It’s been a while since I got my hands dirty with hard drives, power supplies and other peripherals, back in 2017 I ditched Windows and the traditional PC form factor died with it.
Why ditch Windows?
Do I really need to explain this? I had enough of Windows updates and potential viruses attacking me from all angles and I had enough of the whole relationship with Microsoft, with it’s license fees, random shut downs and BIG noisy machines. In addition to this I took a step back and said, why did I opt for Windows in the first place? You, me and many others selected Windows by default, it’s the go to operating system (OS), it isn’t anymore.
You don’t have to use Microsoft! Yes I know, Apple have offered a credible alternative for years blah blah (apple fans… gggrrrr) but guess what… you don’t have to choose Apple either! However, at the time (2017) I had a cheap iMac offered to me so it was an easy decision to move.
As far as I’m concerned Microsoft is a pain and Apple is overpriced!
What did I select after Windows?
So I opted for an iMac (hypocrite?) in my office and a Chromebox in my study. Obviously Apple needs no introduction but not many people understand why a Chromebox (or Chromebook) can replace a Windows PC. Well it definitely can, i’d say for anyone that uses a computer for ‘normal duties’ (internet, emails, document creation) its a refreshing change and you don’t have to haul a server around with you!
Casting back, It’s late 2019, my iMac’s really slow and I can’t stand it! It works yes, I don’t have the same issues that I had with Windows so that’s a bonus but I don’t like using it anymore because the file manager (Finder) is just rubbish! The screen isn’t big enough for me and i don’t want an additional monitor on my minimalist desk, Nooo! In addition my GPU had failed twice so it was time to go. My research started, what OS, what monitor, what ecosystem, need more info!
What type of operating system (OS) did I need?
Right, I needed a new machine for work. I’m a web designer (and business owner) so I required a decent computer, fortunately the life of web design is extremely light in terms of software requirements. Therefore I didn’t need a Workstation style beast that Developers, Content editors and the like require. That didn’t stop me from wanting a beast! Hey, I’m a techie, I can’t settle for something standard!
I knew I was ditching Apple (hooray!) I wasn’t about to buy a new iMac (“what a con Apple”). Don’t get me wrong you Apple lovers, they are great machines, they look cutting edge, they have serious desirability, it’s an easy option blah blah, but they cost too much and I don’t like the Apple ecosystem that you are forced into (i could go on).
Ok rant over, so what was the solution? Linux of course. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before, Linux is free, Linux is available in many many distributions (distros) to suit your needs, Linux is ultra light so you don’t need expensive upgrades/just to keep up with OS updates, Linux is stable especially from a security point of view, I could go on but trust me (never trust anyone that says “trust me”!) Linux is a great choice (for me).
I can hear the chatter now, no you don’t have to be a command line guru to work with Linux, some Linux distros do everything for you just like Apple or Windows so you don’t need to use the command line. Chrome is an excellent example, I can’t recommend it enough for normal computer users.
The machine
Are you still with me? Let’s move on… Linux is great because… Anyway, so I needed a machine to run Linux and to be my new daily driver. Here’s a list of what I wanted:
- Linux PC
- More screen real estate to improve efficiency
- A quality display (props to Apple for their display quality)
- A fast processing machine for image editing etc
- Small form factor (more on this later)
- Aesthetically pleasing like the iMac
There are more but to summarise these will do. My main objective was to get something cutting edge that looked equally good in my office (impressions are important!) but I struggled with the whole concept of having a big desktop in my office, that’s where Apple have to be given credit, their stuff looks the business (heres looking at you iMac)!
How did I select my components?
First of all I was shocked at how much things had moved forward since my PC days. I had to really read up and understand the difference between my NVME’s and my AIO’s, it was a minefield.
The basics that you need to understand when building your own machine are quite straightforward actually:
- Monitor(s)
- CPU
- Motherboard
- Hard drive
- Ram
- GPU
- Case
- Cooling
- Power supply
The Monitor
The display was easy, first I looked at the Apple copy cats on the windows platform, the all in one machines, I could easily run Linux on those. I was not happy with the traditional looking monitors, they scream cheap plastic and are drab. I wanted cutting edge! Then I saw the 49″ Ultawide Screen Samsung Odyssey G9 Gaming Monitor and thought “great scott”!
Yeah it was for gamers but it ticked my boxes too, 1. It looked amazing, 2. It gave me more real estate (a lot), 3. The display itself was amazing! When you are spending the time that I spend in front of a screen, looking at pixels and assessing colours/designs then a too display is essential.
The machine
The machine was next and i knew that i wanted a small form factor and I certainly did not want a behemoth PC sounding like Darth Vadar under my desk, nor did I want it to switch off every time I moved my feet. I had in mind something ultra small like my Asus Chromebox but they aren’t powerful enough for what I wanted. So I decided on a mini ITX form factor. I then realised that they are all the rage as of 2020 anyway, happy days!
All i had to do was to decide what went into my ITX case (including the case itself!) I then spent hours upon hours reading and watching Youtube, its worth noting that most of the content that you will find is to do with Gaming or Video editing, it’s quite frustrating if you’re not looking for those. I did a tonne of research into the difference between gaming machines and Workstations but I found that the matter we’re well over spec’d for what I needed.
AMD or Intel?
It’s been 10 years of Intel reigning champion over AMD but to save you a whole load of research AMD is back on top. It’s not a close ‘picture finish’ either, AMD are smashing it with their Ryzen chipset. Intel do have competitive single core CPUs but like Apple, they are overpriced.
My CPU of choice was the AMD Ryzen 3950X which was definitely overkill for what I needed but hey it was my money and I wanted the best without going too crazy. Plus, you don’t use Bose speakers with a Goodmans CD player right. So my monitor needed an equal and it all centered around a great CPU.
Motherboard
There were a few options but it was between a B450 and an X570 ITX, the latter being in a different league and provided a plethora of features and capabilities that made the decision fairly straight forward. The ITX king at the time was an Asus X570 Strix but i felt that i didnt need to spend over £300 just on a motherboard so i opted for a very capable midrange Gigabyte Aorus Pro WIFI X570.
Memory
Here’s the most important point that I realised, there was a new hard disc called an NVME, if you don’t know about it, it’s a game changer people! Say goodbye to the traditional bulky hard disk and say hello to speedy, robust digital memory, no not a traditional SSD either, im talking about a new hard drive, which is digital like an SSD but is in the form factor of RAM memory, NVME. The Samsung Evo 970 Pro was king but I opted for a much cheaper and equally as good NVME from Seagate called the Firecuda 520.
RAM had also moved on too, now RAM memory looks like its from an episode of Robot Wars, its bulky heatsinks have RGB leds lit up like a christmas tree (if you’re into that thing). I selected Corsair Vengeance LPX (16x2Gb) DDR4 3600Mhz as the AMD Ryzen 3960X recommends 3600Mhz speed, I could have opted for 16Gb or power speeds quite easily but hey, the rest was overkill so why stop!
The Graphics Card (GPU)
Technically i didn’t need one as i could have easily worked with the onboard graphics so i opted for a card that would give me the ability to make use of the 4k capabilities of my monitor. Also, i had an idea that I would play games for downtime and possibly edit some video content ‘at some point’ (that’s not a good reason to max out your spec). I do actually do quite a bit if image editing and general graphics work so it couldn’t hurt. I opted for a smaller GPU because I wanted more space inside the case and keep the thermals (temps) down. I ended up choosing the Zotac GeForce GTX 1650 Super Twin Fan as it provided support for 4k and the monitor was… 4k! If I wanted to upgrade the GPU for playing higher res games then I could but considering I don’t even play them now, I don’t see the point, i’m just making sure that my graphics work is super quick for what I do now.
Case, Cooling & Power Supply
Again, I was shocked at how things had moved forward, cooling the CPU down with radiators was new to me. I researched a lot of cases, in fact this was one of my most researched items. The case i selected included an AIO which cooled the CPU and case fans too so the cooling was already sorted and so too was the power supply, happy days! The case I selected was an NZXT H1 which was a small form factor case which had been designed to include the power supply, CPU cooling and case fans and all the wiring already done, now that’s cool and a great reason to build your own machine, half the jobs done for you.
This was a major point, buying a case with these items already pre decided upon and wired up had saved me the hassle of researching more stuff (by this time I had put some serious hours in) plus I knew that I was working with a tried and tested setup in terms of cooling.
Cooling was an issue throughout my research due to the fact that I was opting for a 4k small form factor PC therefore, the case helped me to decide upon quite a bit of the build. The only thing that i wasn’t entirely haply with was the AIO, I wanted the HZXT Kraken Z63 which looked like something crossed between Back to the future and Star trek!
The last thing that was a bonus that the the H1 looks amazing.
Conclusion
I fully understand that this article was tech heavy, however I wanted to explain that you don’t have to settle for the same old crappy Windows or overpriced Apple goods, there are other options.
In addition, if you are in the market for a new PC, don’t go down to Curry’s! You will get ripped off, in fact I don’t even rate some of the online retailers like PC Specialist. Its really not difficult to put together your own, the NZXT only comes with 4 screws! Surely you can do 4 x screws?
With my research, you can select similar items, you don’t have to go for the same CPU power, or memory, I could do this rig again in half the price if I wanted and still get a very quick machine. The monitor is 100% overkill but it’s the monitor to get and I stare at one for many hours each day.
Here’s my spec list that beats a computer that you can buy off the shelf by a mile! All in all I spent £1540.00 on the PC and the monitor was £1279.99. Obviously it’s not a budget machine but in order to get an Apple/Windows off the shelf equivalent, you would have to spend way over this amount……. Waaaaaaaaaaay over!
- NZXT H1 (Case, PSU, Cooler)
- AMD Ryzen 9 3950X
- Gigabyte X570- Aorus Pro WIFI
- Corsair Vengeance LPX (2x16GB) DDR4-3600Mhz
- Seagate Firecuda 520 500Gb
- Zotac GeForce GTX 1650 Super Twin Fan
- Linux = Free!
Resources
Amazon, Overclockers, Scan, Youtube, Google (of course).
Youtube channels:
- Optimum Tech
- Linus Tech Tips
- Bitwit
- Random Frank P