Double checking I'm not going to regret my purchase

[RomainT]

Hello knowledgeable people!

I am planning to renew my main PC and want to make sure I didn't mess up. I am an engineer in tech, but my knowledge of hardware comes mainly from LTT Youtube videos ☺.

I am not a gamer, so there is no need for LEDs. However, I want a powerful PC to be able to follow the recent developments in AI, I want to be able to keep up to date with recent "algorithms" and be able to do Deep Learning myself (I have already read a book on it, but can only run small experiments locally). My company tried to make me redundant last year, they may try again; I definitely want to have a few ropes in ML.

I would like this PC to last me 5+ years. That's why I'm ready to put up to £2000 into it. I prefer not using the "latest and greatest" that is somehow overpriced and I am fine with the tested (albeit a bit slower) previous generation. That's why I went for DDR4 ... and sadly, RTX 30 series.


The reasons behind some of the hardware decisions I made:
- A case with a USB in the front for a YubiKey (and the cheapest non PCS case)
- A CPU with integrated graphics, because installing graphics drivers on Linux can be a pain. Also quite a fast CPU?
- I don't know much about Motherboards, but it should be good for DDR4 memory
- I remember splitting ram into multiple sticks makes it faster than just 1 stick, so I went for 2 sticks
- GPU with "lots" of memory (for deep learning). You may know a better alternative with more memory at a similar price. The RTX 40 series are prohibitively expensive
- I went for an NVMe drive with my previous PC. I am unsure how much faster it really goes compared to a regular SSD. When compiling, I remember having to do RAMFS back when we had hard drives. Faster I/O are ... faster to compile things, or do things in general
- Overspec power supply, in case I salvage something from my previous PC
- I had issues with cooling in the past. And PCS Frostbite is super noisy. From what I found on the internet, the CoolerMaster fan is quite silent


I sometimes make music on my PC. I have a USB audio interface but I don't know how to check if this PC is compatible with low latency audio, or at least doesn't have incompatible audio interface between hardware
Although I plan to start with Linux, I'm sure I will do a dual-boot with Windows at some point.

Could you help me double check I will not regret spending money on a PC for it to not meet the above goals. I would be happy to offer you a beer for your help, but I don't know how that would work over the internet.

Thanks for your time!

Full specs:
Case
CORSAIR 175R RGB MID TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i5 10-Core Processor i5-13400 (Up to 4.6GHz) 20MB Cache
Motherboard
GIGABYTE B660M DS3H DDR4 (rev. 1.0) : LGA1700, DDR4, USB 3.2
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
10GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3080 - HDMI, DP, LHR
1st M.2 SSD Drive
128GB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (1100 MB/R, 600 MB/W)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB SEAGATE FIRECUDA 530 GEN 4 PCIe NVMe (up to 7300MB/R, 6000MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead, 1.0mm Core)
Processor Cooling
CoolerMaster Hyper 212 (120mm) Fan CPU Cooler Black Edition
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
2 PORT (2 x TYPE A) USB 3.0 PCI-E CARD + STANDARD USB PORTS
Monitor
MSI 24" Optix G241V E2 - 1920 x 1080, 1MS, 75hz

 

[TonyCarter]

Virtual beers are accepted...like this 🍺🍻🍺🍻
Or just a thumbs-up in appreciation with the 'Like' button ()

Thanks for the details of how it will be used, that comes in really helpful. However, as I don't know much/anything about Linux, I'll leave the recommendations to someone who does! To help others, could you post the configurable link from your config page so they can tweak it more easily (i.e. without having to build it from scratch themselves).

How to Post Your Specification to the Forum - Check this Spec

Just a first note, if you've been provided this link, don't amend your first post as it won't update the queue, please add an additional comment to the thread, that way it will go back to the front of the queue. Otherwise we don't know it's been updated. When creating a forum post looking to...

www.pcspecialist.co.uk

General suggestions would be:

• Don't think the CPU you've picked is super hot, but I'd want a case with better airflow to keep the 3080 from creating a fan oven (Corsair 4000D maybe - no RGB, black fans, mesh/grille front)
• Fast m.2 SSD for your OS (so a 256/512GB Samsung 980 Pro should suffice)
• If it's just lots of VRAM you need, then you could go for the cheaper AMD 6800XT with its 16GB VRAM v the 10GB of the RTX3080 (however I don't know if your projects require a specific GPU architecture...CUDA/tensor cores/etc...that the Nvidia has and AMD doesn't

 

[RomainT]

Thanks Tony for your suggestions 🍻. I updated the quote with the new case (it only has 1 USB on the front but it should be enough) and went for a single Samsung SSD instead of a small one for the OS and another for the data (I'm also thinking I can put the one I currently have in the other slot).

The link to the spec is https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-z690-pc/GzfxvNfEsE/

You are right about the GPU. To my knowledge, only Nvidia natively supports CUDA/Keras/etc. So AMD is out of the question.

 

[TonyCarter]

I think it does have 2 USB ports on the front...although one is a USB-C port (USB 3.1) and the other a USB-A port (USB 3.0)...and I wish I'd paid much more attention to these little details when I got my build, as a front USB-C would have been useful for me

If you NEED 2 x USB-A 3.0 ports, then the Corsair 5000D has those along with 1 x USB-C port.

 

[RomainT]

Yes, my bad. When I looked at the pictures, I only counted the USB-A as a USB port. But I agree, a USB-C is also a USB port.
I will leave this post overnight, in case someone passing by has a suggestion (and also leave me time to think about this purchase a bit more) and I'll order it tomorrow!
Yay! A brand new shiny PC for me!
Thanks for your help Tony!

 

[sck451]

I'd not want to recommend that motherboard. I'd strongly recommend getting a full ATX one, rather than the smaller mATX. Also, Gigabyte's boards can be trouble if you need to do debugging. I'd suggest something like the Asus Tuf B660 (not the B660M) if you can afford it!

 

[RomainT]

Thanks sck451 for letting me know. I chose Gigabyte as my parents had an issue with an (cheap) Asus laptop. The Internet agrees that Gigabyte is the "cheaper" option for motherboards, and lots of people have problems with Gigabyte and its support (you also had problems with Gigabyte for what I understand).

As you recommended, I changed it to the Asus one. It's likely that nothing would have been bad, but with the non-standard OS, etc., I prefer being on the safe side. Thank you for your suggestion! And it's still under £2000, which I set my limit at!


New specification link: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-z690-pc/GWY5V0Zesu/

 

[sck451]

Thanks sck451 for letting me know. I chose Gigabyte as my parents had an issue with an (cheap) Asus laptop. The Internet agrees that Gigabyte is the "cheaper" option for motherboards, and lots of people have problems with Gigabyte and its support (you also had problems with Gigabyte for what I understand).

As you recommended, I changed it to the Asus one. It's likely that nothing would have been bad, but with the non-standard OS, etc., I prefer being on the safe side. Thank you for your suggestion! And it's still under £2000, which I set my limit at!


New specification link: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-z690-pc/GWY5V0Zesu/

I've not had an issue personally (having never had one) but it's something of a running theme in the "tech support" section of this forum!

Good call IMO.