MrSadman

With the current situation in the world, working from home has become necessary. I've got a gaming/hobby setup at home, 2 monitors, 4960K + 970GTX based PC, speakers, headset, keyboard, mouse etc. What would be the easiest way to use all of the peripherals with my work laptop and then swap over to a gaming/hobby machine on my private time. Option 1: A dock for the work laptop(Latitude) + a KVM switch and continue using my current PC. - My main concern with this is that a single switch that would switch the displays + USB + audio + network seems far to complex to work hassle free. Option 2: Use a dock and swap my home desktop for a laptop. - The only downside to this option would be cost. Are there any other options I should be thinking of? Building a new desktop PC that can somehow work with the same laptop dock? Might be the wrong place for this topic, but I couldn't fit it anywhere else.

Hey, My current drive setup is old and full and making noises that drives are not suposed to make. Not to mention the machine could really use a perf boost from an SSD So, looking at my storage needs I figured a 1TB SSD would be a good choice, This would be enough space for my aplications, resultfiles etc but would also have space to store raw video/pictures while I am working on them. The standard choice would be an 860 EVo but if I wanted to save a couple of bucks would either the Crucial MX500 or WD Blue series be a viable option? I don't really mind a small drop in speed and both drives seem to come with a 5 year warranty while costing about 25€ less. Any other drives to consider? Then an archive drive to put stuff on, that I don't really use but don't want to just delete. So, can be a 5400RPM drive, the quieter, the better. Need 2TB or more. Would prefer a reputable brand with decent life time expectancy. WD Green maybe? Haven't really kept up with the HDD market : P Any tips are welcome

Hi, The last PC i built was based around a 4690K, so I am a bit rusty with my market knowledge. In my past builds I have gotten some tips and tricks from a local tech forum, but it seems to have died out. The LTT forums seemed like a good place to get some advice. My parents asked me to build them a new PC. They want it to be quieter, smaller and boot up faster. They are very basic users, the most demanding task for the machine will probably be watching some videos etc. So, with this in mind I started looking at parts: CPU: i3 8100T - should be more then enough power and help with the quiet part of the build Pentium G5400T - Cheaper then option 1 but I feel weird buying a CPU with 2 cores in 2019 Ryzen 3 2200GE - I think this might only be available for system builders. Motherboard: So, If I am going to go small, I am going to go ITX. I decided to skip H310 and go for at least B360 chipset. What is needed: DVI or Display Port(existing monitor has no HDMI), at least 4 USB. Do not care for wifi or M.2 slots. Needs to be capable of switching all fans completely off when temps are good. A fast front USB header could be useful. Gigabyte has 2 ITX boards, one has only HDMI and the other I would imagine is expensive. MSI has the B360I Gaming. A bit on the expensive side here. ASUS only seems to have a ROG board Asrock B360m-ITX, seems like a good fit. Does it allow for turning off the CPU cooler fan when temperatures are low, anyone know? Storage: 860 EVO 500GB - already purchased during black friday sales. No further storage inside the machine. External HDD for backup would be a good idea. RAM: Really whatever I find on the QVL of the motherboard that I end up picking. For example something from Corsair Value Select line. 1x8GB configuration I think. Housing: Has to be dust proof, look discrete and still nice. Corsair 250D jumped to mind, however it is out of stock and also a bit pricy. I guess if you want looks then there is nothing really available at a lower price point. Fractal Core 500 would be a cheaper option but it is not as good looking and the filters are hard to clean. Node 304 comes with fan controllers etc, that I don't need. Everything small from silverstone seems to have poor dust filtration. PSU: Something modular/semi modular with atleast 80+ rating and a good pedigree. Needs to have a fanless mode. Actual selection will depend on case size, might need an sfx PSU, but those are again more expensive. Need to check cable lengths. CPU cooler: Depends on the chosen case. With 250D a Hyper 212 comes to mind. Need to check clearance. External CD/DVD drive for when they need to use one. Windows 10 Home OEM. These are still cool for home builds right? So, how is my thinking for this build going? Any major mistakes? Anyone have any experience with ASRock boards and fan control? Anyone got any recommendations on reading up on setting up a Windows 10 machine? My sysadmin skills are even more rusty : P