Replacing a 7 year-old workhorse with a W11 machine

Granicus334

New member
Please see below for my current choices, and all help and suggestions gratefully received. A couple of points:

1) I have a 27" Asus ROG monitor, running in 1440p. The monitor shown is an extra one to use with my current/old PC as a backup
2) I use this machine mostly for work, and tend to have a lot of programmes running simultaneously. My current PC is starting to creak a little, as it's seven years old and has a now-slow SSD that I am very keen to move past
3) I am not willing to pay current GPU prices, and I don't really need an upgrade yet. I will transfer my still-excellent 1080ti to this new PC when it arrives and revert the older PC to integrated graphics, or buy a cheap 2nd hand card in due course.
4) Re the RAM - I have recently been experiencing RAM shortages. That might be due to my habit of having lots of Chrome tabs open, but it's a habit I'm struggling to dump, so I'd rather pay a little more and not have to worry.
5) I play a mix of games, many not too demanding, but I like to be able to run whatever takes my fancy.

Cheers in advance!

Case
COOLERMASTER SILENCIO S600 QUIET MID TOWER CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 12-Core Processor i7-12700K (3.6GHz) 25MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® ROG STRIX Z690-A GAMING WIFI D4 (LGA1700, USB 3.2, PCIe 5.0) - ARGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3600MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
INTEGRATED GRAPHICS ACCELERATOR (GPU)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 7000MB/R, 5000MB/W)
1st Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 256MB CACHE
Power Supply
CORSAIR 1000W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H100x Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Extra Case Fans
1x 120mm Thermaltake TOUGHFAN 12 Case Fan
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
Operating System
Windows 11 Professional 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 11 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Supplied on USB Drive
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Google Chrome™
Monitor
PCS BD24 23.8" IPS Monitor - 1080p, 5MS, 60Hz
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
FAST TRACK 5 WORKING DAY DISPATCH
Price: £1,945.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-z690-pc/gCvv65ANjd/
 

sck451

MOST VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
I really like the fundamentals of this build (CPU, motherboard, RAM, power supply and that graphics card) but I'd suggest a few changes around the edges that will reduce the price and increase value-for-money.

Case
CORSAIR 5000D AIRFLOW TEMPERED GLASS GAMING CASE The Silencio case is pretty, but bad for airflow/cooling
Processor (CPU)

Intel® Core™ i7 12-Core Processor i7-12700K (3.6GHz) 25MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® ROG STRIX Z690-A GAMING WIFI D4 (LGA1700, USB 3.2, PCIe 5.0) - ARGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3600MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
INTEGRATED GRAPHICS ACCELERATOR (GPU)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SEAGATE FIRECUDA 530 GEN 4 PCIe NVMe (up to 7000MB/R, 3000MB/W) Probably the best boot drive going
1st M.2 SSD Drive

2TB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3500MB/sR | 2700MB/sW) Big drive for projects and games, doesn't need to be 980 speed/price!
1st Storage Drive

2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 256MB CACHE
Power Supply
CORSAIR 1000W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair iCUE H115i RGB PRO XT Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler A current-generation cooler, with fans controlled by software
Thermal Paste

STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING The Corsair AIOs come with good thermal paste pre-applied
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 You have 12 USB ports already...
Operating System

Windows 11 Professional 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence Are you sure you need Windows 11 Professional? It doesn't offer many extra features. Maybe you do, but best to check!
Operating System Language

United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 11 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Supplied on USB Drive
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Google Chrome™
Monitor
PCS BD24 23.8" IPS Monitor - 1080p, 5MS, 60Hz
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
FAST TRACK 5 WORKING DAY DISPATCH
Price: £1,897.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-z690-pc/FCttUHyEh2/
 

Scott

Behold The Ford Mondeo
Moderator
Agree with the above, although I would suggest the Samsung 980 was the better primary drive (at 500GB) due to the faster write speed :)
 

sck451

MOST VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
Agree with the above, although I would suggest the Samsung 980 was the better primary drive (at 500GB) due to the faster write speed :)
I'd suggest that the maximum write speeds are unlikely to be hit in practice, that the real-world difference is therefore rather less, and that read speeds are more important for a boot drive, while the Seagate has significantly better write endurance.

So I'm not sure there's much in it (both are amazing!), but I'd personally come down slightly on the side of the Firecuda. (Even though I have a 980.)
 

Scott

Behold The Ford Mondeo
Moderator
I'd suggest that the maximum write speeds are unlikely to be hit in practice, that the real-world difference is therefore rather less, and that read speeds are more important for a boot drive, while the Seagate has significantly better write endurance.

So I'm not sure there's much in it (both are amazing!), but I'd personally come down slightly on the side of the Firecuda. (Even though I have a 980.)

It can be swings and roundabouts for the most part but writing a pagefile from RAM will be significantly faster on the 980 and will come into play IMO. Anytime you're writing from RAM will make a big difference, but 100mb/s read difference is insignificant.

As much as the write endurance is amazing on the Firecuda, the 980 is already significantly past the point of any normal persons usage.... you would literally need to deliberately attempt to burn the writes out to get to the end of its life. Any normal, or even professional usage, wouldn't hit it or anywhere near it.

Given the write speed of both drives it would take just as long to burn them both out though ;)

Even on my piddly little 950 I'll never get near the TBW capacity. The only time I've feared endurance was with the 660p as it was woeful.
 

Granicus334

New member
I really like the fundamentals of this build (CPU, motherboard, RAM, power supply and that graphics card) but I'd suggest a few changes around the edges that will reduce the price and increase value-for-money.

Case
CORSAIR 5000D AIRFLOW TEMPERED GLASS GAMING CASE The Silencio case is pretty, but bad for airflow/cooling
Processor (CPU)

Intel® Core™ i7 12-Core Processor i7-12700K (3.6GHz) 25MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® ROG STRIX Z690-A GAMING WIFI D4 (LGA1700, USB 3.2, PCIe 5.0) - ARGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3600MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
INTEGRATED GRAPHICS ACCELERATOR (GPU)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SEAGATE FIRECUDA 530 GEN 4 PCIe NVMe (up to 7000MB/R, 3000MB/W) Probably the best boot drive going
1st M.2 SSD Drive

2TB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3500MB/sR | 2700MB/sW) Big drive for projects and games, doesn't need to be 980 speed/price!
1st Storage Drive

2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 256MB CACHE
Power Supply
CORSAIR 1000W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair iCUE H115i RGB PRO XT Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler A current-generation cooler, with fans controlled by software
Thermal Paste

STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING The Corsair AIOs come with good thermal paste pre-applied
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 You have 12 USB ports already...
Operating System

Windows 11 Professional 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence Are you sure you need Windows 11 Professional? It doesn't offer many extra features. Maybe you do, but best to check!
Operating System Language

United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 11 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Supplied on USB Drive
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Google Chrome™
Monitor
PCS BD24 23.8" IPS Monitor - 1080p, 5MS, 60Hz
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
FAST TRACK 5 WORKING DAY DISPATCH
Price: £1,897.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-z690-pc/FCttUHyEh2/

Many thanks for your reply, sck451, genuinely appreciated.

Case: noted, and changed. I was trying for a silent-ish PC but you can't have everything, and as cooler tends to mean less fan activity, it's the same odds, maybe.

SSDs: I had, being a bear of little brain, tried to make my C: drive fast AND large. One reason is that I recently moved and my broadband's fallen off a cliff: from 200MB/s to 17Mb/s, so the more I could copy from the old PC to the new without having to worry about paths, etc., the better. But your logic is impeccable. I had also thought I'd want games on the fastest drive possible but seems not.

Cooler: had a bad experience with water cooling once, but that was more than a decade ago and it's far more mainstream now, so I'll take the plunge you recommend.

USBs: hah, good point. I always tend to overdo this, and wading through the USB types x USB speed versions doesn't help. Will take your advice.

Windows 11: I am checking with my IT support, as I'm fairly sure they obliged me to spec W10 Pro in the office during a refresh a couple of years ago. Think this was to do with at least the Active Directory side of things. The price difference isn't enormous, though, so unless it's a definitive "Home is fine", I'll probably not take the chance, but thanks for mentioning it.

Cheers again.
 

Granicus334

New member
It can be swings and roundabouts for the most part but writing a pagefile from RAM will be significantly faster on the 980 and will come into play IMO. Anytime you're writing from RAM will make a big difference, but 100mb/s read difference is insignificant.

As much as the write endurance is amazing on the Firecuda, the 980 is already significantly past the point of any normal persons usage.... you would literally need to deliberately attempt to burn the writes out to get to the end of its life. Any normal, or even professional usage, wouldn't hit it or anywhere near it.

Given the write speed of both drives it would take just as long to burn them both out though ;)

Even on my piddly little 950 I'll never get near the TBW capacity. The only time I've feared endurance was with the 660p as it was woeful.

Thank you, Scott. I'm opting for the Samsung because of a slight historical preference for them over Seagate, plus it's a little cheaper, which is enough to tip the balance.

Oh, and I'm upgrading from this: 1TB Samsung 840 EVO SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (upto 540MB/sR | 520MB/sW). So in any event, the drive and boot speed difference should be staggering...
 

sck451

MOST VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
Many thanks for your reply, sck451, genuinely appreciated.

Case: noted, and changed. I was trying for a silent-ish PC but you can't have everything, and as cooler tends to mean less fan activity, it's the same odds, maybe.

SSDs: I had, being a bear of little brain, tried to make my C: drive fast AND large. One reason is that I recently moved and my broadband's fallen off a cliff: from 200MB/s to 17Mb/s, so the more I could copy from the old PC to the new without having to worry about paths, etc., the better. But your logic is impeccable. I had also thought I'd want games on the fastest drive possible but seems not.

Cooler: had a bad experience with water cooling once, but that was more than a decade ago and it's far more mainstream now, so I'll take the plunge you recommend.

USBs: hah, good point. I always tend to overdo this, and wading through the USB types x USB speed versions doesn't help. Will take your advice.

Windows 11: I am checking with my IT support, as I'm fairly sure they obliged me to spec W10 Pro in the office during a refresh a couple of years ago. Think this was to do with at least the Active Directory side of things. The price difference isn't enormous, though, so unless it's a definitive "Home is fine", I'll probably not take the chance, but thanks for mentioning it.

Cheers again.
All perfectly good rationales. A couple of things in response...

First, yes it sounds like you need Windows 11 Professional. I didn't want to assume either way, but it was just worth flagging & checking.

Second, your cooler actually already was a water cooler. Corsair only sells liquid coolers <sub>(not technically true but we don't talk about it)</sub> but the H115i is a modern one, whereas the H100x is now fairly elderly and outdated.

Third, 17Mb/s is 100x slower than 200MB/s. That's wrong and you should definitely be speaking with your ISP!
 
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