feedback / advise on my mini pc

bademoor

New member
Hello everyone,

I configured following PC (see below). As I don't have that many experience with PC's, I would appreciate your comments / suggestions.
My prerequisites
- not looking for the fastest PC, but should do the job (fluently) for a couple of years
- balance between cost and performance: the 1124 euro is really my max, preferrably a bit less
- small casing, therefore I selected a mini-PC (with a bit of a minimalistic look). I'm of course open for other options than the 304 mini ITX case
- silent system
- I'm mainly using standard applications, I'm definitely not a frequent gamer.

My main questions
- is this configuration a bit "balanced" in your opinion.
- memory: 8 GB or 16 GB. In my experience it is never bad to have some extra memory, therefore I selected 16 GB
- graphics card: do I need one? now I selected the GTX 1050, but as said, I rarely play games. Are there other (cheaper) options? If I decide not to put a graphics card now, is it easy to put one later (if I would like)?
- I've chosen a more expensive CPU cooler because of my prerequisite of having a silent PC
- With regard to the second HD: I'm still doubting whether I will go for a second HD in this PC or for a seperate NAS system

Thanks for your comments and advise
Bart

Case
FRACTAL DESIGN NODE 304 Mini ITX Case
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-7400 (3.0GHz) 6MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® H110I-PLUS: Mini-ITX, LG1151, USB 3.0, SATA 6GBs
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 2133MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1050 - DVI, HDMI, DP
1st Hard Disk
250GB Samsung 850 2.5" EVO SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (upto 540MB/sR | 520MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk
3TB SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply
CORSAIR 450W VS SERIES™ VS-450 POWER SUPPLY
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre European Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
CoolerMaster MasterLiquid 120 High Performance Liquid 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
GIGABIT LAN PORT + Wi-Fi (Wi-Fi excluded on H110I-PLUS)
USB Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 4 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc DVD & Single Licence
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365
Anti-Virus
BullGuard™ Internet Security - Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
2 - 6 DAY DELIVERY TO EUROPE (COUNTRY DEPENDANT)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 12 to 14 working days
Quantity
1

Price €1,124.00 including VAT and delivery
 

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
I rarely play games. Are there other (cheaper) options? If I decide not to put a graphics card now, is it easy to put one later (if I would like)?
What games do you play (when you do play them)?
 

bademoor

New member
Forget about the games. I haven't played games the last years, and I probably won't have the time to play in the coming years (I used to play games like civilization / Age of Empires / etc. in the past).
Maybe my kids will play in a few year(s) ... but that's an issue to solve at that time.
 

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
Then ditch the GPU. All you need to be aware of is that many modern games like Civ 6 will be unable to run at all without one.

I'd probably suggest the i5 7600k for the extra frequency, especially if you find yourself adding a GPU in there in a couple of years,

- I've chosen a more expensive CPU cooler because of my prerequisite of having a silent PC
Expensive doesn't inherently = quiet. Cheap liquid coolers aren't always known for being quiet. I would think the Scythe cooler would be a better bet.

The TXm PSu should also be quieter than the VS series, and being modular will have fewer unnecessary cables in the case, making airflow and cooling better.

16gb RAM is a good choice, since the mobo only has 2 DIMMs and so if you bought 2x4gb you'd need to replace them in order to upgrade to 16gb in the future.
 

bademoor

New member
Hi

Thanks for the replies, they are really helpfull.

The TXm PSu should also be quieter than the VS series, and being modular will have fewer unnecessary cables in the case, making airflow and cooling better.
With regard to the power supply, you suggest to go for:
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W TXm SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET

I was only wondering whether 650W is not way too much for my configuration?
 

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
The wattage is more than you need, but the PSU itself is higher build quality, modular, and more efficient.

Note that PSU will only pull as much from the wall as it needs to, so it's not like your PC will be consuming 200W more power.
 
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