Son's PC build revisited - from Christmas 2018

sparkyb

sparkyb

sparkyb

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208
Hi,

Please can you help me?

Just before Christmas I posted about my son wanting to build a pc for Christmas. But unfortunately he left it too late and I didn't have enough money at the time. Since then I have helped him out by adding to his Christmas money and he now has £950, he is happy to wait a little bit longer for more cash and get better parts. I haven't looked at the parts in depth at the minute, but he has seen a case that he really likes and i was wondering if you could help me with a few questions please?

He likes the Lian Li PC-011 Dynamic, particularly the Razer version (with the mouse);

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/lian...d-glass-razer-deathadder-mouse-ca-77h-ll.html

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/lian-li-pc-o11-dynamic-midi-tower-black-window-ca-76s-ll.html

I think the case is built for liquid cooling, but i was planning on going with air cooling, a Ryzen 7 2700 CPU and graphics card (not yet decided);

  • Is this case ok for air cooling? (he is not planning on overclocking)
  • Is it possible to mount a rear fan?
  • Do you know when the Razer case is out, its pre-order at the minute?
  • Does the Razer logo light up or is just reflective from the RGB lights?

I think I might get the case first if its suitable and then the parts later when we have decided on what to get.

The original post from last year:

https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/t...istmas-present-please.18839637/#post-32347771


Thank you,

Mark
 
Hi lee32uk,

Thank you. That's great, pre-order is a lot closer than I thought, he really like the case so I will try and get one for him - Hopefully the mouse version as he hasn't got a mouse.

I am not sure of the number of fans to use. It will definitely be 3 on the side, he wants to add the Corsair LL120 RGB dual light loop rgb fans in that position. I haven't thought about the bottom fans yet, but I will be adding ones on the top.

Ok, I will see if I can get in contact with orbitalwalsh

Thanks
 
tamzzy said:
my advice: probably best to manage your son's expectations. £150 is a lot to spend on a case.
spending 15% of the budget on a case would mean you'd need to make sacrifices elsewhere.
Click to expand...

Hi, its ok. I am helping him out by giving him money and he is happy to wait longer to build up more cash to get a better PC.

Do you think the case is not worth the price then?
 
tamzzy said:
on the contrary, i think with the mouse as a freebie, it's well worth it.
if it was a budget of £2000-3000 one could splurge out on the case, but with a budget of £950...and having spent £150 on the case, that could mean the difference between getting a 2600 vs 2700/x, or a rx580 vs a vega 56.
budget will need to be balanced somehow. and it will not be in the favour of performance.
as with all rgb bling bling, and kids being kids, i suspect that within a month or two, the rgb lights will be off, when its novelty wears off.
Click to expand...

You hit the nail on the head there, kids love the rgb. Personally I wouldn't bother myself, however the lights do look good!

I also hadn't realised that the prices didn't include VAT, should have looked closer. So like you say the case it pretty expensive.
 
I think I might stick with the Lian Li case as my son likes it - he is fine with waiting a bit longer until he has enough money for what he wants, so that's not really an issue.

My main concern was if the case wasn't really suitable for air cooling and if I we might end up with problems because of it?
 
orbitalwalsh said:
Bottom to top air flow design . Should in theory have the best cooling . Want to run positive pressure , lots to do unfiltered vents at the back of the case if you run negative ( a lot of dynamic cases are run negative, why... Because the 3 fans on the motherboard try are set to their open pretty side and exhaust air out )
Click to expand...

Hi Orbitalwalsh,

Thank you, that's given me a bit more confidence in the case - what did you mean by lots to do?

Do you have this case using air flow? if so, what is it like please?
 
ExoMale said:
if your son is willing to wait then maybe aim for something like this

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £1,498.03 (includes shipping: £14.10)
​
Click to expand...

Hi ExoMale,

Thank you for posting the part list, that's within his budget and is happy to wait a little longer when he has the money. The graphics card was quite a bit more than what I thought I would spend. But if I drop the price of that then he can either get a cheaper build or slightly different parts.

His heart is set on that case and I think I might order it tonight;

Is there anyway I can test the case lights and connections before building the pc (I have no other parts at the minute)? The reason being, it might be a few more months before he gets all the parts to complete the build - because of saving his money or going for the new ryzen cpu that's going to be released. Or so a work mate tells me about the new cpu? So if the case is sat around for a while I want to double check its ok.

Thanks
 
ExoMale said:
well the gpu is debatable, i chose it because its the new radeon 7 and it trade blows with the 2080 or 2080ti(cant remember which) and sort of a better price, you could get the 2060, but it depends what level of performance he will want.
Click to expand...

Ok, thank you. I was looking at about £250 for the gpu and saw this one;

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/sapp...ddr5-pci-express-graphics-card-gx-38r-sp.html

Would this be any good?

I am also coming up with a price of about £1400 - 1500, so my son (or should I say me) is short by about £550 max. Slightly worried that this might be overkill as he has only mentioned two games at the minute, CS Go and Roller Coaster Tycoon. I am sure he will want to play more demanding games, so I suppose spending more now for a better pc rather than upgrading later on is more practical for me anyway?
 
ExoMale said:
you might aswell get something like this then or lower to a quad core + 1050ti that wont be overkill and just see how you get on.

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £872.95 (includes shipping: £14.10)
​


use the remaining budget for a nice freesync monitor.
Click to expand...

Thats a much better price thank you especially as I will need to add in a better keyboard and monitor at some point. Those can come for birthdays etc.
 
Hi all,

Really appreciate your help and advice, thank you :):):)

That's a good list of parts and thank you for tailoring it to my budget. I might take the monitor off and get it for his birthday / Christmas, which will give him a bit more money now. He has a LCD for his Xbox, which I think will be ok and will keep him going until he has enough money for a monitor - give him something to look forward to as well!

I felt a bit guilty about dropping his budget down from £1500 last night, he's a good kid and doesn't ask for anything so I think he deserves it. I chatted with my wife and she says it will be fine, but might have to wait a bit longer as he builds up his cash. I know he is after a Ryzen 7 2700 set up, so I will have a look into that and that's not saying that I don't appreciate your suggestions as I really do. They have been a great guidance, thank you.

I know my son is keeping an eye on this post, so I will have to be careful what I say!

This evening I pre-ordered the case from Overclockers that my son likes and he is really excited. For some reason it thought it was released today? But anyway, if there is a wait for it, then that's ok as I can look into the build parts with more time.
 
orbitalwalsh said:
you'll need MSI board for Razor RGB to work via software . Vega 56 with 3 free games and 1080 144hz gaming or 1440p 60hz .


​

RYZEN 2600X is currently on sale for under £160 - get it. Your son will only need a 2700 is he plans on streaming/vid editing . If its streaming then go RTX 2060 and use nvidia own encoder with OBS
Click to expand...

Hi Orbitalwalsh,

Thank you for the list, there are some good prices, having a look now.

I think my son was planning on streaming, video editing and game editing at some point, he also tells me he will make his millions on YouTube when he sets up an account!! So The RTX 2060 you suggested will be better.

I am glad you mentioned about the motherboard; I am slightly worried about compatibility with the lighting of the case after I pre-ordered it. Do you know if the lighting will work if the motherboard doesn't support the Razer software? If it doesn't support the software is the lighting just a static colour or will not come at all?
 
CuriousTomCat said:
@sparkyb for the same price you can have about 12% higher FPS with the following changes;

Radeon RX VEGA 64 8GB £379.99
Cooler Master MasterBox Pro 5 RGB £59.99

The Lian-Li PC-O11 is a very nice case but why sacrifice other components? It would be different if you're buying a 9900K and a 2080ti etc becuase you'd want a high end case to go with it.
Click to expand...

Its the only case that my son liked, so it wasn't an option getting something else that he wouldn't be happy with regardless if it was cheaper. No news on the case yet.

I'm not sure I am sacrificing components for the cost of the case, I haven't made up my mind what I am going for yet. But I am leaning towards a Ryzen 7 2700 or 2700x seeing as its only £20 more expensive at the minute. Which will allow me to "borrow" his pc and perhaps do some 3D modelling / rendering and CAD work. I don't think it really matters what parts go in cheap or expensive case so long as your happy with it.
 
Hi,

My sons case arrived today and its really nice, if your getting one yourself then I don't think you will be disappointed! Really pleased with the speed and efficiency from Overclockers on the case.

I had a good look over it and all seems fine, but there are two cables that I am unsure of. These two cables are not mentioned in the manual;

One looks like a sata cable and is going to the front panel?

The other one is a small 2 pin cable with the text "sw power" stamped on the plastic body. I am sure this is for the power switch, but I seem to remember on my old Lian Li case that the power cable was attached to several other ones and not one its own like this one?

Would you know what these are for and where to plug them in on the motherboard please?
 
lee32uk said:
Hi

The sw power definitely sounds like the power switch. Some case manufacturers label it the other way round though.

As for the sata type one that is probably for the front USB C. Does it look like the picture at the very bottom right of this review ? Don't think the Tomahawk has an internal connector for that though.

https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/LianLi/PC-O11_Dynamic/4.html
Click to expand...

Hi lee32uk,

Thank you for the link - didn't know of that one and that's really helpful.

Yes, the sata cable is exactly like the one in the picture you mentioned

As for the power cable (looking at the bottom left picture in the review) my cable is like the one on the right hand side. But I think it was on its own and not with another cable as the picture? I have put the case back together now so will have to check tomorrow night.
 
lee32uk said:
You might be able to trace the cable to the front and see where it connects. Is there any other front header cables ? You usually have ones like reset and power led etc but it depends on the case in question.
Click to expand...

Ok, thank you. I will have a good look this weekend when I have a bit more time to trace the cables. I planned to check the cables tonight, but have been crazy busy since I got home with other things!

On the front of the case it has the following:

Power switch (1No)
USB 3.0 (2No)
USB 3.1 (1No)
HD audio jacks (2No)

There doesn't seem to be a HDD activity light on the front? But I was wondering if it lights up behind the power switch, will be a very small light source though as the switch surround is snug against the switch itself.
 
orbitalwalsh said:
@marco.da.man

If its an MSI board, razor lighting can be controlled via MSI own software, if another brand then has to go through razor own software
Click to expand...

The RGb lighting for this case is set as below. I will have to try and post some pictures when I have time over the weekend;

Behind the motherboard tray and just in front of the PSU mount there is a RGB control board / hub fixed to the bottom of the case. 3No cables are plugged into the hub and routed to the RGB lights on the front and underside of the case. From the hub there is a USB 2.0 plug to go to the motherboard.

I was wondering about this and if its not being plugged into a MSI motherboard? Would it work on any motherboard using that brands lighting software rather than Razers? or is there something in the case RGB hub that only makes it work with Razer software?
 
marco.da.man said:
little curve ball and a 2700x ive added a monitor and keyboard in for suggestion, of course if you add the extra cooling into the case you need to take this into mind as a budget alert, take the 2 extra's out it comes to £1161.03

I know you have brought case already, but added as total guide line


My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £1,426.91 (includes shipping: £0.00)
​
Click to expand...


Hi marco.da.man

Thank you for the parts list, that's really helpful;

The monitor and keyboard I know I can definitely take out of the equation at the minute as those will be Christmas and birthday presents. For the time being I am going to get a cheap a keyboard and use his LCD TV for a monitor.

He was really happy with the free Razer mouse that came with the case and I know he is after the Corsair RGB pro fans for air cooling (in your list). I cant believe how expensive those things are! I think I might go with 6 fans at the minute for the side and bottom. I hope this will be enough for air cooling until I can afford the fans for the top?

I have got an idea for the parts I a want now, but am just about to log off so will run that by you guys hopefully tomorrow night if that's ok?

I was looking at your suggestions of the Ryzen 7 2700x or the Ryzen 7 2700. He is not going to overclock and I read that the power usage of the 2700x was a lot more that the 2700. The other night the price difference between the two cpus was only £20, but now its £51 and I probably should have got the 2700x at that time. Would there be much difference if I went for the 2700 rather than the 2700x taking into account the power usage? I am also trying to future proof for as long as possible so as not to upgrade for sometime.
 
Hi,

I have come up with a parts list for my son's PC build, please can you have a look and see if the parts are compatible with each other / will have no problems. Thank you.

I have gone for Corsair and Sapphire, mainly because I have used these in the past and haven't had any problems. I also appreciate that they are not the cheapest.

He's not going to overclock, PC will mainly be for games, streaming and YouTube video posts. I might use his PC for 3D rendering and CAD from time to time;

I haven't been able to figure out how to post the parts images like you guys do - It's taken me all morning just to get the links on and sorted!!

My basket at overclockers ukhttps://www.overclockers.co.uk/
Total = £1201.93 (not including shipping of £11.70)

I have yet to choose the following, which will add about another £200 not including the graphics card option. So for everything i am in my budget of about £1500 (not including the case)
  • SSD - not sure I will need one, is there any benefit just for Windows o/s to load faster? Never used a SSD before
  • HDD - haven't been able to find at Overclockers = Seagate Barracuda 3TB ST3000M008 (7200 rpm)
  • Windows 10 o/s - cheapest way (on disc? download? OEM?)
  • Thermal paste - not sure if I need this as I think the CPU comes with it pre-applied?
Not sure how i will get the included drivers and operating system from disc's onto the HDD / SDD without a temporary CD drive? Will i need to get one?

Graphics card option:

It's more expensive by £71, but do you think the Sapphire Radeon RX Vega 56 would be better than the Sapphire Radeon RX 590 Nitro that I have in my basket? Would there be much of a difference to warrant the price?

Sapphire Radeon RX Vega 56 Pulse-8gb = £289.99

The RGB side of this build:

He likes the Corsair fans and will probably also need a fan controller as I don't think the motherboard has enough headers for it. I haven't priced for this is yet.

The RGB memory was only £10 more than the standard, so that's why I have gone with the RGB version.

Case and mouse (already have):

Lian LI PC-011 Dynamic Razer Edition Case + Mouse = £161.69 (Includes shipping)

Thank you
 
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