570-PLUS GAMING (USB 3.2 Gen 2, PCIe 4.0, CrossFireX) - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2060 SUPER - HDMI, DP - VR Ready!
1st Storage DriveNOT REQUIRED
down_right_arrow.gif
Change to: 1TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
2nd Storage Drive1TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA 120 2.5" SSD, (up to 560MB/sR | 540MB/sW)
down_right_arrow.gif
Change to: NONE
1st M.2 SSD Drive500GB SEAGATE FIRECUDA 520 GEN 4 PCIe NVMe (up to 5000MB/R, 2500MB/W)
down_right_arrow.gif
Change to: 500GB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 3200MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
down_right_arrow.gif
Change to: NOT REQUIRED
Power SupplyCORSAIR 550W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
down_right_arrow.gif
Change to: CORSAIR 750W RM SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor CoolingPCS FrostFlow 100 V2 Series High Performance CPU Cooler (AMD)
down_right_arrow.gif
Change to: CoolerMaster MasterLiquid Lite 240 High Performance Liquid Cooler
Thermal PasteSTANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound CardONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
USB/Thunderbolt OptionsMIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating SystemWindows 10 Professional 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence
Operating System LanguageUnited Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery MediaWindows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office SoftwareFREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-VirusBullGuard™ Internet Security - Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode
down_right_arrow.gif
Change to: NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
BrowserGoogle Chrome™
Warranty3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
 

Scott

Behold The Ford Mondeo
Moderator
The only noise you will have on that system is from the cooler, the PCS and CM coolers aren't the quietest. It's not going to be loud by any stretch, but it's not going to be silent either. If you want absolute silence you will need to splurge on the H115i RGB platinum :)

If it's not going to be pushed particularly hard you could also consider the Noctua Air cooler, this will be as good as you can get on air.
 

Captain01

Member
Thanks Scott - I'll take a look at that, consider over the weekend.
I'm 19 working days into the pre-production - time to make my mind up!
 
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