Light gaming /office pc

[keynes]

Case
CORSAIR CARBIDE SERIES™ 275Q QUIET CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i5 Six Core Processor i5-9400F (2.9GHz) 9MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF H310M-PLUS GAMING R2.0: Micro-ATX, DDR4, LGA1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs
Memory (RAM)
8GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 2400MHz (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
NONE, I ALREADY HAVE A GRAPHICS CARD
1st Storage Drive
120GB ADATA SU650 2.5" SSD, SATA 6 Gb (520MB/R, 320MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply
CORSAIR 550W VS SERIES™ VS-550 POWER SUPPLY
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
STANDARD 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
WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
NO RECOVERY MEDIA REQUIRED
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
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 5 to 7 working days
Price: £400.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-home-office-pc-II/FhJPDWVwmr/

Hi all,
Hoping to use this as an office PC or light gaming. Got a spare GTX 680 and wondering if it would fit in the case. It seems the PC Gamer promo code is not working.

 

[Oussebon]

Max GPU length is 370mm so probably.

Tempt you to an AMD spec? Bit cheaper, allowing for dual channel and faster RAM. Or savings.

Case
CORSAIR CARBIDE SERIES™ 275Q QUIET CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 2600 Six Core CPU (3.4GHz-3.9GHz/19MB CACHE/AM4)

Get 3 Months of XBOX Game Pass for PC w/ select AMD Ryzen CPUs
Motherboard
ASUS® PRIME A320M-K: Micro-ATX, AM4, USB 3.0, 6GB/s
Memory (RAM)
8GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 2666MHz (2 x 4GB)
Graphics Card
NONE, I ALREADY HAVE A GRAPHICS CARD
1st Storage Drive
120GB ADATA SU650 2.5" SSD, SATA 6 Gb (520MB/R, 320MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply
CORSAIR 550W VS SERIES™ VS-550 POWER SUPPLY
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
STANDARD AMD 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
WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
NO RECOVERY MEDIA REQUIRED
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
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 5 to 7 working days
Price: £399.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-home-office/2enk0JEksR/

Also if you need a wifi card, the AX200 Intel one seems to have a lot more features for little more cash (5GHz band, bluetooth, ac wifi). If you don't need a wifi card, drop the N300.

 

[keynes]

Thanks for that.
is the AMD Ryzen 5 2600 Six Core better than the i5?
Not sure why the promo code is not working. A bit weird to have it on the latest edition of the magazine but expired.
I was thinking of choosing finance but £29 administration fee made me reconsider.

 

[Oussebon]

It will be similar - Intel is notionally a bit better for gaming, not that you'll notice. The AMD being cheaper lets you have dual channel and faster RAM for the same price which will close the gap down in games that care about such things. R5 is potentially more futureproof thanks to the extra threads (it has simultaneous multithreading, which Intel call hyperthreading, while the i5 does not).

The motherboard is better in that it has an M.2 slot that allows full speed PCIe 3.0 SSDs, whereas the H310 mobos are limited to half speed.
It also supports faster memory speeds should you ever want to upgrade to 16gb RAM.

And there's the game pass thing as a bung I guess.

It's a bit 6 of 1, half a dozen of the other, but the AMD one does have more features.

 

[keynes]

It will be similar - Intel is notionally a bit better for gaming, not that you'll notice. The AMD being cheaper lets you have dual channel and faster RAM for the same price which will close the gap down in games that care about such things. R5 is potentially more futureproof thanks to the extra threads (it has simultaneous multithreading, which Intel call hyperthreading, while the i5 does not).

The motherboard is better in that it has an M.2 slot that allows full speed PCIe 3.0 SSDs, whereas the H310 mobos are limited to half speed.
It also supports faster memory speeds should you ever want to upgrade to 16gb RAM.

And there's the game pass thing as a bung I guess.

It's a bit 6 of 1, half a dozen of the other, but the AMD one does have more features.

Afraid I placed the order already. Are all H310 (TUF H310M-PLUS GAMING and B360M) have the same limitations on the M2 slot?

 

[Oussebon]

H310 all have the limitation. B360 doesn't but does have the same limitation with RAM frequency as H310, unlike AMD's B450

B450 also supports later gen products like Ryzen 3rd Gen and probably Zen 3 coming next year as well. If you were spending the extra to buy a B360 Intel system, an AMD system on B450 would be an even clearer winner for the money due to way more features and upgrade options.

 

[keynes]

All noted and thanks for the feedback.
I currently have 2 x GTX 680 and one of them will be going in the system. Should I upgrade the GPU? Gaming will only be on a 1080 monitor and only racing games which I assume they are not very taxing on the GPU.

 

[keynes]

Just a bit of help if possible.
I went for PCS FrostFlow 80 Series High Performance CPU Cooler. Seems to be quite noise. Any suggestions for alternatives? I try lowering fan speed on the bios setting but still quite noise. Trying to spend the least amount for a quieter substitute.

 

[Oussebon]

You went with the Intel system?

Is this the cooler you have?

http://www.idcooling.com/Product/detail/id/130/name/SE-812i

In which case you could just replace the fan rather than the whole thing, less hassle too.

It's an 80mm fan so maybe just get a Noctua:

Noctua NF-A8 PWM, Premium Quiet Fan, 4-Pin (80mm, Brown): Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories

Buy

www.amazon.co.uk

There's be quiet! Pure Wings 2 that's a bit cheaper. Not quite as quiet, it's their purewings rather than silent wings range. but quieter than the frostflow

BeQuiet! 80MM Pure Wings 2 PWM, Rifle Bearing Fan, 19.2dB, Supports Water Cooling And Air Cooling, Silence Optimised Fan Blades, Variable Speed Function, Three Year Warranty: Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories

Buy

www.amazon.co.uk

 

[keynes]

Thanks Oussebon,
The CPU cooler is the one below:

Regarding the fans you are suggesting, is it just unscrewing and rescrewing back the fan without removing the cpu heatsink?

 

[Oussebon]

Would be nice if PCS's product pics lined up with the actual product! THIS is what PCS say it looks like :/

The one in your system looks more like

http://www.idcooling.com/Product/detail/id/175/name/DK-15

Make sure to measure the fan first to be sure it really is an 80mm fan like the name suggests... >.<

If it's 80mm I think either fan would still work... I guess you may need to remove the springs.

The PCS Frostflow cooler is an OEM cooler rebadged from another company, often ID cooling, so it makes it hard to know what model it really is and therefore what might actually work with it.

If you need to fit a new cooler maybe a be quiet! Pure Rock Slim for £20

BeQuiet! Pure Rock Slim CPU Cooler, Most Intel And AMD Sockets Supported, PWM Variable Speed Operation, 25.4dB, Three Year Warranty,Aluminium, Black, Copper,BK008: Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories

Buy

www.amazon.co.uk