Discrete workstation ocasional gaming

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Hi guys,

I would apreciate some help building a quiet and small workstation PC.

Usage

  • Programming (I'm a .Net programmer but like to experiment with other stuff).

  • Photo Processing - Raw processing - I use a mix of Affinity and Gimp on my stuff

  • Virtual Machines - Experiments with Linux and other stuff

  • Gaming - Ocasional gaming - Not a major gamer but I do like to play some games to pass the time. Last game I played was BF4, and I'm dying to try GTA V for years but don't own a system capable of running it.

Overall Objectives

  • Smallest possible

  • Quiet

  • Best bang for buck

  • No LEDs or over the top looks, just something discrete that I don't want to notice it's there.

Budget

Around £1000

Current list

PC Part Picker list

Notes
Already own a 2TB HDD that will be migrating to the new system and a 23' 1080p monitor that I would like to trade with something bigger.

Not looking to overclock.

Any advice?
Something I should add/remove?

Thanks guys!

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that WD Blue is only 550MBps. a samsung 960 evo gives you 3200MBps (yes, thirty-two HUNDRED) and is only ~$30-$40 more. In fact, I got mine on sale for $110.

other than that, i'd recommend an X370 board. I went with a B350 and i regret it.

edit

what OS? i have a 1050ti and i'm running linux. nouveau doesn't work at all, and the nvidia drivers don't play well yet, especially with gnome. same driver you'd be using (375).

edit #2

also, if you're not overclocking, you probably don't need to buy that cpu cooler.

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I would also swap the case to the Fractal Design Core 500 since it is smaller, looks similar, can fit everything you need, and has better airflow (in theory at least). If you swap to the Core 500 you could also go with a 240mm or 280mm water cooler such as the Seidon 240V from Cooler Master. Ryzen also very much benefits from fast memory, so I'd really recommend moving to 3200Mhz memory. I'd also move from a 1060 to an RX 580 since the RX 580 is faster, and the MSI unit I selected actually has a better cooler than the 1060 which will hopefully mean quieter operation. The last change I made was the powersupply, away from the frankly mediocre Be Quiet unit to a very good EVGA G3 unit. This EVGA unit in particular got a glowing review from Johnny Guru who is generally viewed as the goto source for anything powersupply.

The partslist would be this after my cumulative changes: https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/2wdZyf

I'm a fellow proponent of NVMe drives, having had two now. But, in this case, I would vote against it. There are no AM4 motherboards with M.2 connectors on the top of the motherboard, and having a hot-running NVMe drive on the back of a motherboard where it gets no airflow, is a bad idea. The 960 series is indeed much better and cooler running than other M.2's, but with no airflow, I'd move against it.

For ATX, there is a difference since most VRM's on B350 boards are pretty shit for 8 core parts, but in the ITX space, it makes no difference really. B350 should be fine here to be honest.

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7.98 PPI

:flushed::flushed::flushed:

Couldn't resist

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Thank you for all the replies and advice guys! :slight_smile:

I'll take them into consideration when picking the parts.

I'm not buying just yet, (maybe in a few months) so I'll sit on these configs and see how the prices fluctuate and if any new options show up until then.

Thanks again guys!