A nice, quiet, small form PC?

[steve601]

Hi all,

This is my first attempt at configuring a PC so I am a little unsure of what I am doing.

I am looking to replace my six year old MSI GT70 gaming laptop and have viewed laptops, desktops and small form PC's.

I rather like the sound of a compact PC with a 27" monitor and so put together the following spec:-

Case
FRACTAL DEFINE S NANO GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Eight Core Processor i7-9700K (3.6GHz) 12MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® ROG STRIX Z390-I GAMING: Mini-ITX, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2070 SUPER - HDMI, 3x DP GeForce - RTX VR Ready!
1st Storage Drive
NOT REQUIRED
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 3200MB/W)

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DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply
CORSAIR 550W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H60 2018 Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
WIRELESS-N (300Mbps) 3dBi HIGH GAIN USB ADAPTER
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 4 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Supplied on USB Drive
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
BullGuard™ Internet Security - Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Warranty
3 Year Gold Warranty (2 Year Collect & Return, 2 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
TIMED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND - MON-FRI (BEFORE 2PM)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 7 to 9 working days
Promotional Item
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Welcome Book
PCSpecialist Welcome Book - United Kingdom & Republic of Ireland

My question is would this be a quiet machine and suitable for general computing and for playing city building and transport type games?

Also I have selected a wireless adaptor so I know I can connect to my home wi-fi but I cannot see any mention of bluetooth. Is it included if not is it available?


Any advice/comment would be welcome.


Thanks.

Steve.

 

[Oussebon]

What resolution and refresh rate is the monitor? If you are buying a monitor, what is your budget for that?

That motherboard happens to have Bluetooth 5.0 and fast wifi built in, so drop the USB adapter.

The 'issue' with Mini PCs is that they're not actually very mini. This isn't surprising ultimately as you're still expecting them to put the same amount of hardware into a box, and have enough airflow to not roast the thing.

The smaller cases often forego the airflow and make the PCs roast and/or loud. The Nano S isn't one such, but as a result it's actually not very small.

See a (somewhat livelier than perhaps it should have been) discussion on the subject here:

(Mini?) Gaming PC

Hi everyone, After 2 laptops (a PCS Cosmos 15 and PCS Defiance 17) it's time I get a desktop! I'm aiming for a 1080p ultra settings 144fps (hence the 2070 Super, that's the minimum in my opinion) I'm very flexible with my budget and I'll be doing just gaming. One big question I have is around...

www.pcspecialist.co.uk

In short, I'd recommend what I usually recommend which is buying a "regular" ATX PC case rather than a "mini-ITX" PC case, but just get a compact ATX case that is actually not much larger than the "Nano" S, such as the Meshify C (also by Fractal)

The advantages being more upgrade options across the board, and in PCS's case possibly cheaper too (because they only sell 1 mini Z390 mobo, which is an expensive one, whereas there are more wallet-friendly Z390s in the regular PC configurators)

 

[steve601]

What resolution and refresh rate is the monitor? If you are buying a monitor, what is your budget for that?

That motherboard happens to have Bluetooth 5.0 and fast wifi built in, so drop the USB adapter.

The 'issue' with Mini PCs is that they're not actually very mini. This isn't surprising ultimately as you're still expecting them to put the same amount of hardware into a box, and have enough airflow to not roast the thing.

The smaller cases often forego the airflow and make the PCs roast and/or loud. The Nano S isn't one such, but as a result it's actually not very small.

See a (somewhat livelier than perhaps it should have been) discussion on the subject here:

(Mini?) Gaming PC

Hi everyone, After 2 laptops (a PCS Cosmos 15 and PCS Defiance 17) it's time I get a desktop! I'm aiming for a 1080p ultra settings 144fps (hence the 2070 Super, that's the minimum in my opinion) I'm very flexible with my budget and I'll be doing just gaming. One big question I have is around...

www.pcspecialist.co.uk

In short, I'd recommend what I usually recommend which is buying a "regular" ATX PC case rather than a "mini-ITX" PC case, but just get a compact ATX case that is actually not much larger than the "Nano" S, such as the Meshify C (also by Fractal)

The advantages being more upgrade options across the board, and in PCS's case possibly cheaper too (because they only sell 1 mini Z390 mobo, which is an expensive one, whereas there are more wallet-friendly Z390s in the regular PC configurators)

Hi Oussebon,

Thanks for your quick response.

Thank you for your advice regarding the wifi and bluetooth. I didn't realise they are built into the motherboard.

As for the monitor, I shall be buying a new one with a refresh rate of 144hz. Budget of up to £500.

 

[Oussebon]

For upto £500 and for an RTX 2070 Super, you'd be looking at 1440p resolution and 144hz. And you'll want it to have some form of adaptive sync.

There are some options here in case of interest:

Gaming Monitors Guide

The monitor is probably the most important component in any gaming build – it defines how you experience games and the hardware the PC should have. Overlooking the monitor can be the single biggest bottleneck to your gaming experience. With recent monitor and graphics card launches, and wider...

www.pcspecialist.co.uk