Proposed new build

[JerBod]

Proposed build, strictly not for games use!
I intend to use it as a Linux desktop, some photo editing & occasional video transcoding + enough RAM to run several VM's.
Hopefully it will be more future-proof than my current 4-core.
If the builtin video isn't up to playing videos, I have an old nvidia GT730 [fanless design]
Comments?

Case
PCS 3601 CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i9 Ten-Core Processor i9-10850K (3.6GHz) 20MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B460-PLUS: ATX, LGA1200, USB 3.2, SATA 6GBs - RGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 2666MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
INTEGRATED GRAPHICS ACCELERATOR (GPU)
1st Storage Drive
256GB PCS 2.5" SSD, SATA 6 Gb (500MB/R, 400MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 450W CV SERIES™ CV-450 POWER SUPPLY
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 100 V3 Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Extra Case Fans
2x 120mm Black Case Fan (configured to extract from rear/roof)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
Wireless Network Card
WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED
Windows Recovery Media
NO RECOVERY MEDIA REQUIRED
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE

Price: £909.00 including VAT and Delivery

 

[Wuffles]

Remember that bit in the film Zulu when the 141 British Army Regulars were surrounded by 4000 Zulus?
You are about to see a re-run by asking for opinions on an Intel System here
I hope you know the words to "Men of Harlech" (Nghwyn oleuni'are goelcerth acw)
Just an opinion from someone who dare not post his build ... even in Welsh

Tongue firmly in cheek

 

[JUNI0R]

Proposed build, strictly not for games use!
I intend to use it as a Linux desktop, some photo editing & occasional video transcoding + enough RAM to run several VM's.
Hopefully it will be more future-proof than my current 4-core.
If the builtin video isn't up to playing videos, I have an old nvidia GT730 [fanless design]
Comments?

Hi there. Builds for your use aren’t my forte but the people that do help will need some info. 1) what’s your budget/ max you’re willing to spend? And is there anything you need in that budget apart from the PC tower itself 2) what monitor are you using (make and model or resolution AND refresh rate pls!) also the link at the bottom of the “post spec to forum” will be very helpful, if you’re able to include that too, that would be great!

As @Wuffles has said, the majority of the forum would recommend AMD for the majority of use cases currently. Intel are lagging far behind and have many issues. For more info I’d check out this thread about it and this article shows performance between the two in multiple categories (if you scroll down you can see a chart for productivity and content creation). As you can see it’s a pretty clear white wash for AMD at the top.

 

[JerBod]

I've always used AMD CPU's in the past [on grounds of cost] - but they run so hot.
Current CPU, about 5 years old is a "Quad Core AMD FX-4300".
But I can't run it flat out without it going into a thermal shutdown.

Also, the major expense (for me) is the CPU, not the GPU.
I will get a quote for a AMD based PC - with a price range of £800 - £1000
Thanks

 

[Ash_]

Ironically, intel runs hotter than AMD these days, in fact... on reddit - people joke about getting rid of their boiler and using the i9 instead 🤣.

 

[SpyderTracks]

I've always used AMD CPU's in the past [on grounds of cost] - but they run so hot.
Current CPU, about 5 years old is a "Quad Core AMD FX-4300".
But I can't run it flat out without it going into a thermal shutdown.

Also, the major expense (for me) is the CPU, not the GPU.
I will get a quote for a AMD based PC - with a price range of £800 - £1000
Thanks

Modern AMD CPU's are completely different to the FX or any that came before, they now run about 10 degrees cooler than Intel, and far outperform them.

Intel are the AMD of the FX times now, you want to avoid them as much as possible.

 

[JUNI0R]

OK - I've come up with a pretty similar version, only based around AMD.
Hope the temperature thing is true - many gamers never really stress their CPU's.
BTW I shall be using the same old monitor - an Acer 24" HD via HDMI.
Don't laugh at the GPU - I'm currently using its predessor, which appears to easily cope.

Would you be able to post it in the proper format? We generally don't download/ open downloadable documents in case of viruses.

How to post it properly can be found here (and make sure you include the link at the bottom!): https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/foru...ification-to-the-forum-check-this-spec.73718/

 

[JerBod]

It now looks like this:-

Case
PCS 3601 CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 9 3900X 12 Core CPU (3.8GHz-4.6GHz/70MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® PRIME B450-PLUS (DDR4, USB 3.1, 6Gb/s) - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3000MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GT 1030
1st Storage Drive
256GB PCS 2.5" SSD, SATA 6 Gb (500MB/R, 400MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 450W CV SERIES™ CV-450 POWER SUPPLY
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 100 V3 Series High Performance CPU Cooler (AMD)
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Extra Case Fans
2x 120mm Black Case Fan (configured to extract from rear/roof)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
Wireless Network Card
WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
NO RECOVERY MEDIA REQUIRED
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Firefox™
Keyboard & Mouse
PCS BK110 USB KEYBOARD
Keyboard & Mouse
LOGITECH® OPTICAL USB MOUSE
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 10 to 12 working days
Price: £1,005.00 including VAT and Delivery

 

[Deleted member 17413]

The chip is going to starve on that motherboard and be heavily throttled, the case is awful and will amplify the heat issues you will have using a cheap and cheerful AIO cooler on a high spec chip. and I understand that GPU upgrades arent going to be a huge consideration, but a 450W PSU should still be increased a little just to ensure good headroom on its output and get as much of a lifespan out of it as possible.

The build is very unbalanced, and to be completely honest, you arent going to get much better than you would buying off the shelf given your purposes and budget. Ploughing all the budget into a couple of high spec parts and then scrimping as much money as you can elsewhere will get you a PC but its going to have some issues.... and would probably end up with hardware failures after a few years due to thermal issues if you took the above build.

 

[Deleted member 17413]

This would be as low and I would suggest, and I would still say it was a long way from being ideal.
But increasing CPU from here also means a better motherboard being needed, you need some good headroom on the PSU and the TXm is a good model, not top tier but should serve you very well.

If you still need a DVD writer an external one is a very cheap way of doing it, few modern cases have them anymore, ive also not included a mouse or keyboard, but you had only spec'd cheap ones for these anyway so wont add much to the price.
Case
LIAN LI LANCOOL II GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 5600X Six Core CPU (3.7GHz-4.6GHz/35MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B550-PLUS WiFi (DDR4, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (4 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GT 1030
1st M.2 SSD Drive
250GB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 2300MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
CoolerMaster MasterLiquid Lite 240 High Performance Liquid 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 (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
NO RECOVERY MEDIA REQUIRED
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Firefox™
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 10 to 12 working days
Price: £1,012.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/VkyVP5rscS/

 

[JerBod]

That's an interesting option - with a better GPU, I'd suggest it might make a decent gaming platform.
I've never used liquid cooling in a PC and it sounds much too scary (and too expensive) for me.

I don't understand how a case can affect heat issues - I would agree that a poor case could/would amplify sound issues.
I'll stick with the poor cooler and the poor case - even if this means limiting the CPU frequency if things start to get very hot and loud.
I've increased the PSU to 550W and dumped the DVD.
I reluctantly feel forced to lower my expectations to a AMD Ryzen 7 3800X

Would a ASUS PRIME B550-PLUS be an improvement over the PRIME B450-PLUS? All the other motherboards are recommended for gaming...

​

 

[Deleted member 17413]

That's an interesting option - with a better GPU, I'd suggest it might make a decent gaming platform.
I've never used liquid cooling in a PC and it sounds much too scary (and too expensive) for me.

I don't understand how a case can affect heat issues - I would agree that a poor case could/would amplify sound issues.
I'll stick with the poor cooler and the poor case - even if this means limiting the CPU frequency if things start to get very hot and loud.
I've increased the PSU to 550W and dumped the DVD.
I reluctantly feel forced to lower my expectations to a AMD Ryzen 7 3800X

Would a ASUS PRIME B550-PLUS be an improvement over the PRIME B450-PLUS? All the other motherboards are recommended for gaming...

​

Its the same GPU you spec'd? a 1030?
And no, its not a gaming platform. Its the format you spec'd, but just balanced out.

Cases affect thermals in a massive way... what they are made from, how much ventilation, what air intake... all big factors, and a build that constantly has higher temps will have a shorter lifespan., and i'd suggest the Tuf B550 for a 3800X, prime is a slightly cheaper board but i think the biggest difference is less utility, rather than how well it supports the CPU.

The B550 boards are newer/better than the B450, yes.

 

[MarkDelamere37]

🤦🏼you asked for advice and aren't happy with the advice given. The case makes a big difference to heat levels. Imagine a big airy green house with a lot of vents to let the heat out and when the door opens a through flow of air. It will cool down and gave fresh supply of cooler air coming in. Now think about a smaller green house with one tiny little vent. The air will heat up quicker and not be able to escape as quickly meaning any new air introduced heats up quicker and is bottle necking any fresh air coming in as it can't escape. Best analogy i could come up with this time of the morning but explains it.

 

[SpyderTracks]

The case is paramount to the overall performance of the build. It's not the case you can just pick any, they're each designed for different performance levels.

 

[Martinr36]

🤦🏼you asked for advice and aren't happy with the advice given. The case makes a big difference to heat levels. Imagine a big airy green house with a lot of vents to let the heat out and when the door opens a through flow of air. It will cool down and gave fresh supply of cooler air coming in. Now think about a smaller green house with one tiny little vent. The air will heat up quicker and not be able to escape as quickly meaning any new air introduced heats up quicker and is bottle necking any fresh air coming in as it can't escape. Best analogy i could come up with this time of the morning but explains it.

That's pretty good

 

[Scott]

I don't think your budget is realistic with what you are looking to achieve. Opting for a previous generation AMD in favour of more cores is a fair enough choice, but you need to keep in mind that it needs supporting hardware to get there.

Strapping a 2L Vtech (Yo) engine to a go-kart will only work if you attach supporting hardware, and even then.... it's going to be skittish.

For 6 Core - Airflow case, B550 Board (Any), 550w PSU (TXm recommended as a minimum), Stock cooler as a minimum, 240 Lite recommended
For 8 Core - Airflow case, B550 Board (TUF) minimum, 550w PSU (TXm recommended as a minimum), 240 Lite
For 12 Core - Airflow case, x570 Board (TUF minimum, STRIX would offer more power), 550w PSU (TXm) minimum, 750w RM(x) recommended. Minimum 240 lite, H100/115i RGB recommended.

In your head you just swap out the CPU but, unfortunately, this is not a sound method of increasing performance.

 

[Scott]

For example, here would be the 8 core recommendation (as a minimum spec). It's £100 over budget, before you get near what's required for the 12 core.

Case
LIAN LI LANCOOL 215 GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 5800X Eight Core CPU (3.8GHz-4.7GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B550-PLUS WiFi (DDR4, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (4 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GT 1030
1st M.2 SSD Drive
256GB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (1900 MB/R, 1100 MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
CoolerMaster MasterLiquid Lite 240 High Performance Liquid 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 (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
NO RECOVERY MEDIA REQUIRED
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Firefox™
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 10 to 12 working days
Price: £1,126.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/XAATVN5AmH/

 

[JerBod]

I appear to be reluctant to accept advice - but this isn't true. On the basis of @Scott's suggestion, I'm thinking of going for:-

1. Call me a stick-in-the-mud, but there is no way I'm letting water inside my PC - so I've simply gone for the most expensive air cooling offered [PCS FrostFlow 150 CPU Cooler @ £32].

2. Stayed with the case & PSU, but downgraded the motherboard to a ASUS PRIME B550-PLUS and downgraded the RAM from 3200MHz to 3000MHz. Note that my current PC has memory is only 1866MHz

3. There is no way this PC will ever get a GPU upgrade and used for games playing - hope this explains the motherboard thing.

BTW The motherboard says it has integrated graphics, but the CPU doesn't have integrated graphics, so does this mean I get integrated graphics?

See https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/configuration/2048919/

 

[Steveyg]

Look I wouldn't recommend doing anything you're planning on doing but if you're not going to listen to advice I don't know what you're asking?

@sibun1 & @Scott have both put together some solid balanced builds that will last you years with basic maintenance but hey it's your money as they say

 

[JerBod]

Look I wouldn't recommend doing anything you're planning on doing but if you're not going to listen to advice I don't know what you're asking?

@sibun1 & @Scott have both put together some solid balanced builds that will last you years with basic maintenance but hey it's your money as they say

Obviously its the money!
But its also the watercooling thing - thanks for all the advice and I've taken on board the case + PSU thing, and to some extent the cooling problem.

Of course, I might come back to say that it runs like a dead dog - but that's my problem.
Thanks to everybody.

Anyway - I've gone ahead and bought the collection of bits.