Budget of £1000, non gamer, smallish space for the case to go into!

Jimfire

Active member
So the main use for my PC is streaming and watching HD, Web browsing and the usual office work, email, word, spreadsheets etc.
I hate that the older my PC gets the slower it is to start up.
I think my case fan and PC fan are noisy.
I use two monitors.

So HERE GOES!

Case
NZXT S340 ELITE MID TOWER GAMING CASE (BLACK) Just because I can't work out which is best size! I have a space of 430mm front to back so a case less than 400 deep would be better to allow for cables. It can be 500mm High and 400mm wide! It looks like if I go for a Micro AXT then I can't have the quiet fan, M2 SSD and other goodies.
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-7600K (3.8GHz) 6MB Cache ()I don’t think I need i7 but would an AMD chipset be cheaper than i5 but just as good?
Motherboard
ASUS® PRIME Z270-P: ATX, LGA1151, USB 3.0, SATA 6GBs
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 2133MHz (2 x 8GB) 8 or 16GM RAM and one or two chips?
Graphics Card
4GB AMD RADEON™ RX 550 - HDMI, DP, DVI - DX® 12, NB I'like using two monitors!
1st Hard Disk
1TB SEAGATE FIRECUDA 3.5" SSHD - UP TO 5X FASTER THAN HDD!
M.2 SSD Drive. SSD with OS on it seems to be the general recommendation but should this be a 2nd drive or an M2 drive?
128GB M.2 2280, SATA 6Gb/s (560MB/R, 467MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply
CORSAIR 450W VS SERIES™ VS-450 POWER SUPPLY
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling Cooling fan? Super quiet or if I went Ultra quiet could I do away with the case fan otherwise it would seem pointless unless both are superquiet?
Super Quiet Titan DragonFly Heatpipe Intel CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card I have Surround sound in my office so is the basic output from the Mboard enough to output to my old BOSE? I am not a hi fidelity chap!
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
I will take the blu ray out of my existing PC.

USB Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS. I will take the PCI usb3 card out of my existing PC.
Operating System
Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc DVD & Single Licence
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
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 7 to 9 working days
Quantity
1


Kind regards,
Jim
P.S Thanks to Mustafa for getting me onto the forum. It looks like PlusNet also filter forum emails!
 

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
Before commenting on the spec, where exactly is this PC going? If it's getting stuffed into a cupboard or very small compartment of some kind this could be very bad for the PC's lifespan...

And when you say streaming, you mean things like watching Netflix, not streaming as in broadcasting your gameplay to the internet? Will there be any gaming on this PC? :)
 

Jimfire

Active member
Aha, I KNEW I wouldn't cover everything!!!
Streaming as in Downloading HD and then either recording or watching live. Work related but also Netflix I guess.Not more than 'normal' film length 2.5hrs. And I don't need to store lots of films.
The cupboard is full 2.4m high, 450mm deep and 600mm wide. It has my switch gear, Bose stereo, home automation and Control4 kit it is ventilated and my last PC (basic 2fan cooling) was in it, switched on, 24/7 for 3 years.
As I said in the title no games BUT I was wondering about getting a shoot em up flighter pilot/helicopter something if anyone can recommend a game. (I have a cyborg joystick somewhere)....
 

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
Just because I can't work out which is best size! I have a space of 430mm front to back so a case less than 400 deep would be better to allow for cables. It can be 500mm High and 400mm wide! It looks like if I go for a Micro AXT then I can't have the quiet fan, M2 SSD and other goodies.
The S340 is one of the smallest ATX cases and actually not much larger than many mini ITX ones. This is because the mini ITX systems PCS do are intended to accommodate things like ATX PSUs and full size graphics cards, and oddly enough there's only so small a case can be if it has to fit things like that and cool them properly.

The Node 202 is much smaller than the other mini ITX cases, but it can struggle for temps so getting one of those and then stuffing it in a cupboard sounds to me like an awful idea.

So I'd stick with the S340 and an ATX build

Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-7600K (3.8GHz) 6MB Cache ()I don’t think I need i7 but would an AMD chipset be cheaper than i5 but just as good?
That CPU is obsolete. See the 8th Gen CPUs here instead: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/computers/intel-z370-pc/ An i5 8400 should be more futureproof thanks to its extra cores (and it boosts up to 4GHz single / 3.8GHz all cores) and probably cheaper than an i5 7600k.

You could look at an AMD R5 1600 build, build an i5 8400 may give slightly better performance for your uses at a similar price.

4GB AMD RADEON™ RX 550 - HDMI, DP, DVI - DX® 12, NB I'like using two monitors!
Don't buy this. If you're not gaming, you don't need it. If you are gaming, you'll want something better. For 2 monitors, use the motherboard's outputs.

M.2 SSD Drive. SSD with OS on it seems to be the general recommendation but should this be a 2nd drive or an M2 drive?
128GB M.2 2280, SATA 6Gb/s (560MB/R, 467MB/W)
The M.2 drive. I'd suggest a PM961 as this is much, much, much faster than the smaller and slower M.2 SSD you have there.

1st Hard Disk
1TB SEAGATE FIRECUDA 3.5" SSHD - UP TO 5X FASTER THAN HDD!
Arguably not much merit in an SSHD as a secondary drive. All the things that would stand to benefit off the flash storage part of the SSHD will be on the SSD anyway (Windows, programs, etc)

Power Supply
CORSAIR 450W VS SERIES™ VS-450 POWER SUPPLY
The TXm series though more expensive would be worth considering. It's modular and so has fewer unnecessary cables in the case.

Sound Card I have Surround sound in my office so is the basic output from the Mboard enough to output to my old BOSE? I am not a hi fidelity chap!
The mobo supports 7.1 audio. If you find the sound not up to scratch after getting it, you could look into a USB DAC. If you do, the head-fi forums would be a good place to start.

I will take the blu ray out of my existing PC.
The S340 doesn't accommodate 5.25" drives.

I will take the PCI usb3 card out of my existing PC.
Not worth it unless you need a shed ton of USB 3 ports.
 

Jimfire

Active member
Almost a rewrite!

Hey Oussebon,
Many thanks for your input and your patience! I really want the DVD player so I have now "restructured" the bottom of my electrics cupboard and can fit a 450mm case in. Just to assure you it is connected to whole house ventilation so it is warm, but not hot, in there.

Strange, if use the 'configure home office PC' tab on the website I can't find the S340 you recommend. Nor the i5 8400. Using your link opens up a whole range of other choices I hadn't seen before!
So using your link I have ended up with:
Case
PCS ENIGMA 6003B BLACK CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Six Core Processor i5-8600K (3.6GHz) 9MB Cache Possibly don't need the 'k' version as that is for overclocking i think? NOT my bag!
Motherboard
ASUS® PRIME Z370-P: ATX, LGA1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs I guess???
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 2133MHz (2 x 8GB) Unanswered question. Better all on one chip or spread across the rack?
Graphics Card
2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 950 - 2 x DVI, HDMI, DP Presumably some sort of card is better than nothing? Remember I mentioned a shoot em up! (Oh I am so bl@@dy old!
1st Hard Disk
1TB SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 32MB CACHE Since it is only £10 more than the 500MB version
M.2 SSD Drive
256GB SAMSUNG PM961 M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 2800MB/R, 1100MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED But I can fit my own in this case I think.
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W TXm SERIES™ Semi Modular Ultra quiet POWER SUPPLY We like the ultra quiet bit!
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Super Quiet Titan DragonFly Heatpipe Intel CPU Cooler Again Quiet!
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 Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 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
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
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 7 to 9 working days
Quantity
1

Price £974.00 including VAT and delivery
 

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
The S340 is the one you had in your original spec.

PCS ENIGMA 6003B BLACK CASE
This case is very basic and will have relatively limited airflow and restricted upgrade options. It's best avoided. Not sure if there are any alternatives that would squeeze into a space only 450mm deep that also have space for a DVD drive.

You might want to consider a mini ITX system in a Corsair 250D case: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/computers/intel-sff-gaming/

Intel® Core™i5 Six Core Processor i5-8600K (3.6GHz) 9MB Cache Possibly don't need the 'k' version as that is for overclocking i think? NOT my bag!
You're right, you don't. Note that the 8400 nd 8600k have different speeds regardless of the overclocking issue. But they both turbo-boost to with 300MHz of each other. It doesn't really seem worth £60+ for 300MHz for your budget and uses.

16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 2133MHz (2 x 8GB) Unanswered question. Better all on one chip or spread across the rack?
Insofar as it makes any difference at all, 2x8gb is best. didn't know PCS even did 1x16gb for desktops as an option.

2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 950 - 2 x DVI, HDMI, DP Presumably some sort of card is better than nothing? Remember I mentioned a shoot em up!
If you're not gaming or playing only really old games you don't need one at all. If you might dabble in modern games a better GPU could be worth it. A GTX 950 might be expected to handle modern games on medium settings i.e. not much headroom for the future. What's best depends on your gaming interests. Prey and DOOM (two recent popular shooters) probably both do alright on a 950.
 

Jimfire

Active member
2nd time Lucky? £1000 budget

OK have revised my previous spec after help from the big 'O':yes:
I am not a gamer, Budget of £1000. I stream HD and Netflx but don't store much of it. I need an office PC where I stream onto one screen and word process/spreadsheet on the other at the same time. I would be looking for a Flight/helicopter sim combat sort of game for the odd bored evening when I want to avoid dancing on ice!!!
Change from previous thread, I have now "restructured" the bottom of my electrics cupboard and can fit a 450mm case in. Just to assure you it is connected to whole house ventilation so it is warm, but not hot, in there.

Case
PCS ENIGMA 6003B BLACK CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Six Core Processor i5-8600K (3.6GHz) 9MB Cache Possibly don't need the 'k' version as that is for overclocking i think? but is 2.8 or 3.6GHz significantly different??!
Motherboard
ASUS® PRIME Z370-P: ATX, LGA1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs I guess???
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 2133MHz (2 x 8GB) Unanswered question. Better all on one chip or spread across the rack?
Graphics Card
2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 950 - 2 x DVI, HDMI, DP Presumably some sort of card is better than nothing? Remember I mentioned a shoot em up! (Oh I am so bl@@dy old!
1st Hard Disk
1TB SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 32MB CACHE Since it is only £10 more than the 500MB version
M.2 SSD Drive
256GB SAMSUNG PM961 M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 2800MB/R, 1100MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED But I can fit my own in this case I think.
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W TXm SERIES™ Semi Modular Ultra quiet POWER SUPPLY We like the ultra quiet bit!
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Super Quiet Titan DragonFly Heatpipe Intel CPU Cooler Again Quiet!
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 Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 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
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
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 7 to 9 working days
Quantity
1

Price £974.00 including VAT and delivery
 

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
Merged your post into original topic so all advice is in one place and anyone commenting can see previous discussion. :)

By coincidence I had just posted in your first topic too.
 

Jimfire

Active member
Mate I am so sorry I have reposted as a new thread. I thought something was wrong on this thread as my previous post wasn't showing. My Bad just impatient. Thank you so much for your advice. Is it easier with me highlighting questions in blue? Or a pain in the bum?
Jim the Firefighter.
 

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
Not a problem at all - and the highlighting is useful, plus these are all very valid questions.

I looked into the possibility of an external enclosure for your old blu ray drive (to expand your choice of cases) but they seem to cost as much as just buying a blu-ray drive :S
 

Jimfire

Active member
Nearly there, slight twist at the end when I spotted a review PC.

The S340 is the one you had in your original spec.

This case is very basic and will have relatively limited airflow and restricted upgrade options. I have to say I don't upgrade really. I keep a pc for 6 years and then splurge another £1k It's best avoided. Understood. Not sure if there are any alternatives that would squeeze into a space only 450mm deep that also have space for a DVD drive.

You might want to consider a mini ITX system in a Corsair 250D case: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/computers/intel-sff-gaming/

OK so I understand that the cooler the better but this case has 2 fans! I'm worried I might feel like I am beside an air con unit even in a (not airtight) cupboard. Like the case shape though. Maybe the Elite 130 for half the price?

You're right, you don't. Note that the 8400 nd 8600k have different speeds regardless of the overclocking issue. But they both turbo-boost to with 300MHz of each other. It doesn't really seem worth £60+ for 300MHz for your budget and uses.

Insofar as it makes any difference at all, 2x8gb is best. didn't know PCS even did 1x16gb for desktops as an option. There is even 4*4GB for some options.

If you're not gaming or playing only really old games you don't need one at all. If you might dabble in modern games a better GPU could be worth it. A GTX 950 might be expected to handle modern games on medium settings i.e. not much headroom for the future. What's best depends on your gaming interests. Prey and DOOM (two recent popular shooters) probably both do alright on a 950.

OK so putting your advice into one list I get:
Case
COOLERMASTER ELITE 130 CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Six Core Processor i5-8400 (2.8GHz) 9MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® ROG STRIX Z370-I GAMING: Mini-ITX, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3000MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 950 - 2 x DVI, HDMI, DP
1st Hard Disk
1TB SERIAL ATA III 2.5" HARD DRIVE WITH 32MB CACHE (7,200rpm)
M.2 SSD Drive
256GB SAMSUNG PM961 M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 2800MB/R, 1100MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
INTEL 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
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
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
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 7 to 9 working days
Quantity
1

Price £1,111.00 including VAT and delivery

OK Still being thick and really not trying to Pi$$ you off :taz:. Apart from the case issue, tell me I am getting a better PC for the same price when compared with this review PC:
https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/configure-review/237/

:eek:
 

jerpers

Master
Case
PCS ENIGMA 6003B BLACK CASE
I would move into the £40+ range if you can for better cooling
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Six Core Processor i5-8600K (3.6GHz) 9MB Cache Possibly don't need the 'k' version as that is for overclocking i think? but is 2.8 or 3.6GHz significantly different??!
The non k would be fine for your needs
Motherboard
ASUS® PRIME Z370-P: ATX, LGA1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs I guess???
Perfectly adequate motherboard
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 2133MHz (2 x 8GB) Unanswered question. Better all on one chip or spread across the rack?
Works better in dual channel. Your selected option is best
Graphics Card
2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 950 - 2 x DVI, HDMI, DP Presumably some sort of card is better than nothing? Remember I mentioned a shoot em up! (Oh I am so bl@@dy old!
With processor savings you could get a 1050 which is current gen and only slightly more
1st Hard Disk
1TB SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 32MB CACHE Since it is only £10 more than the 500MB version
M.2 SSD Drive
256GB SAMSUNG PM961 M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 2800MB/R, 1100MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED But I can fit my own in this case I think.
Easy to do. Power and data cables should come in the box
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W TXm SERIES™ Semi Modular Ultra quiet POWER SUPPLY We like the ultra quiet bit!
Me too!
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Super Quiet Titan DragonFly Heatpipe Intel CPU Cooler Again Quiet!
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 Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 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
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
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 7 to 9 working days
Quantity


Price £974.00 including VAT and delivery

See comments in Red
 

Jimfire

Active member
Thank you Jerpers, Did you see my later post in reply to Oussebon?

Comparison with a review setup?

Oh? It isn't on the forum yet?
Jim
 
Last edited:

jerpers

Master
My reply was in response to the revised one you posted.

If you were looking at the enigma elite/pro review PC's, whilst they give you better graphics cards, they both come with the VS series PSU which is potentially noisier and built from lower grade components and one had the water cooler which does come with noisy stock fans.

The Enigma K6 has a lower grade CPU and personally I am not in a position to advise on the Obsidian or Vulcan as I am out of touch with AMD .
 

Jimfire

Active member
Thanks for that. I was pretty sure it was going to be worse than the one you guys are helping me set up. They have to make a profit somewhere!
 

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
Case
COOLERMASTER ELITE 130 CASE
I have the 120, which is very similar indeed. It's a fine budget case, but it's is absolutely not quiet. The GPU is pressed up against the side, which has lots of air holes in it, so as to maximise its access to cool air. But that means you have the fans with relatively little to mitigate the noise. Also the case's stock fans aren't quiet either.

Plus the PSU is fan side up at the top of the case, which is fine for thermals but bad for noise.

The Corsair Obsidian 250D would mitigate most of those issues, and has better quality fans too.
Processor Cooling
INTEL STANDARD CPU COOLER
This is definitely not going to be at all quiet. I'd suggest the Noctua low profile cooler.
 

Jimfire

Active member
3rd time lucky? Were getting there! Thanks for the input guys.

I have the 120, which is very similar indeed. It's a fine budget case, but it's is absolutely not quiet. The GPU is pressed up against the side, which has lots of air holes in it, so as to maximise its access to cool air. But that means you have the fans with relatively little to mitigate the noise. Also the case's stock fans aren't quiet either.

Plus the PSU is fan side up at the top of the case, which is fine for thermals but bad for noise.

The Corsair Obsidian 250D would mitigate most of those issues, and has better quality fans too.
This is definitely not going to be at all quiet. I'd suggest the Noctua low profile cooler.

Case
CORSAIR OBSIDIAN 250D MINI-ITX CASE So now if I use this case won't the internal fans sound like i am beside an air con unit and doesn't this make the Noctura noise saving a bit redundant
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Six Core Processor i5-8400 (2.8GHz) 9MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® ROG STRIX Z370-I GAMING: Mini-ITX, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs Does this have a fan on it as well???
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3000MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 950 - 2 x DVI, HDMI, DP
1st Hard Disk
1TB SERIAL ATA III 2.5" HARD DRIVE WITH 32MB CACHE (7,200rpm) Whats the difference between this and the SATA III 1TB (apart from £25)?
M.2 SSD Drive
256GB SAMSUNG PM961 M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 2800MB/R, 1100MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET Am I right in thinking I now have 4 fans in this PC? Really? for an i5 processor and less than 350w power consumption? Again is this now a waste of money for the quietness?
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
INTEL 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
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
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
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 7 to 9 working days
Quantity
1
 

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
So now if I use this case won't the internal fans sound like i am beside an air con unit
No. It's certainly going to be quieter than a CM 130: http://www.planet3dnow.de/cms/9333-...an-250d/subpage-temperaturen-und-lautstaerke/

The Obsidian also has other merits, like much better dust filters. The CM 130 doesn't really have those. IIRC it has mesh big enough to push cocktail sticks through.

and doesn't this make the Noctura noise saving a bit redundant
No, the stock intel fan is very audible and unpleasantly buzzy. If noise is an issue, you don't want one in your case.

Am I right in thinking I now have 4 fans in this PC? Really? for an i5 processor and less than 350w power consumption? Again is this now a waste of money for the quietness?
You'll have more than 4 fans. 2 for the case, 1 for the CPU, 1 on the PSU, and at least 1 for the GPU. But it's not a waste, it's both normal and necessary.
First, the PSU's fan doesn't really affect case airflow. It pulls air in from the outside, cools itself, and exhausts it out the back. It doesn't blow to or suck from the case (and nor would you want it to, because a PSU cooling itself with hot air coming off a CPU and GPU isn't ideal).
The CPU needs a fan - there are entirely passive heatsinks but they are quite large
The GPU needs a fan (there are passively cooled GTX 1050 tis but I wouldn't use one in a mini ITX build in a cupboard) to dissipate the heat off the heatsink. GPUs under load put out a fair bit of heat.
And the case needs (ideally) 2 fans, to pull cool air in, blowing cool air over the HDDs, motherboard, RAM, etc, and feeding cool air to the CPU/GPU fans. And a 2nd fan to help exhaust the now warmed-up air out the back.

Given that heat is a major factor in killing computer components, it's a case of better out than in.

Remember you can control fan curves too. You can set a fan profile for the CPU cooler, and possibly control the case fans via speedfan if they are plugged into the motherboard (not sure if they're PWM or not). Worst case scenario you can replace the stock case fans with Noctua ones too. Modern Nvidia GPUs often have the fans off completely at 60 degrees C or under, and many fans will be barely audible at low speeds, but you can easily customise the GPU fan curve too.

ASUS® ROG STRIX Z370-I GAMING: Mini-ITX, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs Does this have a fan on it as well???
No, the airflow over it would generally be managed by the case fans. Not many motherboards come with fans.

Ultimately you could probably get a quieter and possibly cheaper build if you didn't a) have limited space and b) didn't need to reuse the old blu-ray drive.

1TB SERIAL ATA III 2.5" HARD DRIVE WITH 32MB CACHE (7,200rpm) Whats the difference between this and the SATA III 1TB (apart from £25)?
Go for the 3.5" one if you can. The difference is the 2.5" one is smaller (hence more expensive) and some cases can only take 2.5" drives. But the 250D takes 3.5" so go with that.
 
Last edited:

Jimfire

Active member
Are we nearly there yet:)

No. It's certainly going to be quieter than a CM 130: http://www.planet3dnow.de/cms/9333-...an-250d/subpage-temperaturen-und-lautstaerke/ Oh heck. data. and german data at that. Sort of understand with google translate. My point was more about the number of fans and thus the combined noise from all 5 in comparison with my current 2 fans both bog standard noisy ones. Is there a chart to do cumulative effect?

The Obsidian also has other merits, like much better dust filters. The CM 130 doesn't really have those. IIRC? it has mesh big enough to push cocktail sticks through.Get you drinking posh coctails;)

No, the stock intel fan is very audible and unpleasantly buzzy. If noise is an issue, you don't want one in your case.Understood

You'll have more than 4 fans. 2 for the case, 1 for the CPU, 1 on the PSU, and at least 1 for the GPU. Hence my point about cumulative effect.

Remember you can control fan curves too. I did not know that. You can set a fan profile for the CPU cooler, and possibly control the case fans via speedfan if they are plugged into the motherboard. Is there a fitting that I could use to direct the exhaust air up and away from the back of the cupboard?

OK so NOW I have:
Case
CORSAIR OBSIDIAN 250D MINI-ITX CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Six Core Processor i5-8400 (2.8GHz) 9MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® ROG STRIX Z370-I GAMING: Mini-ITX, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3000MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1050 - DVI, HDMI, DP
1st Hard Disk
1TB SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 32MB CACHE
2nd M.2 SSD Drive
256GB SAMSUNG PM961 M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 2800MB/R, 1100MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Noctua NH-L9i Low Profile, Super Quiet 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
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
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
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 7 to 9 working days
Quantity
1

Price £1,180.00 including VAT and delivery
 

jerpers

Master
Looks good. If you have more fans, they can generally run at lower rpms to move the same air so more is often better. The 4 I put on my radiator are considerable quieter than the 2 that came with it whilst not sacrificing air movement.
 
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