New build: Powerful, quiet and maybe small form factor too

dmigsy

Hi all,

I'm looking to replace my current PC with something more powerful. Running into minor issues with Anno 1800 even at 1080p on my current machine.

Current machine: MSI Trident 3 Gaming Desktop - (Black) (Intel Core i7-7700, 8 GB RAM, 256 GB SSD Plus 1 TB HDD, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3 GB Graphics, Windows 10)

I like the small form factor and low noise of the Trident 3. Low noise/silence is essential in the new machine. I've been looking at a couple of prebuilts. Corsair One i160 would fit the bill but it's about €3700. The Trident X Plus is also crazy money. Forgoing the small form factor, I've looked at something like this:

https://www.scan.co.uk/products/3xs-gamer-rtx-ti-intel-core-i9-9900k-coffee-lake-16gb-ddr4-11gb-evga-rtx-2080-ti-xc-500gb-ssd-2tb-wi

Not sure how noisy it would be though. Also, I'm not into RGB so I don't care if components have fancy lighting/designs. A silent black box is fine

What can I build for my budget? Thanks!


1. What is your budget? [€2,500]

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer? [Gaming on Ultra / Web with 30 Chrome tabs open]

3. Do you need a copy of Windows? [Yes]

4. Can you use any parts from an old computer? [No]

5. Do you need a monitor? [No]

5b. If no, what resolution is your current monitor and do you plan to upgrade in the near future? [Going to upgrade to 3440x1440 at the same time]

6. Do you need any of these peripherals? [Keyboard/Mouse/Wireless Card/Card Reader/Speakers/etc.] [Nope]

7. Are you willing to try overclocking? [No]

8. How can you pay? [Debit Card/Credit Card/Paypal]

9. When are you purchasing? [ASAP]

10. If you need help building it, where are you based? [Should be ok building it, based in Dublin City]

K.O.Kiki

I'd just upgrade the GPU TBH
SFF RTX 2060 would deliver a 66% boost.

I would also advise to switch from Chrome to Firefox :pac:

Alternatively, build a Node 304 machine:

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor (£179.99 @ Amazon UK)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! Pure Rock 51.7 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£27.99 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: MSI B450I GAMING PLUS AC Mini ITX AM4 Motherboard (£137.46 @ CCL Computers)
Memory: Patriot Viper 4 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory (£58.29 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Intel 660p Series 2.048 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive (£189.42 @ CCL Computers)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon RX 5700 XT 8 GB GAMING OC Video Card (£402.63 @ CCL Computers)
Case: Fractal Design Node 304 Mini ITX Tower Case (£74.95 @ CCL Computers)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA G3 (EU) 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply (£74.98 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £1145.71
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-10-20 11:05 BST+0100

Alternative GPUs: RTX 2070 Super or RTX 2080 Ti (Gigabyte Windforce or EVGA XC Black / XC Gaming models). 2080 Ti would be better with a 650W PSU.
Buy CPU & motherboard from CCL & request a BIOS update.

Homelander

Just get a new graphics card and more ram and you're grand. The gtx1060 is a low-end card, your cpu is perfectly good. I would say a 5700xt or rtx2070 super are good shouts if you are getting a 3440x1400 monitor, around 450 pounds would sort you out for the card + ram.

K.O.Kiki

Homelander wrote: »

Just get a new graphics card and more ram and you're grand. The gtx1060 is a low-end card, your cpu is perfectly good. I would say a 5700xt or rtx2070 super are good shouts if you are getting a 3440x1400 monitor, around 450 pounds would sort you out for the card + ram.

No AMD card or 2070 Super will fit the Trident 3 - requires a GPU under 180mm.

Forgot that this would also require the more powerful 330W external PSU (instead of bundled 230W) which are €175 shipped - could be a breaking point for just selling current build & building the Node 304.

dmigsy

Thanks folks. Might need to look at the power supply too for a beefier card. Physical dimensions for the card too too. The Trident 3 case is pretty tight for space. Might be louder then too. More to think about!

Edit: K.o. kiki beat me to it.

dmigsy

Would it be a mad idea to go for an external gpu setup with the Trident 3?

K.O.Kiki

dmigsy wrote: »

Would it be a mad idea to go for an external gpu setup with the Trident 3?

The Trident 3's motherboard only has 5Gbps USB 3.1 Gen1 which isn't enough bandwidth for a GPU.
In addition, the docks cost €320+ and you lose 10-15% performance.

Not worth.

Homelander

Sorry I didn't realise it was that small a case. And just 230w psu too. Normally I'd be hesitant to tell someone to build a whole new PC when the core parts are solid, especially when this probably cost a fair whack not too long ago but now you would struggle to get 400 or 500 for it 2nd hand probably. But it makes sense here.

You should be able to get a 1660ti into it with the 230w adaptor I would imagine? Maybe consider that, and building a new pc altogether in another year or two. Still a massive upgrade on the 1060 3gb. I agree though don't bother trying to shell out for the bigger adaptor. At that point prob better to just build a new pc that's way more upgradable than your current one in the longer term. The build above with the 3600 and 5700XT or 2070 super is pretty good and by far the best value. Going to more expensive cards the performance to price ratio starts to get horrible. If you were keen to spend money at a push I would consider 3700x processor and 32gb ram, would probably last a decade for games but I think there's not really much point in getting beyond a 5700xt or 2070 super. Far more economical and easy to change the card every 2 years than pay ridiculous prices for something like a 2080ti now.

dmigsy

Decided to buy this. It's from Cyberpower PC and was on a amazon warehouse deal @ £1200 STG

AMD Ryzen 7 2700X w/ 120mm All-in-one CPU Liquid Cooler
Nvidia RTX 2080 8GB
16B RAM
500GB NVMe SSD
2TB HDD
650W 80+ PSU
Windows 10
NZXT H500

Case is bigger than I'd like and who knows how loud it will be but getting a 2080 at this price could be worth taking a chance on it. Maybe need to rebuild in a new quiet case in a while depending on how it goes.

Thoughts on this spec & price?

Homelander

For me personally that's too much for a 2nd hand PC which has older parts. You can get new PC's with 3rd gen ryzen cpu and similar graphics card for same price new (and usually come with free games too). Amazon warehouse stock is not very thoroughly checked either, if its just a damaged box or something that is grand, but they don't test returned stuff very well so there is a chance it was returned for a fault reason but it just got repackaged and sold again as warehouse stock.

The old 2080 is the same broadly speaking as a 2070 super, AMD closest is 5700xt, not to be confused with the newer and more expensive 2080 super.

Like for example this here, when configured with 16gb ram and 500gb evo ssd, still only comes to £1040....it's a Ryzen 3600 which is better in games than the older 2700x, and the 5700xt is similar to the old version 2080.

https://www.awd-it.co.uk/awd-465x-ryzen-5-3600-six-core-radeon-rx-5700xt-anniversary-8gb-desktop-pc.html

Obviously what you bought is not a bad PC exactly but it's not a good deal at 1200 sterling considering it's 2nd hand stock, and 3rd gen ryzen is a big improvement for gaming over the older 2 series processors.

dmigsy

Homelander wrote: »

For me personally that's too much for a 2nd hand PC which has older parts. You can get new PC's with 3rd gen ryzen cpu and similar graphics card for same price new (and usually come with free games too). Amazon warehouse stock is not very thoroughly checked either, if its just a damaged box or something that is grand, but they don't test returned stuff very well so there is a chance it was returned for a fault reason but it just got repackaged and sold again as warehouse stock.

The old 2080 is the same broadly speaking as a 2070 super, AMD closest is 5700xt, not to be confused with the newer and more expensive 2080 super.

Like for example this here, when configured with 16gb ram and 500gb evo ssd, still only comes to £1040....it's a Ryzen 3600 which is better in games than the older 2700x, and the 5700xt is similar to the old version 2080.

https://www.awd-it.co.uk/awd-465x-ryzen-5-3600-six-core-radeon-rx-5700xt-anniversary-8gb-desktop-pc.html

Obviously what you bought is not a bad PC exactly but it's not a good deal at 1200 sterling considering it's 2nd hand stock, and 3rd gen ryzen is a big improvement for gaming over the older 2 series processors.

Thanks man. Appreciate it. Cancelled that order.

Homelander

My biggest problem with it was the fact that it was 2nd hand at that price and that Amazon Warehouse stock can be extremely unreliable. Obviously new, that would've been a good price. Would you consider building yourself, by far the best way to get best value for your cash. Especially when you get into the higher-end hardware.

dmigsy

Homelander wrote: »

My biggest problem with it was the fact that it was 2nd hand at that price and that Amazon Warehouse stock can be extremely unreliable. Obviously new, that would've been a good price. Would you consider building yourself, by far the best way to get best value for your cash. Especially when you get into the higher-end hardware.

Yeah, I'd consider it but I have a lot on with college and work so prebuilt is definitely attractive.

dmigsy

Specced out two machines:

The Warlock that Homelander mentioned with a couple of tweaks:

https://www.cclonline.com/pc/gaming-pcs/pbm/ccl-warlock-gaming-pc/020200030700020000000002000001/



And this one from AWT:

https://www.awd-it.co.uk/awd-465x-ryzen-5-3600-six-core-radeon-rx-5700xt-anniversary-8gb-desktop-pc.html



Assuming both will be good for 1440p ultrawide gaming ~100hz? There's loads of ram and will be upgradable in future. I'm leaning towards the AWD build as I prefer the Corsair case, other than that and the larger SSD with the CCL build, I think they're pretty similar.

Any argument against these or have I missed better alternatives? Or opinions on either of the vendors?

I haven't specced a windows install on either as I assume it's cheaper to buy it elsewhere and install myself. Any pitfalls with that approach?

Thanks!

Homelander

Yeah, the 5700XT is a good card. Maybe 10% slower than the 2070 super/old 2080. But again it's way better value to get a brand new, warranty and hassle free build. The 3600 though is much better than the 2700x for games. The 2700x has more cores/threads, but the 3600 is way better designed for games and performs much better. By the time a 2nd gen 8/16 core ryzen 2 is better than a 6/12 core ryzen 3, both will be totally obsolete so it's not really any argument. Also a new build with a ryzen cpu and 5700xt should net you a few free games too. The 480gb gigabyte drive will not be as fast as a nvme drive but really in actual use you won't notice any difference. Regards windows, Win10 is free to install and works forever in non-activated mode, and if you really want an activated version, can get keys for a few euro off Ebay.

dmigsy

Yeah, 480GB isn't a huge deal of storage so I'll likely add a nvme drive at some point. The Corsair Force MP600 1TB PCIe Gen4 looks savage paired with X570 and 3600. Pricy though.

Ordered the PC from AWD. Can't wait to test it out. Thanks again for your help.

dmigsy

Got the PC earlier this week. Picked up a 1tb Nvme drive for it too. A little tweaking of the fan curves and it is really quiet, even when gaming which was my main concern with the 5700xt. Running games brilliantly. Thanks again for your help in picking this out. Anything more powerful would have been a waste of cash!