Advice needed on new tower spec

[daveenty]

I'll start by saying that I'm "out of the loop" when it comes to PCs nowadays. The last one I built was the one I'm currently on which, whilst being OK at the time, is now getting on a bit at nearly 10 years old. I've replaced several items on it over the years including memory upgrades, new PSU, SSD and liquid cooling, though I feel that it needs to be gracefully retired before it decides to give up the ghost completely as it's now starting to show its' age and needs several more upgrades.

I was going to post in the thread below by piff (New desktop PC required) as it's a similar issue, but thought I'd start a new thread so as not to add to the confusion.

Would one of the resident experts be able to check the list below to confirm that everything will play nicely together and that I've not missed anything blindingly obvious out? I'd also like to mention that noise is an issue with me and I'd like it to be as quiet as possible.

Game Max Silent Mid Tower Gaming Case
**Aero Cool Integrator OEM 500W 80+ Bronze PSU
Gigabyte B360 HD3 Intel Socket 1151 Motherboard
Intel Core i5 8400 2.8GHz Hexa Core (Socket 1151)
**BeQuiet! Pure Rock Slim CPU Cooler
Adata XPG SX8200 480GB M.2-2280 SSD
Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2x 8GB) 2400MHz DDR4
GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB Graphics Card
DVD Writer Optical Drive (My old one is tired and only works when or if it wants)
Windows 10 Pro 64 bit version

** These starred items are subject to change, a bit more research needed yet...

I've not ordered a second hdd as I have a 1Tb in my old machine which will be fine to transfer.

Whist I could probably put it all together myself, I have a build option from the supplier and the whole thing comes with a 3 Year Collect & Return warranty. It's also the best part of £1,000 so I need it to be OK.

It'll be primarily used just for Office stuff, though I do have to edit a few pictures and run a couple of printers, including a resource hogging ID card one. After that it's mainly a bit of web browsing and general usage.

I know it's probably overkill for my needs, but I want it to last for at least 5 years when, hopefully, I'll be retired.

Incidentally, I have another option in a used Dell Precision 3620 on the bay, with an i7-7700, 500GB SSD and 16GB RAM and with W10 Pro included. This is over £300 cheaper but I've no idea how old it is or how hard a life it's led, nor who's components it's using.

 

[Alex]

Dave, I’ve got a Precision laptop which I bought when Apple decided not to put more than 16GB of RAM into their new laptop 2.5 years ago. It is a £3K+ machine that has already been replaced once (after 3 resultless repairs) and now needs another (2nd) swap of speakers as they started to produce noise, not clear sound. Dell’s QC is non existent. Quality of components appears to be the same. I’ll be going back to Mac for my next upgrade.

 

[daveenty]

Cheers Alex, was a bit wary of the Dell after reading several reports. Also it seemed to be lacking in certain things.

I don't want a Mac, though admittedly I've never tried one, due to all of my work software being Windows based. As is a lot of my hardware...

I'm still going through the build sheet above and it's only £25 for them to assemble it and install the O/S, which seems like a no brainer to me.

I'll double check it all again later and probably get it ordered.

 

[clk320x]

Cheers Alex, was a bit wary of the Dell after reading several reports. Also it seemed to be lacking in certain things.

I don't want a Mac, though admittedly I've never tried one, due to all of my work software being Windows based. As is a lot of my hardware...

I'm still going through the build sheet above and it's only £25 for them to assemble it and install the O/S, which seems like a no brainer to me.

I'll double check it all again later and probably get it ordered.

Dave, Give me an hour and I’ll PM you. We may be able to get you something better spec’d For the price.

Abs

 

[clk320x]

Dave,

That PSU isn’t great, ideally you want a good branded unit from say EVGA/Corsair etc. Fully modular is the best so you don’t have tonnes or cables lying around in the tower.

For the cooler I would go for the Hyper 212 Evo, it’s brilliant for the price.

 

[clk320x]

CPU: Intel - Core i7-8700K 3.7GHz 6-Core Processor (£320.35 @ PC World Business)

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master - Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£24.98 @ Ebuyer)

Motherboard: MSI - Z370-A PRO ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (£89.99 @ CCL Computers)

Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000
Memory (£146.94 @ Box Limited)

Storage: Samsung - 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£97.19 @ Aria PC)

Video Card: MSI - GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB GAMING X 4G Video Card (£169.98 @ Ebuyer)

Case: Fractal Design - Focus G (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case (£43.79 @ Aria PC)

Power Supply: EVGA - SuperNOVA G3 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£89.40 @ Alza)

Optical Drive: Asus - DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer (£16.75 @ Amazon UK)

Total: £999.37
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.

 

[daveenty]

Dave,

That PSU isn’t great, ideally you want a good branded unit from say EVGA/Corsair etc. Fully modular is the best so you don’t have tonnes or cables lying around in the tower.

For the cooler I would go for the Hyper 212 Evo, it’s brilliant for the price.

Appreciate you taking the time to look at this Abbs, especially your next post with the detailed specs. However, I do think that a lot of it (including my original build) may be a bit of overkill for what is basically an office machine. I've also set myself a budget of £1,000 tops, though this must include a licensed version of Win 10 pro.

i agree about the PSU, though I do have a Be Quiet modular one in my current machine which I was going to swap out. I've changed my build slightly this morning (fourth time now) and I did include the Hyper 212 you mention as it came recommended elsewhere. I do want to stick with the m.2 ssd though, mainly for the faster speeds. I'm also thinking of reducing the memory from 16 - 8GB as I'm not convinced that I need 16.

I've also got to take the build time into account which is why I'm tempted to stick with the one supplier. I don't have the time, patience or space to start messing about putting it all together really. I do have a dedicated workshop at the back of my garage but somehow it's managed to fill itself up with 190E parts and various other stuff.

 

[clk320x]

Appreciate you taking the time to look at this Abbs, especially your next post with the detailed specs. However, I do think that a lot of it (including my original build) may be a bit of overkill for what is basically an office machine. I've also set myself a budget of £1,000 tops, though this must include a licensed version of Win 10 pro.

i agree about the PSU, though I do have a Be Quiet modular one in my current machine which I was going to swap out. I've changed my build slightly this morning (fourth time now) and I did include the Hyper 212 you mention as it came recommended elsewhere. I do want to stick with the m.2 ssd though, mainly for the faster speeds. I'm also thinking of reducing the memory from 16 - 8GB as I'm not convinced that I need 16.

I've also got to take the build time into account which is why I'm tempted to stick with the one supplier. I don't have the time, patience or space to start messing about putting it all together really. I do have a dedicated workshop at the back of my garage but somehow it's managed to fill itself up with 190E parts and various other stuff.

Hey Dave,

I completely get what you mean, as you quite rightly say for an office machine either will be ample

In terms of memory, you can probably get away with 8GB, and anyway it’s easy to upgrade later if anything changes.

Who is the supplier you are using mate? For £25 I’d probably get them to build it too! Saves the hassle

Abs

 

[daveenty]

CCL Abs, used them for many years now.

They're only about 40 minutes away as well so, should anything go a bit wrong, I can go knocking on their door. And £25 to put it all together and install the system has got to be worth it.

I've just done my last "build" of the morning but must have been over enthusiastic with something as this one was nearly £1,200.

 

[Piff]

I spoke to a guy called Steve at Aria tel 0161 248 1688. Very knowledgeable, he sent me his proposed spec after a long conversation. I checked through each item and suggested changes for various reasons (for example usb ports on the wrong side of the case he suggested - I needed them on the front of the case).
He replied rejecting some of my suggestions on performance basis, accepting some of my suggestions as my personal preference and future connectivity bearing in mind I expect my PC to last 10 years.
I thought I wanted 16GB RAM and presumed it would be 2 x 8GB. He said 1 x 16GB would perform better and if I wanted to upgrade in the future it would be easy to add another 1 x 16GB
You might like to check Aria against CCL.
If you proceed with CCL, phone them and discuss your proposals. They may have opinions about which CPU works best with which motherboard, etc, etc.
Mine ended up with a decent spec (more than I currently need but hopefully future proofed for 10 years) for £750 delivered.

 

[clk320x]

I thought I wanted 16GB RAM and presumed it would be 2 x 8GB. He said 1 x 16GB would perform better and if I wanted to upgrade in the future it would be easy to add another 1 x 16GB

Correct re:upgrading if you only have two ram sockets.

Wrong about a single stick performing better as ‘dual channel’ is quicker than ‘single channel’....

 

[daveenty]

Thanks for the info. I'll phone CCL in the week sometime, probably try your guys as well.

I'm sacking computers for a couple of days though, apart from work that is. Configured that many today I can't get them out of my head so going to clean cars for a while.