Advice on Spec of New PC

[John2001]

Rather than make a stab at an initial spec, I thought it better to just ask. My current PC is six year's old and I'm badly out of touch with things.

My budget is around €3,000.

I will be using this monitor: ASUS ProArt Display PA278CV

My needs........

AMD based Desktop PC.

Don't think I need Threadripper. A good Ryzen 7 processor should do.

I like a lot of storage on the PC itself and am currently using two SATA drives. The larger one is 6TB. I'm guessing one SSD drive is now a must and maybe 10TB on a SATA drive.

Am I just being too old fashioned to think that I should max out the RAM?

I do some video encoding which can be quite slow at the moment. I have a 4th generation iCore 7, and 24GB of RAM.

I also work with music on the PC, including very quiet minimalist music. So, noise from the machine is a deal breaker.

I need to be able to use a dual monitor setup, with the ASUS monitor as well as a 77in C1 LG OLED TV connected through HDMI 2.1.

My current graphics card is banjacked and the fan kicks in loudly when I attach the TV.

I torrent a lot, so I have a client running 24/7 and an external HD attached for that.

I need this to be future proofed. I'm happy for it to be excessive today, if I can get five years use out of it.

 

[Scott]

Hi there, welcome to the forum.

Couple of quick queries before hitting the configurator:

Is there a particular reason for AMD specific?
What are your primary uses for the PC? Is it video encoding & music production primarily, or is there any gaming or etc involved?
What software suites is it you are using?

 

[John2001]

I thought Intel had fallen behind AMD at this point.

This is very much a 'Jack of All Trades' PC.

The music use is frequent. The video encoding infrequent.

The music is low tech, so mostly Audacity. It's the need for a quiet machine that's important.

I do use Bluetooth a lot for the TV and my current PC does not really give as clean a sound as I would like. Occasional clicks which I'm guessing is down to the Bluetooth connection.

For video, Premiere Pro and one called PicturesToExe. I do sometimes encode up to two hour HD video with near maxed out settings.

No gaming.

 

[Scott]

I thought Intel had fallen behind AMD at this point.

This is very much a 'Jack of All Trades' PC.

The music use is frequent. The video encoding infrequent.

The music is low tech, so mostly Audacity. It's the need for a quiet machine that's important.

I do use Bluetooth a lot for the TV and my current PC does not really give as clean a sound as I would like. Occasional clicks which I'm guessing is down to the Bluetooth connection.

For video, Premiere Pro and one called PicturesToExe. I do sometimes encode up to two hour HD video with near maxed out settings.

No gaming.

Intel has pulled it out the bag a bit with the recent 12k series, pretty good chips with some decent value. They run a bit toasty but top end cooling keeps that in check.

Given your requirements I would actually recommend saving some money. There's no need to be breaking the bank at this level for a fairly modest spec (by todays standards).

That being said, the money is there so why not get something that surpasses your requirements while still saving a bit of money. I would argue this is way past what you need. You can decide for yourself if you think savings could be made. I don't think you'll get near 32GB of usage, even with mega effects in Audacity, so I think 64GB is overkill. But you will know your requirements better than most.

With the video encoding being minimal, and from the sounds of it more a conversion factor with some minor editing, you're not going to get a lot of use out of the GPU. The CPU will be doing most of the work. If you think effects will play a major part in what you are doing then a more high end GPU such as the 3060 could be warranted. Otherwise you're just driving the screens really. The 1660 is overkill for such a task but it's a reasonable card. If you're confident that you aren't using effects you could happily drop to the 1650 without compromising anything.

Case
FRACTAL DEFINE 7 BLACK QUIET MID-TOWER CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 12-Core Processor i7-12700K (3.6GHz) 25MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING Z690-PLUS WIFI D4 (LGA1700, USB 3.2, PCIe 5.0) - ARGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
64GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3200MHz (4 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1660 - HDMI, DP - GeForce GTX VR Ready!
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 6900MB/R, 5000MB/W)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB SEAGATE FIRECUDA 530 GEN 4 PCIe NVMe (up to 7300MB/R, 6900MB/W)
1st Storage Drive
8TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 5400RPM, 256MB CACHE
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H150i ELITE CAPELLIX RGB 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)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 11 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00003]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10/11 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Microsoft® Edge
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 9 to 12 working days
Price: £2,373.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-z690-pc/UkAucXEsaY/

 

[Scott]

This would be more in line with your requirements, IMO.

Case
FRACTAL DEFINE 7 BLACK QUIET MID-TOWER CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 12-Core Processor i7-12700K (3.6GHz) 25MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING Z690-PLUS WIFI D4 (LGA1700, USB 3.2, PCIe 5.0) - ARGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3600MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
4GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1650 - HDMI
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 6900MB/R, 5000MB/W)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB SEAGATE FIRECUDA 530 GEN 4 PCIe NVMe (up to 7300MB/R, 6900MB/W)
1st Storage Drive
8TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 5400RPM, 256MB CACHE
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H150i ELITE CAPELLIX RGB 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)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 11 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00003]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10/11 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Microsoft® Edge
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 9 to 12 working days
Price: £2,156.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-z690-pc/3ZdsH4W6FD/

 

[Scott]

AMD equivalent:

Case
FRACTAL DEFINE 7 BLACK QUIET MID-TOWER CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 9 5900X 12 Core CPU (3.7GHz-4.8GHz/70MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF X570-PLUS GAMING WIFI (USB 3.2 Gen 2, PCIe 4.0, CrossFireX) - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3600MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
4GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1650 - HDMI
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 6900MB/R, 5000MB/W)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB SEAGATE FIRECUDA 530 GEN 4 PCIe NVMe (up to 7300MB/R, 6900MB/W)
1st Storage Drive
8TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 5400RPM, 256MB CACHE
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H150i ELITE CAPELLIX RGB 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)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 11 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00003]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10/11 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Microsoft® Edge
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 9 to 12 working days
Price: £2,276.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/QfwJaP36gW/

 

[John2001]

The PC is a Jack of All Trades, as I said, but I do need it to perform when required.

I do use the Twixtor plugin for Premiere Pro from time to time, and who knows what I might use in the next five years.

The reality is that at present the video encoding is very time consuming. And even running Change Tempo with High Quality stretching on Audacity is painfully slow.

I also think my torrent client is resource hungry and it runs continually.

I did spend nearly €2,000 six years ago and like being so future proofed that I can forget about PC limitations for a good while.

I'm only replacing it now, because the limitations are piling up.

 

[sck451]

Intel has pulled it out the bag a bit with the recent 12k series, pretty good chips with some decent value. They run a bit toasty but top end cooling keeps that in check.

Given your requirements I would actually recommend saving some money. There's no need to be breaking the bank at this level for a fairly modest spec (by todays standards).

That being said, the money is there so why not get something that surpasses your requirements while still saving a bit of money. I would argue this is way past what you need. You can decide for yourself if you think savings could be made. I don't think you'll get near 32GB of usage, even with mega effects in Audacity, so I think 64GB is overkill. But you will know your requirements better than most.

With the video encoding being minimal, and from the sounds of it more a conversion factor with some minor editing, you're not going to get a lot of use out of the GPU. The CPU will be doing most of the work. If you think effects will play a major part in what you are doing then a more high end GPU such as the 3060 could be warranted. Otherwise you're just driving the screens really. The 1660 is overkill for such a task but it's a reasonable card. If you're confident that you aren't using effects you could happily drop to the 1650 without compromising anything.

Case
FRACTAL DEFINE 7 BLACK QUIET MID-TOWER CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 12-Core Processor i7-12700K (3.6GHz) 25MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING Z690-PLUS WIFI D4 (LGA1700, USB 3.2, PCIe 5.0) - ARGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
64GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3200MHz (4 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1660 - HDMI, DP - GeForce GTX VR Ready!
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 6900MB/R, 5000MB/W)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB SEAGATE FIRECUDA 530 GEN 4 PCIe NVMe (up to 7300MB/R, 6900MB/W)
1st Storage Drive
8TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 5400RPM, 256MB CACHE
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H150i ELITE CAPELLIX RGB 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)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 11 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00003]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10/11 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Microsoft® Edge
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 9 to 12 working days
Price: £2,373.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-z690-pc/UkAucXEsaY/

These days video encoding can live just as happily on the GPU as on the CPU, no? Certainly when I do renders in Premiere Pro or in Handbrake, it's just as quick and probably quicker to do it on the GPU. All graphics cards have decent hardware encoding support now, but the 1660 is the older Pascal era, whereas everything 1660 Super and better is on the Turing/Ampere era encoder. So I'd go for at least the 3050 for this reason.

 

[Scott]

These days video encoding can live just as happily on the GPU as on the CPU, no? Certainly when I do renders in Premiere Pro or in Handbrake, it's just as quick and probably quicker to do it on the GPU. All graphics cards have decent hardware encoding support now, but the 1660 is the older Pascal era, whereas everything 1660 Super and better is on the Turing/Ampere era encoder. So I'd go for at least the 3050 for this reason.

Anytime I've used the GPU with Premiere Pro it's only really came into its own during certain processes. It's mostly the effects during certain parts of the render such as transitions and the likes. It speeds up the process, no doubt, but a heavy power GPU wouldn't make that much difference IME. I don't know that the entire render can be done on the GPU (I've never witnessed it) but I don't think the expenditure for a higher end GPU for occasional video editing is a worthwhile investment. The 12700k is a monster in this department and it'll really shine.

 

[John2001]

I still haven't pulled the trigger on this, but a friend will probably buy something close. I want to see how they get on.

One thing.......

I did need a new graphics card to tied me over, so I went with the 4GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1650 - HDMI.

Man, that is loud. Not nasty loud but still loud.

My requirement is for a quiet machine.

 

[John2001]

After some research....

The MSI GeForce GTX 1650 cannot be set to run the fan at less than 30%. As I said at the top, I do listen to very quiet minimalist music, so the hum of the fan just doesn't work for me.

I'm told I need a a GPU with a zero-RPM mode, so the fan only kicks in when the GPU gets hot. The RX6500XT was suggested, but are there different versions of that or do they all have zero-RPM mode?

 

[John2001]

Which variant are you looking at? Just wondering as I just checked the MSI website and they list 6 variants that have Zero Frozr (their zero rpm mode).

Graphics Cards | MSI Global

Experience the best gaming performance with MSI’s SUPRIM, GAMING, VENTUS, and MECH series graphics card powered by NVIDIA GeForce and AMD Radeon GPUs.

www.msi.com

As to the RX 6500XT, the XFX version definitely has zero rpm ability (you need to scroll down some way..there's a bit about the fans):

XFX Speedster QICK 210 AMD Radeon™ RX 6500 XT Core Gaming Graphics Card with 4GB GDDR6, AMD RDNA™ 2

RX-65XT4DBDQ

www.xfxforce.com

Beyond that, it will be a case of looking at specific models, going to the manufacturer site and seeing if it is a feature. I believe most AMD GPUs have the feature but not all

Thanks for all that.

The particular MSI I bought was.

MSI GeForce GTX 1650 4GT LP OC Graphics Card '4GB GDDR5, 1695MHz, Low Profile design, HDMI, DVI-D, HTPC, Dual Fan Cooling System

I'm learning as I go here.

The card in the SPEC above -"4GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1650 - HDMI".

It's quite hard to find that detail (zero-RPM mode) on the Nvidia site.

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 16 Series Graphics Card

Get 1.4X Power Efficiency Over Previous Generation for a Faster, Cooler, Quieter Gaming Experience.

www.nvidia.com

Or here.

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Specs

NVIDIA TU117, 1665 MHz, 896 Cores, 56 TMUs, 32 ROPs, 4096 MB GDDR5, 2001 MHz, 128 bit

www.techpowerup.com

This is the problem with being a noob. It's so easy to fall into holes.

 

[John2001]

Yeah, that MSI card doesn't have their zero rpm mode.

Regarding what it says on your order: Yeah, that just basically means you will get some variant of the 1650. PCS never know from day to day what manufacturer and model the GPU will be...you got an MSI 1650 but the very next build done may have contained an ASUS or a Zotac.

Regarding not seeing it on the NVIDIA site: You won't. Other than Founder's Edition cards, NVIDIA don't produce the GPUs...they licence it out to companies like MSI who then tailor the card's design, software etc into a spec they want to sell...it's not simply a case of NVIDIA supplying the card, MSI slapping their name on it then selling it as is.

When I mentioned going to the manufacturer's site to check, I meant the 3rd party site such as MSI, ASUS, Zotac etc rather than NVIDIA. So, for MSI, these are the 1650s with the Zero Frozr feature:

View attachment 33920

Oh dear.

Well that really is a problem for me. Not knowing whether the GPU will have a zero rpm mode leaves me flying blind.

 

[sck451]

Honestly you'll be lucky to find many 1650s with a zero rpm mode. It's quite a premium, modern feature, whereas the 1650 is a budget card that's now several weeks years old.

 

[sck451]

*cough* I believe it is slightly older than several weeks

No clue how many have that feature but, as you can see in the screengrab I posted, MSI have 6 variants that include it

Fixed, thanks.

The point is more that there isn't going to be a huge amount of new stock available, so choices will be limited. They may have sold those six models, but that doesn't mean they're available today.

 

[John2001]

I'm not set on the 1650. But I am set on quiet.

Are there any other options in the PCS list that would guarantee the zero rpm mode.