Non-Gaming PC that will allow easy upgrade to Gaming PC in the future

[mike_d99]

It is a lot, which is why I'm sweating As soon as I've got the spec for this PC sorted and paid for I'm spending what is left on another drive!

That said, all the truly important stuff is backed up, family photos, documents, my entire 4,000+ CD collection ripped to FLAC (which took me 9 years to do. Not doing that again ).

Most of it is media - so once it's there it stays there. I'm into Plex and I'm trying to replace my huge DVD/Blu Ray collection with digital files. I bought my two 4TB drives in 2013 and they'd lasted me just fine with room to spare until I started this a few months ago, now I've bought and filled 20TB in no time at all If I lost that, it would be a major annoyance but not the end of the world. Not that I'm up for that happening!

 

[sck451]

The thought of all that data on all those drives with no redundancy is making me feel very 😳

 

[Martinr36]

I've just subscribed to the asus backup 1TB for just over £20 a year, that's to go along with Dropbox and onedrive

 

[mike_d99]

I've been looking at online storage too, Backblaze B2 is the one most seem to recommend. I've not heard of the ASUS one so I'll have a look at that. Reckon I have about 1.5TB of truly critical data.

 

[Bigfoot]

I've just subscribed to the asus backup 1TB for just over £20 a year, that's to go along with Dropbox and onedrive

The trouble with cloud backup with that much storage is the time required to do the first backup, even with a fast connection.

 

[mike_d99]

Oh dear. If you have that much data then I think you may well need that case!

I don't think the cooling can really be improved. You've got a really good AIO and the case comes with a few fans. You can always add more later if required.

The Fractal cases are very good. It's just that if you are running it under stress you may want to open the case up. Also just don't fill up all the PCIe slots at the rear. I remember that some reviews noted that filling those up caused the GPU temps to rise substantially.

Do you reckon it's worth me sticking a couple of extra fans in the spec from the get-go?

 

[DarTon]

That's one of the reasons I bought MS 365 Family with an 18-month subscription for £55. It gives me 6 user licenses for Office and 1TB per user for Onedrive. In find backup times for upload are pretty good now. We got FTTP into the street last year so my downstream is up to 900 and upload is up to 300. Probably wouldn't be saying that though if we still had FTTC with upload at 10!

I'd also consider the external SSD if the sizes are only a TB or two. I've got a NVMe M2 SSD in a housing that connects via USB-C and that is really fast.

 

[Martinr36]

The trouble with cloud backup with that much storage is the time required to do the first backup, even with a fast connection.

Oh yeah, took ages, when I was working both my Dropbox and onedrive were synced to my pc at work which of course was also set to my network area there

 

[sck451]

In your shoes, I'd definitely be wondering if I could turn my existing PC into a NAS. If you don't need media transcoding, they don't need a particularly beefy system.

 

[DarTon]

@mike_d99. Actually I'd go with the vanilla setup and see how it is. It'll probably be just fine. You can always add extra (or change the) fans later.

I'd also agree with @sck451 that an old system as a NAS might be easier. I still have a old/cheap PC that is used for that. It jammed full of old HDDs that I never get around to consolidating (even a few IDE ones). To be honest, I don't think I access it much since the data isn't really needed anymore but I feel better knowing it's available.

 

[mike_d99]

@mike_d99. Actually I'd go with the vanilla setup and see how it is. It'll probably be just fine. You can always add extra (or change the) fans later.

I'd also agree with @sck451 that an old system as a NAS might be easier. I still have a old/cheap PC that is used for that. It jammed full of old HDDs that I never get around to consolidating (even a few IDE ones). To be honest, I don't think I access it much since the data isn't really needed anymore but I feel better knowing it's available.

Thanks Darton. I think I'm about ready to pull the trigger on this build then

Using my old PC as a NAS of sorts is definitely something I might look into in the longer term, especially given how expensive an actual NAS is.

 

[mike_d99]

I went for this in the end. Really pleased with it so far

Just wanted to say a massive thank you to everyone who took the time to help me out and give guidance. I wouldn't have had a clue what I was doing on my own. You're all so helpful and an absolute asset to the forum

Case
Send In Your Own Case (Fractal Define 7 XL)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 5800X Eight Core CPU (3.8GHz-4.7GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF X570-PLUS GAMING WIFI (USB 3.2 Gen 2, PCIe 4.0, CrossFireX) - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3600MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
10GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3080 - HDMI, DP, LHR
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 6900MB/R, 5000MB/W)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3500MB/sR | 2500MB/sW)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
16x BLU-RAY WRITER DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW & SOFTWARE
Power Supply
CORSAIR 1000W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H115i ELITE CAPELLIX RGB Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
LED Lighting
2x 50cm ARGB LED Strip
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
USB/Thunderbolt Options
2 PORT (1 x TYPE A, 1 x TYPE C) USB 3.1 PCI-E CARD + STANDARD USB PORTS
Operating System
Windows 11 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00003]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 11 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Supplied on USB Drive
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Firefox™
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 14 to 17 working days
Promotional Item
Get Far Cry 6 with select Samsung SSDs
Welcome Book
PCSpecialist Welcome Book - United Kingdom & Republic of Ireland
Logo Branding
PCSpecialist Logo

 

[jamiephillips909]

Nice !!!

 

[Martinr36]

Looks good