Grumpy Old Man (GOM) build

[stowie]

Dear PC Specialist Forum knowledgeables,

What a blessing to find this site; whilst I still know next to nothing, the builder tool and associated materials are a great aid to understanding and even politely informs me when I’m being wayward and/or inefficient. And these forums are wonderfully educational, when I’m able to break through & get a handle on what’s occurring! My bad, thank you!

There’s a quote for a desktop build below – Please feel free to educate or point out any errors or omissions in light of some of the detail on what I’m going to use it for and how. I’ve blown the budget of £1.4k slightly so please also bear in mind that price rises will result in some awkwardness and require sign off by the financial controller.

There are too many random questions thrown in throughout this blurb, if they’re obvious, dense or annoying, please ignore & accept my apologies.

Current 5yr old silent running PC is making an awful windy din and has been for some time; and the OS is carrying out restart/defrag operations almost weekly, annoying and occasionally slow. Maybe I just need to check and tighten the fans (about the limit of my capabilities) but I’m getting that tired feeling, possibly confusing the PC with myself, I digress.

Why do PCs get tired? Hmmm

I am a sinful smoker (more apologies) and the innards of this desktop have shown dust through the window before I’ve carried out irregular cleaning duties. DUSSST helpful hmmm, me and the PC.

The desktop is struggling with later data HUGE games of Football Manager 19 / Civ 6 / Fallout amongst other big strategy and 3rd person games, world domination being one of my needs. Our small people are also hoping to make us dizzy on VR so decent Graphics capability is needed too. Think I’ve covered this off in Geforce RTX 2060 selection?? I don’t smoke around the small people but they do use the ventilated space.

Case??
I want it to be the opposite of a dust trap, is the case I’ve selected on the right track? CORSAIR OBSIDIAN SERIES™ 750D FULL TOWER CASE

Bearing in mind I have a large CD collection I’m intending to digitalize with my next purchase, soon. So I’d prefer a case which accepts DVD CD RW Drive for ease and to avoid inherent clumsiness.

Any general tips on maintenance or dust approach gratefully received. Unfortunately, laziness is a thing that will persist - BUT if you good people tell me I should open it up every week to make shiny I will act upon it.

Additional fans = More noise grrrr? Useful/Needed? Controller? – How to interface?

Dust Filter solutions within / added to case?

Note: I switch it off, open, ground (a thing??? touch metal + cringe), spray and pray irregularly.

It’s gotta be quiet, this windy din is driving me barmy - Hence some of the quiet options in the assembly list below. Appreciate some fans may make for more noise but I also want to avoid any possible heat issues.

Better balanced options / approach available? i.e 550w quiet instead of 450w PSU but haven’t gone to the trouble of comparing decibel levels? Quiet Case options with good air/noise Filtering??

I need a system which will play pretty much everything plus stream nicely on quick fibre for the next 3 or so years, nothing too whizz bangy, we wanna play, not compete

It needs to be pretty quick starting up and generally doing stuff. Stuff takes ages at work all day so efficiency at home brings great joy, nod to the financial controller good lady .

I was going to try to show some understanding by saying I’ve chosen an AMD CPU on financial principles but didn’t choose an AMD graphics card because they seem a tad derivative, i.e 8GB AMD Radeon RX580??

But, really I’ve made my choices on best guess at bang for buck speeds with no appreciation of what the values mean or how the pieces integrate
When I try to contemplate mother boards I just want my mommy, Direct Drive (DDR = sounds quick + efficient right)?? Bonehead at play, final apology, sorry.

Soundcard

I already have 7.1 surround speakers (6 surround, 1 centre, 1 woofer) from an ancient build but the cables don’t seem to fit in a functional combination on current windy din PC. I get sound but not like it should be.
So I’ve selected Creative Sound Blaster® Audigy™ FX OEM purely on basis that it sorta looks like I remember the outputs from ancient times. Colours match etc, possibly not helpful or logical evidence. Figure I have the speakers so taking a punt they’ll play nicely?

Been rocking a Sony x-black LCD (fat flat) monitor for nearly 20 years, picture is still perfect and will make a nice 2nd screen but I guess it’s time I let a small part of the 21st century in. Samsung never let me down on TVs yet so…


FULL Assembly – Please fix / comment as you see fit in context of GOM principles above. Thanking you kindly

Case

CORSAIR OBSIDIAN SERIES™ 750D FULL TOWER CASE

Processor (CPU)

AMD Ryzen 5 2600 Six Core CPU (3.4GHz-3.9GHz/19MB CACHE/AM4)

World War Z & Division 2: Gold Edition FREE w/ select AMD Ryzen CPUs! (Free stuff yay, scary booo)!

Motherboard

ASUS® CROSSHAIR VII HERO (DDR4, 6Gb/s, CrossFireX/SLI) - RGB Ready!

Memory (RAM)

16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 2666MHz (2 x 8GB)

Graphics Card

6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2060 - HDMI, DP - VR Ready!

1st Storage Drive

500GB Samsung 860 EVO 2.5" SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (upto 550MB/sR | 520MB/sW)

2nd Storage Drive

2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 256MB CACHE

DVD/BLU-RAY Drive

24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM

Power Supply

CORSAIR 550W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET

Processor Cooling

Corsair H100x Hydro Cooler w/ PCS Ultra Quiet Fans (Overkill for this build)?

Thermal Paste

STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING

Sound Card

Creative Sound Blaster® Audigy™ FX OEM

Wireless/Wired Networking

10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)

USB/Thunderbolt Options

MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS

Operating System

Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KK3-00002]

Monitor

Samsung LS24D330HSX/EN 24" LED monitor

Keyboard & Mouse

LOGITECH® MK270 WIRELESS KEYBOARD & MOUSE COMBO

£1,318.33ex VAT£1,582.00inc VAT and Delivery

 

[Flo]

I think the motherboard is a bit overkill for this build. You could drop to the aorus ultra and use the savings for faster ram and a better monitor. Otherwise it looks well balanced.

 

[Stephen M]

I will leave a lot of the questions to those more knowledgeable but a few things worth mentioning spring to mind.

Check the sound capability of the motherboard, many/most now come with good in buult sound and an extra card may not be needed, I run a 5.1 set of speakers on mine and the sound is excellent so providing it will take 7.1 you could save yourself money. Also, PCS allow us to work on machines without voiding the warranty, so you could add a sound card later on if needed, PCS will also be very helpful with advice on how to do this if you have any concerns about doing it yourself.

This is a really useful cleaning device: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/forums/threads/grumpy-old-man-gom-build.62925/ as blowing dust out and away from the case is often more functional than trying to suck it out with a conventional vacuum cleaner. You can also get canned compressed air with a decent length extension nozzle to clear awkward. Unfortunately the only real solution to dust is regular cleaning.

A case with sides, grills etc which can easily be removed will help a lot with cleaning/dust blowing. Unfortunately few cases come with slots for DVD/CD drives theses days so your choice is narrowed, although another option would be a USB DVD/CD player/writer, they are not too expensive.

For the main drive if can stretch the budget, or have saved money elsewhere on the build an M2 PCle NVMe SSD is the best option as the boot up sped is amazing, they are much quicker than standard SSDs, a 250 GB would suffice for everything, although if you have a large number of games, the ones you play less often would have to be swapped on and off the drive.

Not sure what warranty you chose but once spending a grand or more it is worth the fiver for the Silver warranty.

 

[ubuysa]

Further to the above and dust in general, asking for a case to be '...the opposite of a dust trap...' is like asking for the sea not to be wet. The job of the case is to help keep the bits inside cool, it can only do that by sucking in lots and lots of nice cool air. Unfortunately the air is full of dust and most of that dust (your good lady will not like this bit) is dead human skin. It's true.

Anything you do to keep the dust out also keeps the air out, and the last thing you want to do is overheat the stuff inside. Dust is a fact of life I'm afraid, most cases will filter the big bits, and you need to clean any grills and filters regularly - how regularly depends on how dusty your home is. Your good lady really won't like this bit, but some people shed more dead skin than others, so some homes are dustier than others. My rule is; if you can see dust on the grills and/or inside the case then it's time to clean it - and I mean now.

Dust tends to collect on the places where the air is moving the fastest, those are generally the places where you absolutely don't want it to be!

The very best things you can do to prolong the life of a PC is to ensure there is lots of space around it for air to circulate - there needs to be cool air available to be sucked in and you need to allow the hotter exhaust air to get away - and to keep it clean of dust and muck both inside and out.

A can of low pressure compressed air, made for cleaning computers, and a soft brush is the best way to clean dust and muck from inside and outside a PC. Don't blow on it with your mouth, for one thing you don't want to be breathing that dust in again, and for another (something else your good lady won't like) we all tend to have a little spittle and moisture in the air we blow out and spittle and moisture is the last thing you want all over delicate electronic components.

Personally I'm wary of using a vacuum cleaner inside a PC. I do suck the dust off the outer grills with one, but I'm a tad concerned about static electric charges when using a vacuum cleaner - based on no real evidence just an uneasiness - so I never clean the insides of a PC with anything other than compressed air and a soft brush.

And please, don't ever consider a gaming laptop. IMO the term gaming laptop is an oxymoron. Gaming pushes components hard, when they're pushed hard they get hot, and it's very very difficult to get all of that heat out of a laptop fast enough at the best of times. If the user puts the laptop on their lap, or on a bed, or on any soft surface, and blocks the air vents, then its lifespan will be measured in months rather than years....

 

[polycrac]

I have a version of that case (the 500 SE) and it is excellent for dust. It (and the 750 you have picked) comes with quality dust filters that are easy to access and which are held on by magnets, so very easy to take off, clean & replace. My pc is in the dustiest room in the house and the insides are almost spotless.

 

[stowie]

thank you all, very useful information, feed back and direction. Plus thanks for keeping it simple for me!

I'll dig a little deeper into motherboard & soundcard capabilities and options but it's good to know PCS can offer support to assist release of my old man sounds to the world through

already owned ​

7.1 creative speakers, if I hit a road block. These forums and the whole PCS service are something I wish I'd discovered many moons ago.

Cleaning & maintenance tips & advice very much taken on board + I have thrilled other half with dust provenance. It's amusing when we're viewed as a mutant growing a 2nd head!! LOL at UBUYSA response of sea not being wet + others stuff, had an inkling I may be reaching for the moon on a stick with my demand for a dust free PC!
I'll continue to spray & pray, more regularly and at 1st inclination of discarded flesh taking residence. Soft brush to be procured for finessing the clean & I'm gonna click that link Stephen M - thank you for this and other beneficial options identified.

Direct feed back on case ownership very reassuring POLYCRAC. Thank you all for your time and insights, think I'm nearly ready to commit and your advice is totally appreciated

As no one mentioned additional case fans + controller units I don't think I'll aimlessly wander down that path of possible waste, inefficiency and more whirlling decibels.

Will definitely be making this purchase through PCS with a minimum silver warranty, why wouldn't you?!?! Yet another + for PCS.

 

[Oussebon]

Case??
I want it to be the opposite of a dust trap, is the case I’ve selected on the right track? CORSAIR OBSIDIAN SERIES™ 750D FULL TOWER CASE

Bearing in mind I have a large CD collection I’m intending to digitalize with my next purchase, soon. So I’d prefer a case which accepts DVD CD RW Drive for ease and to avoid inherent clumsiness.

I'd suggest the Fractal Define R6, which fits those requirements very well, and also has decent dust filters. It also has sound dampening material on parts of the inside of the case, which can help with particular kinds of noise.

Processor Cooling

Corsair H100x Hydro Cooler w/ PCS Ultra Quiet Fans (Overkill for this build)?

Overkill, and depending how PCS fit them, could compromise quietness - especially in the R6 where PCS would likely remove some of the top panels to install it (instead of fitting it at the front of the case, they tend to prefer the roof). The Noctua cooler would be the go-to for quiet, and doesn't involve PCS removing top panels.

For quietness, the RMx PSU is the go-to as it is semi-passive, meaning it will cool itself without needing to even switch it fan on under many load conditions.

And as above, the motherboard is overkill (it's really for enthusiast overclockers) and the sound card is pointless.
The X470 Ultra Gaming is already stuffed with features
The motherboard manuals detail how to connect sound systems I believe.
e.g. http://download.gigabyte.eu/FileList/Manual/mb_manual_x470-aorus-ultra-gaming_1001_e_180704.pdf pg numbered 12
(image of motherboard rear outputs: https://static.gigabyte.com/Product/2/6547/2018041110424516_src.png )

Other comments:
- Ryzen likes faster RAM, so go with 2933MHz for the modest price difference and since this PC is for gaming
- get a better budget monitor - the AOC G2460VQ6 has freesync (variable refresh rate tech, now supported on Nvidia GPUs) with a very generous window.
- agreed with the above on the SSD

e.g.

Case
FRACTAL DEFINE R6 BLACK QUIET MID-TOWER CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 2600 Six Core CPU (3.4GHz-3.9GHz/19MB CACHE/AM4)

World War Z & Division 2: Gold Edition FREE w/ select AMD Ryzen CPUs!
Motherboard
Gigabyte X470 AORUS Ultra Gaming: ATX, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs - RGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 2933MHz ~ (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2060 - HDMI, DP - VR Ready!
1st Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 256MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB WD Black™ SN750 M.2 NVMe SSD (up to 3470MB/s R | 2600MB/s W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Noctua NH-U14S Ultra Quiet Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KK3-00002]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
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)
Monitor
AOC G2460VQ6 24" LED Gaming Monitor
Keyboard & Mouse
LOGITECH® MK270 WIRELESS KEYBOARD & MOUSE COMBO
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 7 to 9 working days
Price: £1,466.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-pc/ZSZRKuttjq/

 

[stowie]

wow, that's super helpful OUSSEBON, wasn't expecting that. Brain likes when thinking is done for it! The motherboard manual is helpful too, if a tad intimidating but it says what to do for the set up I'm looking for so CHAMPION!! Genuinely blown away by this FORUM and the reasoned advice received - Thank you.

One final dull question before I click to complete:

will PCS install OS on the SSD by default or do I need to specify?? Most basic understanding of the principles of partitioning, suspect this is something I don't need to think about...

 

[StevenB]

When you click "proceed" with your quote they will ask you to confirm that you want the OS on the SSD.

 

[stowie]

wow, that's super helpful OUSSEBON, wasn't expecting that. Brain likes when thinking is done for it! The motherboard manual is helpful too, if a tad intimidating but it says what to do for the set up I'm looking for so CHAMPION!! Genuinely blown away by this FORUM and the reasoned advice received - Thank you.

One final dull question before I click to complete:

will PCS install OS on the SSD by default or do I need to specify?? Most basic understanding of the principles of partitioning, suspect this is something I don't need to think about...

Please ignore, clicked the button and system gives the option to select SSD - of course it does. Thank y'all again, I'm fixed

 

[stowie]

oops, ty

 

[debiruman665]

And please, don't ever consider a gaming laptop. IMO the term gaming laptop is an oxymoron. Gaming pushes components hard, when they're pushed hard they get hot, and it's very very difficult to get all of that heat out of a laptop fast enough at the best of times. If the user puts the laptop on their lap, or on a bed, or on any soft surface, and blocks the air vents, then its lifespan will be measured in months rather than years....

I'd like to pitch in here as a proud owner of a crotch warming octane vi. My sensible wife did try to convince me that for the money I was spending I could have bought the same power (less throttled) pc for less.

For me, nothing beats laying back on the couch. Invest in a tray if you are worried about air flow or keep your legs spread