Confusing message about pci-e SSD

steaul

Member
I configured a custom build based on AMD on a budget of around £1k, as follows:

Processor (CPU): AMD FX-6300 Six Core CPU (3.50GHz/8MB CACHE/AM3+)
Case: CORSAIR CARBIDE SERIES™ AIR 540 GAMING CASE
Motherboard: ASUS® M5A97 LE R2.0 (DDR3, USB3.0, 6Gb/s)
Memory (RAM): 8GB KINGSTON DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card: 2GB AMD RADEON™ R9 270X - DVI, HDMI, DP - DX® 11, Eyefinity 4 Capable
1st Hard Disk: 500GB VELOCIRAPTOR WD5000HHTZ, SATA 6-Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (10,000rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive: 8x BLU-RAY ROM DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW
Power Supply: CORSAIR 650W CS SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET (£69)
Processor Cooling: Corsair H60 Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler (£59)
Thermal Paste: ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND (£9)
Sound Card: ONBOARD 8 CHANNEL (7.1) 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 & 4 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS

Price: exactly £1,000!

But there are warning messages in relation to three things:
1. They want to know if I want OS installed on primary disk or on an internal PCI SSD. I had not even selected a PCI SSD device!
2. The motherboard I have chosen does not have a USB3.0 header... the front ports on my case will be inactive.
3. Suggested power supply rating of 450W...

Points 2 and 3 are moot, as long as I have USB3.0 somewhere, and the PSU is the quietest I can buy. I chose this case simply because of it's physical proportions allows it to fit on my desk without protruding into the space I need for keyboard, mouse, notebook PC, food drink etc..

But on point 1: I'm new to this technology, although I use a notebook pc that uses a SATA SSD and I had noticed significant speed advantages on start-up, I am concerned about the lifetime prospect of multiple writes to Flash.
Apparently the PCI-e speed is significantly higher again, so for fast resets, I guess it's worth investing the extra money, but I was not expecting this at all.

Price: now £1,290 for the ASUS RAIDR

So... is it back to the drawing board to back down to quad-core CPU and cheaper cooling solutions?
Or is this really worth the extra expense, considering I stayed clear of the 8-core CPU and R9-290x Radeon for budget reasons?
 

steaul

Member
It is gaming.

And I forgot to mention the price includes CM Storm Keyboard&Mouse and BenQ RL2455HM monitor. And choosing the gigabyte mainboard presents front-facing USB3 ports and is cheaper than Asus.
 
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keynes

Multiverse Poster
For £1000 including monitor and peripherals I would expect something better than the R9-270x. Velociraptor is not needed and will provide minimal improvement compare to the caviar black, case is quite expensive and you could downgrade to improve other more important components for gaming like the graphics card and cpu.

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-4590 (3.3GHz) 6MB Cache
Case
CORSAIR 230T COMPACT GAMING CASE - RED LED + NON-WINDOWED
Motherboard
ASUS® H81M-PLUS: Micro-ATX, LG1150, USB 3.0, SATA 6GBs
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
4GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 970 - 1 DVI, 1 mHDMI, 3 mDP - 3D Vision Ready
1st Hard Disk
1TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD1003FZEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 550W VS SERIES™ VS-550 POWER SUPPLY
Processor Cooling
Super Quiet 22dBA Triple Copper Heatpipe Intel CPU Cooler (£19)
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 150Mbps PCI-E CARD (£5)
USB Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 4 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Operating System
Genuine Windows 8.1 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365
Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
Monitor
BENQ GL2450HM 24" LED MONITOR (£122)
Keyboard & Mouse
CM Storm Devastator Keyboard and Mouse (£35)
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 5 to 7 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £980.00 including VAT and delivery.

Unique URL to re-configure: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/quotes/intel-home-office-pc/Lkj5uDQaKo/
 

steaul

Member
Many thanks for your tips. I generally prefer AMD over Intel/NVidia - for same reasons some people prefer Jaguars over BMW M series cars, brand loyalty. But your system performs much better (comparing benchmarks on another website.)
 

keynes

Multiverse Poster
Many thanks for your tips. I generally prefer AMD over Intel/NVidia - for same reasons some people prefer Jaguars over BMW M series cars, brand loyalty. But your system performs much better (comparing benchmarks on another website.)

An i5 will perform significantly better especially for more cpu intensive tasks. Brand loyalty aside, you want to get the best system without your budget and that doesn't involve an AMD cpu or the R9-270x. You could get the R9-280x or 290 but those run hotter and noisier than the GTX 970.
 

steaul

Member
OK. an Intel-i5 with GeForce970 combo does look better, and it does run cooler and quieter. I don't think I'll need 1TB of storage, I have a 4TB cloud drive on my network. And opting for the triple-pipe cooling is also suitable for this purpose as I have no intention of over-clocking seriously, I am just playing on-line games.

The micro-ATX form factor and the Corsair gaming case is new input I will consider carefully.. meantime my budget has gone up to £1,300 with the following build:

Processor (CPU) Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-4690K (3.5GHz) 6MB Cache
Case CORSAIR CARBIDE SERIES™ AIR 540 GAMING CASE
Motherboard Gigabyte Z97X Gaming 3: ATX, LG1150, USB 3.0, SATA 6GBs, XFIRE/SLI
Memory (RAM) 16GB KINGSTON HYPER-X BEAST DUAL-DDR3 2133MHz X.M.P (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card 4GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 970 - 1 DVI, 1 mHDMI, 3 mDP - 3D Vision Ready
1st Hard Disk 500GB 3.5" SATA-III 6GB/s HDD 7200RPM 16MB CACHE
M.2 SSD Drive Plextor PX-G128M6e 128GB M.2 SSD (upto 770MB/sR | 625MB/sW)
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
Processor Cooling Super Quiet 22dBA Triple Copper Heatpipe Intel CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
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 & 4 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System Genuine Windows 8.1 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence
DVD Recovery Media Windows 8.1 (64-bit) DVD with paper sleeve
Monitor BENQ RL2455HM 24" LED GAMING MONITOR
Keyboard & Mouse CM Storm Devastator Keyboard and Mouse
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 5 to 7 working days
Price £1,319.00
 
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