check spec for me - photography and occasional gaming use

S

skylineboy2002

Bronze Level Poster
i will be using a high end scanner for photo's / negs, and occasional gaming in down time (probably motorsport ones such as forza / forza horizon).
the photo processing can create upto 100+mp scans (dependant on original film) and TIFF files.
occasional video editing for these too, eg make slide show style items, and personal video editing (from mobiles / family stuff).
and media playing - eg watching tv, movies in down time.
would like the PC to be future proof ish - eg 5 years (hopefully).
am i right in thinking OS on m.2 is best. how is windows 11 on usage? im happy with 32gb but would 64 be better for my usage? also 3200, vs higher (for the same storage amount, am i likely to notice the performance differences?)


also what is the benefit of "individually sleeved power cables" - the notice said i couldnt have that due to not having the right PSU but im new to these cables, first time ive come across them.
also can PCS set up the fans to my spec? and also which is better for dust reasons, postive or neg airflow and why? (ill be in a clean ish place due to the scanning (so try to keep dust down as much as i can etc).

will pair with a

would like it to run cool hence the AIO cooler.
currently running an aging win 7 (i know) machine on amd 8120fx, 16gb, with 500gb ssd and external hdd drives for backup.
thanks for any input :)

Case
FRACTAL DEFINE 7 XL BLACK QUIET TOWER CASE - Window
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 9 5900X 12 Core CPU (3.7GHz-4.8GHz/70MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
GIGABYTE X570S AORUS PRO AX: ATX (USB 3.2 Gen 1, PCIe 4.0, CrossFireX, WI-FI) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
12GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3060 - HDMI, DP, LHR
Graphics Card Support Bracket
PCS GRAPHICS CARD SUPPORT BRACKET
1st Storage Drive
4TB Samsung 870 QVO 2.5" SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (up to 560MB/sR | 530MB/sW)
1st Storage Drive
8TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 5400RPM, 256MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 7000MB/R, 5000MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 550W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
CORSAIR iCUE H150i ELITE LCD Display RGB CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
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 Professional 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [MUP-00005]
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
Norton 360 inc. Game Optimizer - Free 90 Day License
Browser
Firefox™
Monitor
IIYAMA ProLite B2791QSU-B1 27" WQHD
Warranty
3 Year Platinum Warranty (3 Year Collect & Return, 3 Year Parts, 3 Year labour)
Delivery
48 HOUR INSURED 2 PERSON DELIVERY TO UK (MON-FRI, INC. HIGHLANDS & ISLANDS)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 4 to 6 working days
 
S

Salmon Fisher

Enthusiast
If you want to 'futureproof' as much as is possible I would recommend holding off till end of the month when the new generation of stuff is launched.
 
S

skylineboy2002

Bronze Level Poster
im ready to pull the trigger on a new build PCS system, but was advised it may be better holding off till end of month (a new generation is coming?)

thats fine, however i do have some general quesitons:


1. am i right in thinking OS on m.2 is best. how is windows 11 on usage? im happy with 32gb but would 64 be better for my usage? also 3200, vs higher speeds (for the same storage amount eg 32 or 64, am i likely to notice the performance differences?


2. what is the benefit of "individually sleeved power cables" - the notice said i couldnt have that due to not having the right PSU but im new to these cables, first time ive come across them.

3. can PCS set up the fans to my spec? and also which is better for dust reasons, postive or neg airflow and why? (ill be in a clean ish place due to the photo negative scanning ill be doing.

4. would a AIO cooler be upto that job of cooling this (looking at the high end corsairs H150i i think it is). And ive read about M.2 Drive heatsinks, and that they are a good idea, does the RAM PCS build with include these? or available for extra and can PCS fit them. (i was looking to use the corsair vengance PRO stuff. )


thanks for any advice :)
 
B4zookaw

B4zookaw

VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
1. Yes a NVME SSD would give you the best read/write speeds. Ideally you would have a gen 4 pcie one between 500Gb and 1TB for the OS and then a second one between 1TB and 2TB. This can be gen 3 to lower the price, but having two drives allows you to separate OS from data so if you ever need to reinstall or upgrade Windows, you won't have to reinstall all your applications and data
2. I'm not an expert on photo and video editing requirements, but I suspect 32Gb would be adequate. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong
3. The sleeved power cables are pure aesthetic, they offer no performance gain. To use them you would need a fully modular power supply. The one you've selected is only semi modular, meaning some of the power cables are permanently attached to the PSU
4. I'd def be looking at AIO to cool this 5900x, either 280 or 360, which in Corsair models would be the H115 and H150.
5. That mother board has built in heatsinks for SSD, so you don't need to buy SSD's with heatsinks attached.
6. All corsair RAM sold by PCS has heatsink, some of which includes RGB.
 
S

skylineboy2002

Bronze Level Poster
IRLRobinS said:
1. Yes a NVME SSD would give you the best read/write speeds. Ideally you would have a gen 4 pcie one between 500Gb and 1TB for the OS and then a second one between 1TB and 2TB. This can be gen 3 to lower the price, but having two drives allows you to separate OS from data so if you ever need to reinstall or upgrade Windows, you won't have to reinstall all your applications and data
2. I'm not an expert on photo and video editing requirements, but I suspect 32Gb would be adequate. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong
3. The sleeved power cables are pure aesthetic, they offer no performance gain. To use them you would need a fully modular power supply. The one you've selected is only semi modular, meaning some of the power cables are permanently attached to the PSU
4. I'd def be looking at AIO to cool this 5900x, either 280 or 360, which in Corsair models would be the H115 and H150.
5. That mother board has built in heatsinks for SSD, so you don't need to buy SSD's with heatsinks attached.
6. All corsair RAM sold by PCS has heatsink, some of which includes RGB.
Click to expand...

thats great thanks for your reply.
would a 2nd nvme, be ok for constant rewriting though? the photo editing would do this i think. i have read up on QLC, TLC, SLC on SSD's etc and the amount of bits they store per cell etc - single and double being better than quad etc. for wear and tear.

i'd also be doing a lot of data transfers that would work like torrents, eg chunks but often, would this wear out a NVMe (or even a sata drive SSD quicker?

good to know that the board i looked at has nvme heatsinks.
also re the comments above about the latest gen landing in the next month or so, has anyone got any idea of what would be the equivlent to my spec above, in the next gen?
thanks
 
S

skylineboy2002

Bronze Level Poster
i posted up a couple weeks ago, and was told the new gen AMD stuff was coming out, so i have updated my spec for this.
couple of questions other than any general thoughts and feedback etc

1. can PCS set up the fans to my spec? and also which is better for dust reasons, positive or neg airflow and why? (home office use, but kept as clean as poss). and does this case come with filters?)

2. was thinking about a 2nd Nvme, but is this a good idea because of the constant small writes etc (i would also be doing a lot of uploading / downloading using torrents to my customers). again would the way torrents work hurt the Nvme tech?


ill be photo editing and producing large scans from old negatives (files can be 100's mb's and also MPix's).
occasional gaming (probably xbox pass, for forza etc).

Also looking for reccomendations on a good 27-28in montior (this seems the sweet spot for my use from research, for the above (capable of gaming smoothly etc)

thanks in advance guys!
 
T

TonyCarter

VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
The new GPUs are not out yet, but this would be your original build...with new ZEN4 parts...

Case
FRACTAL DEFINE 7 XL BLACK QUIET TOWER CASE - your original option
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 9 7950X 16 Core CPU (4.5GHz-5.7GHz/80MB CACHE/AM5) - best of the new ZEN4 range
Motherboard
ASUS® ROG STRIX X670E-F GAMING WIFI (WIFI 6E, DDR5, PCIe 5.0) - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR5 6000MHz (2 x 16GB) - current sweet-spot for ZEN4 CPUs
Graphics Card
12GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3060 - HDMI, DP, LHR - your original option
Graphics Card Support Bracket
PCS GRAPHICS CARD SUPPORT BRACKET - your original option
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 6900MB/R, 5000MB/W) - swapped to a smaller boot/app drive as it stops you putting data on it and filling it up...and makes it much simpler to recover from a corrupted Windows install
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 7000MB/R, 5000MB/W) - your original option
1st Storage Drive
4TB Samsung 870 QVO 2.5" SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (up to 560MB/sR | 530MB/sW) - your original option
1st Storage Drive
8TB SEAGATE IRONWOLF PRO 3.5", 7200 RPM 256MB CACHE - your original option
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W RMe SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET - swapped to a newer, quieter PSU with scope for GPU upgrades
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead, 1.0mm Core)
Processor Cooling
Corsair iCUE H150i ELITE CAPELLIX RGB Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler - you have opaque case, so no need for the LDD screen, as you won't see it
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING - Corsair AIOs come with pre-applied paste, so no need for this
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] - don't think there's any need for the Pro version in W10/W11
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 - built-in Microsoft Security is fine, and free
Browser
Firefox™ - your original option
Monitor
IIYAMA ProLite B2791QSU-B1 27" WQHD - your original option
Warranty
3 Year Platinum Warranty (3 Year Collect & Return, 3 Year Parts, 3 Year labour)
Delivery
48 HOUR INSURED PALLET DELIVERY TO UK (MON-FRI, INC. HIGHLANDS & ISLANDS)
Build Time
Standard Build - Subject to stock availability on pre-order products
Price: £3,847.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am5-pc/EMbWjXszTj/
 
S

skylineboy2002

Bronze Level Poster
thanks :)
any thoughts on the below questions?
the fan / dust topic seems to be confusing, very differing opinions.
with regards to the AIO cooler etc, i presume (if i didnt change my case) that theres either a hardware or software "switch" to turn them off? i know theres next to 0watts to be saved but still..

skylineboy2002 said:
i posted up a couple weeks ago, and was told the new gen AMD stuff was coming out, so i have updated my spec for this.
couple of questions other than any general thoughts and feedback etc

1. can PCS set up the fans to my spec? and also which is better for dust reasons, positive or neg airflow and why? (home office use, but kept as clean as poss). and does this case come with filters?)

2. was thinking about a 2nd Nvme, but is this a good idea because of the constant small writes etc (i would also be doing a lot of uploading / downloading using torrents to my customers). again would the way torrents work hurt the Nvme tech?


ill be photo editing and producing large scans from old negatives (files can be 100's mb's and also MPix's).
occasional gaming (probably xbox pass, for forza etc).

Also looking for reccomendations on a good 27-28in montior (this seems the sweet spot for my use from research, for the above (capable of gaming smoothly etc)

thanks in advance guys!
Click to expand...
 
T

TonyCarter

VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
Tried to add them to my original post, but kept coming with errors, so...
As to your questions...
1. can PCS set up the fans to my spec? and also which is better for dust reasons, positive or neg airflow and why? (home office use, but kept as clean as poss). and does this case come with filters?)
Click to expand...
PCS will only connect them and ensure they work...it's up to you to configure them how you want. Balanced is probably the best solution, as too much sucking or blowing will just bring more dust in. However, get yourself a PC duster tool (e.g. ITDusters Expert) and give it a dust every couple/throuple of months.

2. was thinking about a 2nd Nvme, but is this a good idea because of the constant small writes etc (i would also be doing a lot of uploading / downloading using torrents to my customers). again would the way torrents work hurt the Nvme tech?
Click to expand...
You could use the large SATA SSD or HDD as your torrent drive if you're worried about wear...but you'll probably be replacing it with something faster/newer before it will fail. Solid state drives tend to either break very quickly (due to manufacturing/electrical issue) or they last for years. I've only ever had 2 fail in 10 years, and both were within the first week (one was within 30 mins).

Also looking for reccomendations on a good 27-28in montior (this seems the sweet spot for my use from research, for the above (capable of gaming smoothly etc)
Click to expand...
75hz may be fine for gaming, but I think it's a bit low for 1440p. But you'll also find there is a very small subset of creative monitors which are also good gaming monitors. Most creative use monitors are <80hz, gaming monitors are 144hz+.

I'm very happy with my 'old' LG 27GL850-B Ultragear (27", 1440p, 144hz). It's a gaming monitor (this is the newer version), but I use it as a 2nd monitor for creative uses in Photoshop/Illustrator/InDesign as well (main monitor is a new Apple Studio Display). I'm waiting for an affordable (i.e. less than £1k) 27-32", normal ratio, OLED gaming/creative monitor before I plan on replacing the LG.
 
Last edited:
S

skylineboy2002

Bronze Level Poster
yea, ive looked at some posts and there seems to be a highly recommended lil vac to use, so ill get one of them. area is pretty clean anyway, due to the negatives i work with.
thanks for your replies.
 
S

skylineboy2002

Bronze Level Poster
i have looked at some forum posts and it seems a lot of people reccomend a clean install of W10 / 11. (i was looking at Pro, but real world, which is best?)

as it seems that the PC comes with it on, but some sort of test build? (again from what i've read so far). for PCS's stress tests etc (also what tests do they do, it'd be interesting to know).

so i'm wondering how to do this (when i order, which will be soon), the last time i did a windows install it was from a disc, and its all USB now isn't it? and also what is needed basically to get the new PC upto it's best (i presume latest drivers from manufacturers, over any that may be included in package or windows installs itself),
are there any reccomended programs / utilities for the higher end pc's PCS supply (and even any to be avoided) and any general settings suggested to be changed etc to have the best from the PC (i presume some common factory defaults aren't optimal)

thanks
 
S

skylineboy2002

Bronze Level Poster
skylineboy2002 said:
as it seems that the PC comes with it on, but some sort of test build? (again from what i've read so far). for PCS's stress tests etc (also what tests do they do, it'd be interesting to know).

so i'm wondering how to do this (when i order, which will be soon), the last time i did a windows install it was from a disc, and its all USB now isn't it? and also what is needed basically to get the new PC upto it's best (i presume latest drivers from manufacturers, over any that may be included in package or windows installs itself),
are there any reccomended programs / utilities for the higher end pc's PCS supply (and even any to be avoided) and any general settings suggested to be changed etc to have the best from the PC (i presume some common factory defaults aren't optimal)
Click to expand...
thoughts on above? :)
 
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