Multi Media PC

[mart22]

This PC is intended for multi media use and work. It'll be in my living room so running quietly and looking nice are considerations. Fast web browsing, hd video streaming, music streaming, video file ripping, photo shop are the kind of things it's intended for. Nothing too demanding. Aiming to get 4/5 years of heavy daily use from it. Any opinions, ideas, thoughts will be much appreciated!

Case InWIN 503 MID TOWER GAMING CASE (WHITE)
Processor (CPU) Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-6400 (2.7GHz) 6MB Cache
Motherboard ASUS® H110M-R: Micro-ATX, DDR4, LG1151, USB 3.0, SATA 6GBs
Memory (RAM) 16GB HyperX FURY DDR4 2133MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card 4GB AMD RADEON™ RX 470 - HDMI, DP, DVI - DX® 12
1st Hard Disk 2TB SEAGATE 3.5" SSHD, SATA 6Gb/s 7200 RPM (64MB + 8GB SSD CACHE)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive 16x BLU-RAY WRITER DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW & SOFTWARE
Power Supply CORSAIR 650W CS SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable 1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling CoolerMaster Hyper 212X (120mm) Fan 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 WIRELESS 802.11 AC 867Mbps + BT4.0 + Intel Wi-Di PCI-E CARD
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 & Licence
Operating System Language United Kingdom - English Language
DVD Recovery Media Windows 10 (64-bit) Home DVD with paper sleeve
Office Software NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
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 7 to 9 working days
Pricing Information

Price (excluding VAT) £790.00
Price £948.00
Order Quantity 1
Bulk Discount £0.00
Total Order price (Ex VAT) £790.00
Total Order Price £948.00

 

[Flo]

I would personally go for something like this. It's £17 more but the SSD will give you better loading times. Also, the standard processor cooler would be more than enough for your build. I have also changed the warranty for silver for an extra £5.
Case
InWIN 503 MID TOWER GAMING CASE (WHITE)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-6400 (2.7GHz) 6MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® H110M-R: Micro-ATX, DDR4, LG1151, USB 3.0, SATA 6GBs
Memory (RAM)
16GB HyperX FURY DDR4 2133MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
3GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1060 - DVI, HDMI, 3 x DP
1st Hard Disk
250GB Samsung 850 2.5" EVO SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (upto 540MB/sR | 520MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk
1TB WD BLACK 3.5" WD1003FZEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
16x BLU-RAY WRITER DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW & SOFTWARE
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W CS SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET (£79)
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
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 & Licence (£89)
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365
Anti-Virus
BullGuard™ Internet Security - Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 7 to 9 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £965.00 including VAT and delivery.

 

[Oussebon]

The above build doesn't include wifi and also has a stock intel cooler, which will be many things but quiet won't be among them.
The WD Black is not a quiet HDD, in fact it's pretty noisy. With an SSD as the main drive and the criteria for a quieter PC, I would suggest a regular, slower HDD. (just checked the spec sheets, WD list them as 6-8db louder - I own a caviar black, it really is loud).

The 503 case also has at least one LED fan, so depending on where you have it in the living room it might be quite distracting if it sits there lit up like a Christmas tree.

Note that the wifi card chosen "Wireless/Wired Networking WIRELESS 802.11 AC 867Mbps + BT4.0 + Intel Wi-Di PCI-E CARD" gives a warning in the configurator "Please note that the Wireless card you have specified is an AC card and as a result is not compatible with Wireless N routers.
Please ensure you have a compatible router before you proceed or go back and amend your wireless selection."
I assume you've seen this and have checked to make sure your router is compatible, but am mentioning this just on the office chance you didn't get the warning.

If you won't be gaming, the only thing on the list that uses the GPU to any agree is photoshop, and afaik photoshop doesn't use the GPU a great deal (unlike certain video editing programs). You would therefore likely get a quieter system with a lower end GPU such as a 750ti.
If going for a more powerful GPU such as a GTX 1060, you may wish to purchase one yourself and install it. PC Specialist source their GPUs from a range of options, and you may get one with a blower cooler that does not turn off on idle, as opposed to most open-air coolers that will switch off when the GPU is below ~60 degrees, which it should be most of the time. There is also a GTX 750 ti that is completely passively cooled out there, if you can get your hands on it.

Photoshop does, however, benefit from stronger CPU per core performance. An i5 6600 would be a good bit better than an i5 6400.



Therefore perhaps something like:

Case
CORSAIR CARBIDE SERIES™ 200R COMPACT GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-6600 (3.3GHz) 6MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® H110M-R: Micro-ATX, DDR4, LG1151, USB 3.0, SATA 6GBs
Memory (RAM)
16GB HyperX FURY DDR4 2133MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 750 Ti - DVI, HDMI VGA
1[SUP]st[/SUP] Hard Disk
250GB Samsung 850 2.5" EVO SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (upto 540MB/sR | 520MB/sW)
2[SUP]nd[/SUP] Hard Disk
1TB SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 32MB CACHE
1[SUP]st[/SUP] DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W CS SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET (£79)
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Super Quiet Titan DragonFly Heatpipe Intel CPU Cooler (£19)
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND (£9)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
WIRELESS 802.11 AC 867Mbps + BT4.0 + Intel Wi-Di PCI-E CARD (£35)
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 & Licence (£89)
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 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 7 to 9 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £892.00 including VAT and delivery.

Unique URL to re-configure: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/quotes/intel-skylake-home-office-pc/Qbzr0YdK0h/

 

[mart22]

Thank you Oussebon. That's very helpful advice.

I've got a BT Smarthub so no issue with my router. I made some tweaks to the spec. Upgraded to a i5 6600 on your recommendation. I've dropped the 503 case too, didn't like the idea of a blue LED fan, and replaced it with NZXT S340 MID TOWER GAMING CASE (BLACK/BLUE) . The window style case appeals to me. Selecting this one means I have to sacrifice a blu ray drive but I can rip/burn discs on a laptop instead. With the savings I upgraded the graphics card to a 4gb RX 470. It's more than my needs now but in the future I might do something that'll make good use of its capability. The other thing I found, following your advice on sourcing my own graphics card, is PC Specialist are supplying and fitting graphics cards, like for like, as cheaply as can be bought off Amazon. Maybe there's something going on in the graphics card supply chain ... What I learned reading the RX 470 description on Amazon is its cooling system is very good and fans ramp up in line with increasing load. They scale down and idle when the card isn't working hard so low noise levels

This is the amended spec:

Case NZXT S340 MID TOWER GAMING CASE (BLACK/BLUE)
Processor (CPU) Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-6600 (3.3GHz) 6MB Cache
Motherboard ASUS® H110M-R: Micro-ATX, DDR4, LG1151, USB 3.0, SATA 6GBs
Memory (RAM) 16GB HyperX FURY DDR4 2133MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card 4GB AMD RADEON™ RX 470 - HDMI, DP, DVI - DX® 12
1st Hard Disk 2TB SEAGATE 3.5" SSHD, SATA 6Gb/s 7200 RPM (64MB + 8GB SSD CACHE)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply CORSAIR 650W CS SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable 1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling Super Quiet Titan DragonFly Heatpipe Intel CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Sound Card ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking WIRELESS 802.11 AC 867Mbps + BT4.0 + Intel Wi-Di PCI-E CARD
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 & Licence
Operating System Language United Kingdom - English Language
DVD Recovery Media Windows 10 (64-bit) Home DVD with paper sleeve
Office Software NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
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 7 to 9 working days
Pricing Information

Price (excluding VAT) £774.17
Price £929.00
Order Quantity 1
Bulk Discount £0.00
Total Order price (Ex VAT) £774.17
Total Order Price £929.00

Just want to ask about the NZXT case two front USB 3 ports if that's ok. Will they be fully operational given the motherboard and USB selection preference I've put in my specification?

Thanks again for your expertise. Really appreciate it.

 

[Oussebon]

What I learned reading the RX 470 description on Amazon is it's cooling system is very good and fans ramp up in line with increasing load. They scale down and idle when the card isn't working hard so low noise levels

Be careful there. There are a lot of different models of the RX 470 (as with just about every GPU). To give you an idea of how many models of the same GPU there can be, EVGA alone have 6 models of GTX 1060 6gb, and they're just one company. Some RX 470s will have the kinds of coolers you describe, which are usually 2 fans underneath the GPU, that can spin down on idle. Some will not.

Take a look at Sapphire (who are one of the companies that make AMD GPUs) and their RX 470 lineup: http://www.sapphiretech.com/catapage_pd.asp?cataid=306&lang=eng

They do make cards with the twin-fan-spin-down-on-idle coolers exactly as you describe: e.g.


Some cards however will have a single fan that looks like a cylinder (often called a blower or a squirrel cage cooler). e.g.


And that's just Sapphire, there's Powercolor, MSI, Asus, Gigabyte, XFX who all make AMD cards and may have blower variants.

In order to keep costs (and therefore prices) down, PCS are generally more likely to use cards from the less expensive end of the range. This end of the market is where you're more likely to find the cards with blower coolers that don't switch off.

I'm not saying you shouldn't buy a GPU from PC Specialist, just that you should be aware that not all 470s are the same, so if you buy one from PCS you might get a cooler that doesn't spin down.

 

[mart22]

I'll ask PCS what cooler their brand of 470 has and let you know. Any thoughts on the case's front USB ports being operational with my specification? Cheers.

 

[Oussebon]

Just want to ask about the NZXT case two front USB 3 ports if that's ok. Will they be fully operational given the motherboard and USB selection preference I've put in my specification?

Yes.

A couple of my front USB ports actually didn't work when my PC arrived because the cable seemed to have wiggled loose in transit, but yeah, your front USB ports would work as intended.

 

[mart22]

PCS confirmed their brand of RX 470 as the Sapphire one. So it does have a single fan that's always on. It still responds to load, it just doesn't idle to a stop. There will be noise! To tackle this I changed the case to a Fractal Define S. And I upgraded to a Corsair H60 CPU cooler for its much lower noise level fan. Definitely over speccing for my needs but internally it should look nice through the case side panel window. Aesthetic choices rather than performance ones.

Final specification:

Case FRACTAL DEFINE S BLACK GAMING CASE (Window)
Processor (CPU) Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-6600 (3.3GHz) 6MB Cache
Motherboard ASUS® H110M-R: Micro-ATX, DDR4, LG1151, USB 3.0, SATA 6GBs
Memory (RAM) 16GB HyperX FURY DDR4 2133MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card 4GB AMD RADEON™ RX 470 - HDMI, DP, DVI - DX® 12
1st Hard Disk 2TB SEAGATE 3.5" SSHD, SATA 6Gb/s 7200 RPM (64MB + 8GB SSD CACHE)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply CORSAIR 650W CS SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable 1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling Corsair H60 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)
Wireless/Wired Networking WIRELESS 802.11 AC 867Mbps + BT4.0 + Intel Wi-Di PCI-E CARD
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 & Licence
Operating System Language United Kingdom - English Language
DVD Recovery Media Windows 10 (64-bit) Home DVD with paper sleeve
Office Software NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
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 7 to 9 working days
Pricing Information

Price (excluding VAT) £810.83
Price £973.00
Order Quantity 1
Bulk Discount £0.00
Total Order price (Ex VAT) £810.83
Total Order Price £973.00

Thanks again for expert advice. I found it very useful.

 

[Oussebon]

The H60 will be noisier than the Titan, by quite a long way. https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Titan/Dragonfly_4/7.html

Also, cheaper AOI water coolers like the H60 tend to be less effective and noisier than higher end air coolers such as the Noctua. If you want a quiet PC, stick with the Titan or if you want to splash out, get the Noctua (though the colour scheme isn't for everyone).
https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Noctua/NH-U14S/6.html

If you did have extra to spend to make it quieter, something that's more or less guaranteed to do so (though is definitely also an extravagance) is to go for the RM850x PSU. This PSU has a passive mode where on low temps and loads it will switch its fan off and be silent. Those thresholds are actually quite high such that it will probably never need to switch on even if you torture tested CPU and GPU together, it will just sit there cooling itself passively and silently. It's also much higher build quality than the CS Series, so bonus there.

If the PC is going to be used for media I'd strongly consider ordering without a GPU and fitting my own.

 

[mart22]

Installing the GPU myself just isn't for me! And that 470, supplied and installed by PCS, is competitively priced. I watched some YT reviews of the Sapphire 470 and one mentioned even with its blower it's surprisingly quiet. I've taken your advice and switched CPU cooler to the Noctua. So final specification is this:

Case FRACTAL DEFINE S BLACK GAMING CASE (Window)
Processor (CPU) Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-6600 (3.3GHz) 6MB Cache
Motherboard ASUS® H110M-R: Micro-ATX, DDR4, LG1151, USB 3.0, SATA 6GBs
Memory (RAM) 16GB HyperX FURY DDR4 2133MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card 4GB AMD RADEON™ RX 470 - HDMI, DP, DVI - DX® 12
1st Hard Disk 2TB SEAGATE 3.5" SSHD, SATA 6Gb/s 7200 RPM (64MB + 8GB SSD CACHE)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply CORSAIR 650W CS SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable 1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling Noctua NH-U14S Ultra Quiet Performance 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 WIRELESS 802.11 AC 867Mbps + BT4.0 + Intel Wi-Di PCI-E CARD
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 & Licence
Operating System Language United Kingdom - English Language
DVD Recovery Media Windows 10 (64-bit) Home DVD with paper sleeve
Office Software NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
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 7 to 9 working days
Pricing Information

Price (excluding VAT) £810.83
Price £973.00
Order Quantity 1

I'm happy with it and looking forward to delivery! Thanks again for so much helpful input into the purchase.

 

[Oussebon]

Fair enough, it's not for everyone. One other option, just to put it on the table in case it's of interest, is to see what version of the GTX 1060 3gb PCS are currently using.
The 3gb 1060 does generally outperform the RX 470 in gaming despite the lower VRAM. http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2016-nvidia-geforce-gtx-1060-3gb-vs-6gb-review but costs a similar price (£6 more expensive in the PCS configurator).

Either way, hope all goes well with the PC.

 

[mart22]

Thanks for the link. it's a tempting suggestion to swap GPU's. There are mixed YT reviews on 3gb 1060 v RX 470 too. It seems the 1060 is better today but lacks compatibility with future technology such as DX12 and Vulkan. So the RX 470 might be more "future proof". I'm no expert in these matters but I do have the impression Nvidia tech is always a little better, a little more advanced and a bit more expensive. Given the 470 is already more than capable for my needs I'll stick with it. Its Sapphire livery, I think, will better suit my case than the 1060's. But who knows. Maybe in future I'll take a stab at replacing it with something better. If the day ever comes I'll be back to the forum for advice. Hope you'll still be in here!

 

[mart22]

Oussebon, if you're still looking in .... your 1060 suggestion began to grow in my mind over the weekend. So I watched a few 1060 reviews, looked into PCS GPU brands, I haven't confirmed with them yet but their brand seems to be Palit, and I've amended my order. I've ditched the RX 470 and gone for a gtx 1060 6gb. My multi media PC has evolved into a half decent gaming rig! Ah well, I can always pick up Mortal Kombat and Resident Evil where I left off all those years ago. And I might get into playing the Walking Dead ... probably should be looking for more productive avenues for my time seeing I'm in my 40's but there you go.

 

[Oussebon]

PCS use a range of GPUs for Nvidia. Including Palit, Zotac, and recently also Galax I believe. Some of those are blower coolers. Just for fair warning purposes.

The GTX 1060 6gb is a very decent gaming card, and is comfortably more powerful than the RX 470 even in some of the most recent Gaming Evolved (AMD) titles. In DX11 and many older titles it's vastly more powerful:
http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/msi_geforce_gtx_1060_gaming_x_3gb_review,14.html
http://www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/zardon/msi-rx-470-gaming-x-8g-review/21/

Pretty excessive as you say for a media PC, but given the overall cost increase to the build is relatively small and that the GPU is more powerful and has more VRAM making it somewhat futureproof, it's probably still a fair value proposition.