Rather lavish Desktop Version 2 !

[stevegardner630]

Could you please have a look over this spec. I have tweaked my original plan a little regarding storage, case, power supply and fans.


Some reasons why I am going for the spec as it are:

* The beast will be on a desk only 18" from my head at ear height! I have chosen the Fractal Define which Scott rated as a good quality and quiet case, and I hope the 7 Quiet will live up to its name!

* My current 5+yr old machine has a 256GB SSD system drive and I rapidly became a fan of SSD. I was set on putting in a fast M2 system drive, and then made the (expensive) decision to make the whole machine SSD. Therefore I have a set-up of a pair of 2Tb Firecuda’s in the M2 PCIe 4.0 slots on the motherboard, and then decided to add 2Tb of the Samsung 860 QVO instead of a larger HDD. I did look at 4Tb of that memory but its c.£400.

* The processor is a bit over the top but I always want to have a bit more grunt as I did with my current machine. Likewise the 32Gb of memory. In the bigger scheme of things the extra 16Gb is not expensive. I have used 16Gb for a long while and it seems to occasionally struggle – probably because I often have a large number of programs open at the same time.

*As I won’t be doing much if any gaming above 1080 and nothing demanding I have kept the graphics cards fairly basic. I did look at the 1660Super but for my use I don’t think it will be worthwhile. ,

* Because of the use of the machine I am not adding any further fans and taking Scott’s advice I will depend on the Wraith attached.


I hope this gives a bit of additional info as to the thinking behind this spec but your thoughts will be much more insightful.

Thanks in advance for any advice.





Case
FRACTAL DEFINE 7 BLACK QUIET MID-TOWER CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 3700X Eight Core CPU (3.6GHz-4.4GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® ROG STRIX X570-F GAMING (USB 3.2 Gen 2, PCIe 4.0) - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
4GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1650 SUPER - HDMI
1st Storage Drive
2TB Samsung 860 QVO 2.5" SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (up to 550MB/sR | 520MB/sW)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB SEAGATE FIRECUDA 520 GEN 4 PCIe NVMe (up to 5000MB/R, 4400MB/W)
2nd M.2 SSD Drive
2TB SEAGATE FIRECUDA 520 GEN 4 PCIe NVMe (up to 5000MB/R, 4400MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
16x BLU-RAY WRITER DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW & SOFTWARE
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
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 INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 2,400Mbps/5GHz, 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD + BT 5.0
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 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
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® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Firefox™
Monitor
IIYAMA ProLite XB2783HSU-B3 27" AMVA+
Surge Protection
6 Socket 2m Surge Protector
Cable Management
3 x PCS 1.5M Zip Cable Tidy - Professional Cable Management
Warranty
3 Year Platinum Warranty (3 Year Collect & Return, 3 Year Parts, 3 Year labour)
Delivery
TIMED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND - MON-FRI (BEFORE 2PM)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 12 to 14 working days

Price: £2,788.00 including VAT and Delivery

Many thanks in advance

Steve

 

[stevegardner630]

Just to add which was not on earlier note:

"Some of the options I have changed taking into account Scott’s excellent Desktop Building Guide. This PC this will mostly be for personal and business use, and some video but very little at a fairly basic level, hence basic graphics card, and I do know its extravagant but the £1100 of this is fast SSD memory!
I also appreciate that PCS is focused on gamers but there are very few made-to-order/spec PC builders out there who build high-spec busines and personal machines with the variety, quality and standards of components you do here"

 

[Grumpywurzel]

Would it not be better to use a "normal" hard drive for your storage needs? Yes use a M2 drive for day to day stuff and OS, but then use a bigger but slower drive for back ups etc?

 

[ubuysa]

Windows and programs benefit (greatly) from being on the fastest drive you can afford. The Firecuda is perfect for that, but do you need 2TB just for Windows and programs?

For some applications a workspace or scratch drive is useful, but this doesn't need to be anywhere near as fast as the Windows drive. There is no point at all putting Windows/programs and workspace/scratch on separate partitions on the same drive. That's dreadful from a performance viewpoint.

Most user data gets little benefit from an SSD because the file sizes are relatively small. Music and video gains zero benefit from an SSD.

Generally then you want a smallish and very fast NVMe drive for Windows/programs. A moderately fast NVMe drive for workspace/scratch and a SATA SSD (or even an HDD) for user data. Splashing out on huge and very fast drives for everything is really a waste of money.

 

[Scott]

The storage is definitely out there IMO. I've changed it up a little. It's still ridiculously lavish but much more sensible. Feel free to change it about however you wish but I wouldn't sacrifice any of the other parts of the build to make way for it.

I'm not convinced on the monitor selection. For any sort of desktop use a 1440p monitor is going to be a far better choice, especially when 27" is being considered. With 1080p you would see each individual pixel and we are at the point where the new standard is QHD.

I did try to select a couple of the 1440p monitors but they aren't in stock until next week so maybe need to check after that.

So, without a monitor....

The primary drive is the fastest 1tb drive I know of - OS, Programs, maybe a game or 2.
The secondary drive is the fastest 2tb drive I know of - Whatever it is you plan on using the storage for plus a really fast cache/scratch drive.
The conventional storage drive is a pretty quick 7200rpm drive - This will take whatever you don't need to be on fast storage. Examples already offered, finished projects etc.

If you currently have a system with Windows 10, you could link it to a microsoft account and transfer it over. That would pocket £100 for you.

Case
FRACTAL DEFINE 7 BLACK QUIET MID-TOWER CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 3800X Eight Core CPU (3.9GHz-4.5GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® ROG STRIX X570-F GAMING (USB 3.2 Gen 2, PCIe 4.0) - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
4GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1650 SUPER - HDMI
1st Storage Drive
3TB SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB SEAGATE FIRECUDA 520 GEN 4 PCIe NVMe (up to 5000MB/R, 4400MB/W)
2nd M.2 SSD Drive
2TB SEAGATE FIRECUDA 520 GEN 4 PCIe NVMe (up to 5000MB/R, 4400MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
16x BLU-RAY WRITER DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW & SOFTWARE
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H100i RGB PLATINUM Hydro Series High Performance 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 INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 2,400Mbps/5GHz, 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD + BT 5.0
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 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
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® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Surge Protection
6 Socket 2m Surge Protector
Cable Management
3 x PCS 1.5M Zip Cable Tidy - Professional Cable Management
Warranty
3 Year Platinum Warranty (3 Year Collect & Return, 3 Year Parts, 3 Year labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 12 to 14 working days
Price: £2,410.00 including VAT and Delivery

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

 

[stevegardner630]

Thank you all for your input. I think you've talked me out of the Samsung 2TB SATA SSD at least. I will still go with the Firecuda for the system drive but probably 500Gb or max 1Tb to include some data files which I access especially frequently. Looking at the prices of the SSD's there is surprisingly little different in cost between the Firecuda and the Samsung SATA SSD so assuming I cut one it will be that one.

Re storage, I have a broad view that there is no such thing as too much of it. My current PC has 256Gb SSD system drive and 1x1Tb and 1x2Tb drives and I struggle to find enough space at times - which I never believed could be possible when I bought the machine 5years ago.

A large volume of content I have is mixed length personal video files, downloads (legally) pulled down off the web up to 2Gb each, some hundreds of large files 4-6Gb each of personal 1:1 presentation training sessions for individuals which is my consulting work and various video files from 50MB up. I keep the work ones for 1yr as part of my service to clients. I already have 1.7Tb of those on an internal HDD and they are accessed more often than is usual. Just to open the largest subfolder on that HDD which is 931Gb takes c.3minutes! I will probably still use the 2nd SSD for the video and then store pictures, documents and others files (all small files), overflow, temp files and anything other than videos on the 3Tb HDD which was what I originally was going to do.before I had my moment of madness. Re. the 3Tb HDD on the list of drives it is not identified as either Barracuda or Ironwolf which seems odd??

I wasn't sure that there would be a need for a separate processor cooler taking into account what I'd read in recent post about the stock Wraith Prism but as long as the other one is quiet I don't mind. The selection of all-SSD was partly to be sure there was as little noise as possible.

I share your view about higher res 27"/28"monitor but couldn't identify anything that suited and was well reviewed, was within a £250-£350 and was in stock - like you did Scott. Were you looking at the monitors sold here only? Even though the machine its not for serious gaming, would you bump up the graphics card a bit for the higher res monitor, although from a little very amateur research it looks like going up to the next level - the 1660 Super - doesn't seem to do a lot and cards above that would very probably be more cash than I want to allocate.

Re the monitor, any thoughts about brands/models etc? In total this is all coming up to the same sort of £££, but with a different bias which I can appreciate and I (pretty much ) agree and bow to your collective better judgement.

Finally, just as an aside, I hate Microsoft browsers. However, I'll probably install Edge, Chrome and Firefox ( I have 3 browsers here now as they each have their advantages) with the latter as default as I find it especially user-friendly, flexible and both RealDownloader and Video Download Helper work much better with Firefox than either of the others - Chrome especially because of their YouTube connection which they block downloads from and Edge just because it is a control-freak!

Sorry about the novel, but your collective inputs are very helpful. Just a few questions in the text above, then time to go find a monitor!

Thanks again

Steve

 

[stevegardner630]

Hi folks,

Can I ask another question re M.2 memory. I am now planning to go for a 1Tb Firecuda drive for the C drive. How much space does Windows and other typical software typically need for Operating system, Office 365, anti-virus/anti-Malware, various amateur video programs, stacks of "tools" and the rest?

As a guide my current drive C: is 256Gb SSD but often 90% full including desktop files. . Do you think its "safe" to buy just a 500GB Firecuda? Or if I buy the 1Tb, can I easily utilise say 500Gb of this drive for storage of fast/frequent access files? I'll still buy the 2Tb Firecuda for storage and need an absolute total of 4Tb of storage so will add a 3 or 4Tb HDD for "local "archived" storage".

One other technical question. On my current machine I have 6 drives C: to H: including backup drives and external drives and a BluRay burner. I was looking to add a 7th drive (external drive) but a little while back Windows 7 wouldnt recognise a 7th Drive so couldn't do so and I understand that was normal. How many nominal drives does Windows 10 allow if I start adding further internal and/or external drives?

One final (I think) question. How quiet is the "Corsair H100i RGB PLATINUM Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler" you recommend for the 3800X? I'm may be happy to revert to the 3700X if it means I do not need an external cooler If any doubt I'll go for the Corsair H100 as long as its quiet. Re the HDD, I heard that Irongates are noisy compared to Barracudas? Any opinions? And which is the oddity in the list which is 7200rpm 3Tb drive which is "untitled".

All the best, have a great weekend and thanks (again) in advance

Steve

PS - still looking for the 4K./ QHD monitor with the right bits and pieces and right price, in stock and then perhaps upgrade the graphics card a bit accordingly!

 

[Scott]

1TB is the best selection if you want the fastest. 500GB is going to be enough for windows/programs/etc. Normally you would expect between 100-200GB for the system and programs. Add in some space for the Desktop, Documents etc and you should be inside a comfortable margin.

1TB would be overkill IMO, unless you wanted to store some games on there too. You want to use a different M2 drive for the scratch drive.

I don't think there's a limit to the number of drives other than letters you can assign. Sounds like there was potentially a different issue with the drive.

The H100i RGB Platinum is whisper quiet. I have the H115i Platinum and it's an amazing cooler. On quiet mode it keeps my 9900k in check so you will be absolutely fine with the 3800X. I wouldn't go with the stock cooler when rendering etc as it just moves the air inside the case. A water cooler will always move the air either into the case, or exhaust out of it.

I wouldn't bother with the Irongate drives personally. Barracuda would be my choice, or even just the unbranded one. Drives fail so rarely nowadays there's just no need to go OTT for generic storage. Always have a backup of important things of course.

 

[stevegardner630]

Thanks Scott.