Question Build for my Kids -

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Mar 24, 2023
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I've got 2 boys, 7 & 9 that are in need of their own PC's for school, general research and some gaming with Dad. Am all over the board here, I usually build a new PC for myself (Dad) every 5-8 years, it is usually a $4000 bill and it play's everything fast and does everything I need.. That said, am not going to build something like that for my boys and have spent the last 6 months trying to piece something together that is cost effective and also will be quick for them in their needs..

So, if I can ask for some help here, I do have some requirements that am shooting for and not looking for a "debate" here on some of this.. Make fun of me, or what ever, I don't care am just looking for some good wisdom on the builds. With that said, here is what am looking to achieve and stay within:

  1. We will be using 1080p on these with 24" monitors.
  2. Ability to play most AA games at a high setting and achieving at least 80ish fps. (No need for ray tracing)
  3. Looking to stay with Intel on the processor.
  4. Looking to stay with Nvidia on the GPU.
  5. Likely 16gb of Ram, I don't see them needing more for several years.
  6. Both PC's will be identical (anyone with two close in age kids will know what am talking about here).
  7. I'd like to stay around $1k or less per each build. Already have monitors, keyboards and mice.
  8. Am going to build these with the kids (learning experience) and will be staying with air cooling only.

How far down the Intel CPU list can I go and still achieve the above?
How far down the Nvidia list can I go and still achieve the above?

So many options and am driving myself nuts with configurations and cost while also being very concerned about not having enough horse power or being over kill..
If you have a few moments, I'd love to hear some thoughts and recommendations from the community.
 
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For a budget I'd probably get something like this

Asrock b550m phantom gaming am4 board-89.99

ASRock B550M Phantom Gaming 4 AM4 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - Newegg.com

Ryzen 5 5600-$149.99

AMD Ryzen 5 5600 - Ryzen 5 5000 Series Vermeer (Zen 3) 6-Core 3.5 GHz Socket AM4 65W None Integrated Graphics Desktop Processor - 100-100000927BOX - Newegg.com

32gb Corsair Vengeance DDR4 3600-71.88

CORSAIR Vengeance LPX 32GB DDR4 3600 Desktop Memory - Newegg.com

Asrock RX 6600 8gb gpu-219.99

ASRock Radeon RX 6600 Video Card RX6600 CLD 8G - Newegg.com

Team Group 1tb nvme drive-48.49

Team Group MP33 M.2 2280 1TB PCIe 3.0 x4 Internal SSD - Newegg.com

DIY PC RGB case with Mesh front-59.84

DIYPC IDX3-ARGB-BK Black Dual USB3.0 Steel/ Mesh Panels ATX Mid Tower Gaming Computer Case w/ 4 x ARGB LED Fans (3 x120mm x Front l, 1 x120mm x Rear) Pre-Installed - Newegg.com

Corsair RM750e modular power supply-99.99

CORSAIR RM750e Fully Modular Low-Noise ATX Power Supply - ATX 3.0 & PCIe 5.0 Compliant - 105°C-Rated Capacitors - 80 PLUS Gold Efficiency - Modern Standby Support - Newegg.com

Total of 740.17 before shipping. the power supply you might be able to cut down, I'm not as well versed there. I have a Corsair rmx 850 that I'm happy with so basing a bit off of that.

If you wanted to cut other things and were open to used stuff you could even grab something like this used rtx 2060 for 158.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/364088335841?epid=26058278823&hash=item54c55b1de1:g:OGEAAOSwpgFjpU4-&amdata=enc:AQAHAAAA4IQ0oXmT9KzEWGeNKYXjdLPLzJMKPoZQo0CGkvUrOinUGeWXVnf7QOWEY87rNLEhT3sSc13HMvuVJzFPptcVM1OX+UD49y4VH62vZRwuAYrr4cOrTgBkCPy7Tj5zAEYbh3QiwFTuFQGw8eP3SpsYOhPnmeRWt7YG8ciNxVMml4TrrOr51rlZ0wgQVdFQbclVfKN16FrmQ2WduTNLwVDDBjRdloTk36jZuz2HFpxscfqpbjqFelbxkMP4yguV56hy9f8rwx9c2/gfZN6gjB0oExiCfKwRibEtR6dgWFnfZJ1q|tkp:Bk9SR4Lqp8PiYQ&LH_BIN=1

You could also take a chance on a board like this for about 50 bucks instead of the one above.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/266181367150?hash=item3df9a5556e:g:9JoAAOSwQaxj~orS&amdata=enc:AQAHAAAAwNbgv2h1D+2IZyhj/OlxDIsM6BwinCpIFXgAdWQ/TNiTcKBlPDpR8I+qt3U9dWe9OV5T8BkFTWIAulYmiREe2fjorYcpjcONK0obPoB1G9Oq9nBfl7woV5jO1Pf1Mg+Gfz//fBXMeOXbv0R7cWamvWf8nXuWeBU8VsTyIfO1PXUsB5VeF6qmJeTT0EmF48cRhi4rMGfDHZTpZ5bd67xDOMqP39/ctYfKK73PHS7NX8EHMhQu1uHdnYH7OFqRvhM3ZA==|tkp:Bk9SR_q_rsPiYQ&LH_BIN=1

You could also cut down to this Ryzen 5 5500 for 99 from Best Buy, but the 5600 would be faster.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/195544798745?epid=16054328164&hash=item2d8760d619:g:USYAAOSwZdJi5D2U&amdata=enc:AQAHAAAAwHay6L/Lm6dRckWU6Wt8RrR3inaRsCLEGEQraTDf3K1aQS9MLFXFqBzyKjZb4EHOHGj7ZquMvUxXCXebviB9KbpaZy1wZdmx50zqdDDgITQX2o1356+3aup1/pffq0vzWamBHxcNjVkZ79tAD6hclFR1ufGYKlM/4RopGSfTrqliOAo1adsZbnEeZyu/ovS6wJq8u4hKa70uP76nfnne1syj6igMpoAH4pmEevqAk2XCkrLlFGzhibnxcx4BBAW1dw==|tkp:Bk9SR_L-t8PiYQ&LH_BIN=1

Anyway just some ideas, but at least on a last gen am4 platform lots of options. You could also take a look at intel 12th gen to. On gpu though, I'd suggest stay around the amd rx 6600 level or higher as that should be closer to a gtx 1080. You could even look at the rx 5700 xt. Some of those are heavily mined on but there are some deals on them. For example, 120 bucks and 35 in shipping. No ray tracing but a bit faster then the 6600 above.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/134504189503?hash=item1f51130e3f:g:amwAAOSwbJZkHbju&amdata=enc:AQAHAAAAwFSF0XBhOLyQukf/dZQB+8KqFP3odHbMddpy3o84ZuGlXUusRy91yC8RUZz9VYSqfIgSGxrCsAqMwiE5jjC/K2R4IVr4aymw2RCwEdNutoVb6EnKoUUW2w4CvPAYGVAtWNuO43sGHiq1pY317wCcpZEuJ0fjGNt3/rsijJB+vOYAsWphnO9LK9QVZ5/GzvT5V2Qd/qXrdji031UNzZJPX6G44ichg4o0H974v1uFB+a+FtEINX9xyiC/CQ5VuNEhsg==|tkp:Bk9SR5a40cPiYQ&LH_BIN=1

If you wanted the system to last longer you could also go to a 5700x for cpu.
 
Good build above. I would suggest though the rtx 3060 at 8gb is cut down from the 12gb model. They actually have an rx 6800 non xt on sale for 450 right now. Or you could look at the 6700xt or 6750xt.
That is a 3060 ti, not a 3060 8gb model. I was jusst going by the OPs wish of keeping it to Nvidia graphics cards, otherwise I would recommend said AMD cards. I am also trying to not turn this into a debate as it seems they do not want to go through the conversation about AMD vs Nvidia cards.
 
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Ah you are correct. I see you are looking at the TI card. In regards to the debate part, no problem. I personally would choose the AMD card, but the 3060ti should be fine for 1080p for a while yet as well. For kids at that age, they may not know the difference and it can be upgraded later on if desired.
 
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Mar 24, 2023
9
10
15
For a budget I'd probably get something like this

Asrock b550m phantom gaming am4 board-89.99

ASRock B550M Phantom Gaming 4 AM4 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - Newegg.com

Ryzen 5 5600-$149.99

AMD Ryzen 5 5600 - Ryzen 5 5000 Series Vermeer (Zen 3) 6-Core 3.5 GHz Socket AM4 65W None Integrated Graphics Desktop Processor - 100-100000927BOX - Newegg.com

32gb Corsair Vengeance DDR4 3600-71.88

CORSAIR Vengeance LPX 32GB DDR4 3600 Desktop Memory - Newegg.com

Asrock RX 6600 8gb gpu-219.99

ASRock Radeon RX 6600 Video Card RX6600 CLD 8G - Newegg.com

Team Group 1tb nvme drive-48.49

Team Group MP33 M.2 2280 1TB PCIe 3.0 x4 Internal SSD - Newegg.com

DIY PC RGB case with Mesh front-59.84

DIYPC IDX3-ARGB-BK Black Dual USB3.0 Steel/ Mesh Panels ATX Mid Tower Gaming Computer Case w/ 4 x ARGB LED Fans (3 x120mm x Front l, 1 x120mm x Rear) Pre-Installed - Newegg.com

Corsair RM750e modular power supply-99.99

CORSAIR RM750e Fully Modular Low-Noise ATX Power Supply - ATX 3.0 & PCIe 5.0 Compliant - 105°C-Rated Capacitors - 80 PLUS Gold Efficiency - Modern Standby Support - Newegg.com

Total of 740.17 before shipping. the power supply you might be able to cut down, I'm not as well versed there. I have a Corsair rmx 850 that I'm happy with so basing a bit off of that.

If you wanted to cut other things and were open to used stuff you could even grab something like this used rtx 2060 for 158.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/364088335841?epid=26058278823&hash=item54c55b1de1:g:OGEAAOSwpgFjpU4-&amdata=enc:AQAHAAAA4IQ0oXmT9KzEWGeNKYXjdLPLzJMKPoZQo0CGkvUrOinUGeWXVnf7QOWEY87rNLEhT3sSc13HMvuVJzFPptcVM1OX+UD49y4VH62vZRwuAYrr4cOrTgBkCPy7Tj5zAEYbh3QiwFTuFQGw8eP3SpsYOhPnmeRWt7YG8ciNxVMml4TrrOr51rlZ0wgQVdFQbclVfKN16FrmQ2WduTNLwVDDBjRdloTk36jZuz2HFpxscfqpbjqFelbxkMP4yguV56hy9f8rwx9c2/gfZN6gjB0oExiCfKwRibEtR6dgWFnfZJ1q|tkp:Bk9SR4Lqp8PiYQ&LH_BIN=1

You could also take a chance on a board like this for about 50 bucks instead of the one above.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/266181367150?hash=item3df9a5556e:g:9JoAAOSwQaxj~orS&amdata=enc:AQAHAAAAwNbgv2h1D+2IZyhj/OlxDIsM6BwinCpIFXgAdWQ/TNiTcKBlPDpR8I+qt3U9dWe9OV5T8BkFTWIAulYmiREe2fjorYcpjcONK0obPoB1G9Oq9nBfl7woV5jO1Pf1Mg+Gfz//fBXMeOXbv0R7cWamvWf8nXuWeBU8VsTyIfO1PXUsB5VeF6qmJeTT0EmF48cRhi4rMGfDHZTpZ5bd67xDOMqP39/ctYfKK73PHS7NX8EHMhQu1uHdnYH7OFqRvhM3ZA==|tkp:Bk9SR_q_rsPiYQ&LH_BIN=1

You could also cut down to this Ryzen 5 5500 for 99 from Best Buy, but the 5600 would be faster.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/195544798745?epid=16054328164&hash=item2d8760d619:g:USYAAOSwZdJi5D2U&amdata=enc:AQAHAAAAwHay6L/Lm6dRckWU6Wt8RrR3inaRsCLEGEQraTDf3K1aQS9MLFXFqBzyKjZb4EHOHGj7ZquMvUxXCXebviB9KbpaZy1wZdmx50zqdDDgITQX2o1356+3aup1/pffq0vzWamBHxcNjVkZ79tAD6hclFR1ufGYKlM/4RopGSfTrqliOAo1adsZbnEeZyu/ovS6wJq8u4hKa70uP76nfnne1syj6igMpoAH4pmEevqAk2XCkrLlFGzhibnxcx4BBAW1dw==|tkp:Bk9SR_L-t8PiYQ&LH_BIN=1

Anyway just some ideas, but at least on a last gen am4 platform lots of options. You could also take a look at intel 12th gen to. On gpu though, I'd suggest stay around the amd rx 6600 level or higher as that should be closer to a gtx 1080. You could even look at the rx 5700 xt. Some of those are heavily mined on but there are some deals on them. For example, 120 bucks and 35 in shipping. No ray tracing but a bit faster then the 6600 above.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/134504189503?hash=item1f51130e3f:g:amwAAOSwbJZkHbju&amdata=enc:AQAHAAAAwFSF0XBhOLyQukf/dZQB+8KqFP3odHbMddpy3o84ZuGlXUusRy91yC8RUZz9VYSqfIgSGxrCsAqMwiE5jjC/K2R4IVr4aymw2RCwEdNutoVb6EnKoUUW2w4CvPAYGVAtWNuO43sGHiq1pY317wCcpZEuJ0fjGNt3/rsijJB+vOYAsWphnO9LK9QVZ5/GzvT5V2Qd/qXrdji031UNzZJPX6G44ichg4o0H974v1uFB+a+FtEINX9xyiC/CQ5VuNEhsg==|tkp:Bk9SR5a40cPiYQ&LH_BIN=1

If you wanted the system to last longer you could also go to a 5700x for cpu.

Thank you!
Ill look up on it, am just an old timer who remembers back in the day having issues with AMD.. One of my little guys is on the spectrum and I just need it to work, consistently. Between job, kids, and life, I don't have the time to run down problems like I use to.. Interesting thoughts on the gpu and on the case. Appreciate it!
 
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Mar 24, 2023
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I would do it like this;

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i5-12400F 2.5 GHz 6-Core Processor ($149.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE ARGB 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler ($40.90)
Motherboard: Gigabyte B760M DS3H AX DDR4 Micro ATX LGA1700 Motherboard ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: TEAMGROUP T-Create Expert 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory ($37.49 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 970 Evo Plus 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 3.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($55.00 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Zotac GAMING Twin Edge OC GeForce RTX 3060 Ti LHR 8 GB Video Card ($409.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Focus 2 RGB ATX Mid Tower Case ($66.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair RM650x (2021) 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($104.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $995.33
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-03-24 11:49 EDT-0400

Really like this - Here is my wonder point, is that enough processor for some of the gaming stuff we do? I've no experience in the lower/mid tier stuff and personally left 1080p years ago.
Lately we have been playing a lot of Cities Skylines, Farming Simulator, Diablo 3, Xcom 2, etc. Not so much FPS games, but games we can play on the network here with. I'd like to work more with them on group play and etiquette for doing so.

Thanks for the great list, do appreciate it. That gpu with cpu perform decent in 1080p with the above in mind?
 
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Mar 24, 2023
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That is a 3060 ti, not a 3060 8gb model. I was jusst going by the OPs wish of keeping it to Nvidia graphics cards, otherwise I would recommend said AMD cards. I am also trying to not turn this into a debate as it seems they do not want to go through the conversation about AMD vs Nvidia cards.

LoL - Appreciate you two.. Good advice all around and am not here for a fight or debate, did that years ago and we all have individual opinions and preferences. =)

Am not dead set against it, but the last 15 years for me has been intel and nvidia and (knock on wood) they just work. Am also comfortable within those two brands and should problems come up, I don't need to spend a ton of time chasing down what it could be.
 
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AMD has come a long way. But Intel is still good also. The 12400 I don’t remember the exact specs but I think it’s 6 core 12 thread cpu with some low power e cores as well.

The 3060ti some were still using at 1440p. So that card or the 6700xt or 6800 from amd are really 1440p cards and should almost be overkill for 1080p. That said these cards are the outgoing generation so you could run them as 1080p and they should be able to handle that for a while.
 
Really like this - Here is my wonder point, is that enough processor for some of the gaming stuff we do? I've no experience in the lower/mid tier stuff and personally left 1080p years ago.
Lately we have been playing a lot of Cities Skylines, Farming Simulator, Diablo 3, Xcom 2, etc. Not so much FPS games, but games we can play on the network here with. I'd like to work more with them on group play and etiquette for doing so.

Thanks for the great list, do appreciate it. That gpu with cpu perform decent in 1080p with the above in mind?
The 12400/f are 6 core 12 thread CPUs that will be great for years to come at 1080p. Most the games that hit CPUs the hardest are those types of e-sports games because they are less graphically intense and this will be great even for those.
 
Some thoughts:

There is definitely a learning curve when going to amd from Intel.
Stick with Intel.
An unscientific observation I have after looking at many forum posts is that amd users seem to have more than their fair share of ram issues.
No matter, at any price point the price/performance is about the same with either amd or Intel.
No longer is I3/I5/I7/I9 a designation of the number of cores and with or without hyperthreading. Today, it is more of a general capability level.
Most games will depend on the single thread performance of the master thread.
To that end, look for a processor with better single thread performance.
I3-13100 will have a 678 rating:
https://valid.x86.fr/bench/t3fjgh
I5-13400 will be more like 715.
Both come with a stock cooler that will do the job.
Modern processors boost themselves, overclocking is no longer a way to get something for nothing.
Most any lga1700 motherboard will do.
I would avoid the bottom chipsets, but B660/B760 will be just fine.
No game, by itself will use more than 16gb.
DDR4 and DDR5 performance will be similar, and DDR4 ram and parts are cheaper.
Intel does not depend on fast ram for performance.
3200-3600 speed would be fine.

At one time, one rule of thumb was to budget 2x the cost of the cpu for the graphics card. Not so sure about that today.
My take would be to budget a bit more for the processor.
I would avoid the F suffix processors. The extra $ 25 or so extra is good insurance for resolving graphics card issues.

On graphics, the card becomes more important when playing fast action games at higher resolutions.

For an approximate capability look at Tom's gpu hierarchy chart:
https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gpu-hierarchy,4388.html
I might think a 3060 class card would be appropriate.
In time, that is the one component that you might want to upgrade.

A quality psu is a long term investment. Look for something in the 750w size, or possibly larger.
The cost difference is minimal.
Look for a unit with at least a 7 year warranty. Seasonic focus and Corsair RMx are good places to start.

Buy a sufficiently large ssd. Performance can become abysmal as the ssd approaches full. Do not chase fast sequential benchmark speeds.
The reality is that it all makes very little difference.
Buy a quality ssd; I have liked Samsung.

Lastly, on cases. They are a personal thing.
So long as they hold your parts and have decent front intake airflow any case will do the job.
Here is where you might want to get the kids involved to make a decision.
For example, the Fractal design Focus G are good, low cost cases that come in different colors:
https://www.newegg.com/black-fracta...811352069?Item=N82E16811352069&quicklink=true
 
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Mar 24, 2023
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Some thoughts:

There is definitely a learning curve when going to amd from Intel.
Stick with Intel.
An unscientific observation I have after looking at many forum posts is that amd users seem to have more than their fair share of ram issues.
No matter, at any price point the price/performance is about the same with either amd or Intel.
No longer is I3/I5/I7/I9 a designation of the number of cores and with or without hyperthreading. Today, it is more of a general capability level.
Most games will depend on the single thread performance of the master thread.
To that end, look for a processor with better single thread performance.
I3-13100 will have a 678 rating:
https://valid.x86.fr/bench/t3fjgh
I5-13400 will be more like 715.
Both come with a stock cooler that will do the job.
Modern processors boost themselves, overclocking is no longer a way to get something for nothing.
Most any lga1700 motherboard will do.
I would avoid the bottom chipsets, but B660/B760 will be just fine.
No game, by itself will use more than 16gb.
DDR4 and DDR5 performance will be similar, and DDR4 ram and parts are cheaper.
Intel does not depend on fast ram for performance.
3200-3600 speed would be fine.

At one time, one rule of thumb was to budget 2x the cost of the cpu for the graphics card. Not so sure about that today.
My take would be to budget a bit more for the processor.
I would avoid the F suffix processors. The extra $ 25 or so extra is good insurance for resolving graphics card issues.

On graphics, the card becomes more important when playing fast action games at higher resolutions.

For an approximate capability look at Tom's gpu hierarchy chart:
https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gpu-hierarchy,4388.html
I might think a 3060 class card would be appropriate.
In time, that is the one component that you might want to upgrade.

A quality psu is a long term investment. Look for something in the 750w size, or possibly larger.
The cost difference is minimal.
Look for a unit with at least a 7 year warranty. Seasonic focus and Corsair RMx are good places to start.

Buy a sufficiently large ssd. Performance can become abysmal as the ssd approaches full. Do not chase fast sequential benchmark speeds.
The reality is that it all makes very little difference.
Buy a quality ssd; I have liked Samsung.

Lastly, on cases. They are a personal thing.
So long as they hold your parts and have decent front intake airflow any case will do the job.
Here is where you might want to get the kids involved to make a decision.
For example, the Fractal design Focus G are good, low cost cases that come in different colors:
https://www.newegg.com/black-fracta...811352069?Item=N82E16811352069&quicklink=true

Thank you! Appreciate your time here.
In building my PC's, what you have said above is pretty much spot on with my thoughts. Am a fan of Samsung SSD's, I agree on the PSU (had to many cheap ones back in the day take out my system, usually at the worst possible time).

Am not too picky on the gen CPU (11th, 12th, 13th) for this build, would you stay in the 13th gen? My last build was an 11th gen and haven't had a chance to play with the whole "E-Core" thing. Was already leaning towards the 3060 ti for the card, just needed some boots on the ground thoughts for 1080p play.

Am not going to speak about the AMD vs Intel and problems, am just comfortable with Intel and have zero experience in the last 10-15 years with AMD. My kids patience level for things not working is still extremely small, and I really need the PC's to come up off the ground with out hiccups. We will do the builds together so they have learning experience, but that whole first impression thing, everything boots up and we can load the OS with out issues, good experience.. Other then that and they will have a bad taste and will be harder to bring them back around for another build down the road.

I also agree with the onboard video for trying to solve potential problems, I remember back in the day, processors with onboard video, while turned off, still hampered OC'ing abilities. My 11th gen I9 in my current rig, the thought of OC'ing it seems silly.. So, no real intentions of OC'ing theirs, and again not wanting to deal with the hiccups that come from over voltage, over clocking memory, etc.

I've been lurking here for years if not decades, so while my username is very new.. Big thanks for everyone in this thread and all the tidbits of knowledge gained over the years!!
 
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Better quality case.

https://pcpartpicker.com/search/?q=Fractal+Design+Focus+2
Fractal Design Focus 2


Add a rear exhaust fan to that case so it doesn't become a hotbox.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GJGF56L
ARCTIC P12 PWM 120mm 4-Pin Case Fan $9.99
 
Last edited:
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As a general principle, when buying new, buy the current gen products.
They will usually have better price/performance.
Otherwise, why would they be developed and sold if they are not better than what they replace.
On the used market, that may be a different story.

Nothing wrong with E cores, but they are mostly useless unless you can fully load all cores.
 
Mar 24, 2023
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I like it! Thank you..
Been bouncing back and forth between the 1TB and 2TB main drive.... I have a bunch of older (still good, low hour) SSD's that are the 2.5 inch size. Been thinking about going with a 1TB main drive and then adding in the 1 and 2 TB 2.5's behind it for extra space? Again, those drives are just sitting on my pile of older spare parts laying about, so no cost (and definattly wouldn't spend

I have a NAS on the network, and all the movies, pictures, install files, etc are located there.. Storage needs on the local PC's would only really be necessary for games. How bad of a performance hit would it be to have the games loaded on the 2.5 non boot drive?
 
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I like it! Thank you..
Been bouncing back and forth between the 1TB and 2TB main drive.... I have a bunch of older (still good, low hour) SSD's that are the 2.5 inch size. Been thinking about going with a 1TB main drive and then adding in the 1 and 2 TB 2.5's behind it for extra space? Again, those drives are just sitting on my pile of older spare parts laying about, so no cost (and definattly wouldn't spend

I have a NAS on the network, and all the movies, pictures, install files, etc are located there.. Storage needs on the local PC's would only really be necessary for games. How bad of a performance hit would it be to have the games loaded on the 2.5 non boot drive?
I use a 2.5" SATA 3 SSD and it loads up Windows and games super fast.
 
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Go ahead and reuse whatever old ssd devices you may have.
My only caveat is to monitor the available space. When the ssd is near full, the performance can be abysmal.


Do not be much swayed by vendor synthetic SSD benchmarks.
They are done with apps that push the SSD to it's maximum using queue lengths of 30 or so.
Most desktop users will do one or two things at a time, so they will see queue lengths of one or two.
What really counts is the response times, particularly for small random I/O. That is what the os does mostly.
For that, the response times of current SSD's are remarkably similar. And quick. They will be 50X faster than a hard drive.
In sequential operations, they will be 2x faster than a hard drive, perhaps 3x if you have a sata3 interface.
6X with a pcie interface.
Larger SSD's are preferable. They have more nand chips that can be accessed in parallel. Sort of an internal raid-0 if you will.
Also, a SSD will slow down as it approaches full. That is because it will have a harder time finding free nand blocks
to do an update without a read/write operation.
Larger ssd devices have more endurance.

You might show this video to kids and ask them which ssd devices are the fastest.
The experts could not tell the difference.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DKLA7w9eeA
 
Mar 24, 2023
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Go ahead and reuse whatever old ssd devices you may have.
My only caveat is to monitor the available space. When the ssd is near full, the performance can be abysmal.


Do not be much swayed by vendor synthetic SSD benchmarks.
They are done with apps that push the SSD to it's maximum using queue lengths of 30 or so.
Most desktop users will do one or two things at a time, so they will see queue lengths of one or two.
What really counts is the response times, particularly for small random I/O. That is what the os does mostly.
For that, the response times of current SSD's are remarkably similar. And quick. They will be 50X faster than a hard drive.
In sequential operations, they will be 2x faster than a hard drive, perhaps 3x if you have a sata3 interface.
6X with a pcie interface.
Larger SSD's are preferable. They have more nand chips that can be accessed in parallel. Sort of an internal raid-0 if you will.
Also, a SSD will slow down as it approaches full. That is because it will have a harder time finding free nand blocks
to do an update without a read/write operation.
Larger ssd devices have more endurance.

You might show this video to kids and ask them which ssd devices are the fastest.
The experts could not tell the difference.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DKLA7w9eeA

Thank you!
Am aware about the rapid fall off in performance as you near full capacity. SSD's are rather cheap these days, so am thinking I'll use the old ones as the 2nd drives.. If that turns into a problem, then call me .gov because I've just kicked the can down the road. =)
 
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