New PC order

[andrewhawkins986]

Hi all,

Just placed an order for the following. Primary usage is home use, with bit of gaming (mainly FPS) as well. When it arrives I'll be slotting in my existing BluRay writer, and internal 4TB WD Blue drive.

Comments?

Case: PCS 6003B BLACK CASE
Processor (CPU): Intel® Core™ i5 Six Core Processor i5-8400 (2.8GHz) 9MB Cache
Motherboard: ASUS® TUF Z370-PLUS GAMING II: ATX, LGA1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs - RGB Ready
Memory (RAM): 16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 2400MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card: 6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1060 - DVI, HDMI, 3 x DP - GeForce GTX VR Ready!
1st Storage Drive: NOT REQUIRED
1st M.2 SSD Drive: 512GB INTEL® 660p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (upto 1500MB/sR | 1000MB/sW)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive: NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply: CORSAIR 550W VS SERIES™ VS-550 POWER SUPPLY
Power Cable: 1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling: CoolerMaster Hyper 212X (120mm) Fan CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste: COOLER MASTER MASTERGEL MAKER THERMAL COMPOUND
Sound Card: ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
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
Keyboard & Mouse: LOGITECH® K120 USB KEYBOARD

 

[Oussebon]

The case is dirt cheap and will not be ideal for airflow (cooling components) or giving you freedom for upgrades. Switching to a better case like the Fractal Focus G would be wise imo.

The RX 580 graphics card was over £40 cheaper last time I looked, and is just a better buy, unless you play Fortnite exclusively.

A system based around an AMD R5 2600x would probably have been better value. Either way I'd have got faster RAM. As for the Intel build, getting an expensive Z370 mobo for a locked CPU and 'slow' RAM is a bit of a waste as you're not taking advantage of any of the mobo's features, so why spend so much on it versus a B360.

 

[andrewhawkins986]

Hi,

Thanks for the response.

If I drop down to the basic Asus Prime motherboard, I could get a better case and faster ram.

What ram speed should I be going for? 2666 or 3000?

Thanks again

Andy

 

[Oussebon]

Frankly I'd suggest cancelling the order and getting something like:


Case
FRACTAL FOCUS G BLACK GAMING CASE (Window)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 2600X Six Core CPU (3.6GHz-4.25GHz/19MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
Gigabyte B450 AORUS ELITE (DDR4, USB 3.1, 6Gb/s)
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 2933MHz ~ (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB AMD RADEON™ RX 580 - HDMI, 3 x DP - DX® 12
---Up to 2 Games FREE w/ select RADEON RX GPUs!
1[SUP]st[/SUP] Storage Drive
NOT REQUIRED
1[SUP]st[/SUP] M.2 SSD Drive
500GB WD Black™ M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3400MB/s R | 2500MB/s W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply
CORSAIR 550W VS SERIES™ VS-550 POWER SUPPLY
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
STANDARD AMD 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
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
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)
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 3 to 5 working days
Quantity
1

Price £957.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure : https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-pc/nQm9UbsBDR/

Which is much cheaper, and for your uses just as good or better.

I checked the prices and the RX 580 is almost £70 cheaper than the GTX 1060. Don't buy the GTX 1060 at that kind of price difference, it's crazy, the RX 580 is overall just as good.
The WD Black SSD is faster than the Intel ones and cheaper than the 760p...
An AMD R5 2600x with fast RAM will be about as good as the i5 8400 with slow RAM for gaming, while still being cheaper.
AMD's stock coolers are fine, so further savings there

 

[andrewhawkins986]

Hi,

Appreciate the advice, but for no particular reason I've always been an Intel / NVidia devotee. I do appreciate that there's not necessarily a valid reason for this!

Made the following mods:

SHARKOON VG4-W GAMING CASE (Green LED) from PCS 6003B BLACK CASE
ASUS® PRIME Z370-P II: ATX, LGA1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs from ASUS® TUF Z370-PLUS GAMING II: ATX, LGA1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs - RGB Ready
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3000MHz (2 x 8GB) from 16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 2400MHz (2 x 8GB)

Thanks for the advice.

Andy

 

[Oussebon]

My last systems have been Intel/Nvidia but is the current market it makes little sense for anything short of the ~£2500+ budget range sadly. Intel has had supply issues driving up prices, while AMD's motherboards offer far better features for lower prices. And the RX 580 has been awful value for most of its life making the 1060 a better buy - until recently when the price got really good and the 1060's became rubbish.

The Sharkoon case apparently has relatively restricted airflow and no scope to add more fans either - I've always recommended against it. If you want to be as cheap as possible on the case (while wasting £70 on the GPU lol?) then go for the PCS Cyclone as it probably can't be worse than the Sharkoon. Otherwise, get the Fractal Focus G as it's the cheapest case that makes sense in my opinion.

And you really should change the SSD to the WD Black. It's just faster than the Intel, and for some reason PCS sell it for less.

 

[andrewhawkins986]

The SSD change added money for me. WD black adds £18 compared to the Intel one I've chosen. Will take another look tomorrow.

Will investigate the case too. Don't think the PCS one has optical drive bays does it?

Thanks again

Andy

 

[Oussebon]

Ah you're right, the Cyclone doesn't have a DVD drive bay. Then I'd suggest the Focus G as it's only £9 more than the Sharkoon but is just better, and should offer better cooling for potential future GPUs.

The WD Black is cheaper than the 760p, which is the Intel I thought you had (strange I didn't notice you had 660p, I checked twice and must have misread both times!).

The WD Black is apparently a little more expensive than the 660p; however it's easily over twice as fast. The 660p is great as an alternative to a Sata SSD if priced competitively against them, but with a decent, high end PCIe NVMe SSD like the WD Black so close in cost I can't really recommend the 660p.

Pricing seems to vary on PCS day to day, but at the moment a WD Black is £21 more than a 660p (and is over twice as fast) while being £30 less than a 970 Evo (which is barely any faster). And it's cheaper than the 760p, which it's faster than.