Very happy with new PCS desktop, with a couple of reservations

skewball

Silver Level Poster
Hi

My new custom built PC arrived last week and I am very happy with it, PCS know how to build a god PC that is for sure.

My use is general workstation with photo and video editing with casual gaming occasional with my kids. I also wanted it to last 6-8 years only needing the odd upgrade (GPU / RAM) which was an important consideration of the spec.

Thanks to Scott and Spyder who helped with the spec when I asked for advice on the forum a couple of weeks ago :)

20200504_222751.jpg



Here is the spec:

Case
CORSAIR iCUE 220T RGB AIRFLOW MID TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 9 3900X 12 Core CPU (3.8GHz-4.6GHz/70MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF X570-PLUS GAMING (USB 3.2 Gen 2, PCIe 4.0, CrossFireX) - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3600MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
NONE, I ALREADY HAVE A GRAPHICS CARD My own old 1060 3GB
2nd Storage Drive
3TB SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB ADATA SX6000 Pro PCIe M.2 2280 (2100 MB/R, 1500 MB/W)
Memory Card Reader
USB 3.0 EXTERNAL SD/MICRO SD CARD READER
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
H100i RGB PLATINUM Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Extra Case Fans
None - I added on 120SP Corsair fan at the back for a bit of extra bling.. (!)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 2,400Mbps/5GHz, 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD + BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)


As I said, I am very happy with it. I had to make some compromises with spec but not much and of course that was budget related. I think the total cost is £1,430 odd (I had made changes along the way when it was in pre production)

The only issues with this spec relate to the size of the case. It's a great case and is shorter than most at 385mm which is why I like it. It is the same height as normal ATX cases (the spec on PCS did have (may still have) these two the wrong way round). But it makes the Power Supply a very very tight fit if you have a HDD. I would not have liked to build it myself to fit all this in...!!
back 2.jpg



Bear in mind the TXm 650 is 140mm long and so it quite short, you can see how much the cables have been bent at the back of the PSU. A lot of higher powered PSU are 160-180 which would make it very hard to fit in a HDD. Being semi modular helps but god help me if I have to attach any more cables to the PSU.

Another size issue in the RAM. It can't be RGB (high profile) with this cooler. In fact the 140mm version of the cooler (1500i) does not even fit in the case I believe. To change or add RAM I will also have to remove that fan blocking them.

ram.jpg


Finally the size of the fan makes it very difficult to close the back properly, In fact, I can't. I am not sure if it was fully shut when I opened it sadly as I quickly opened it to have a look and add my extra fan. It really is a tight fit and the bottom of the back panel does not have one of those little metal eye things that slide into a hole in the case which is odd (the top of the back panel does) and makes the bottom bend out if its a tight fit. Oh well, I might try again at some point. (ignore that lead poking out the bottom, that is underneath the case!

back 3.jpg



So overall all good but with some size compromises if you are using this icue 220T case which is often recommended on here, especially with higher end builds.

My only real gripe is that my spec is very similar to the Inferno L2 review spec PC whichis discounted £300 and a great deal. I very nearly sent this one back to get it. But I am happy with my PC and it is a better spec and I had my own GPU. None of the other review PC's are discounted this much (I checked) and I would rather PCS saved their 'promo' budget to keep the prices of the Custom Build components as competitive as possible. I have mentioned this to PCS and were understanding and gave me the option of returning etc but ultimately this is the spec I wanted and is not compromised for my uses. It is still a fair deal and I still have confidence in PCS to offer their custom builds as competitively as they can.
 

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
Loving the purple theme!

That was a shame the inferno came out just after but your specs are very close to it.
 

Pedain

Active member
Looks awesome mate! Just received mine today and will be posting pics soon.

I have the same case as you and just wondering how have you changed the fan colours?
 
D

Deleted member 103489

Guest
Looks really cool.

i also really like the purple theme here.
 

slimbob

Enthusiast
I am sorry to hear about the few problems you have had with your case.
I think it looks absolutely incredible and because of Scott's and Spyder's help it will be all show and all go !!!
I love the purple theme too!! :cool:
Have a nice evening.
 

skewball

Silver Level Poster
I am sorry to hear about the few problems you have had with your case.
I think it looks absolutely incredible and because of Scott's and Spyder's help it will be all show and all go !!!
I love the purple theme too!! :cool:
Have a nice evening.
Cheers!

Just to say I am very very happy with case , I was more just pointing these issues out for other people just in case those limitations were of concern :)

I do actually have one small issue - connecting a monitor by DP and not being able to get into the bios (and getting the VGA warning beeps from the motherboard each time PC is started). But it's not impacting anything,the PC works fine.
It doesnt happen when connecting via hdmi.
I've seen the problem elsewhere when researching it and it seems to be related to the asus bios software but there is no obvious solution. I am getting some advice from PCS but nothing that has solved it yet. Its nothing urgent and it not getting in the way of daily use,just a minor irritant.
 

Scott

Behold The Ford Mondeo
Moderator
The monitor glitch I'm rather surprised at with the level of motherboard tbh. It reminds me of when HDMI first came out and DVI/VGA was on the way out. Most BIOS software would see the HDMI primary as a secondary and flag issue when the VGA/DVI wasn't being used.

I'll be honest, I'm a little disappointed there isn't an obvious way around this nowadays. As much as it's a minor gripe, it's something that you shouldn't need to consider at all.

With regards to the case... that's not right. If that panel doesn't fit flush in, something is not aligned correctly. Take a little time with it out from its cubby hole and if you can't put it right I would be onto PCS.

The 220 case is quite snug, no denying..... it's airflow is excellent so as long as the components fit in neatly.... you have no worry. The angle of the cables wouldn't worry me in the slightest but the side panel not fitting would seriously annoy me.


Make sure you are happy with the system overall. In all seriousness. I do not represent PCS, I only volunteer to help out with the forum. I believe in their values and their products but I will stand on the consumer side every time where the product is not up to scratch. Don't settle for anything but perfection........ PCS wouldn't want you to be anything but happy with your purchase :)
 

skewball

Silver Level Poster
The monitor glitch I'm rather surprised at with the level of motherboard tbh. It reminds me of when HDMI first came out and DVI/VGA was on the way out. Most BIOS software would see the HDMI primary as a secondary and flag issue when the VGA/DVI wasn't being used.

I'll be honest, I'm a little disappointed there isn't an obvious way around this nowadays. As much as it's a minor gripe, it's something that you shouldn't need to consider at all.

With regards to the case... that's not right. If that panel doesn't fit flush in, something is not aligned correctly. Take a little time with it out from its cubby hole and if you can't put it right I would be onto PCS.

The 220 case is quite snug, no denying..... it's airflow is excellent so as long as the components fit in neatly.... you have no worry. The angle of the cables wouldn't worry me in the slightest but the side panel not fitting would seriously annoy me.


Make sure you are happy with the system overall. In all seriousness. I do not represent PCS, I only volunteer to help out with the forum. I believe in their values and their products but I will stand on the consumer side every time where the product is not up to scratch. Don't settle for anything but perfection........ PCS wouldn't want you to be anything but happy with your purchase :)

Cheers, I will have aplay with it tomorrow :)
 

skewball

Silver Level Poster
I got the back/side panel sorted. Just needed to spend a bit of time working out what was causing it.

As it happens, not that it is interesting, it was because they had to compromise where the RGB lighting node cables were to avoid them getting in the way of one of the SSD bays, not an issue for me so just had to re arrange those to avoid a big 'clump' of wires that was making the panel hard to put on, they probably did manage it when they put the panel on to transport but once I opened it then I probably moved it!
 
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