Old guy's first build

[ronstew]

I am looking for your comments.

 

Can you believe it? The first personal computer I used was my Grade 12 Computer Science teacher's Apple II Plus in 1980. We coded on a PDP 8 in that course. Nowadays I teach introductory digital electronics, lectures and labs, at a good technical college. But I have never built my own computer.

 

I have to teach online because of covid, so in the fall I am going to use my Yoga P40 only for screen sharing with its pen interface. I need a second rig (with its own login) for the web cam and class management. So I thought I'd build a good productivity computer to last at least 5 years. And I want it to be small. I think I'll mount it to the underside of my desk.

 

Budget (including currency):

• CA$2000

Country:

• Canada

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: 

• Solidworks
• Premiere Pro
• Photoshop
• OBS
• No modern games

Other details (existing parts lists, whether any peripherals are needed, what you're upgrading from, when you're going to buy, what resolution and refresh rate you want to play at, etc): 

 

I have 3 monitors already. I'll likely get a Logitech Bluetooth mouse/keyboard combo to free up USB ports. I use a wired 3dConnexion Spacemouse. USB webcam and separate USB microphone. Looks like 2 front and 4 rear USB A ports, as well as the single rear-mounted Thunderbolt 3, so all the USB ports will be tied up..

 

I need to be able to transfer video from my old HDV camcorder, so I need Thunderbolt 3. And that establishes the mobo.

 

I am particularly interested in your comments on the Radeon Pro WX 3200.

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor	$229.29 @ Amazon Canada
CPU Cooler	Noctua NH-L9i 33.84 CFM CPU Cooler	$53.25 @ Vuugo
Motherboard	ASRock X570 PHANTOM GAMING-ITX/TB3 Mini ITX AM4 Motherboard	$389.99 @ Newegg Canada
Memory	Corsair Vengeance LPX 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory	$179.00 @ Canada Computers
Storage	Western Digital Blue SN550 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive	$159.99 @ Newegg Canada
Video Card	AMD Radeon Pro WX 3200 4 GB Video Card	$292.39 @ Amazon Canada
Case	Silverstone SG13 Mini ITX Tower Case	$130.97 @ Amazon Canada
Operating System	Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit	$139.75 @ Vuugo
Case Fan	Noctua NF-A14 PWM 82.5 CFM 140 mm Fan	$31.44 @ Vuugo
Case Fan	Noctua NF-A9 PWM 46.44 CFM 92 mm Fan	$22.17 @ Amazon Canada
Custom	Corsair SF 450 W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully Modular SFX Power Supply
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	$1628.24
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-07-27 21:19 EDT-0400

I am likely to get the CPU and mobo from B&H. The case is more like $71 from Amazon.ca. I am getting the 92 mm fan to replace the thin one on the cooler.

 

I want to place my orders in the morning. Anything I am completely screwing up?

 

Ron

[bmx6454]

you can save over 100$ by getting a windows 10 pro key off of ebay instead. if your looking to save more $, that's a good motherboard, but it is pretty overkill for what you need it to do.

[ronstew]

16 minutes ago, bmx6454 said:

you can save over 100$ by getting a windows 10 pro key off of ebay instead. if your looking to save more $, that's a good motherboard, but it is pretty overkill for what you need it to do.

Windows: Good point. I will be doing something like that.

Mobo: Yes, but Thunderbolt.

 

Thank you.

[zeusthemoose]

Any chance you can wait a few months before building? New parts are coming out shortly.

[ronstew]

Ahh, young grasshopper. New parts are always coming out shortly.

 

Seriously, I need this running reliably before the start of the term.

[zeusthemoose]

5 minutes ago, ronstew said:

Ahh, young grasshopper. New parts are always coming out shortly.

 

Seriously, I need this running reliably before the start of the term.

When does the term start?

[ronstew]

Term starts at the beginning of September.

[zeusthemoose]

1 minute ago, ronstew said:

Term starts at the beginning of September.

Unfortunately the parts won’t be out then.

 

Your parts list is pretty good. Only changes I would make would be changing the 3600 to a 3700x. And my understanding of graphics cards like the one you added is they are basically marked up versions of more standard graphics cards with different drivers. I would replace the wx 3200 with a 5700xt. It should be the same price and if not, 5600xt or 5700 should be.

[AlakazamExe]

All very solid picks for your given budget, you should have no major issues with any of the software you intend to use in the mid term. As others have already said, there are a few things that could be upgraded before too much longer but being you need your system by September I think you made some good picks. 

[ronstew]

Thank you Zeus & Al.

[ronstew]

Everything is ordered, and I have a couple of parts in hand from my local Canada Computers. Everything should be here in a week, providing international and/or transcontinental ground shipping goes okay.

 

I am told that I have to type this: @Fasauceome

 

Any thoughts on custom cables? I am aware of cablemod.com. I am in Vancouver, BC.

 

I'll try to put together a decent build log.

[Fasauceome]

13 minutes ago, ronstew said:

I am told that I have to type this

You have summoned me mortal. The sugo dimension is now open.

 

On 7/27/2020 at 8:30 PM, ronstew said:

Case Silverstone SG13 Mini ITX Tower Case $130.97 @ Amazon Canada

Were you able to find the V2? Sometimes it is available for a reduced cost, not sure what improvements were made though.

 

Smart choice on the PSU for better CPU clearance. I caution you to mind GPU clearance, given the fact that you chose a 140mm fan instead of 120mm, you'll see how this overlaps GPU length once you install it. There is, however, a way to mount a 140mm fan inside and still fit a full FE GTX card inside, but you will need to use a single screw to do so instead of the typical 3 or 4 in the housing of the front panel. Also, if you wanted to replace that fan in the future, a monochrome LED fan looks really stylish under the front mesh. I recommend monochrome because fiddling with RGB software is annoying and RGB controllers take up valuable space in such a small case.