My Latest Build

Discussion in 'PC Hardware' started by paul_l, Feb 6, 2019.

  1. paul_l

    paul_l Staff Member Administrator

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    Finally a build I'm in my comfort zone - well almost.

    I built the PC i'm typing on 11 years ago, and it has and will still serve me well, but of late with both 3D modelling and video editing started to reach its limits.

    Current PC spec

    Intel Core 2 Q6600 Quad core cpu @ 2.4Ghz
    8 GB Ram
    Radeon R9 200 Graphics Card
    240 GB SSD system drive
    3 x 500 GB Sata HDD's

    The new PC - now I am not a gamer, I used to play Mine sweeper a lot, but since meeting Toto, and Microsoft not installing it with Win 10, I don't seem to get the opportunity.

    This PC needs grunt, ram and a reasonable graphics processor capable of helping to render 3D models and video effects. It will not be a budget PC, and then again I don't want another morgage, but do I want it to last, hopefully as long as its predecessor.

    And now for the religious wars :avatar:

    Processor - AMD Ryzen 7 2700X, for the price probably the best bang per buck, I know an Intel i9 (can you really trust anything that's name starts with an "i" - another religious war starts :avatar:) and the AMD Threadrippers are faster but way out of my price range.


    Dont it look nice in it's hutch

    And the Motherboard to hold the beast - An Asus Prime X470-Pro, not Gamers board, but does have plenty of scope and features including good power & voltage regulation



    Ram 32 GB

    The Ryzen like Fast Ram so this is 2 x 16GB G-Skill 3200 GHz C14 ram, I can add a further 32GB in the future either when required or I can afford

    Storage

    1 x Samsung 240GB 970 EVO NVMe M2 SSD
    1 x Crucial 1TB P1 NVMe M2 SSD
    2 x Western Digital 3TB Red HDD's


    Why so many drives, well the new AMD chipsets (b450 & X470) fitted to the generation 2 Ryzen boards have a feature called StoreMI. In the server storage world this technology is called Tiering, where a drive array is formed from combining the speed of SSD's with the capacity and low cost of spinning drives. The way StoreMI works, is it will pair a fast drive of upto 250GB (hence the Samsung 970EVO) and a slower drive (WD 3TB), the operating system see's the drives as just one drive letter. The system automatically moves files from the slower drive to the fast drive as required.
    Something to ponder on a Sata SSD drive is approx 6 x faster than a Spinning Sata drive, and a NVMe M2 drive is approx 6 x faster than a SATA SSD (or the 970 EVO is over 36 x faster than the 3TB Sata drive it will be paired with:thumbs:)

    The 1TB NVMe drive will be used for rendering 3D images and Video's, and the second 3TB dive for additional storage.

    There is no optical drives being installed on the system, that is one of the roles this PC will provide, as it will get a Blueray writer installed after the new PC is completed.

    Graphics Card

    Asus RTX 2060 OC 6GB
    Now this is a change for me as I have been an ATI / Radeon fan for some time, so changing to the otherside and getting an Nvidia based system is a step into the unknown - actually lots of reading, and this was probably the best overall compromise between performance, price and power consumption, time will tell.

    Power Supply

    A great resource to calculate your system power requirements is here Power Supply Calculator

    For my system the calculated result was 525W, so allowing for future head room I got a 750W supply


    And to help with processor cooling I got a Corsair H100i Pro Liquid cpu cooler, which is more efficient and queiter than the standard fan coolers.

    And finally to house this beast, a Corsair Obsidian 500D mid tower



    So now time to read the instructions :)whatever: as if :avatar:), I may be AWOL for a wee while

    Paul
     
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  2. Gary

    Gary Wants more time for modelling.... Staff Member Administrator

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    Sounds like you are engineering a computer for the ease of 3D developments.... :scratchchin:

    Cheers, Gary.
     
  3. Toto

    Toto I'm best ignored Staff Member Founder Administrator

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    A very enterprising forum of late. :avatar:
     
  4. paul_l

    paul_l Staff Member Administrator

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    If it's really powerful, maybe it will be able to predict Toto's next bright idea with enough time for me to get out of the way - mmmmm maybe that's a bit too optimistic :avatar:

    I intend to have a dual monitor setup for this PC, which will suit 3D modelling, web development (I have this strange feeling I may need this) and video editing, it's also very useful when working on multiple tasks - don't tell SWMBO that not only I but the PC can multitask as well. :giggle:

    I've managed to assemble the Motherboard, Processor, M2 drives, Graphics card, next up power supply, this is a modular unit allowing the builder to only connect the cables required, I just have to work out which ones, its getting late, and I dont want to have to take my socks off to any higher.

    Paul
     
  5. cmcan

    cmcan Full Member

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    Its all rather a let down when it just snaps together. My computer I built years ago is still functioning but like yours paul is on the edge.

    Its harder to build a kit than a computer these days
     
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  6. Toto

    Toto I'm best ignored Staff Member Founder Administrator

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    NASA have put in their order for one of these :avatar:
     
  7. SBt

    SBt Full Member

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    very-interesting.jpg
     
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  8. ianvolvo46

    ianvolvo46 Staff Member Moderator

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    those were the days ... pre-tinto

    babbage.jpg
     
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  9. paul_l

    paul_l Staff Member Administrator

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    Powered up - had to check that the fans are spinning boy is this thing quite.

    Having to use an old TV, as the new monitor is in the post :whatever:, it was out of stock when I ordered the rest last week.

    Paul
     
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  10. Parky

    Parky Full Member

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    Not a subject I expected to see on this forum, but interesting to see the process still goes on

    So how big a screen are you waiting for. I was reading about the option of having a TV instead of a monitor as the resolution figures are higher and they are cheaper than an equivalent monitor

    Yours should be just about able to keep up with Toto's ever increasing stock list :thumbup:
     
    Last edited: Feb 9, 2019
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  11. paul_l

    paul_l Staff Member Administrator

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    Actually, no so much a large but multiple - I'm actually typing on the wee beauty now.

    [​IMG]

    Vizta by HKC 2 x 24'' LED IPS Full HD

    First impressions - it is sooooooo quite

    I ran the Cinebench R15 benchmarks on Old Faithfull - and got a 35.61 FPS on the Open GL test and 166 cb for the CPU tests.

    And the newbie Out of the box with no tweaks Open GL 125.41 fps & CPU 1811 cb

    Now for a couple of quirks

    When the test was first ran, if was run from the usb stick I copied the program from old faithful.

    I set the Ram speed to the correct value (default was 2166 - I think) I set it to 3200, but also copied the Cinebench software to the fast NVMe drive.

    The result Open GL 120.27fps and CPU 1839cb :facepalm:

    I can explain it as the Open GL test goes for the GPU which is on the PCIe bus, and so is the NVMe drive, the theory bears fruit as moving the Cinebench app to the SATA drive, gave the same CPU result but increased the Open GL result to 129.93.

    The other issue I'm having is with the NVMe boot drive, for some reason the 256 GB Samsung 970 EVO, wants to be a MBR drive, which stops the StoreMI functioning with it. I'll get the rest of system up and running then image the drive and try to change the drive type.

    More feedback later - I'm away to play, not games tho

    Paul
     
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  12. Keith M

    Keith M Staff Member Moderator

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    .........and to think Ianvolvo reckons model railway electronics is witchcraft!!!!! I need a translator into standard English to even begin to understand what this is all about, I'll stick to model railways methinks!:facepalm::avatar::avatar::avatar:

    Keith.
     
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  13. Timbersurf

    Timbersurf

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    Given your graphics card would handle it, two 4K screens would have been perfect. For running multiple programs, two screens are invaluable (I have always had two screens for over 15 years), but in recent years using 3D CAD, I could really do with a big 4K screen to fit the multiple windows in. One big 4K screen may have been an alternative to the two HD screens, given that 4K screens are still very pricey! (so two would break the bank). The downside of 4K screens is you don't get the benefit, unless you buy a very big one!
    I actually run 2 PC's (laptops), each with a second screen, but have one of the monitors on a KVM switch so I can have three screens when I run 3D CAD! (all 1080P cus I am a skin flint)

    P.S. My graphics card can run 4 screens at 4K at 60FPS, but is very old, yours should be even better!
     

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