Build Advice My build: Critical and constructive comments are very appreciated, so I can improve it.

[SR AA]

Hello guys,

Would you mind sharing your thoughts on my actual PC build?
At the moment I'm doing my research on changing my internal storage HDD wondering if I'll move to SATA SSD or stay with old HDD.

I'd appreciate your sincere thoughts about my PC.
I essentially build it to Gaming, CAD 3D drawing and having a good machine. Let me hear from you?!

Thank you!

CPU: Intel Core i7-11700 2.5 GHz 8-Core Processor
Motherboard: MSI B560M-A PRO Micro ATX LGA1200 Motherboard
Memory: Kingston FURY Beast 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR4-3600 CL18 Memory
Storage: Corsair MP600 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive
Storage: Seagate BarraCuda 2 TB 3.5" 7200 RPM Internal Hard Drive (AGONIZING)
Video Card: Asus TUF GAMING OC P GeForce GTX 1650 G6 4 GB Video Card
Case: Cooler Master MasterBox Q300L MicroATX Mini Tower Case
Power Supply: Corsair CV550 550 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 11 Pro OEM 64-bit
Monitor: LG UltraGear ‎27GN65R 27.0" IPS 1920 x 1080 144 Hz Monitor

 

[Ralston18]

My first thought: PSU

"Power Supply: Corsair CV550 550 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply"

Go up in both wattage and quality.

Start here:

https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-psus,4229.html

Apply the calculators.

 

[SR AA]

My first thought: PSU

"Power Supply: Corsair CV550 550 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply"

Go up in both wattage and quality.

Start here:

https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-psus,4229.html

Apply the calculators.

My actual intent is to push the processor to the limit by improving components.
I already feel I'm very very restrained in heat exchange.

About PSU, I have a spare Corsair CX600. It won't probably be enough for the optimized future build, but it's a starting point, isn't it?!

 

[Ralston18]

600 watts - still likely to be too low for handling power demand surges. However that is also a function of design and quality.

Again use the calculators. If any given component has a range of wattage values use the high end value. For GPUs - use the recommended PSU wattage. Total wattage requirement may be quite high as a result. Still having the wattage available is a good thing. There can be (and will be) much discussion about that.

Read more reviews by verified reviewers.

As for future use:

The difficulty is the word "optimized": how is that going to be measured? Subjectively it means that we want our build(s) to last as long as possibe without needing upgrades and/or more money spent.

Pushing components "to the limit" means (and is) taking risks. What components do you expect to eventually improve - and I believe you mean upgrade.....

Add some explaination about why you feel "restrained in heat exchange". What are the concerns and constraints involved. Could be solved by simply a bigger case and proper fan installations/air flows.

That too can lead to further discussions....

 

[SR AA]

600 watts - still likely to be too low for handling power demand surges. However that is also a function of design and quality.

Again use the calculators. If any given component has a range of wattage values use the high end value. For GPUs - use the recommended PSU wattage. Total wattage requirement may be quite high as a result. Still having the wattage available is a good thing. There can be (and will be) much discussion about that.

Read more reviews by verified reviewers.

As for future use:

The difficulty is the word "optimized": how is that going to be measured? Subjectively it means that we want our build(s) to last as long as possibe without needing upgrades and/or more money spent.

Pushing components "to the limit" means (and is) taking risks. What components do you expect to eventually improve - and I believe you mean upgrade.....

Add some explaination about why you feel "restrained in heat exchange". What are the concerns and constraints involved. Could be solved by simply a bigger case and proper fan installations/air flows.

That too can lead to further discussions....

Hi Ralston,

Yes, discussions are good, and thank you for helping me by pointing a direction to it!
I'll address your comments, hopefully I can cover all or mostly of them.

(Upgrades), optimization, improvement, sort of I would say bottleneck assessment and balancing.
I'd like to keep the processor and RAM, probably mobo too, but IDRK.
Improvement to VGA, cabinet to fit VGA, heat solution (for processor and cabinet) and ofc PSU will need to be proportional.

Thoughts?

 

[Ralston18]

I am not one (full disclosure) for optimizing, pushing limits, etc.. Just want stability and a performance level that supports my OS and apps without glitching, lags, or issues of any sort.

Just basic computer requirements now. A faster CPU, overclocking, and so forth will not help me with respect to old, slow fingers.

At this point the "build" discussion becomes more tactical and I leave such discussions to those who overclock and so forth. Generally comes down to specific requirements, trade-offs, risks, and the respective details.

Do as you mention: "keep the processor and RAM, probably mobo".

Key is to set specific, quantifiable/measurable goals. Be methodical and deliberate. Plan.

Determine what you can achieve with what you have then, having learned from that, strategize the next improvement option(s).

A different sort of balancing....

 

[SR AA]

Hi Ralston,

I'm not interested in overclocking, either. My CPU wouldn't even allow it, and I knew since the acquisition.
I also look for stability and performance as idealized by manufacturer.

 

[geofelt]

My thoughts:

Hard drives are slow.
Go to a ssd if you can.
A 2tb replacement will be $150-$175.
It makes little difference in normal work if it is m.2,pcie,or data.
The difference is in sequential processing and we do very little of that.
It does pay to buy quality. I like Intel or Samsung.
Repurpose your hard drive for EXTERNAL backup.

The power demand is mostly from the graphics card and how many 8 pin connectors it requires.
If you are running ok with the CV550 psu.
With a 3 year warranty, it is not considered high quality.
When it comes time to replace it, buy much stronger than you need.
That allows a larger future gpu upgrade, and it will run in the more efficient middle third of it's range.
The only negative is that 850w costs more than 750w.
A quality psu woll have a 7 to 10 year warranty.

Your i7-11700 processor is a fine one for 11th gen.
It is a 65w TDP processor that will ryn fine on the supplied stock cooler.
It can not be overclocked, but it responds well to turbo boosting.

Your case is fine.
Most will buy a replacement for the looks.
Looks count, it will be with you for a long time.

Somewhere along the line, look for a 32" wide monitor.
More immersive for gaming and better for desktop work.
Choose carefully, monitors will be relevant for a long time.

 

[NedSmelly]

If mostly for CAD: I’d get a better 4K monitor and install Nvidia Studio drivers. Perhaps add a second storage SSD. B560 should have a second m.2 slot? (Edit: oh, your mobo doesn’t. ☹️) Hard drive is fine for data archiving. Everything else seems fine within this use-case.

Maybe swap for a Quadro GPU if it’s mission critical work with Autodesk (AutoCAD QVL list here).

But if you add ‘gaming’ then everything changes. Would be helpful to have a specific game as a yardstick to guide the upgrade path. What others have said about PSU, GPU upgrades etc apply here.

 

[Cellie]

Be wary of the LG monitor. I've had many, used to trust the brand. Then my latest, an Ultragear, keeled over barely a couple of months after the warranty expired. A quick search on a local complaints site turned up many "it died barely an year after purchase" cases against LG.

Also, it had awful backlight bleeding.

 

[SR AA]

Be wary of the LG monitor. I've had many, used to trust the brand. Then my latest, an Ultragear, keeled over barely a couple of months after the warranty expired. A quick search on a local complaints site turned up many "it died barely an year after purchase" cases against LG.

Also, it had awful backlight bleeding.

Thank you for sharing this.
Yes, every time I drop some money I do my research. Unfortunately, we cannot control the risks, only minimize them.

 

[SR AA]

If mostly for CAD: I’d get a better 4K monitor and install Nvidia Studio drivers. Perhaps add a second storage SSD. B560 should have a second m.2 slot? (Edit: oh, your mobo doesn’t. ☹️) Hard drive is fine for data archiving. Everything else seems fine within this use-case.

Maybe swap for a Quadro GPU if it’s mission critical work with Autodesk (AutoCAD QVL list here).

But if you add ‘gaming’ then everything changes. Would be helpful to have a specific game as a yardstick to guide the upgrade path. What others have said about PSU, GPU upgrades etc apply here.

This PC is for work, study, and play... so I must synergize the pros and minimize the cons by choosing the hw pieces and, for that reason I'm brainstorming with you all.

I'll continue the discussion about my build and would appreciate it if you keep sharing your thoughts about.

 

[SR AA]

My thoughts:

Hard drives are slow.
Go to a ssd if you can.
A 2tb replacement will be $150-$175.
It makes little difference in normal work if it is m.2,pcie,or data.
The difference is in sequential processing and we do very little of that.
It does pay to buy quality. I like Intel or Samsung.
Repurpose your hard drive for EXTERNAL backup.

The power demand is mostly from the graphics card and how many 8 pin connectors it requires.
If you are running ok with the CV550 psu.
With a 3 year warranty, it is not considered high quality.
When it comes time to replace it, buy much stronger than you need.
That allows a larger future gpu upgrade, and it will run in the more efficient middle third of it's range.
The only negative is that 850w costs more than 750w.
A quality psu woll have a 7 to 10 year warranty.

Your i7-11700 processor is a fine one for 11th gen.
It is a 65w TDP processor that will ryn fine on the supplied stock cooler.
It can not be overclocked, but it responds well to turbo boosting.

Your case is fine.
Most will buy a replacement for the looks.
Looks count, it will be with you for a long time.

Somewhere along the line, look for a 32" wide monitor.
More immersive for gaming and better for desktop work.
Choose carefully, monitors will be relevant for a long time.

Hi geofelt,
Thank you for taking your time typing all this consideration. I'll reply to each part of it but will split in topics so others can eventually catch up and join the sharing train.

(CPU, mobo, RAM) I’m not planning to improve for this PC. Mobo is still a question mark if I should go to Z590 chipset, but not my main focus to discuss right now.

(Graphic Card) + (PSU) + (Cabinet)
When I made this build, the GPU was extremely pricey. The best I could afford at the time was GTX1650.
Now I'm considering improvement to the best GPU my CPU/Mobo/RAM can handle.
I'm aware that a PSU and Cabinet space will be required.
>>>> Thoughts? <<<<

(Cooling Capacity)
I have a very poor cooling solution! 6 x 120mm fans no PWM of poor quality and CPU original cooler.
>>>> Thoughts? <<<<

 

[SR AA]

My actual build is as follows:

CPU: Intel Core i7-11700 2.5 GHz 8-Core Processor
Motherboard: MSI B560M-A PRO Micro ATX LGA1200 Motherboard
Memory: Kingston FURY Beast 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR4-3600 CL18 Memory
Storage: Corsair MP600 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive
Storage: Seagate BarraCuda 2 TB 3.5" 7200 RPM Internal Hard Drive (AGONIZING)
Video Card: Asus TUF GAMING OC P GeForce GTX 1650 G6 4 GB Video Card
Case: Cooler Master MasterBox Q300L MicroATX Mini Tower Case
Power Supply: Corsair CV550 550 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 11 Pro OEM 64-bit
Monitor: LG UltraGear ‎27GN65R 27.0" IPS 1920 x 1080 144 Hz Monitor

(CPU, Mobo, RAM, SSD) I’m not planning to improve for this PC.
Mobo is still a question mark if I should go to Z590 chipset, but not my main focus to discuss right now.

(Graphic Card) + (PSU) + (Cabinet)
When I made this build, the GPU was extremely pricey. The best I could afford at the time was GTX1650.
Now I'm considering improvement to the best GPU my CPU/Mobo/RAM/SSD can handle.
I'm aware that a PSU and Cabinet internal space will be required.
>>>> Thoughts? <<<<

(Cooling Capacity)
I have a very poor cooling solution! 6 x 120mm fans no PWM of poor quality and CPU original cooler.
>>>> Thoughts? <<<<

Thank you!

 

[NedSmelly]

This PC is for work, study, and play... so I must synergize the pros and minimize the cons by choosing the hw pieces and, for that reason I'm brainstorming with you all.

I'll continue the discussion about my build and would appreciate it if you keep sharing your thoughts about.

My personal approach in choosing tech is with having very specific functions in mind and addressing those. IMO problems arise when desired outcomes are vague (e.g. “a future proof gaming setup that does everything”), leading to wasteful spending.

the best GPU my CPU/Mobo/RAM can handle.

May I suggest considering specific tasks/outcomes to aid in GPU choice. Otherwise there’s no clear boundaries.

Upgrading your GPU will depend on your game, desired resolution, frame rates, and graphics detail settings. E.g. if wanting to play Cyberpunk 2077 at 1440p high setting 60fps then you want at least an RTX4070 or RX7800XT. But if “gaming” means playing FTL and Candy Crush, then your existing GPU is fine. The PSU and case size will then be determined by your chosen GPU.