Advice needed: small form for office work and 4K media

ntg

ntg

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Good people of OC, I've been out of the loop some time now so I don't know what's the latest and greatest, so I need your advice.

I want to build a new pc for:
- Office related work
- Media watching (I will connect it to my Vizio PQ65 4K)

I am not planning on gaming on it, so I don't care much about that. I wouldn't say no to an occasional few hours killing zombies or whatever, but it's not important.

The requirements are, as I am thinking about them:
- Small size. I don't have any preference for case but a cube or even smaller would be ideal. It will probably go on my desk.
- Quiet. I'd like it to be quiet when I am doing office work on it. I don't care about the noise if I happen to play a game, that's understandable. However, when using it to watch a movie or do office stuff I'd like it to be unnoticeable.
- 4K HDR media playback. I want to watch my movies in as good quality as possible, so a card that can do 4K HDR without a sweat is necessary. I also want this to be easy. I don't want to be fiddling with a million options and tweaks to get it to play at 10bits or whatever. I just want it to work.
- Needs to support a minimum of 2 monitors and ideally 3.
- Needs to take an SSD (or whatever is the latest tech) + 1 regular hard disk

Budget: not much of an issue. I'm not looking to spend loads, but I'll spend whatever it's necessary to get a good quality PC that fits my requirements.

For screens I have seen the following getting good comments:
LG 27UK650-W
LG 32UD59-B (they are cheaper than the LG 27 model and will be easier to work with in 4K office mode.)

Is there something better (or as good but bigger size) at that price range? I wouldn't mind 4k resolution at my office monitors if they are big enough.

Finally, about storage, I got an old Samsung 830 SSD. Is today's storage considerably faster or should I reuse that one?

All advice most gratefully received.
 
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ntg

ntg

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ok, from reading about a bit it seems that an AMD 3600 is the CPU to go for.

What's a good mobo and ram to pair it with?
What about a relatively silent cooler?

Would those fit in an ITX?
 

ntg

ntg

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Thanks for the replies so far.

The build I've put together is the following:


Are there any recommendations on cheaper-as-good alternatives for:
- Monitors: I'd prefer 4k but I thought 27'' is too small to enjoy it for office use.
- GPU: No gaming. Need it silent and 4K HDR media playback at optimum quality
- NVME: I understand this one is the best high-end NVME but I'd be willing to go for smaller size and as fast if it's considerably cheaper

My reqs are on OP for details.
 
Soldato
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If you're not gaming or doing GPU computing stuff, 450W PSU would be well enough.
Without GPU being stressed that PC simply won't ever reach 150W power draw.

That case actually has 140mm CPU cooler clearance:
https://www.thermaltake.com/C_00002373.htm
So there's no need for such small flat cooler, especially when that Noctua is such expensive and there are no doubt better tower coolers for lot less.

Phison E12 based drives are very good for high write endurance.
In fact their write endurance spec (other limit for warranty besides time) is over 2.5 times that of Samsung overprice 970 Evo.
Corsair MP510, Patriot VPN100, PNY CS3030, Sabrent Rocket and Silicon Power P34A80 are other Phison E12 based drives.

Though for light use Kingston A2000 would be enough and best priced per GB.
There isn't much of real world Windows loading time difference between NVMe drive and SATA drive, so basic NVMe drive certainly does the work:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3AMz-xZ2VM
 

ntg

ntg

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If you're not gaming or doing GPU computing stuff, 450W PSU would be well enough.
Without GPU being stressed that PC simply won't ever reach 150W power draw.

That case actually has 140mm CPU cooler clearance:
https://www.thermaltake.com/C_00002373.htm
So there's no need for such small flat cooler, especially when that Noctua is such expensive and there are no doubt better tower coolers for lot less.

Phison E12 based drives are very good for high write endurance.
In fact their write endurance spec (other limit for warranty besides time) is over 2.5 times that of Samsung overprice 970 Evo.
Corsair MP510, Patriot VPN100, PNY CS3030, Sabrent Rocket and Silicon Power P34A80 are other Phison E12 based drives.

Though for light use Kingston A2000 would be enough and best priced per GB.
There isn't much of real world Windows loading time difference between NVMe drive and SATA drive, so basic NVMe drive certainly does the work:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3AMz-xZ2VM


Thank you, all this is very helpful and I'll look into those suggestions to see what I can sub. Any specific cooler you can recommend?
 
Soldato
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Thank you, all this is very helpful and I'll look into those suggestions to see what I can sub. Any specific cooler you can recommend?
SilentiumPC Spartan would be certainly decent budget option and easy to install using AMD's stock HSF mounting.
And there are lots of others smaller tower heatsinks at good price.
Like in OcUK's list Alpenfohn, BeQuiet etc...
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/alpenfohn-sella-cpu-cooler-92mm-hs-043-al.html
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/be-quiet-pure-rock-slim-cpu-cooler-92mm-hs-013-bq.html
Or Raijintek with bolt through mounting.
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/raijintek-aidos-direct-contact-cpu-cooler-hs-002-rt.html
 
Soldato
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The build I've put together is the following:


When you go to look at your basket, there's a button called BB Code. Click that and you'll get a window appear with text you can copy and paste here..

I see you've selected the GTX 1660. The 1660 Super is its replacement and a significant improvement. You've also selected a gaming motherboard; you don't need anything more than the basics.

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £350.08 (includes shipping: £11.10)​
 

ntg

ntg

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SilentiumPC Spartan would be certainly decent budget option and easy to install using AMD's stock HSF mounting.
And there are lots of others smaller tower heatsinks at good price.
Like in OcUK's list Alpenfohn, BeQuiet etc...
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/alpenfohn-sella-cpu-cooler-92mm-hs-043-al.html
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/be-quiet-pure-rock-slim-cpu-cooler-92mm-hs-013-bq.html
Or Raijintek with bolt through mounting.
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/raijintek-aidos-direct-contact-cpu-cooler-hs-002-rt.html

Thank you, the Pure Slim one seems to be the quietest one - and I presume better at cooling that the Noctua I had selected.
 

ntg

ntg

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When you go to look at your basket, there's a button called BB Code. Click that and you'll get a window appear with text you can copy and paste here..

I see you've selected the GTX 1660. The 1660 Super is its replacement and a significant improvement. You've also selected a gaming motherboard; you don't need anything more than the basics.

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £350.08 (includes shipping: £11.10)


Thanks, I've used a website that checks component compatibilities, that's why I didn't use the bbcode, as it would add prices from competitors.

About the mobo, I thought that there aren't any substantial savings by going to something more basic as I found it around £80.

About the GPU, the Super is rather expensive for non-gaming - though I do appreciate it's much better performing. Is there anything from AMD that would provide equally good 4K HDR movie performance as the 1660, at perhaps a better price? It just feels expensive to throw over £200 on a gpu when I won't be gaming with it..dunno. If 1660 Super is the best option then I'll go for it, just want to make sure I'm not missing out on anything AMD has to offer.
 
Soldato
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About the GPU, the Super is rather expensive for non-gaming - though I do appreciate it's much better performing. Is there anything from AMD that would provide equally good 4K HDR movie performance as the 1660, at perhaps a better price?
Watching movies doesn't stress GPU.
Only thing you'll need is video decoding support for HEVC/X265, VP9 and such.
AMD cards with UVD6.3 or newer (Radeon 400 serie and newer) have that
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unified_Video_Decoder#UVD_6
 

ntg

ntg

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Watching movies doesn't stress GPU.
Only thing you'll need is video decoding support for HEVC/X265, VP9 and such.
AMD cards with UVD6.3 or newer (Radeon 400 serie and newer) have that
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unified_Video_Decoder#UVD_6

Hmm, I've been reading that for the best 4K HDR experience and top image quality you need a decent GPU, and 1660 is recommended wherever I checked.

Are you suggesting I could go for something lesser, such as the Radeon 400 series and be fully covered?

EDIT: for reference, in my existing system, I got a 1030 which just about plays 4K without issues, but it's a pain to tweak the HDR options every time through windows etc.
 
Soldato
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Hmm, I've been reading that for the best 4K HDR experience and top image quality you need a decent GPU, and 1660 is recommended wherever I checked.

Are you suggesting I could go for something lesser, such as the Radeon 400 series and be fully covered?

EDIT: for reference, in my existing system, I got a 1030 which just about plays 4K without issues, but it's a pain to tweak the HDR options every time through windows etc.
If you want to use additional post processing, soem of the se are very heavy.
But decoding is done by ASIC module.
UVD 6.3 brings 10bit HDR decoding support
https://www.videoproc.com/gpu-video-editor/amd-vce-vcn-hardware-acceleration.htm
https://www.x.org/wiki/RadeonFeature/#index8h2
 

ntg

ntg

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If you want to use additional post processing, soem of the se are very heavy.
But decoding is done by ASIC module.
UVD 6.3 brings 10bit HDR decoding support
https://www.videoproc.com/gpu-video-editor/amd-vce-vcn-hardware-acceleration.htm
https://www.x.org/wiki/RadeonFeature/#index8h2
Thanks,

Yes, I will be using madvr to upscale any <4k content, so I guess I'll need something beefy to manage that.

Wherever I checked (e.g. reddit) and other pages the 1660 keeps coming up for madvr high settings, that's why I'm skeptical about the AMD cards. I haven't seen them mentioned at any time. Not sure if it's 'old info' I'm reading (perhaps with poor amd drivers at the time?) that's contributed to this impression I'm getting.
 
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