New PC! Not sure what direction to go in

redhed17

redhed17

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One for the PC/games enthusiasts, who have the knowledge, and fancies explaining to me what I may need/want, and why.

I currently have a PC which is quite good, but is starting to show it's age. I would like a meaningful upgrade for specific things. I use Photoshop, and to a lesser extent, LightRoom, but not focusing improvements in that direction for this, if it hinders the other use cases. I think any improvement for other reasons will improve the PS/LR performance I have atm.

The other use cases are playing 4k/HDR content to a TV, and playing a game called Cities Skylines. The game would not be played at 4k, 1440 at most on a monitor. So I think I at least need a graphics card with HDMI 2.1 output for the TV and HDR, and DVI output for the monitor. Not sure if AMD or Nvidia have any benefits tech wise for that type of game, or 4k HDR.

Most GPU reviews I have seen focus on a few types of games, first person shooters, racing games, or something like Spiderman. All with Ray Tracing of course. ;) I don't know how to translate the results for those types of games to a game like Cities Skylines. :thinking:

I don't know what processor, either AMD or Intel, is better for the game, and 4k HDR. And I'm not sure at what level of processor, i5, i7 etc, or the AMD equivalents, the extra power would be wasted, if the GPU does most of the work, or indeed if a better processor is emphasized rather than the level of the GPU for my use cases.

Cities Skyline is a game that benefits from lots of RAM, and I think 32Gb is the minimum for me. Does a particular processor brand work better with large amounts of RAM?

I have built a couple of PC's in the past, but they did not have gaming in mind at all, and so my GPU knowledge has never been there. I got my current, and first GPU, because I changed my monitor, and needed a GPU to interface with that (DVI), and the TV.

For £1k, what would be the best combination for my use cases above and why? So not the top end, but the best combo for the tasks. It does not have to be the latest thing, if it does the jobs. ;) What has the most impact, CPU or GPU for that type of game, and 4k HDR content? As you can see below, I tend to use things for awhile. :LOL:

Here is what I have atm, just for context.
i5-4690. I initially didn't have a GPU, and was one of the reasons I chose this i5.
Radeon RX550
4x 16Gb DDR3. I started with 16Gb, and added another 16Gb once I started playing Cities Skylines.
1x 550Gb SSD
1x 640Gb HDD
1x 1Tb HDD
1x 2Tb HDD

Any help and knowledge would be appreciated. :)

Oh, and I do know that Cities Skylines 2 is out towards the end of the year, but I have a lot invested in this first version, and am happy with it for now. And I would assume (maybe wrongly) that a computer made for the first game, would work in a similar way, though maybe at the lower end, closer to the minimum specs, for this new game. ;):LOL:
 
I build my own system for around a grand and it handles almost anything I throw at it, including PCVR. The processor is an AMD 5600X with 32GB RAM and the GPU is a 3060Ti.

PS and LR use the GPU so it's worth getting a decent one. Prices are still a bit silly and it can often be better value to buy a custom built PC with the graphics card included.

Something like this would be more than enough for your proposed use LINK but worth exploring all options and seeing what other advice comes up in this thread.

I've got another computer which has an i5 and 16GB of RAM and it is a little sluggish with the latest PS.
 
One problem you will have is that DVI is no longer available on current GPUs. Does your monitor have other options?

My current preference is for AMD CPUs as they're slightly cheaper than the equivalent Intel and the current Intel socket has a problem with flexing when the cooler is tightened down.

This one from Scan looks a reasonable choice, only needing a bit more RAM and extra storage.
 
redhed17 said:
Oh, and I do know that Cities Skylines 2 is out towards the end of the year, but I have a lot invested in this first version, and am happy with it for now. And I would assume (maybe wrongly) that a computer made for the first game, would work in a similar way, though maybe at the lower end, closer to the minimum specs, for this new game.
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It's very rare that sequels have similar requirements to the original as the first thing they often do is upgrade the graphics which in turn breaks your setup. Kerbal Space Program vs KSP2 was a huge leap in required tech to run the game on the higher settings. The Steam page for Skylines II is showing the below as the minimum/recommended requirements. And looking at the RX550 you've chosen above, this appears to be a 2Gb card. The processor you've chosen also doesn't look too promising either.
  • MINIMUM:
    • Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
    • OS: Windows® 10 Home 64 Bit
    • Processor: Intel® Core™ i7-4790K / AMD® Ryzen™ 5 1600X
    • Memory: 8 GB RAM
    • Graphics: Nvidia® GeForce™ GTX 780 (3GB) or AMD® Radeon™ RX 470 (4GB)
    • Sound Card: TBC
  • RECOMMENDED:
    • Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
    • OS: Windows® 10 Home 64 Bit | Windows® 11
    • Processor: Intel® Core™ i7-9700K | AMD® Ryzen™ 5 5600X
    • Memory: 16 GB RAM
    • Graphics: Nvidia® GeForce™ RTX 2080 Ti (11GB) | AMD® Radeon™ RX 6800 XT (16GB)
    • Sound Card: TBC
Edit to add the original game requirements for comparison.
  • MINIMUM:
    • Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
    • OS: Windows® 7 64 Bit | Windows® 8.1 64 Bit | Windows® 10 Home 64 Bit
    • Processor: Intel® Core™ I7 930 | AMD® FX 6350
    • Memory: 8 GB RAM
    • Graphics: Nvidia® GeForce™ GTS 450 (1 GB) | AMD® R7 250 (2 GB) | Intel Iris Xe G7 (Tiger Lake)
    • DirectX: Version 9.0c
    • Network: Broadband Internet connection
    • Storage: 4 GB available space
  • RECOMMENDED:
    • Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
    • OS: Windows® 10 Home 64 bit
    • Processor: Intel® Core™ I7 2700K | AMD® Ryzen 7 2700X
    • Memory: 16 GB RAM
    • Graphics: Nvidia® GeForce™ GTX 580 (1.5 GB) | AMD® Radeon™ RX 560 (4 GB)
    • DirectX: Version 11
    • Network: Broadband Internet connection
    • Storage: 4 GB available space
 
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If it helps check out these links (below) for various bits of hardware. It's not definitive because sometimes certain combinations can change things, but as a rough performance guide it's quite handy:

Processors
www.cpubenchmark.net

PassMark Intel vs AMD CPU Benchmarks - High End

PassMark Software - CPU Benchmarks - Over 1 million CPUs and 1,000 models benchmarked and compared in graph form, updated daily!
www.cpubenchmark.net
Graphics Cards https://www.videocardbenchmark.net/high_end_gpus.html
Hard Drives https://www.harddrivebenchmark.net/high_end_drives.html
RAM https://www.memorybenchmark.net/read_uncached_ddr4.html (menu on the left to switch to write speeds, different types etc)
 
little tip to think about with Adobe editing suits. If putting onto a new computer make sure you follow Adobe advice on how to do it or you will loose the editing suit.
 
gman said:
I build my own system for around a grand and it handles almost anything I throw at it, including PCVR. The processor is an AMD 5600X with 32GB RAM and the GPU is a 3060Ti.

PS and LR use the GPU so it's worth getting a decent one. Prices are still a bit silly and it can often be better value to buy a custom built PC with the graphics card included.

Something like this would be more than enough for your proposed use LINK but worth exploring all options and seeing what other advice comes up in this thread.

I've got another computer which has an i5 and 16GB of RAM and it is a little sluggish with the latest PS.
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Thanks for replying. :) Was there a particular reason for AMD 5600X and 3060Ti combination?
 
Snapsh0t said:
One problem you will have is that DVI is no longer available on current GPUs. Does your monitor have other options?

My current preference is for AMD CPUs as they're slightly cheaper than the equivalent Intel and the current Intel socket has a problem with flexing when the cooler is tightened down.

This one from Scan looks a reasonable choice, only needing a bit more RAM and extra storage.
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Thanks for replying. :) DVI was me being a numpty late at night, I should have said Display Port. :rolleyes: :LOL: I'm not averse to getting an older CPU or GPU, as long as it does the business. The latest mid to lower end GPU's seem to be getting underwhelming reviews, and are not looking good value, even for me who knows little to nothing. Thanks for the link.
 
Harlequin565 said:
It's very rare that sequels have similar requirements to the original as the first thing they often do is upgrade the graphics which in turn breaks your setup. Kerbal Space Program vs KSP2 was a huge leap in required tech to run the game on the higher settings. The Steam page for Skylines II is showing the below as the minimum/recommended requirements. And looking at the RX550 you've chosen above, this appears to be a 2Gb card. The processor you've chosen also doesn't look too promising either.
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Thanks for replying. :) The specs I posted above are what I have now. I put that as what I would be upgrading from. Until Cities Skylines 2 comes out, it would be difficult to say what a 'good' set up would be. But I was trying to get at say is that, if that type of game takes advantage many cores and threads of a CPU versus lower cores/threads and higher frequency CPU, then a newer version 'could' favour a similar CPU. Again, until the new game comes out, not really possible to say, but as I said, the current game is of most interest.

A £1k spec PC now should handle the 8 year old game pretty well, even with all the updates. The same £1k spec for the new game may be mid to low spec for it. The problem I have is that I don't know if the game favours AMD over Intel, or vice versa, and what GPU features are superfluous for this type of game.
 
gman said:
If it helps check out these links (below) for various bits of hardware. It's not definitive because sometimes certain combinations can change things, but as a rough performance guide it's quite handy:

Processors
www.cpubenchmark.net

PassMark Intel vs AMD CPU Benchmarks - High End

PassMark Software - CPU Benchmarks - Over 1 million CPUs and 1,000 models benchmarked and compared in graph form, updated daily!
www.cpubenchmark.net
Graphics Cards https://www.videocardbenchmark.net/high_end_gpus.html
Hard Drives https://www.harddrivebenchmark.net/high_end_drives.html
RAM https://www.memorybenchmark.net/read_uncached_ddr4.html (menu on the left to switch to write speeds, different types etc)
Click to expand...
Thanks for replying. :) I've looked at these, and similar sites over the years, but they don't say this can play 4k HDR videos, has HDMI 2.1 and Display Port. Will a GPU with 8Gb, 12Gb or 16Gb card make much difference to this type of game! Normally more is better, but is it for this game?
 
redhed17 said:
Thanks for replying. :) Was there a particular reason for AMD 5600X and 3060Ti combination?
Click to expand...

Only because I've got it, so can recommend it from experience as being good performance for the money. My rig is about 2 years old now, so nearly defunct lol

I was lucky and managed to get a Founders Edition 3060Ti at around £360 directly from Nvidia, which was crazy good value for that card as prices were through the roof. But for your budget I reckon you can easily get a more powerful machine these days.

I think almost all modern Nvidia RTX cards can play 4k HDR video. I had a look at the 3060Ti specs on Nvidia's site (link) and it says at the bottom:

  • 1 - Up to 4k 12-bit HDR at 240Hz with DP1.4a+DSC. Up to 8k 12-bit HDR at 60Hz with DP 1.4a+DSC or HDMI2.1+DSC. With dual DP1.4a+DSC, up to 8K HDR at 120Hz
  • 2 - Supports 4K 120Hz HDR, 8K 60Hz HDR and Variable Refresh Rate as specified in HDMI 2.1

So hopefully whatever card you choose you should be able to check out the specs easily enough for playing 4k HDR video.

Regarding the GPU RAM, my 3060Ti has 8GB, whereas the standard 3060 has 12GB. Seems odd at first, but when you delve deeper into the specs the 3060Ti has a 256-bit Memory Bus compared to 192-bit of the regular card and the Ti's memory bandwidth is larger at 448GB/s compared to 360GB/s of the regular 3060. But at 1080p and 1440p gaming and other applications you will barely notice it.

It's more with 4k gaming that you need to start looking at the GPU RAM capacity, bus width and memory bandwidth.
 
redhed17 said:
Thanks for replying. :) The specs I posted above are what I have now.
Click to expand...
I really need to read things in detail.... My apologies! :facepalm:
 
After a lot of looking about, I have come up with this combination as a possibility. This is the option if I build it myself. Any reason not to get any of this?

CPU
AMD Ryzen 5 5600X 3.7 GHz 6-Core Processor £145.19
CPU Cooler
Noctua NH-U12S chromax.black 55 CFM CPU Cooler £79.95
Motherboard
Asus PRIME B550-PLUS ATX AM4 Motherboard £117.99
Memory
Corsair Vengeance LPX 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3600 CL16 Memory £83.99
Storage
Solidigm P44 Pro 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive £69.99
Video Card
MSI MECH 2X Radeon RX 6700 XT 12 GB Video Card £353.47
Case
Fractal Design Focus 2 ATX Mid Tower Case £64.99
Power Supply
Thermaltake Toughpower GF1 PE 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply £91.84

Total: £1007.41
 
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Looks good. I can't remember as it's been a while, but will you get the full performance from that NVME drive and graphics cards with that motherboard, or would an x570 be needed?

Something rings a bell about this and I'm sure that's why I went with an x570 motherboard, but can't remember the specifics.
 
redhed17 said:
After a lot of looking about, I have come up with this combination as a possibility. This is the option if I build it myself. Any reason not to get any of this?

CPU
AMD Ryzen 5 5600X 3.7 GHz 6-Core Processor £145.19
CPU Cooler
Noctua NH-U12S chromax.black 55 CFM CPU Cooler £79.95
Motherboard
Asus PRIME B550-PLUS ATX AM4 Motherboard £117.99
Memory
Corsair Vengeance LPX 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3600 CL16 Memory £83.99
Storage
Solidigm P44 Pro 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive £69.99
Video Card
MSI MECH 2X Radeon RX 6700 XT 12 GB Video Card £353.47
Case
Fractal Design Focus 2 ATX Mid Tower Case £64.99
Power Supply
Thermaltake Toughpower GF1 PE 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply £91.84

Total: £1007.41
Click to expand...
Make sure you have enough clearance for the cooler...
  • CPU cooler max height
    170 mm
I have the 15s and they are pretty bulky. I can just squeeze my ram sticks in too ;)
 
Paulie-W said:
Make sure you have enough clearance for the cooler...
  • CPU cooler max height
    170 mm
I have the 15s and they are pretty bulky. I can just squeeze my ram sticks in too ;)
Click to expand...
Thanks for that. :) Just read a review for the Noctua NH-U12S, and it said it was 158mm. What I also found out, was that it comes with thermal paste, which I was thinking I was going to have to buy. :)
 
redhed17 said:
Thanks for that. :) Just read a review for the Noctua NH-U12S, and it said it was 158mm. What I also found out, was that it comes with thermal paste, which I was thinking I was going to have to buy. :)
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Nice (y)
It`s always one of those things that gets overlooked.

I do like an upgrade (did mine this morning) ;)
 
A couple of comments:

Whilst the Noctua cooler is fantastic, it may be overkill for the 5600X which I think is rated at 65w. Something like an Arctic Freezer 34 would provide more than enough cooling and save a few £. My camera club recently built a new desktop specifically for LR/photoshop which uses a 5600 non X, and it's been 100% fine with just the stock AMD Wraith cooler.

Western Digital have a sale on for two days (today and tomorrow), with big (30 - 50%) savings on some of their NVME SSDs so you could get a larger or faster SSD for about the same money.

I'd possibly consider a case/motherboard combo which has/can support a front/top mounted USB Type C port for ease of use. The tide is turning with regards to USB ports with more devices being USB C and having a front mounted one means less hassle plugging devices and cables into the back of the desktop, though you could always get a hub.
 
That's a good shout about having a USB-C port at the front. I'm finding that more and more stuff comes with just a USB-C cable and no actual charger, so it would be very handy to have on the case.

I got the Alpenfohn Brocken 3 Black Edition CPU Cooler Dual Fan Edition - 140mm for my 5600X, it's high quality yet inexpensive and keeps temps nice and low. I do game though and it's a big old lump!
 
JohnStewart said:
A couple of comments:

Whilst the Noctua cooler is fantastic, it may be overkill for the 5600X which I think is rated at 65w. Something like an Arctic Freezer 34 would provide more than enough cooling and save a few £. My camera club recently built a new desktop specifically for LR/photoshop which uses a 5600 non X, and it's been 100% fine with just the stock AMD Wraith cooler.
Click to expand...
I went for this cooler for the rated sound performance. Being over specced so that it would run cool and quiet. I have the PC on all the time and about 4-5 feet away. The PC I have now is pretty quiet, only making noticeable noise when the Cities Skylines game save starts to get too large, and I will be increasing the performance a lot in comparison to what I have now, but I still want the lack of noise.
JohnStewart said:
Western Digital have a sale on for two days (today and tomorrow), with big (30 - 50%) savings on some of their NVME SSDs so you could get a larger or faster SSD for about the same money.
Click to expand...
Thanks. I will look into it. Possibly ordering tonight to take advantage of Amazon's sale.
JohnStewart said:
I'd possibly consider a case/motherboard combo which has/can support a front/top mounted USB Type C port for ease of use. The tide is turning with regards to USB ports with more devices being USB C and having a front mounted one means less hassle plugging devices and cables into the back of the desktop, though you could always get a hub.
Click to expand...
I did think of that, but the monitor I use, a Dell UP2716D 27" Ultrasharp QHD Monitor, has a couple of USB-A on the side which I can easily connect to. I have any cables I need within arms reach. Atm I don't have any USB-C to USB-C cables for the 2 USB-C devices I have. They both have USB-C to USB-A cables.

I've changed to possibly a Fractal Design Pop Air, for the extra option of having 2x 5.25” space, as I would be moving my current HDD's across. That has the 2x USB 3.0 on the front, and has a USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C add-on available separately. I don't think I would bother.
 
Well, just pressed the buy button. :oops: :$

I made a couple of changes to the above list, and got things a bit cheaper. Most stuff will come in a day or so, but may take up to 10 days to get everything. Good thing about this build, is that I don't need to use any current components for the new build, and so can keep using this current PC until the new one is finished. The HDD's will move over once everything is working as expected. :)

For anyone interested, the bold items are different to the list above. Thanks to everyone who took the time to comment. :)

CPU
AMD Ryzen 5 5600X 3.7 GHz 6-Core Processor £144.40
CPU Cooler
Noctua NH-U12S chromax.black 55 CFM CPU Cooler £79.95
Motherboard
Asus PRIME B550-PLUS ATX AM4 Motherboard £117.99
Memory
Kingston FURY Renegade 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) 3600 MHz DDR4 CL16 £77.99
Storage
Solidigm P44 Pro 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive £59.99
Video Card
Sapphire 11306-02-20G Pulse AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT Gaming Graphics Card with 12GB GDDR6 £335.47
Case
Fractal Design Pop Air Black – Solid £79.95
Power Supply
Thermaltake Toughpower GF1 PE 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply £91.37

Total £987.11
 
Nice and under a grand as well! Mind to enable the XMP Memory Profile in BIOS if required, it can be easily forgotten as I did with my last build until the following day! Lol
 
I got it all through Amazon, but they are being a pita atm. First I paid for it all, and everything seemed to go OK, then I got a message saying that payment had not gone through, so had to confirm it again with the bank. And now for some reason, I am getting text messages this morning saying that there is a problem, but when I sign in online, there is nothing wrong. It's like I am getting these error messages when they are starting to dispatch the items. I was able to have a sleep in for a bit this morning too, but not now. :headbang:
 
Well all my bits have arrived bar one, the power supply. That took a few days to actually get dispatched, with Weds 19th the date given, but that has slipped to Thursday. :headbang: That could change though, as the SSD was supposed to come on Monday, but came today. :thinking: A few of the other bits came earlier than expected too.

Finally got to see a NVME SSD in the flesh today, and jeez, it was a lot smaller that I expected. :oops: :$ :LOL:

Other observations, the motherboard is heavy, and the CPU cooler is massive. The GPU came in a smaller box than I was expecting. I must be used to seeing the top end cards getting unboxed on YT. :LOL:

The GPU came wrapped in this interesting padding material, which is hard to describe. It is like a sheet of cardboard with with cuts in, which extend when stretched, and then locks in to itself as it was wrapped around the box. A lot better than the plastic 'bubbles', or the polystyrene bits. Very clever.
 
I'm still getting to used to people being able to buy graphics cards on demand after the chronic shortage of them recently, it's great you can build a complete system as you want. I'ma big fan of the Fractal cases and have a Define case at the moment which is the nicest case I've ever worked on, it feels like it was designed to be easy to work with and functional unlike so many of the garbage OEM cases I can only assume were designed to frustrate anyone who used them. I also use a Noctua cooler which may be a bit overkill as I'm not running an overclock on the processor but it's very quiet even under load plus it's hopefully one I can keep using on newer builds as they seem good at supporting different sockets.

Good luck with the build when you get the last of your parts.
 
redhed17 said:
Thanks. :) Didn't realise the power supply was coming from France! :oops: :$ :rolleyes: It's in this country at least. Fingers crossed no problems with it, when it hopefully arrives tomorrow.
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I hope it`s better than French cars ;)
 
Paulie-W said:
I hope it`s better than French cars ;)
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I don't think it's built by the French, just coming from France. I think. ;) :LOL:

If this turns out to not not to be any good for any reason, I can pay a bit more for a different power supply, and get it, in theory, within a day or two. Just hoping it comes tomorrow. It arrived in Kent this afternoon, hopefully it will get closer to Liverpool in the next few hours, to be able to be delivered tomorrow. Boxes are just sitting there taunting me. :rolleyes: :LOL:
 
redhed17 said:
I don't think it's built by the French, just coming from France. I think. ;) :LOL:

If this turns out to not not to be any good for any reason, I can pay a bit more for a different power supply, and get it, in theory, within a day or two. Just hoping it comes tomorrow. It arrived in Kent this afternoon, hopefully it will get closer to Liverpool in the next few hours, to be able to be delivered tomorrow. Boxes are just sitting there taunting me. :rolleyes: :LOL:
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Fingers crossed, mate :)

Good shout above, re getting the majority together first.
 
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I'd rather do it all at once, then (small) bits don't go missing. ;) :LOL:

I started getting a 32Gb USB drive ready for potentially updating the BIOS, and installing the OS, only to realise the one I have seemed very slow. :oops: :$ I don't really want a slow USB drive when updating the BIOS, it would nervous enough, so ordered 2x (different) 32 Gb USB drives, which should be hopefully arriving today. The 2x USB drives, and power supply are in Liverpool at least, and should be delivered today. Fingers crossed. :)
 
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Mind that some motherboards have a specific USB port at the back for BIOS flashing.
 
Power supply and 2x USB sticks came early afternoon. :) Power supply did not have a UK plug. :mad: Putting it all together took a bit longer than I expected, but got it all together, and updated the BIOS. :) Temps were stable at 36 degrees on the CPU. It was quite warm here though. Sides of the case, 2x input case fans, 1x case output fan, 2x fans on the GPU, and the CPU cooler fan, and it was silent.

Started making a Win 10 install USB on my laptop, but had problems three times at the last step. :oops: :$Formatted the USB after each failure. Tried doing it on my desktop PC, and it failed again at the last moment. :oops: :$ :headbang: Tried using the other USB drive, and thankfully that seems to have created the install USB. Good job I got 2x different USB drives! :rolleyes:

Just taking a break before I start installing Windows, drivers and basic software. So glad it is working at least, so far. :)
 
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I'm not sure if you used the Microsoft bootable USB creator, but I remember the last time I used it I did have quite a few issues with it and took a good few goes before it fully worked.
 
redhed17 said:
Power supply did not have a UK plug. :mad:
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French by any chance ;) (sorry, couldn`t help myself on that one) :)

It sucks when these things happen, and then a lot of little things one forgets to do, also. I forgot to unplug the old HDD on Mrs new build, and for the life of me couldn`t remember how to get the new SSD to become C drive. Got there in the end though ;)
 
Paulie-W said:
French by any chance ;) (sorry, couldn`t help myself on that one) :)

It sucks when these things happen, and then a lot of little things one forgets to do, also. I forgot to unplug the old HDD on Mrs new build, and for the life of me couldn`t remember how to get the new SSD to become C drive. Got there in the end though ;)
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Yep, from France. :rolleyes:

Another thing that didn't occur to me whilst choosing the parts, was to check on the availability of accessories for the PC case. It came with two moveable HDD trays which I am using for two of the HDD drives from my old PC. I need another one though, and I have found it quite hard to find the part online. I thought I had found one earlier, just to get an email from the company saying they couldn't find it in their warehouse. :rolleyes::headbang:

It's all working though, and that is the main thing. :)

As well as the components above, I have decided to add a 4Tb NVME, and that will contain all of my images, as I have maxed out the 2Tb HDD from the old system. It will be access to all my images, as I had to just put some on the backup HDD, and some new picture folders scattered around my system.
 
Last update, I hope, as that means nothing has gone wrong. ;) :LOL:

Thanks to Paulie-W, I was able to find the HD Tray for the case I wanted to add the 3rd HDD. I ordered from Scan, and it was delivered the next day, even though I ordered quite late at night. :)

The delivery itself was interesting. I live above a shop who take in all my mail, as there is no access from the street to my home. I got an email from DPD saying that the tray had been delivered, and showed a picture of the package on the shop counter. All good so far. When I went in to the shop after work to collect my package, they said that they did not see or hear the delivery driver, just saw the package on the counter when they came back from the rear of the shop. It seems the delivery driver did not make himself known whilst delivering the package, just put it on the counter, took a picture, and left. :eek: Because it is Summer, the shop have their front door ajar. Anyone could have walked in an taken the package off the counter. :oops: :$ :rolleyes:

Scan sent an email asking for feedback, so I told them, and they said they would be getting in touch with DPD as this was concerning. As I said in my message to them, if someone had taken the package out of the shop, it would have been extremely difficult for me to prove I had not received the package when they have a picture of it in the shop 'delivered'. Has something been delivered if no one has taken responsibility for the delivery? :thinking: Thankfully I do not have to go down that nightmare route. :)

The PC is working fine. I initially used the wrong screws for the motherboard, and had to take it apart again, and the wrong screws were very difficult to get out, unsurprisingly. :LOL: Very stressful trying not to damage the motherboard.

The spec is as above, but with an additional 4Tb Lexar 790 NVME drive. I also added the 640Gb, 1Tb and 2Tb HDD's, and 500Gb SSD from my previous PC. It is all only very slightly more noise than the previous computer, but basically unnoticeable unless you concentrate, with a lot more power. All temperature are great, and I don't think anything has gone over 70C even playing the game I play. The game looks a bit better with higher resolution and a lot more detail. My old PC struggled with the game when a population got to a certain size, but it will take awhile to get to try that out.

Because of the additional 4Tb drive I am able to have all my images in the computer again for instant access/backup, plus the other drives now have more space on them because of the file management and data re-distribution.

Overall it has been very worthwhile, but a bit anticlimactic. The previous PC was working OK, but struggling in a few situations. This new one has no problems with anything, so far, but day to day feels exactly like the previous one. I know though, I will probably not need to change anything, bar maybe upgrading to Win11 or Win 12 in the foreseeable future. It is good to be satisfied. :)

And just to add, I also bought a new Win10 license for £7.70 (bargain), as the old PC still works.

For anyone who got this far, thanks for reading, and I hope you found it interesting.

Thanks for all who posted for the interest and help. :)
 
I know what you mean regarding day-to-day stuff, I found the new rig would feel a little more snappy but nothing mind blowing. But then just how fast can you want a window in explorer to open! lol

The new system really should be blowing the old one away and according the rough guides we are talking about 74% and 86% just for the CPU and GPU respectively, so I can only assume it's the software and game(s) that aren't really showing it off fully.

For me it was things like PCVR, big games like Red Dead 2 etc and large PS and LR files that really revealed the difference between the old and new rig. At least you know that you now have a rig that should handle most things thrown at it and what with AI creeping into the mix, it keeps you well covered.



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