PC, Build Or Buy?

Well, I knew it was coming..............................

DUST :runaway:

I would give my old PC a clean out once a year, or so. It was never buried in dust but it was significant, so I've been expecting it with the new build.

The side of my case is glass and there are some LEDS inside the case. They obviously light up the inside of the PC and I have noticed a light covering of dust begining to appear on the inside of the glass door. I had expected it sooner but I think the increased airflow of the new PC has helped but it's never going to prevent it.

I'm trying to think of ways to manage the dust and whilst it's not bad at the moment, I don't want it getting out of hand.

Is the only solution regular cleaning, with a cloth and a can of compressed air, or some kind of vacuum?

I don't want to be breaking anything. :wave:
 
With some vacs you can swop the hose onto a port that blows, and that's a lot more effective than the suction port for shifting dust. Fills the air with dust, though ...
 
I cannot recall if you said what make & model case......but does it have filter(s) where the intake fan(s) are?

I like you have done a yearly spring clean with interval cleans of the filters on my case. I used to take the case outside and use compressed air can to good effect but have not done that for some while...................relying on careful use the vacumm cleaner :)

PS FWIW the case I have ordered has nylon filters in the base and front (where the PSU will draw air at the & where the primary air intake is at the front where 2 fans are located). My current case has foam filter material which I used to wash until it disintegrated but managed to find some other foam which I treat as semi-disposable.
 
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I got one of These a while back, and really rate it (y)
 
droj said:
With some vacs you can swop the hose onto a port that blows, and that's a lot more effective than the suction port for shifting dust. Fills the air with dust, though ...
Click to expand...

Cheers for the reply, food for thought. A vacuum of some sort may be the way forward.(y)

Box Brownie said:
I cannot recall if you said what make & model case......but does it have filter(s) where the intake fan(s) are?

I like you have done a yearly spring clean with interval cleans of the filters on my case. I used to take the case outside and use compressed air can to good effect but have not done that for some while...................relying on careful use the vacumm cleaner :)

PS FWIW the case I have ordered has nylon filters in the base and front (where the PSU will draw air at the & where the primary air intake is at the front where 2 fans are located). My current case has foam filter material which I used to wash until it disintegrated but managed to find some other foam which I treat as semi-disposable.
Click to expand...

There's a very fine metal mesh at the front, over the 2 fans there and a mesh on the top panel, although there are no fans under that grid. The rear case fane has no mesh, I could do something there. :)


Paulie-W said:
I got one of These a while back, and really rate it (y)
Click to expand...

Cool, I'll look into that for sure. (y)
 
Worth noting that a vacuum cleaner can create static electricity which could damage the CPU and other sensitive components, so care is needed. Definitely don't touch anything directly, especially the motherboard or components. A compressed air can is the safer option.

Also, be mindful of damaging your fans from spinning them up too fast.
 
Dale. said:
Cheers for the reply, food for thought. A vacuum of some sort may be the way forward.(y)



There's a very fine metal mesh at the front, over the 2 fans there and a mesh on the top panel, although there are no fans under that grid. The rear case fane has no mesh, I could do something there. :)




Cool, I'll look into that for sure. (y)
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The rear fan is the exhaust fan i.e. it blows/extracts air out of the case, so a filter would slow(?) the airflow and is IMO unnecessary ;)
 
Mine hasn't gotten dusty internally yet - and we probably built at about the same time. (And it's on lots) - Tongue in cheek comment here - maybe you need to dust and clean the room it's in a bit more often.

:banana:

(Or otherwise - the compressed air can sounds a decent idea for the component - and an anti-static cloth for the internals of the doors and accessible flat surfaces.)

I haven't tried something like this - but could be worth a try:

Screenshot 2023-03-15 at 00.07.00.png
 
Static pressure fans rather than airflow fans can deal with resistance and are ideal for applications where you are using dust filters, meshes and heatsinks.
 
cymruchris said:
Mine hasn't gotten dusty internally yet - and we probably built at about the same time. (And it's on lots) - Tongue in cheek comment here - maybe you need to dust and clean the room it's in a bit more often.

:banana:

(Or otherwise - the compressed air can sounds a decent idea for the component - and an anti-static cloth for the internals of the doors and accessible flat surfaces.)

I haven't tried something like this - but could be worth a try:

View attachment 384012
Click to expand...


The dust isn't really too bad so far but I can see it on the inside glass of the case door, it just got me thinking. Thinking about it, my PC has been up and running a while now and I don't think it's actually bad at all, I just want to keep it in check. (y)
 
I have boxes on the way.......

850w PSU
Gigabyte Z790 D DDR motherboard
32GB Crucial DDR4 RAM
Fractal Define 7 case
i5 13600k (I decided on the iGPU version as a backstop in case of GPU issues in future)
3 off Western Digital HDDs (2 off 4TB and one 6TB)
Plus the 2 off Crucial P3 Plus M2.SSD 'drives' already to hand.

It does add up to more than I initially planned but as my current PC is 13 years old (though progressively hardware updated) I see it as an in upcoming birthday treat to myself :)

PS the HDDs are the Blue 'grade'.....in the past I have always used Black.

So in principal Black are over spec'ed for the likes of general computing......so Blue save me money and though not 7200rpm but 5400rpm. My surmise is that as I never batch process image files and with the OS & programs on the M2.SSD drives the slower spinning disk will have zero/almost zero impact of processing speeds :thinking:

Oh, the HDDs I bought direct from WD and they come UPS from the Netherlands!
 
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Box Brownie said:
I have boxes on the way.......

850w PSU
Gigabyte Z790 D DDR motherboard
32GB Crucial DDR4 RAM
Fractal Define 7 case
i5 13600k (I decided on the iGPU version as a backstop in case of GPU issues in future)
3 off Western Digital HDDs (2 off 4TB and one 6TB)
Plus the 2 off Crucial P3 Plus M2.SSD 'drives' already to hand.

It does add up to more than I initially planned but as my current PC is 13 years old (though progressively hardware updated) I see it as an in upcoming birthday treat to myself :)
Click to expand...
I've just gone back and added up what I spent on mine - I added a couple of extra bits not originally planned - and came in a bit more than expected (Initially planned to spend just over £1k - but kept justifying why it would be better to get this or that). I thought I'd add to the thread with a few details as others might be contemplating buying a new setup.

My old PC was also ancient - but still sold it for £200, and also had my dad's old PC that went for £360 - so that brought my outlay down a bit. I probably have gone overboard a little on the spec and the budget - but I want it to last at least 10 years like my old one did. I want it to handle today's apps and programs, and where possible those in a few years time too. (I did the same last time, which I think is why I managed to sell it for £200 after over a decade, and it was still doing ok considering).

I've never been a gamer - mostly played a few sims - but have tried my first 'proper' game with this setup, and I'm quite blown away. It involves running around streets and buildings shooting up baddies that appear to get bigger and stronger as the levels progress, but has (for me) some top notch graphics. I've managed to progress quite well for someone that hadn't played a point and shoot before. I can see me playing the odd new game as it comes along of this genre. (Tom Clancy's The Division 2 - where the PC LED's change colour with the game actions - so engage with baddies and the PC turns red! I'm not easily impressed, honest :clap:)

I'm also going to be (not yet) running a fairly hefty flight simulator on it - so will be interested to see how it handles that.

I originally only had the 1tb PCIE SSD - and wanted to pop my games on this alongside the operating system to take advantage of the speed of access, as I had a stack of old HDD's for storage that are also fitted that didn't need speedy access for my photos. It filled up far too quickly though, so have added another 2tb PCIE SSD, and that's now about half full with a stack of games - and won't be used for anything else. I do like the way the SSD's are inserted into the motherboard itself. My existing HDD's mounted to the side look huge in comparison.

I have to say it's very quick. My lightroom and photoshop do everything I want at a decent speed.

Aside from the prices - they do add up quickly - I have no regrets :) It hasn't crashed yet!

Oh and it's full of LED flashy lights. The photo and video show the case open - it does have glass doors - but I still have the safety film on as I'll be moving house soon, and knowing me I'd scratch it during transport, so I won't be peeling it off until I'm moved.


Screenshot 2023-03-15 at 21.53.35.png

IMG_2475 Large.jpeg
 
I quite liked the Division games, played them on my son's Xbox. It's been a while but I think I preferred the 1st one - if memory serves the sequel didn't have members of the public so felt a little sparse? Both a little repetitive, but they had a fairly decent method of upscaling the difficultly as you became stronger.
 
Box Brownie said:
I have boxes on the way.......

850w PSU
Gigabyte Z790 D DDR motherboard
32GB Crucial DDR4 RAM
Fractal Define 7 case
i5 13600k (I decided on the iGPU version as a backstop in case of GPU issues in future)
3 off Western Digital HDDs (2 off 4TB and one 6TB)
Plus the 2 off Crucial P3 Plus M2.SSD 'drives' already to hand.

It does add up to more than I initially planned but as my current PC is 13 years old (though progressively hardware updated) I see it as an in upcoming birthday treat to myself :)

PS the HDDs are the Blue 'grade'.....in the past I have always used Black.

So in principal Black are over spec'ed for the likes of general computing......so Blue save me money and though not 7200rpm but 5400rpm. My surmise is that as I never batch process image files and with the OS & programs on the M2.SSD drives the slower spinning disk will have zero/almost zero impact of processing speeds :thinking:

Oh, the HDDs I bought direct from WD and they come UPS from the Netherlands!
Click to expand...
I think you'll find the hard drive performance will be great for what you're using them for, where they are very poor is for boot drives and applications which you've sorted with your SSDs. My only complaints with the hard drives is they can be a bit noisy when you're hearing them spin up but SSDs are nowhere near cost effective for bulk storage of pictures and videos.
 
Not really into building, but I think it is getting time to replace my 2013 Dell XPS 8300 with the following specs - I've always been happy with the Dell machines I've had - each has lasted 10 years at least:

i7-2600 3.40GHz
Win 10 home
16GB ram
Win10Home
1050TI Graphics card (added a few years ago
Samsung 860 EVO 1Tb SATA SSD

It's been more than fine for my use - I do a little video editing - Go Pro stuff from my cycle commute mostly, and C1 for phot editing.

How does this system sound as a decent replacement, from Dell's Outlet, ideally to last me another 10 years, the current price is £1,520.
  • Dell Outlet XPS 8950
  • Intel Core 12th Generation i7-12700 Processor (12 Core, Up to 4.90GHz, 25MB Cache, 65W)
  • Windows 11 Pro
  • 32GB (2X16GB) Up to 4800MHz DDR5 UDIMM Non-ECC
  • 1TB 3.5inch SATA Hard Drive (7200 RPM)
  • 1TB PCIe M.2 NVMe Class 40 Solid State Drive
  • NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 8GB GDDR6, LHR
  • Chassis with 750W Platinum PSU (Night Sky), with Optical Drive
  • Killer Wi-Fi 6 AX1675 (2x2) 802.11ax Wireless and Bluetooth 5.2
  • External English UK Wired Black Keyboard
  • 8X DVD +/- RW DRIVE
Any feedback more than welcomed, thank you.
 
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FWIW and maybe WAMT

The key boxes arrived but the "retail i5 CPU" does not include the HSF..... calling the supplier, apparently because it is the unlocked variant the Intel HSF is not considered right! NB this is one of the 125W CPUs

I lodged with them that they need to make their listing clearer.

Now I need to buy an HSF :thinking: I think Noctua was recommended?
 
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Though what about???


The Noctua
NH-C14S
NH-D12L
Both of which are on the LGA1700 and the case compatibility lists as OK.
The 12L explicitly says it clears the RAM slots but the 14S mentions caution on clearance depending on the fan position!

Crumbs....just checked the Noctua ones prices.....not an extra expenditure I was planning for but c'est la vie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
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Box Brownie said:
FWIW and maybe WAMT

The key boxes arrived but the "retail i5 CPU" does not include the HSF..... calling the supplier, apparently because it is the unlocked variant the Intel HSF is not considered right! NB this is one of the 125W CPUs

I lodged with them that they need to make their listing clearer.

Now I need to buy an HSF :thinking: I think Noctua was recommended?
Click to expand...
Is your CPU LGA 1700 ?

If so - had you considered a sealed water cooled unit like this one from MSI? I went for the flashy light one which cost a bit more - but they do a regular non LED version as here:

MSI MAG CORELIQUID P240 Liquid Cooler LGA 1700 Ready

The fans go on the upper edge of your case (pretty much every case has the holes there ready to mount these - but worth a look)

These won't get clogged with dust over the years - so no need to try and clean out fins etc. - a lot less maintenance :)
 
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cymruchris said:
Is your CPU LGA 1700 ?

If so - had you considered a sealed water cooled unit like this one from MSI? I went for the flashy light one which cost a bit more - but they do a regular non LED version as here:

MSI MAG CORELIQUID P240 Liquid Cooler LGA 1700 Ready

The fans go on the upper edge of your case (pretty much every case has the holes there ready to mount these - but worth a look)

These won't get clogged with dust over the years - so no need to try and clean out fins etc. - a lot less maintenance :)
Click to expand...
Yes the LGA 1700

The case has lots of customisation and could take such a unit.

Most of the liquid cooling I have seen has fluid reservoir so I surmise this one is closed loop system that has 'no' evaporation losses?

I think I will stick with a non fluid method but I look forward to hearing how you get on longer term with yours.
 
Box Brownie said:
Yes the LGA 1700

The case has lots of customisation and could take such a unit.

Most of the liquid cooling I have seen has fluid reservoir so I surmise this one is closed loop system that has 'no' evaporation losses?

I think I will stick with a non fluid method but I look forward to hearing how you get on longer term with yours.
Click to expand...

Yes it's a closed loop, so no losses, and incredibly easy to fit. More efficient in cooling than a traditional fan and heat sink. If at any point you'll be pushing the CPU - then water cooled could be better. Not that I'm trying to sway you from your fan and lump of metal :)
 
cymruchris said:
Yes it's a closed loop, so no losses, and incredibly easy to fit. More efficient in cooling than a traditional fan and heat sink. If at any point you'll be pushing the CPU - then water cooled could be better. Not that I'm trying to sway you from your fan and lump of metal :)
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No nudging allowed :LOL:

I have ordered the NH-D12L from Amazon..................I needed all the parts to hand so that I can get on with the build without faffing around.....hopefully up & running later next week :)
NB though as mentioned previously I will need to update the BIOS to take my RTX3060 GPU. I have been in touch with Gigabyte eSupport with a question re: using Q-Flash Plus or Q-Flash? Now as I will either start with my GTX1050Ti installed or used the onboard iGPU they advised the none Plus version of Q-Flash.......thinking about it to avoid swapping the GPUs I will stick with the onboard iGPU :giggle:
 
FWIW

Just checked the manufacturing dates on the WD Blue drives
Both 4TB ones are Feb 2023
The 6TB one is August 2021........obviously not a rapid seller :LOL:
 
Update.......

I have done phase 1 of the build.

It booted into the cloned C drive
Updated the onboard VGA driver to properly see full screen resolution)

Changed the licence to my newly bought one (it will/needs to "Activate" once connected to the internet.

Flashed the BIOS from v1 to v4 (in readiness to install my RTX 3060 GPU)

Phase 2 to do
Reconfigure the internal layout and install the 3 HHDs (give them the required drive letters)

Swap out the RTX3060 from current PC and install into new one.

Connect up the case fans to the onboard fan hub
(I may get a a cable extension for the CPU fan so that I can connect it to the fan hub)

Lastly, swap our the new box for the old :)

PS one thing that surprised me......on all previous PC's and this older build there was a case speaker & connection to be able to hear the POST beeps. but though the motherboard has the connectors for such a speaker the new case does not have the wiring or the speaker :thinking:
 
Box Brownie said:
Update.......

PS one thing that surprised me......on all previous PC's and this older build there was a case speaker & connection to be able to hear the POST beeps. but though the motherboard has the connectors for such a speaker the new case does not have the wiring or the speaker :thinking:
Click to expand...
From what I can remember, the case speaker is on a little wired dongle with a connector. I think I just used my old one, and plugged it into to the MB (where all the tiny fiddly connectors go).
 
Box Brownie said:
Connect up the case fans to the onboard fan hub
(I may get a a cable extension for the CPU fan so that I can connect it to the fan hub)
Click to expand...

You need to connect the CPU fan directly to the CPU fan header on the motherboard.

If you don't you will run into issues with your computer not booting or even damaging your CPU
 
Milo King said:
You need to connect the CPU fan directly to the CPU fan header on the motherboard.

If you don't you will run into issues with your computer not booting or even damaging your CPU
Click to expand...
Oh! even though the case instructions show connecting the CPU fan to the hub and the hub's PWM connector to the CPU motherboard fan header :thinking:


PS whilst doing my phase 1 checks, the CPU fan was inaudible......a welcome relief:)
 
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Defo plug it into the MB :)

The hub is more for the case fans, as far as I know.
 
gman said:
Worth noting that a vacuum cleaner can create static electricity which could damage the CPU and other sensitive components, so care is needed. Definitely don't touch anything directly, especially the motherboard or components. A compressed air can is the safer option.
Click to expand...

I can say from direct experience DO NOT use a vacuum cleaner to get the dust bunnies out of your case. I did that and despite not touching anything directly there was a very small spark from the plastic/nylon hose attachment and that motherboard never booted again.
I was able to fit a new board and reuse the CPU, RAM and other connected components but it was a £100 lesson I have learned.

You can get a can of compressed air from Poundland - you can probably guess the price ;)
 
A vac on suck is ineffective in any case. Used on blow, if it has the required hose port, the nozzle needn't be nearer to anything than a foot. That'd need a hell of a spark ... ;-)
 
Does that Connect Nexus+ 2 Fan Hub not control all fans at the same rpm and not individually? I would prefer to use the motherboard fan headers and I believe that motherboard has pretty good ones, plus some extra ones for liquid cooling fans etc that you can use for case fans instead and have lots of individual control over airflow.

Whilst the fan hub does seem to be taking into account CPU monitoring with that extra connection, with something as important as the CPU I would rather use the MB fan header than a fan hub that may be at risk of failing?
 
Paulie-W said:
This might be helpful
https://www.reddit.com/r/FractalDesignNA/comments/l0eyua
View: https://www.reddit.com/r/FractalDesignNA/comments/l0eyua/noob_questions_on_fractal_design_define_7_fan_hubs/


Controlling everything separately.
Click to expand...
Good find and insightful (y)
gman said:
Does that Connect Nexus+ 2 Fan Hub not control all fans at the same rpm and not individually? I would prefer to use the motherboard fan headers and I believe that motherboard has pretty good ones, plus some extra ones for liquid cooling fans etc that you can use for case fans instead and have lots of individual control over airflow.

Whilst the fan hub does seem to be taking into account CPU monitoring with that extra connection, with something as important as the CPU I would rather use the MB fan header than a fan hub that may be at risk of failing?
Click to expand...
Fair point.... especially..in context of @Paulie-W linked discussion thread.
 
Update

All sorted ~ old PC retired..........intend to store initially until I decide to strip it/sell off everything bar the HHDs and the SSDs.

A couple of oddities were the Logi MX Keys was not identified but worked AOK....ir seemed to be something to do with the use Unifying Receivers being unique :thinking:

And the first use of my MS Office 2007 required that it 'phone home' but all AOK

Another slight oddity was the new OS License ~ I as mentioned entered it and the truncated license showed in the Settings > About but once connected to the internet it showed as Digital License? I entered it again and activated it and still shows as a Digital License :thinking:

FWIW MS Edge is still messed up, so on the face of not a hardware issue.

Oh, I also ran Backup to take a snapshot of the new Build OS but is failed. IO took notes and will post them here for others insight ;)

Lastly, the new rig is oh so silent bearing mind there is a total of 6 fans running (HSF, 3 case fans & the 2 fans on the RTX3060 GPU)
 
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A couple of oddities were the Logi MX Keys was not identified but worked AOK....ir seemed to be something to do with the use Unifying Receivers being unique
Click to expand...
I use a Logitech MX keys and a Logitech MX mouse. I don't use a unifying receiver just inbuilt Bluetooth. Both are detected in Windows 10 without the unifying device. Maybe worth getting a bluetooth adapter or using the inbuilt if you have one.
 
ChrisH said:
I use a Logitech MX keys and a Logitech MX mouse. I don't use a unifying receiver just inbuilt Bluetooth. Both are detected in Windows 10 without the unifying device. Maybe worth getting a bluetooth adapter or using the inbuilt if you have one.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the suggestion, as mentioned all seems to be going well now :)
 
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