regarding M2 drives

hello,

so im currently saving for a house and plan to buy 2x desktop pc's from here as my last pc was from here and was really good altho abit old now. (ones for my girlfriend)

im planning on taking them out on a credit card and am looking to spend around £2k each on them (full system, screens, keyboards ect).

ive noticed on alot of the "check this spec" people say to get the M2 drives, ive done some research on them (basicly a tiny SSD attached to the motherboard) and my question is when i buy the PC(s) will they install windows onto this drive or by default? and will it become the default C:/ drive?

im wondering because i often forget/struggle/get overwritten by the machine to install everything to default drive so my small SSD gets crammed fast and its a pain to reinstall everything when it goes to the wrong place or forces itself onto C:/. so for someone who isnt massivly tech savvy with current tech will there be any problems using a M2?

(as a side note if anyone has a link/build for a good duel screen desktop id like to view it)

When you configure your PC and press Proceed you will be prompted to confirm that you want the OS installed on the M2.

In addition to the above, by default Windows will place your user data folders (Document, Pictures, Videos, Music, etc. etc.) on the system drive, ie. the M.2 drive. If you also have an HDD for user data, as most people do, you will need to configure Windows to move these user data folders to the HDD. It's not simply a case of copying them across, you have to tell Windows of their new location. We can help you do that if you need help/instructions.

ah thank you happyhaggis thats good

ubuysa okay thanks, ive done it before with changing it to D:/ with my current laptop, just didnt know if this new tech did it automatically or not.

Just a word of caution - when your mortgage provider do your affordability checks, they will also look at what credit card debt you have and it will count against you.

You realise you can change the default install location so that you don't have to remember?

https://www.itechtics.com/change-default-installation-folder-windows-10/

i did not know this, ty

You didn't say you were gaming, but if you are then it's also very easy to move games between drives. Steam lets you move the whole game between drives in a few mouse clicks.

(as a side note if anyone has a link/build for a good duel screen desktop id like to view it)

Click to expand...

What will you be using the PCs for?

And just to confirm, you need 2 monitors for each PC?

Greavous said:

ah thank you happyhaggis thats good

ubuysa okay thanks, ive done it before with changing it to D:/ with my current laptop, just didnt know if this new tech did it automatically or not.

Click to expand...

PCS will do nothing with an HDD in an SSD/HDD PC/laptop. If you want to move the user folders you'll have to do that yourself.

oussebon - 1st will be for me, ill be using it for high end gaming (id like max settings on purchase for all current games) and light digital work, the 2nd will be for gaming, music (listening) and general streaming of videos/films.
the second pc doesnt need 2 screens probably just a normal 1080p and the first i was looking at the 2560 monitors as 4k doesnt interest me.

Best to never talk about max settings, because there are often settings that will crush any modern hardware. For instance if you turned max settings on Battlefield V including RTX, you'd need an RTX 2080 ti to play at 1440p...

Or if you turned on SSAA 4x on and wondered why performance sucks on a £700 GPU at 1440p. etc.

Can you rob from 1 budget to subsidise the other PC? If not, you'll struggle for something ideal for yourself, and you won't need to spend all of the £2k on your gf's PC.

If you can't share the budgets, then maybe this for you:


Case
FRACTAL FOCUS G BLACK GAMING CASE (Window)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 2600X Six Core CPU (3.6GHz-4.25GHz/19MB CACHE/AM4)
---Tom Clancy's The Division 2 FREE w/ select AMD Ryzen CPUs!
Motherboard
Gigabyte B450 AORUS ELITE: DDR4, USB 3.1 - RGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 2933MHz ~ (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2080 - HDMI, 3x DP GeForce - RTX VR Ready!
---Get Battlefield V -AND- Anthem with select NVIDIA GeForce RTX GPUs!
1[SUP]st[/SUP] Storage Drive
500GB Samsung 860 EVO 2.5" SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (upto 550MB/sR | 520MB/sW)
2[SUP]nd[/SUP] Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
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
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
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
USB/Thunderbolt 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. Single Licence [KK3-00002]
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
BullGuard™ Internet Security - Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Keyboard & Mouse
CoolerMaster Devastator III Combo 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 6 to 8 working days
Quantity
1

Price £1,645.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure : https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-pc/wGTGzWQf0s/

Plus a 1440p 144hz gsync monitor. PCS's range is a little limited so look for the Dell S2716DG for £430 or so. Then you're only 'a bit' over 2k. You can then save up some more for your 2nd monitor.

And for your gf's system something like:


Case
FRACTAL FOCUS G BLACK GAMING CASE (Window)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 2600X Six Core CPU (3.6GHz-4.25GHz/19MB CACHE/AM4)
---Tom Clancy's The Division 2 FREE w/ select AMD Ryzen CPUs!
Motherboard
Gigabyte B450 AORUS ELITE: DDR4, USB 3.1 - RGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 2933MHz ~ (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2060 - HDMI, DP, DVI - VR Ready!
---Get Battlefield V -OR- Anthem with select NVIDIA GeForce RTX GPUs!
1[SUP]st[/SUP] Storage Drive
500GB Samsung 860 EVO 2.5" SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (upto 550MB/sR | 520MB/sW)
2[SUP]nd[/SUP] Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
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
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
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
USB/Thunderbolt 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. Single Licence [KK3-00002]
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
BullGuard™ Internet Security - Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Monitor
AOC G2590PX 24.5" 144Hz Gaming Monitor
Keyboard & Mouse
CoolerMaster Devastator III Combo 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 6 to 8 working days
Quantity
1

Price £1,448.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure : https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-pc/Fvk9FPxUqg/

Plus KB+M of choice. There's not much point spending more than this on a 1080p gaming system.

If you can share the budgets, spend the leftovers of your gf's spec on the main monitor for you, the secondary monitor, and possibly the R7 2700x CPU.

You might still have enough for a 2nd S2716DG for your gf instead of the AOC G2590PX. The RTX 2060 can handle 1440p, though at lower framerate or settings than an RTX 2080 ofc. But it'd still give a very good experience especially with gsync.

thanks ouseebon, alot to think over. any specific reason for AMD over intel? and no M2 drive? i thoguht that was the 'go to thing' now instead of a normal SSD.

also for reference ill be playing (currently) blops 4 and Ark.

any specific reason for AMD over intel? and no M2 drive?

Click to expand...

Money.

The 860 Evo is £50 cheaper than the 970 and your framerate will not be affected.

The AMD CPUs are way less expensive than the Intel ones (which are especially expensive right now due to supply shortages) but will deliver very similar performance in most games, especially at higher resolutions like 1440p. And they have better upgrade options.

If it was 4k to split between 2 PCs unevenly instead of £2k limit on each including monitor and all peripherals it might be possible to stack things differently, but for ~2kish limit on each the above is what I've got to suggest