Originally Posted by Leo99
I'm debating if I should use my old case and keep the optical drive or move to a fancy new case with glass window and abandon the optical drive.
How does this PC build look?
- Thread starter glock19
- Start date
I would say take a look at your current case and evaluate what it offers vs the new ones, not just the looks. Take front USB port, as an example. Does your current case have USB3.0 or batter? Would you like to have USB type C up front? If this is important a new case might be a good idea.
Another thing to consider is HDD space. A lot of new cases don't offer this option at all, or might have a cage option for three 3.5 inch HDDs that you have to purchase separately. Most offer 2.5 inch SSD mounting options instead, which is fine if you don't need HDD as storage.
My old Lian Li case can fit six 3.5 inch HDDs and is the reason I keep it. I figured instead of fiddling with external drives, why not use all that space inside my case? I have quite a lot of family videos from my camcorder and DSLR pictures that I need to store. SSDs aren't cheap enough for this kind of storage yet.
I would look closer at two things- the case and the power supply. Look at the more efficient power supplies, Platinum rated etc. and compare the prices- the better PSU save a little bit of electricity and might pay for themselves in 1-2 years, so you can justify the better part. On the case- nothing wrong with it, just make sure it has the features you need. I tend to get very large cases so I can keep adding components. I bought a NXT500 for the wife, and it was a fine case, but I would consider it too small for my own use.
My own case is 10 years old, still running strong but due for a mobo upgrade. I have like 4 SSD, 3 HD, i7 overclocked to about 4.4, and dual GTX 980.
https://koolance.com/pc4-1025sl-liquid-cooling-system-silver
My DELL Optiplex is ten years old, my Gillette Twin-Trac is forty years old and my Seiko Quartz is thirty seven years old. And I am as old as dirt. If the thing works when I push the button, it's just fine for me.
Originally Posted by rubberchicken
I would look closer at two things- the case and the power supply. Look at the more efficient power supplies, Platinum rated etc. and compare the prices- the better PSU save a little bit of electricity and might pay for themselves in 1-2 years, so you can justify the better part.
I did some research on PSU. My current 620W PSU is bronze and moving to platinum should save me about $8.00 per year. Rounding up to $10, it would take a long time for it to pay for itself. My current PSU will suit me well on the new build. I found its box and the modular plugs. Needed an 8 pin PCIe for the new video card.
I've decided to keep my old case and might add in a USB 3 reader in one of the 5.25 slots. I have an older card reader in there with USB slots but not the new USB stuff. I have a ton of movies on DVD that I can watch or rip to watch on my phone on plane rides so keeping my DVD optical drive.
Last edited:
What kind of software development do you work on that requires that much processing in a machine? Or you more interested in it for Gaming Aspect?
Your existing build seems fine for software development, what is your plan for it after you build your new PC?
Personally I would want a separate SSD for the OS and an additional HDD for backup for the type of work you do. You could easily set up batch files to create back-ups on the HDD every week or so and then unmount the drive when finished. That may save you in the event of something like a ransomware attack if external back-ups fall behind.
Originally Posted by Nyquist
Personally I would want a separate SSD for the OS and an additional HDD for backup for the type of work you do. You could easily set up batch files to create back-ups on the HDD every week or so and then unmount the drive when finished. That may save you in the event of something like a ransomware attack if external back-ups fall behind.
Originally Posted by PandaBear
Your existing build seems fine for software development, what is your plan for it after you build your new PC?
Originally Posted by madRiver
What kind of software development do you work on that requires that much processing in a machine? Or you more interested in it for Gaming Aspect?
Last edited:
Originally Posted by KrisZ
Personally I would go with a 3rd gen Ryzen, they are slaughtering inlet at the moment in multicore, multithread workloads and are quite a bit cheaper too boot. Intel only has advantage on single core workloads. So the question is, for your work, does the software/work take advantage of multi threaded CPUs or prefers single core?
Originally Posted by wkcars
I have a Noctua NH-D15 great air cooler, you'll need to play with the fan placement to have clearance over the ram. Should wait for black friday/cyber monday deals. Also if you have a microcenter close by they have lower prices on some of the components but also has sales tax, I bought a number of components from newegg and B&H to avoid the sales tax.
Originally Posted by atikovi
Never understood the point of homebuilt computers. If a part breaks, you have to deal with each separate component manufacturer. And there is always the chance one part won't be compatible with the other. Why not order something to your specs from Dell or some other established make. If something breaks, they come out and fix it onsite for 3 years.
JHZR2
Staff member
Nice build. I haven't built a computer in a while, kind of have the itch but no pressing need.
I just recently built a new computer and my wife inherited my older one. I upgraded the monitors to 27 inch at the same time. I have been using AMD chips since 1999 and didn't vary from it this time either. I went with the Ryzen chip and stock speeds are more than fast enough. The build went without a hitch and have had zero problems. I went with:
-AMD Ryzen 2700
-Asus ROG Strix 450 motherboard
-Corsair Vengeance 16gb memory
-EVGA RTX 2070 video card
-Adata SSD 1 tb hard drive
-Corsair Obsidian full tower case
-EVGA 750 watt Gold power pack
I also added a 1tb mechanical drive for backup storage. This was all loaded up on Windows 10 Home.
I have the Noctua fan in my older build and it has been great the 5+ years its been in service. The new build I just used the Wraith Spire cooler that comes with the chipset. My older Athlon 8350 FX has the Noctua and that is overclocked to over 4200 MHZ. It never overheats even if it gets dusty.
A few things I've learned to keep in mind when putting together a new system:
- Don't go cheap on the motherboard. You don't have to get the top of the line version, but even though a lower end one functions perfectly well it seems that down the road there will always be some feature or capability it lacks that you wish it had. Lower end boards don't seem to get as much BIOS update support for either.
- No need to over-power the system with a fancy, high wattage PS unless it's a high TDP processor and/or graphics card.
- I just put together a new system (3700X) and was able to save about $150 by keeping an eye on NewEgg daily deals and buying parts as they were discounted (FlareX RAM, 580 graphics card, Seasonic PS all were discounted with additional rebates). The ryzen 7 CPU comes with a good stock (wraith prism) cooler, so that saved some money as well.
- The last 3 or 4 times I've put together a new system I was able to reuse my old Antec Sonata cases. Obviously, I don't care about "bling" or RGB lightshows. I've become a big fan (no pun intended) of Noctua and BeQuiet! cooling products - you pay more but they're practically silent and built to stay that way.
I have to say, that the 3700X has shown to be pretty capable. I had avoided AMD since the late 90's when I assembled a "palamino" system, but the new processors are really providing a lot of bang for the buck over intel. The one weakness up until now with AMD was single core performance, but they've drawn pretty much even with intel and are running rings around them on multicore. The main drawback with the new ryzens is that it seems that the BIOS support is ongoing as far as optimizing performance. I've heard that there will also be some future Windows improvements to optimize core usage and boost frequency operation.
Originally Posted by Touring5
A few things I've learned to keep in mind when putting together a new system:
- Don't go cheap on the motherboard. You don't have to get the top of the line version, but even though a lower end one functions perfectly well it seems that down the road there will always be some feature or capability it lacks that you wish it had. Lower end boards don't seem to get as much BIOS update support for either.
- No need to over-power the system with a fancy, high wattage PS unless it's a high TDP processor and/or graphics card.
- I just put together a new system (3700X) and was able to save about $150 by keeping an eye on NewEgg daily deals and buying parts as they were discounted (FlareX RAM, 580 graphics card, Seasonic PS all were discounted with additional rebates). The ryzen 7 CPU comes with a good stock (wraith prism) cooler, so that saved some money as well.
- The last 3 or 4 times I've put together a new system I was able to reuse my old Antec Sonata cases. Obviously, I don't care about "bling" or RGB lightshows. I've become a big fan (no pun intended) of Noctua and BeQuiet! cooling products - you pay more but they're practically silent and built to stay that way.
I have to say, that the 3700X has shown to be pretty capable. I had avoided AMD since the late 90's when I assembled a "palamino" system, but the new processors are really providing a lot of bang for the buck over intel. The one weakness up until now with AMD was single core performance, but they've drawn pretty much even with intel and are running rings around them on multicore. The main drawback with the new ryzens is that it seems that the BIOS support is ongoing as far as optimizing performance. I've heard that there will also be some future Windows improvements to optimize core usage and boost frequency operation.
Originally Posted by Leo99
Originally Posted by wkcars
I have a Noctua NH-D15 great air cooler, you'll need to play with the fan placement to have clearance over the ram. Should wait for black friday/cyber monday deals. Also if you have a microcenter close by they have lower prices on some of the components but also has sales tax, I bought a number of components from newegg and B&H to avoid the sales tax.
Originally Posted by UG_Passat
Originally Posted by Leo99
Originally Posted by wkcars
I have a Noctua NH-D15 great air cooler, you'll need to play with the fan placement to have clearance over the ram. Should wait for black friday/cyber monday deals. Also if you have a microcenter close by they have lower prices on some of the components but also has sales tax, I bought a number of components from newegg and B&H to avoid the sales tax.
Originally Posted by SirTanon
Originally Posted by atikovi
Never understood the point of homebuilt computers. If a part breaks, you have to deal with each separate component manufacturer. And there is always the chance one part won't be compatible with the other. Why not order something to your specs from Dell or some other established make. If something breaks, they come out and fix it onsite for 3 years.
Last edited:
