New (~£2000) rig, could use some help

PurpleShirl

PurpleShirl

PurpleShirl

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I'm currently using an 8 year-old PC I call Shizuku, a Core 2 Duo E6750 with 4GB RAM and a pair of 1TB HDDs running Debian GNU/Linux. Originally I also had a GeForce 8800GT but that shorted-out and died some time ago so I've been on the motherboard's Intel graphics ever since. I've really needed a replacement for some time but have procrastinated at length. However I'm now pretty flush with cash and spending upwards of £2000 for a brand-new PC is not an unrealistic prospect, so this seems like a good time for a fresh start with all new hardware and a new software environment. But it's a been eight years and I am pretty hopelessly outdated on some new advances in PC tech, so I'll be needing some help with build the new PC that I intend to call Tomoko.

Shizuku right now is primarily used for YouTube and anime (a LOT of anime, probably 50-70% of all data on the HDDs being anime or anime-related) but I did some gaming and video encoding before Shizuku became too outdated to handle them and would like to get back in to those activities. I've been looking at a custom-build PC and started with the Pro Gaming PC base as it seemed to be about what I wanted and a few things seem settled right now.

CPU: i7-6850K 3.80Ghz
RAM: 32GB, not sure what brand
Graphics card: GeForce GTX 980, again not sure which brand
Drives: Samsung SM651 256GB for operating system, Samsung 500GB 850 EVO as a general-purpose SSD, and two WD Black 4TB HDDs for everything else, also a Blu-ray drive because why not

Pretty settled on these parts unless there's a good reason to change anything. Of course I would like more power on the CPU and graphics, as well as a bigger general-purpose SSD, but the price jumps after these specs seem pretty severe and I'd struggle to justify them. As I stated I'm not sure about the brands for some stuff, and I've also no idea which motherboard to get, I really don't know what the difference between the options is. I'll also need a power supply of course but again I've no idea what amount of power all of this will draw, so I don't know which one I need.

But on a related note, a lot of the options such as for the case and CPU cooler are for 'quiet' options. Given that Shizuku can be rather noisy (I like 24/7 operation for various reasons) this does seem quite appealing for helping me to get more sleep. But how much do they reduce noise? Also, will they last me the same amount of time Shizuku's fans have? If they do work well I'm definitely interested in these.

Really I'm probably overthinking a lot of this, but Shizuku's been very good to me and replacing my heavily customized software environment is proving a daunting task no matter how necessary it is. So it would be nice to get a good idea of what I actually want before placing the order and being stuck with whatever I get. I really need to feel confident in this before moving forward and feeling like I really know what all the options are and how my needs are best fulfilled would help massively with that.
 
980 isn't really a great option at the moment. The new 1060 matches it for less money and the 1070 beats it handily for not much more. And if you're after cutting edge the 1080 while being fairly expensive at the moment it's stonkingly powerful
 
It seems you are going for a lot of power considering your use case, are you planning to play any games or do any professional work (encoding, rendering etc.)?

the quiet cases from bequiet are very good, the acoustic material on the panels blocks a considerable amount of noise. one of these combined with a large twin tower heatsink will be whisper quiet!

Power supplies are complicated but your best bet is to for one made by seasonic (also make xfx) superflower, evga or antec. These have been proven to provide the best quality and turn efficiency/reliability.

going from 2tb to nearly 9tb of storage will definately give you some headroom! also the WD black drives are slightly louder as they are "performance" drives, if you want something quieter then perhaps consider something like the WD reds which are designed to run quietly and for 24/7 use (manufactured for use in NAS devices)

The cpu could be swapped out for the 6800k or the 5820k if you are planning to stick with one or two graphics cards, the 6850k has more pcie lanes which it seems like you wont need.

Here are some items I think you should consider for your build:

My basket at Overclockers UK:

Total: £1,679.88
(includes shipping: £0.00)
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Is the £2000 budget just for the Tower ?


My basket at Overclockers UK:

Total: £1,938.72
(includes shipping: £0.00)
​


​
 
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The graphics card advice is much appreciated. I recall buying the 8800GT when I did because it provided the same features and damn nearly the same power as higher-spec cards for less than half the price, so buying right will serve me well again I hope.

Benjamham said:
It seems you are going for a lot of power considering your use case, are you planning to play any games or do any professional work (encoding, rendering etc.)?
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Not specifically, but I have got the money to spend and much experience (been using PCs since 1996) has taught me that I'll find a use for the power. It's a case that having the power makes me go looking for things to do with it, and then the fun begins!

Benjamham said:
the quiet cases from bequiet are very good, the acoustic material on the panels blocks a considerable amount of noise. one of these combined with a large twin tower heatsink will be whisper quiet!
Click to expand...
Excellent, I'll definitely spend a bit more for those parts then.

Benjamham said:
going from 2tb to nearly 9tb of storage will definately give you some headroom!
Click to expand...
The primary lesson I've learned over these years is that I can fill any HDD. Stuff that looked unimaginably huge when I bought it would be completely full three years down the line. It's just the sort of person I am, I like to keep everything local. I'd think about going even bigger if I could.

Benjamham said:
also the WD black drives are slightly louder as they are "performance" drives, if you want something quieter then perhaps consider something like the WD reds which are designed to run quietly and for 24/7 use (manufactured for use in NAS devices)
Click to expand...
Worth thinking about since they will be used 24/7 and drive performance has never been the worst bottleneck on any of my systems. Also I will have the SSD to help out with performance, so quietness and reliability will be the primary concerns.

Benjamham said:
The cpu could be swapped out for the 6800k or the 5820k if you are planning to stick with one or two graphics cards, the 6850k has more pcie lanes which it seems like you wont need.
Click to expand...
I'm very unlikely to need two graphics cards. I'm familiar with the sort of games that require such a setup and I've never been a fan of them (at least on the PC, consoles are another matter, but I digress).

Really there are two reasons I want an Nvidia card for Tomoko. First, while I doubt I'll ever call on Tomoko to be a high-end gaming rig I still feel that I will probably at some point want to call on more graphics power than an integrated solution can provide. Second, and probably more important, integrated graphics (as far as I know) mean Intel graphics, and Intel's Linux graphics drivers have left something to be desired. Shizuku has provided unparalleled stability compared to her predecessors but the Intel drivers have proven the weak link as of late. Nvidia's drivers have always been better, so I want to use them, and that means an Nvidia card for Tomoko.

lee32uk said:
Is the £2000 budget just for the Tower ?
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Yes, Tomoko's going to be a straight drop-in replacement for Shizuku using the same keyboard, mouse, speakers, and monitor. I could probably do with replacing some of them in the medium-term but I've taken the view that they can be replaced piecemeal as I need to.
 
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