Building PC log

[Redek]

I am starting this log because I have been thinking about building a new PC for ages. In 2018, I bought a laptop, and this, plus a monitor plugged in, is what serves as my set-up. About 12 years ago, I made a gaming PC, and I want to do it again but better.
My upper budget is 2.5k. But I don't want that to define it. I'm guessing I could spend much less to get what I want.

What I want versus what I need are two different things. I thought it might be smarter to start small build my own NUC. But when I looked into it, it was going to cost me £hundreds anyway. So my rationalle is why waste time doing that.

This is what I want :

• Small form factor
• Watch movies on a projector screen and gaming. Also VR.
• Looks good because my first build I did was a mess with cable management.
• Great performance, efficiency and reliable PC.

The next thing to do is to write down a list of parts. I don't know enough about computers to make really informed decisions. So far, I've just been watching videos of PCs that other people have made. So, this is an example list of parts that I have come up with :

- Case - Fractal Terra - £150
- CPU - AMD Ryzen 5 7600X Desktop Processor (6-core/12-thread, 38MB cache, up to 5.3 GHz max boost) - £200
- GPU - MSI GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER 16G GAMING X TRIO - £1100
- MOBO - One that has the right CPU socket and fits inside the case obviously - £250
- RAM - DDR5 RAM 32GB - £120
- Hard Drive - 1 TB SSD - £130

Total = £1,950

I have had a look at my decommissioned rig, and Im not sure if there's anything worth recycling from it.

 

[Tetras]

The next thing to do is to write down a list of parts. I don't know enough about computers to make really informed decisions.

Do you want us to comment, or are you just going to share your research and decisions here?

 

[Redek]

Do you want us to comment, or are you just going to share your research and decisions here?

I will just share my research and decisions for the time being, thank you.

 

[mickyflinn]

I will just share my research and decisions for the time being, thank you.

I know you want to research but you may want to think about power supplies and CPU coolers as there isn't any in your list.

 

[Redek]

• PSU - 850 Watt Coolermaster - £125
• CPU Air cooler - Noctua NH-L9a-AM5, Premium Low-profile CPU Cooler for AMD AM5 - £40

Total - £2115

I used a water cooler on the CPU on the last rig, but air would probably have been fine. I assumed water cooling was better. I still have this water-cooling unit.

On the last rig the 650W PSU I got had so many cables. Trying to fit all the cables and get them connected properly was the most bothersome part. I ended up stuffing them down the bottom pf the tower case

 

[mickyflinn]

• PSU - 850 Watt Coolermaster - £125
• CPU Air cooler - Noctua NH-L9a-AM5, Premium Low-profile CPU Cooler for AMD AM5 - £40

Total - £2115

I used a water cooler on the CPU on the last rig, but air would probably have been fine. I assumed water cooling was better. I still have this water-cooling unit.

On the last rig the 650W PSU I got had so many cables. Trying to fit all the cables and get them connected properly was the most bothersome part. I ended up stuffing them down the bottom pf the tower case

Make sure you read the specs of the terra case as the PSU has to be SFX orSFX-L and the coolermaster is quiet noisy as my brother @keef247 had one which he changed to a Corsair.

No doubt he'll be glad to tell you all about it

 

[Redek]

The most demanding thing I want it to do is properly support a VR headset, even though I won't be able to afford that to begin with.
I'll have two monitors: a 27-inch 4 K, which I will have to purchase, and a 24-inch 1080p, which I already own.

Here is a possible list of parts and why. I'm taking the case out of the equation at this point. I don't know if I should aim to overclock this system.

CPU - AMD Ryzen7X. This CPU will offer good future-proofing and will be powerful enough.

RAM - 32GB DDR5 6000

4K 28 Inch Monitor -

Because I will be using the system for different things, I will need to be able to tweak for best performance depending on use. For example, higher FPS and refresh rates for online games and then higher graphics quality for everything else.
Perhaps I can save money with a 1440p resolution monitor.

MOTHERBOARD - AMD socket to go with the Ryzen CPU.

PSU - Asus ROG Loki SFX-L 850W Platinum Power Supply
I have found one in white that looks nice and has a small form factor.

Graphics Card - GIGABYTE GeForce RTX 4070 AERO OC 12GB Graphics Card
I think this card is powerful enough for VR.

The system needs to run smoothly as well, so the hardware needs adequate cooling.

​

 

[mickyflinn]

The 4070 is more suited for 1440p so that's where I would aim, plus you don't need to spend the earth on a monitor unless you want an oled.

As for running smoothly it's the dips/ lows in FPS that causes slow downs or stutters so get the best gpu you can afford.


If you don't mind a suggestion on monitor this is excellent value for money , but read reviews before you decide on parts.

LG 27" 27GR75Q-B 2560x1440 IPS 165Hz 1ms FreeSync/G-Sync Gaming Monitor

Order LG 27" 27GR75Q-B 2560x1440 IPS 165Hz 1ms FreeSync/G-Sync Gaming Monitor now online and benefit from fast delivery.

www.overclockers.co.uk

 

[mickyflinn]

@Redek

In your list you have a 1tb M2 for £130 is that the correct price/size?

I'm all about value for money.

 

[Removed User 345456]

Make sure you read the specs of the terra case as the PSU has to be SFX orSFX-L and the coolermaster is quiet noisy as my brother @keef247 had one which he changed to a Corsair.

No doubt he'll be glad to tell you all about it

Picture this @Redek @mickyflinn @Tetras , a PSU that is stupidly loud even at a pathetic 150w total system load, to the point you can hear it over listening to music, even when the PSU fan isn't at peak RPM - I dread to think how bad it'd be with a proper power draw from a gaming system!!!

The fan is also a very irratating type of fan noise, hard to explain but you'd have to witness it yourself, to understand how annoying it was!

Then pair that with terrible build quality in both the cables/PSU itself, finished off with a rip off price, then this is THE **** PSU for you!

THE WORST PSU I've ever bought/used! Do NOT buy a Coolermaster.

I have never been so angry and disappointed with a PC product, ever - CM are literally just a logo now, they clearly don't give a **** about their reputation nor loyalty to their old school products/previous buyers!

TLDR, they are ****! Avoid like the plague!

 

[Redek]

@Redek

In your list you have a 1tb M2 for £130 is that the correct price/size?

I'm all about value for money.

£130 was an estimate. The specific one I was looking at is a Samsung 980 PRO PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD 1TB, and it is listed for £104

 

[Redek]

Picture this @Redek , a PSU that is stupidly loud even at a pathetic 150w total system load, to the point you can hear it over listening to music, even when the PSU fan isn't at peak RPM - I dread to think how bad it'd be with a proper power draw from a gaming system!!!

The fan is also a very irratating type of fan noise, hard to explain but you'd have to witness it yourself, to understand how annoying it was!

Then pair that with terrible build quality in both the cables/PSU itself, finished off with a rip off price, then this is THE **** PSU for you!

THE WORST PSU I've ever bought/used! Do NOT buy a Coolermaster.

I have never been so angry and disappointed with a PC product, ever - CM are literally just a logo now, they clearly don't give a **** about their reputation nor loyalty to their old school products/previous buyers!

TLDR, they are ****! Avoid like the plague!

thanks for the heads up I will give CM products a wide berth!

 

[Removed User 345456]

You're welcome bud!

Oh and I forgot to mention @Redek @mickyflinn @Tetras , this was the 'revised better version'!!! As the first was so **** even CM admitted it and 'revised' it. I dread to think how terrible the first version must have been if the 'better' version was this ****!
Oh and said fan just kicks in slyly after running quietly for 10-15mins, then goes up and down in RPM when it feels like, despite the total peak power draw not changing - I tested/monitored this, so there is no reason other than it must be getting hot as ****! Imagine how bad it'd be with a 4090/i9 in it!

It is the PSU equivalent of falling down the stairs repeatidly on purpose.

 

[Removed User 345456]

Sorry for the rant, but I needed to release that anger, I kept trying to lie to myself about how bad it was, just unboxing it and feeling how cheaply made it and the cables were, was bad enough, I bit my tongue, installed it, had a nightmare with the stupidly long rubbish quality cables/plugs, then turned it on, silence... For 10-15mins, then all hell broke loose!

I tried to put up with it for a few days, then thought WTF am I doing? I'm not a charity case? This is MY money for ***** sake! Bought the legendary Corsair SF750 80+ platinum for a tenner more - that along with my NZXT C850, are THE best SFX/ATX PSU's I've owned, in every aspect!

I genuinely considered not returning it, so that I could throw it off a multi story car park, run it over repeatidly, set fire to it, then beat the **** out of it with a sledge hammer just incase someone took what remained and tried to reuse it!

I do wish I'd done this now, so that I could film it and send the video to my brothers @mickyflinn and @Tetras - hope you all enjoyed my 2 reviews above

 

[mickyflinn]

£130 was an estimate. The specific one I was looking at is a Samsung 980 PRO PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD 1TB, and it is listed for £104

You can get the ADATA XPG GAMMIX S70 BLADE 2TB M.2 for £115 thats where I would be putting my money , or the 1tb version for £66.

 

[Redek]

You can get the ADATA XPG GAMMIX S70 BLADE 2TB M.2 for £115 thats where I would be putting my money , or the 1tb version for £66.

This one is much cheaper than the Samsung, but the specs look similar, if not the same. It must be cheaper because of the brand name. Thanks for pointing that out.

 

[Redek]

Sorry for the rant, but I needed to release that anger, I kept trying to lie to myself about how bad it was, just unboxing it and feeling how cheaply made it and the cables were, was bad enough, I bit my tongue, installed it, had a nightmare with the stupidly long rubbish quality cables/plugs, then turned it on, silence... For 10-15mins, then all hell broke loose!

I tried to put up with it for a few days, then thought WTF am I doing? I'm not a charity case? This is MY money for ***** sake! Bought the legendary Corsair SF750 80+ platinum for a tenner more - that along with my NZXT C850, are THE best SFX/ATX PSU's I've owned, in every aspect!

I genuinely considered not returning it, so that I could throw it off a multi story car park, run it over repeatidly, set fire to it, then beat the **** out of it with a sledge hammer just incase someone took what remained and tried to reuse it!

I do wish I'd done this now, so that I could film it and send the video to my brothers @mickyflinn and @Tetras - hope you all enjoyed my 2 reviews above

haha, yeah, that's what it's like sometimes. I've never had it with a PSU, lol, but I have but defo have lied to myself that everything was hunky dory when it clearly was not! Glad you found the Corsair to replace that piece of crap!

 

[Removed User 345456]

haha, yeah, that's what it's like sometimes. I've never had it with a PSU, lol, but I have but defo have lied to myself that everything was hunky dory when it clearly was not! Glad you found the Corsair to replace that piece of crap!

Haha, yeah you lie to yourself cause you've saved up for it, finally bought it, waited for it to arrive, faff about fitting it, finally get it up and running, then 10-15mins later suddenly there's a tornado coming out of your PC!
It's lucky I didn't drop kick it out of the window

Yeah the SF750 is a badass PSU, I totally get all the hype about it now that I own one.

Here's a link to my 2nd rig, that the SF750 is fitted to, nothing mind blowing spec wise as the one in my sig is the gaming machine.

Silverstone SG-13

Not really a build thread, more of an ongoing project summary, sorry :) quite pleased with the end result... I will update it as time goes on ;) The machine in my signature is purely used for SP gaming with a controller and plugged into the tv, so I still needed something to use at the desk...

forums.overclockers.co.uk

 

[Removed User 345456]

Oh I must add, the thing that made me ironically purchase that Coolermaster PSU, was the fact it was advertised as 'extremely quiet'

QUIET COOLING
two of the main benefits of a mini-ITX build are the reduced size requirements and reduced noise. The main cause of noise in a PSU is usually the fan. The V SFX Gold uses a 92mm FDB fan so it's extremely quiet. With its small size, high efficiency, and excellent heat dissipation, the overall noise is kept to an absolute minimum.

The person who designed and tested it was obviously deaf, probably from being around so many of their PSU's

Oh and the mitx rig the SF750 lives in, is less than a metre if that from me sat at the desk in my chair, it literally lives under my monitor at my desk, and I cannot hear it, and never have! So you can imagine what an 'event' it was having the tornado Coolermaster fitted!

 

[mickyflinn]

This one is much cheaper than the Samsung, but the specs look similar, if not the same. It must be cheaper because of the brand name. Thanks for pointing that out.

There are other differences but not enough imo to justify the price difference.