Silent, affordable yet powerful game PC
Posted: Sat Jan 13, 2018 4:30 am
My old silent PC is now 10 years old, and I need a new one. Here's the original thread: viewtopic.php?f=23&t=45902. 5 years ago I considered an upgrade in this thread, but eventually opted for only a new SSD. This is by far the best PC I've ever had. It's quiet, reliable, and was quite powerful in its early days, though obviously hasn't been able to run anything truly demanding for quite some time now.
The main reason I need a new PC is actually that my 8 year old son (he's younger than the PC) keeps claiming it for Minecraft and Roblox. I'd like to be able to play something together, but also have a PC that can run the games I've been putting off for years now, like Witcher 3, Stellaris, and similar games. (I stopped updating Europa Universalis IV because my PC clearly couldn't deal with a certain update, and wasn't there a new Fallout recently?)
I have no idea where to start, so I'm starting with the Best Buy Guide from tweakers.net, a Dutch site that, among other things, regularly posts these kind of guides. Their advice for a €1000 game system is:
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 1600 Boxed Wraith Spire koeler
Motherboard: MSI B350 PC Mate
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX CMK8GX4M2B3000C15
GPU: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1060 WINDFORCE OC 6G
SSD: Crucial MX300 2,5" 525GB
Case: BitFenix Neos Zwart/Zwart
PSU: be quiet! Pure Power 10 400W
What do you think? Which parts need improvement, are overpowered, or just plain bad?
The PSU sounds quiet, but apparently has only Silver rating, rather than the Gold I'm used to from Seasonic.
The CPU comes with its own cooler. My instinct is to replace it with whatever the SPCR crowd thinks is the best cooler right now, but apparently this cooler is fairly quiet. Is it quiet enough, though?
Is AMD Ryzen the best choice for quiet cooling? Considering Intel's Meltdown problem, I expect AMD Ryzen is better than Intel right now, although my impression is that Intel is usually cooler (no idea if that's actually true)
I'm strongly leaning towards a GTX 1060, but is the Gigabyte Windforce OC the best option? Is passive cooling still an option? Is it a good one? There's a good chance that a GTX 1050 is actually plenty for me. I have no idea really.
And what do I have to pay attention to for a motherboard these days? They're always a mystery to me.
The case will almost certainly need to be replaced. I think the guide was more concerned with price and flexibility than sound.
From a previous discussion, I got the impression that the best choice is to have two front case fans and one in the back, to create positive air pressure that keeps dust away. Is that still true?
The main reason I need a new PC is actually that my 8 year old son (he's younger than the PC) keeps claiming it for Minecraft and Roblox. I'd like to be able to play something together, but also have a PC that can run the games I've been putting off for years now, like Witcher 3, Stellaris, and similar games. (I stopped updating Europa Universalis IV because my PC clearly couldn't deal with a certain update, and wasn't there a new Fallout recently?)
I have no idea where to start, so I'm starting with the Best Buy Guide from tweakers.net, a Dutch site that, among other things, regularly posts these kind of guides. Their advice for a €1000 game system is:
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 1600 Boxed Wraith Spire koeler
Motherboard: MSI B350 PC Mate
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX CMK8GX4M2B3000C15
GPU: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1060 WINDFORCE OC 6G
SSD: Crucial MX300 2,5" 525GB
Case: BitFenix Neos Zwart/Zwart
PSU: be quiet! Pure Power 10 400W
What do you think? Which parts need improvement, are overpowered, or just plain bad?
The PSU sounds quiet, but apparently has only Silver rating, rather than the Gold I'm used to from Seasonic.
The CPU comes with its own cooler. My instinct is to replace it with whatever the SPCR crowd thinks is the best cooler right now, but apparently this cooler is fairly quiet. Is it quiet enough, though?
Is AMD Ryzen the best choice for quiet cooling? Considering Intel's Meltdown problem, I expect AMD Ryzen is better than Intel right now, although my impression is that Intel is usually cooler (no idea if that's actually true)
I'm strongly leaning towards a GTX 1060, but is the Gigabyte Windforce OC the best option? Is passive cooling still an option? Is it a good one? There's a good chance that a GTX 1050 is actually plenty for me. I have no idea really.
And what do I have to pay attention to for a motherboard these days? They're always a mystery to me.
The case will almost certainly need to be replaced. I think the guide was more concerned with price and flexibility than sound.
From a previous discussion, I got the impression that the best choice is to have two front case fans and one in the back, to create positive air pressure that keeps dust away. Is that still true?