PC for gaming, coding and audio work

[Mordax Praetorian]

Transitioning from Laptop to Dekstop

Aside from the standard browsing/junk I'm going to be using this PC for Gaming, Programming and Audio Recording/Editing

There will be "video" editing as well, but that won't be any kind or normal, or using anything that you'd recognise as a video editor, this is the primary reason for the fast RAM, I'll also be multithreading a lot while doing this

A key priority here is making sure that runs as quietly as humanly possible while I'm recording stuff, but quiet in general is definitely preferred, I'm past being sick of the fans on my laptop which are just unbearably noisy the whole time

I don't need to play AAA games on ultra-high settings, but it would be nice to play them on medium for a few years, I certainly don't plan on doing anything in 4K because looking at that resolution for a long time triggers migraines

Case
SHARKOON VG4-W GAMING CASE (Green LED) - Very fond of the USB arrangement on the front of this one, I'll probably tell PCS not to wire up the neon disco lights
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-7500 (3.4GHz) 6MB Cache - CPUs just aren't a bottleneck these days, on the other hand given the number of threads my custom video writer is going to spawn I did consider going AMD, all of their current processors just review so so very badly though
Motherboard
ASUS® ROG STRIX Z270H GAMING: ATX, LG1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs - I don't see a reason to spend any more than this on a Motherboard, let me know if I've missed something
Memory (RAM)
16GB HyperX PREDATOR DDR4 3200MHz X.M.P (2 x 8GB) - I think having fast RAM is going to help me out, but I could be overspending here
Graphics Card
8GB AMD RADEON™ RX 480 - HDMI, 3 x DP - DX® 12 - This is a serious doubt point, I don't like that it runs hotter than a GeForce 1060, I can hear the case fans turning on already, but is it really going to be an issue while just recording audio? I don't think so, but I'd rather know beforehand
1st Hard Disk
NOT REQUIRED
M.2 SSD Drive
512GB SAMSUNG SM961 M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3200MB/R, 1700MB/W) - Seriously? This thing just looks unrealistically good for the price
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED - I have an old external that came with a laptop I bought about 6-ish years ago, the laptop lasted 11 months but the drive still serves me well
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W CS SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET - This is probably a lot more powerful than I need but the words "ultra quiet" have me sold, am I overspending here?
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 120 Series High Performance Liquid Cooler - I picked this for quiet, but can it really cool the processor at this price or will I have case fans activating?
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND - Seems like a no-brainer
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD) - Given the audio editing I gave much though to a sound card, but even in my case I couldn't find a good reason to have one, am I missing something?
Wireless/Wired Networking
WIRELESS 802.11 AC1750 1,300Mbps/5GHz, 450Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD - This is another big doubt point, I don't have any networked storage to write to and I'm just trying to max out my internet connection, is this overkill? If all I want to do is stream video smoothly do I really need to go this quickly? Note that I will be buying a router or signal extender to match whatever card speed I end up with.
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
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Google Chrome™
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)

Right now this costs £1,362, I'd like for this not to go up if possible but I will stretch to whatever I have to in order to meet the requirements at the top

 

[Spuff]

It's usually best to buy when you need because there will always be something better in some months time. But right now I think, if you can hang on, it really would be better to wait for Ryzen to release and then we will know its real performance. The hope is an i7 equivalent for around the price of an i5, and for things like video editing the number of cores in Ryzen should prove very handy.

 

[Oussebon]

But right now I think, if you can hang on, it really would be better to wait for Ryzen

This.

However if you are wanting a PC ASAP:

Motherboard
ASUS® ROG STRIX Z270H GAMING: ATX, LG1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs - I don't see a reason to spend any more than this on a Motherboard, let me know if I've missed something

I'd say that's almost true. The Hero and so forth aren't worth it for most uses. However, I'd suggest getting the Z270E. It's only a few £ more expensive (currently £3 more expensive - though the configurator can change) and has a 2nd M.2 SSD slot, and onboard 867mbps wifi. So if you just need ok wifi for streaming stuff, it would be a big net saving.

Case
SHARKOON VG4-W GAMING CASE (Green LED) - Very fond of the USB arrangement on the front of this one, I'll probably tell PCS not to wire up the neon disco lights

The lights are from the LED fans I believe, in which case no lights = no cooling. You could buy your own fans and install them once you get the case ofc. Note that the case only has 2 fan mounting points, and the front one is obstructed with the HDD cage and any drives that live there. While it may not melt your system, if temps are an issue (and fan noise from the higher temps) there won't be much you can do about it. Someone posted on the forums recently having bought that case and decided to game with the side panel off for lower temps. Compared to the GT1, it's performance and feature set is pretty poor imo. If it's all about the USB ports you could just get a case with optical drive bays and install an adapter there. I would be unlikely to recommend the Sharkoon case to anyone

Wireless/Wired Networking
WIRELESS 802.11 AC1750 1,300Mbps/5GHz, 450Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD - This is another big doubt point, I don't have any networked storage to write to and I'm just trying to max out my internet connection, is this overkill? If all I want to do is stream video smoothly do I really need to go this quickly? Note that I will be buying a router or signal extender to match whatever card speed I end up with.

It would count as overkill, though the price difference between that and the cheaper ones is relatively slim so you could futureproof yourself in case you do get networked storage. Alternatively you could not buy a wifi card at all, use the onboard 867mbps from the Z270E, and just buy a better wifi card if you ever need one in the future.

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-7500 (3.4GHz) 6MB Cache - CPUs just aren't a bottleneck these days, on the other hand given the number of threads my custom video writer is going to spawn I did consider going AMD, all of their current processors just review so so very badly though

Depends on the games you play (and the settings). Titanfall 2 doesn't seem to care one jot. FO4 and TW titles do, as so many multiplayer games (especially MMO types).

While those benches were done with higher end GPUs, you're still going to see similar things with an RX 480 (I say as someone with a GTX 970 and an i7 3770k @4.6GHz who has been CPU bound in those titles).

Memory (RAM)
16GB HyperX PREDATOR DDR4 3200MHz X.M.P (2 x 8GB) - I think having fast RAM is going to help me out, but I could be overspending here

I would generally suggest faster / more powerful CPU first, then RAM, at least for gaming. The £80 difference in the 3200MHz vs the 2133MHz Fury will alone will buy you about two thirds of the difference for an i7 7700. You seem quite certain your video editing software would benefit a lot from RAM so fair enough, though most video encoding as you'll doubtless know would much prefer the extra threads.

Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 120 Series High Performance Liquid Cooler - I picked this for quiet, but can it really cool the processor at this price or will I have case fans activating?

Few case fans will be PWM so you'll have them on regardless. Also budget and liquid cooling don't really go together with the word quiet. If you want quiet with that CPU, stick to the Titan. If you get an i7 7700k then a Noctua might be more in order.

 

[Mordax Praetorian]

This is all great advice and I've started tweaking my build based on it, particularly the motherboard, I didn't spot the onboard wifi in the next one up, that makes the budget a lot easier, and I really appreciate the warning on the case, I feel like I dodged a bullet there, thankyou

On the subject of Ryzen, I think there's a lot of speculation around. Rumours about the release date seem to be fuelled by it being pulled from a seminar teaser, which could just as easily be caused by a push-back and I've not found an AMD source at all for the price rumours.

There's also the issue of the Zen architecture being very new technology for AMD, we don't know how it will hold up long term, and as of yet, there isn't the wealth of community experience built up around for instance... how to cool it properly.

On the subject of cooling, I was very surprised to be directed back towards a traditional fan for the CPU. There is a liquid cooler in my price range and it's rated very quiet, so why wouldn't I go for it?

You make a great point on the case fans though, I'm going to look at fitting in a fan controller next, that should help things.

I had a look at the GT1 case suggested, but it's incompatible with the Noctua fan, any other recommendations?

EDIT: Ooh, looks like the GT1 has a fan controller already, that's cool

 

[Oussebon]

There is a liquid cooler in my price range and it's rated very quiet, so why wouldn't I go for it?

Go for it if you like but the Noctua cooler easily matches or beats any water cooler upto (and including in most benches I've seen) the H80i on performance and acoustics:

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2014...u_cooling_system_update_review/3#.WE3hMuRo2Hs (has NH-U14S and the Corsair H60 on there, and H90)
https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Noctua/NH-U14S/6.html
http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/noctua_nh_u12s_u14s_review,9.html
http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/72...formance-liquid-cpu-cooler-review/index7.html
https://www.pcper.com/reviews/Cases...CPU-Cooler-Review/Cooler-Comparison-Testing-0

I like that the GT1 has a built in fan controller (nothing fancy, just a two-speed switch, but for the price it's a nice bonus). Others that do I think include the Corsair Spec Alpha and the Fractal R5

 

[Mordax Praetorian]

Thankyou very much for your advice, I am going to abandon the liquid cooling also

I'm also going to wait for Ryzen, even if just because I expect the Intel chips to get cheaper when it comes out