Powerful enough PSU?

[youradds]

Hi,

I'm, contemplating getting a new PC. The last one I got was back in 2019. Although its still a good spec, I wanted to update. Anyway - the spec I have pretty much built, but I'm stumped on the case. I have an electric desk that goes up and down with a button. It has straps the hold the PC to the desk (so it goes up and down with it). Unfortunatly the last machine I purchased had the power button, sd card reader, and USB ports on the top - which means I've had to have it resting on the floor

Are there any cases when its all on the front / sizes? I had a look through quite a few of the cases, but couldn't see any :/

TIA

Andy

 

[SpyderTracks]

Just worth saying, have you considered simply upgrading your current PC rather than replacing it? If the case isn’t suitable, just change it?

 

[TonyCarter]

Assuming you really can't (or don't want to upgrade your current system), what's the size of the PC tray/cage that it needs to fit into, as I can only see 2 on the PCS website that have front-mounted power buttons, and both are over 290mm wide:

• PCS Lumin (310mm) which I wouldn't recommend
• Lian Li O11 Dynamic Evo (290mm)

However there's nothing stopping you finding & providing your own case for PCS to build into. For example...

The tall, but narrow Lian Li SUP01 (215mm wide):

SUP01 - LIAN LI is a Leading Provider of PC Cases | Computer Cases

Optimize your desktop with the LIAN LI SUP01, the stand-up platform design not only minimizes footprint but also ensures impeccable hardware compatibility and superior cooling efficiency. STAND-UP PLATFORM DESIGN FRONT GPU MOUNT PCIE 4.0 RISER CABLE THREE-CHAMBER COOLING SYSTEM PRE-INSTALLED...

lian-li.com

The skinny Fractal Design Ridge (110mm wide):

Ridge

An uncluttered, small form factor case designed to integrate seamlessly into your living space and daily rituals. An evolution of the slimline format, Ridge was developed in collaboration with gaming and entertainment enthusiasts to subtly improve their homes and enhance the small form factor PC...

www.fractal-design.com

The sleek Fractal Design Mood (215mm):

Mood

www.fractal-design.com

Maybe the tiny Fractal Design Terra (153mm), but a very tight case and very few front-mounted ports:

Terra

Terra is a PC case designed and engineered to reshape the small form factor gaming experience. Inspired by the homes of modern gamers, Terra incorporates boutique design features such as thick panels cut from anodized aluminum, CNC-milled details and FSC-certified solid walnut. Inside, it...

www.fractal-design.com

Old style (and not in a good way) Coolermaster N400 (190mm):

Cooler Master N400 Mid Tower PC Case

The N400 case has extensive liquid cooling support and cutting edge air cooling performance all wrapped in a subtle aesthetic. The case is compact yet have enough room for large radiators, long VGAs, and numerous HDDs/SSDs. The N-series is the new series for system DIY professionals and...

www.coolermaster.com

 

[youradds]

Just worth saying, have you considered simply upgrading your current PC rather than replacing it? If the case isn’t suitable, just change it?

Thanks. This one is ok, but just needs upgrading really. I've already upped the PSU to cope with the 2 graphics cards I have (I have 6 screens). So I have an AMD Radeon R7 200 and Radeon RX 580 cards, with several SSD and M.2 drives, 32gb ram (I'll be moving that over),
Intel® Core™ i7 Eight Core Processor i7-9700K (3.6GHz) 12MB Cache, ASUS® PRIME Z370-P II: ATX, LGA1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs

Really I want to get over to a higher CPU count and speed as I do quite a lot of heavy work on here. So I'm looking at the Intel i7 20 core processer haha

 

[youradds]

Assuming you really can't (or don't want to upgrade your current system), what's the size of the PC tray/cage that it needs to fit into, as I can only see 2 on the PCS website that have front-mounted power buttons, and both are over 290mm wide:

• PCS Lumin (310mm) which I wouldn't recommend
• Lian Li O11 Dynamic Evo (290mm)

However there's nothing stopping you finding & providing your own case for PCS to build into. For example...

The tall, but narrow Lian Li SUP01 (215mm wide):

SUP01 - LIAN LI is a Leading Provider of PC Cases | Computer Cases

Optimize your desktop with the LIAN LI SUP01, the stand-up platform design not only minimizes footprint but also ensures impeccable hardware compatibility and superior cooling efficiency. STAND-UP PLATFORM DESIGN FRONT GPU MOUNT PCIE 4.0 RISER CABLE THREE-CHAMBER COOLING SYSTEM PRE-INSTALLED...

lian-li.com

The skinny Fractal Design Ridge (110mm wide):

Ridge

An uncluttered, small form factor case designed to integrate seamlessly into your living space and daily rituals. An evolution of the slimline format, Ridge was developed in collaboration with gaming and entertainment enthusiasts to subtly improve their homes and enhance the small form factor PC...

www.fractal-design.com

The sleek Fractal Design Mood (215mm):

Mood

www.fractal-design.com

Maybe the tiny Fractal Design Terra (153mm), but a very tight case and very few front-mounted ports:

Terra

Terra is a PC case designed and engineered to reshape the small form factor gaming experience. Inspired by the homes of modern gamers, Terra incorporates boutique design features such as thick panels cut from anodized aluminum, CNC-milled details and FSC-certified solid walnut. Inside, it...

www.fractal-design.com

Old style (and not in a good way) Coolermaster N400 (190mm):

Cooler Master N400 Mid Tower PC Case

The N400 case has extensive liquid cooling support and cutting edge air cooling performance all wrapped in a subtle aesthetic. The case is compact yet have enough room for large radiators, long VGAs, and numerous HDDs/SSDs. The N-series is the new series for system DIY professionals and...

www.coolermaster.com

Thanks. Yes, the problem is the width - its only a standard size (I think 17-18cm, although I'm using a ruler and not tape measure to read it ). Thats a good shout about using my own case. I'll do some research and see if I can find something.

 

[SpyderTracks]

Really I want to get over to a higher CPU count and speed as I do quite a lot of heavy work on here. So I'm looking at the Intel i7 20 core processer haha

Whatever you do, don't go with Intel, their processors are broken and most people are having to replace them, Intel could in all seriousness go bust off the back of this.

Avoid them at any cost, AMD are generally far better processors anyway.

 

[youradds]

Whatever you do, don't go with Intel, their processors are broken and most people are having to replace them, Intel could in all seriousness go bust off the back of this.

Avoid them at any cost, AMD are generally far better processors anyway.

Oh really? I didn't know that. I've always found Intels far quicker (I used to get AMD, purely because they were cheaper haha)

 

[sck451]

It's increasingly rare to have anything on the front of a case. People tend to prefer sleek looks and/or lots of perforation for airflow on the front of the case, so all those buttons and ports go on the top. There are a few ATX cases from the last few years that have what you need (the Phanteks Enthoo Pro and the Silverstone PS 13 are two I've found, but they're pretty scarce).

But if your maximum width is 17cm, you're going to struggle to find a good case that'll fit anyway.

 

[TonyCarter]

But if your maximum width is 17cm, you're going to struggle to find a good case that'll fit anyway.

Yes, the Fractal Terra and Ridge are the only ones that narrow, but if you're upgrading the whole thing (as you'd have to for a higher core / higher speed CPU) then a single GPU could replace the 2 you have.

Really I want to get over to a higher CPU count and speed as I do quite a lot of heavy work on here. So I'm looking at the Intel i7 20 core processer haha

Don't forget that the 13/14th gen 20-core (i7) and 24-core i9 CPUs are still 8c/16t performance cores with just additional 4 or 8 x single-thread efficiency cores.

If you want lots of cores/threads then a 16c/32t AMD 7950X/9950X is the way to go.

 

[youradds]

It's increasingly rare to have anything on the front of a case. People tend to prefer sleek looks and/or lots of perforation for airflow on the front of the case, so all those buttons and ports go on the top. There are a few ATX cases from the last few years that have what you need (the Phanteks Enthoo Pro and the Silverstone PS 13 are two I've found, but they're pretty scarce).

But if your maximum width is 17cm, you're going to struggle to find a good case that'll fit anyway.

Thanks. Looking at it, I could probably make it wider (there are 2 guide lines on the bottom of the desk, but they are each held in with 4 screws - so I could probably unscrew them and then drill new holes - I know when they put it in they asked me where I wanted the PC to go, so it should be ok on that front

 

[youradds]

Yes, the Fractal Terra and Ridge are the only ones that narrow, but if you're upgrading the whole thing (as you'd have to for a higher core / higher speed CPU) then a single GPU could replace the 2 you have.

You can get one graphics card for 6 displays? I used to have just 3 screens, so the old card was fine as it had 2 x HDMI + 1 DP, and then I got a new one to cope with the other 3 I added in. Is it more efficient to have just one GFX card? I was thinking I'd just move these 2 over to the new machine, and put the one that comes with new new PC back into the old one so I can sell that one

Don't forget that the 13/14th gen 20-core (i7) and 24-core i9 CPUs are still 8c/16t performance cores with just additional 4 or 8 x single-thread efficiency cores.

If you want lots of cores/threads then a 16c/32t AMD 7950X/9950X is the way to go.

Thanks - will check those out

 

[TonyCarter]

You can get one graphics card for 6 displays? I used to have just 3 screens, so the old card was fine as it had 2 x HDMI + 1 DP, and then I got a new one to cope with the other 3 I added in. Is it more efficient to have just one GFX card? I was thinking I'd just move these 2 over to the new machine, and put the one that comes with new new PC back into the old one so I can sell that one



Thanks - will check those out

2 via the motherboard (1xDP, 1xHDMI) and 4 via the GPU (2xDP, 2xHDMI) depending on the GPU.

 

[youradds]

2 via the motherboard (1xDP, 1xHDMI) and 4 via the GPU (2xDP, 2xHDMI) depending on the GPU.

Do they play nice like that? I always thought you needed 2 of the same brand to work well? Good to know if thats the case, as the radeon rx 580 has quite a lot of ports

 

[TonyCarter]

Well, there's nothing to stop you using the RX580 in a secondary PCIe 4.0 slot (motherboard dependent of course)

 

[sck451]

Do they play nice like that? I always thought you needed 2 of the same brand to work well? Good to know if thats the case, as the radeon rx 580 has quite a lot of ports

You need two of the same card to run SLI. But SLI is dead. If you're only using it to run multiple displays (rather than, say, doing gaming or calculations/rendering) then you don't need a powerful card at all, and the iGPU on the CPU will be just fine. Or you can have mis-matching dedicated graphics cards, and that will also work fine (but I'd stick with the same chipmaker -- Nvidia or AMD -- to avoid driver hell).

 

[youradds]

You need two of the same card to run SLI. But SLI is dead. If you're only using it to run multiple displays (rather than, say, doing gaming or calculations/rendering) then you don't need a powerful card at all, and the iGPU on the CPU will be just fine. Or you can have mis-matching dedicated graphics cards, and that will also work fine (but I'd stick with the same chipmaker -- Nvidia or AMD -- to avoid driver hell).

I use them for it to have multiple screens to move stuff over to, so thats good to know I can make use of the built in graphics to go alongside it. Right,. so I think I really just need to find a case that'll do what I need and then I'm good to go

Thanks for all the help everyone!

Cheers

Andy

 

[youradds]

Hi all

I have created this spec machine:

Case
PCS PRISM II ARGB MID TOWER CASE (PWM)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 9 5950X 16 Core CPU (3.4GHz-4.9GHz/72MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® PRIME B550-PLUS (AM4, DDR4, PCIe 4.0)
Memory (RAM)
8GB PCS PRO DDR4 3200MHz (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
1GB NVIDIA GEFORCE 710 - DVI, HDMI, VGA
Graphics Card Support Bracket
NONE (BRACKET INCLUDED AS STANDARD ON 4070 Ti / RX 7700 XT AND ABOVE)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
256GB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (3200 MB/R, 2700 MB/W)
Memory Card Reader
USB 3.0 EXTERNAL SD/MICRO SD CARD READER
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W RM SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 100 V3 Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Extra Case Fans
1 x 120mm PCS Black Case Fan
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 11 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence
I also have the AMD Radeon RX 580 8GB that I want to move from my old PC into the new one. Will the power supply I've chosen have enough juice in it? When I save it,. I get a message:

"You have selected a 650W power supply, but based on our calculations you actually only need a 550W power supply. We have calculated your specification to require around 252W of power including a 20% allowance. Although it is not a mandatory requirement to select a lower wattage power supply, doing so will save you money and the last thing we'd like to do is over charge you!"

So my guess, is that it would have enough power to cope with the extra card?

Thanks!

Andy

 

[Scoped Badger]

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NB: These forums are not an official support channel. None of us work for PCS, we're all either customers or techies who just like to help out where possible. For any official support, you need to contact PCS directly either through your PCS account, or via the contact details on the main...

www.pcspecialist.co.uk

 

[TonyCarter]

I'm guessing this is the basis of your upgrade that's being discussed here...

Cases with just front bits, and not top slots/power button?

Hi, I'm, contemplating getting a new PC. The last one I got was back in 2019. Although its still a good spec, I wanted to update. Anyway - the spec I have pretty much built, but I'm stumped on the case. I have an electric desk that goes up and down with a button. It has straps the hold the PC...

www.pcspecialist.co.uk

---

I believe the RX580 can pull almost 200W, so that PSU would right on the limit of it's max power, and you really want the PSU to be operating in the 40-70% usage window for best efficiency (higher just produces more heat, and then the fan has to ramp up to cool it).

It's not just the power that you've got to worry about, but the level of the PSU. The power just means you're close to causing a BSOD/shutdown as it triggers it's overcurrent protections, and no room for an upgrade to a modern 40-series Nvidia or 70-series AMD GPU. The level (CX) means it's an office-spec PSU meant for steady, low current work (not big peaks & troughs)...and that's where a bigger, beefier, higher level PSU comes in (also means the cables are detachable and individual for easy cable-management and component swaps).

For the lower power requirements you'd want a 750RMe (the little 'e' is important as it shows it's the newer ATX3.1 spec which gives greater protection against the power spikes we see in these newer GPUs) - otherwise we'd recommend at least a 1000W ATX2.4 spec PSU. The other benefit of the RMx/RMe level PSUs is they have better components, better efficiency curves, and zero RPM fans that only come on when they're needed (the CX fan is always on - but will speed up & slow down as needed).

For a higher level card (4080 Super / 4090 / 7900XTX) we'd probably say the 1200W RM Shift PSU (which is also ATX3.1).

However, the CPU you've chosen is now 2 generations old (Zen 3), and on an old platform (AM4) / DDR4 with little room for upgrades. We're now on Zen5 and AM5 with DDR5 RAM.

...and with the newer platform you don't need to include a cheap GPU as the CPU has a basic iGPU already - and this is the generation of CPU we were saying would provide you with an extra DP/HDMI ports from the motherboard - the older Zen 3 5xxx AM4 CPUs do not have an iGPU.

 

[youradds]

Thanks for the detailed response @TonyCarter

I'm guessing this is the basis of your upgrade that's being discussed here...

Cases with just front bits, and not top slots/power button?

Hi, I'm, contemplating getting a new PC. The last one I got was back in 2019. Although its still a good spec, I wanted to update. Anyway - the spec I have pretty much built, but I'm stumped on the case. I have an electric desk that goes up and down with a button. It has straps the hold the PC...

www.pcspecialist.co.uk

Yes I ended up optining for a normal case, and I'mn just going to put it on the top of the desk and be done with it.

---

I believe the RX580 can pull almost 200W, so that PSU would right on the limit of it's max power, and you really want the PSU to be operating in the 40-70% usage window for best efficiency (higher just produces more heat, and then the fan has to ramp up to cool it).

It's not just the power that you've got to worry about, but the level of the PSU. The power just means you're close to causing a BSOD/shutdown as it triggers it's overcurrent protections, and no room for an upgrade to a modern 40-series Nvidia or 70-series AMD GPU. The level (CX) means it's an office-spec PSU meant for steady, low current work (not big peaks & troughs)...and that's where a bigger, beefier, higher level PSU comes in (also means the cables are detachable and individual for easy cable-management and component swaps).

For the lower power requirements you'd want a 750RMe (the little 'e' is important as it shows it's the newer ATX3.1 spec which gives greater protection against the power spikes we see in these newer GPUs) - otherwise we'd recommend at least a 1000W ATX2.4 spec PSU. The other benefit of the RMx/RMe level PSUs is they have better components, better efficiency curves, and zero RPM fans that only come on when they're needed (the CX fan is always on - but will speed up & slow down as needed).

So would a Corsaid 850W do the job? Most of my stuff I do is just browsing, VisualStudio, and editors. Occassionaly I do video editing - but nothing too fancy.

For a higher level card (4080 Super / 4090 / 7900XTX) we'd probably say the 1200W RM Shift PSU (which is also ATX3.1).

However, the CPU you've chosen is now 2 generations old (Zen 3), and on an old platform (AM4) / DDR4 with little room for upgrades. We're now on Zen5 and AM5 with DDR5 RAM.

...and with the newer platform you don't need to include a cheap GPU as the CPU has a basic iGPU already - and this is the generation of CPU we were saying would provide you with an extra DP/HDMI ports from the motherboard - the older Zen 3 5xxx AM4 CPUs do not have an iGPU.

I'm a bit lost on this one. What is "zen 3" ? The one I chose was Ryzen 9 (I assume "zen 3", you mean Ryzen 3? As in shorthand?)

Thanks!

Andy