help and feedback wanted Confused about F-Panel plug and socket + Need feedback on build/parts.

[Mechastructor]

Hello,

 

I built my first custom PC back in early 2020 and the thing has been going strong for 3 years, sadly, it's already starting to wear down and some specs are in need of an upgrade. But I need some help. I mainly need help in the case department. Let me first drop the necesary information and I'll explain afterwards.

This is my current PC: Mechastructor - Saved Part Lists - PCPartPicker

And this is the upgraded version: Mechastructor - Saved Part Lists - PCPartPicker

This PC will be an all-rounder (gaming, coding, very light video editing, drawing, 3D Art), though it's 1st and mostly main purpose is gaming, think AC Valhalla (Once that game is a bit more stable on my side), Genshin Impact, Honkai Star Rail, Kingdom Come Deliverance, etc. As for programs, stuff like SFM/Blender, Krita, Microsoft Visual Studio, Clipchamp, the basics. The upgrade budget is a max of €650-700 (€300-350 for the remaining parts I suppose) and I am buying all my from the same retailer because they're amazing and there's barely any hardware store near me so they're my best option. Though I am in the Netherlands, should anyone know of any hardware stores here.

 

Now, I must admit I did a small oopsie when choosing the motherboard, while it does have a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C on the back. It does not have such a supported slot for the front panel. Regardless, it's the only white motherboard anywhere near my budget, I'm going for a slight theme, more on that later. Now, I thought I'd get the NZXT H7 Flow because that one has the 3.2 Gen 1 Connector the motherboard supports (And according to the motherboard, it can handle the 2 USB Ports on one socket) and then I'd let the cable for the Type-C hang loose until a new Motherboard. But I looked in the manual online and saw that the H7 uses something called a "Intel F-Panel standard header". Now obviously this board is not made for Intel, and the NZXT manual does not say which pin exactly is which, so I can't compare it with the manual of the motherboard and see if they would fit anyway. I looked online and some said there is an adapter, but the manual doesn't list any kind of adapter in its contents. So I'm worried this case won't even be compatible with the board. So the main question here is; What purpose does each slot have in the NZXT H7 Flow case on the F-Panel header, and would that work with this ROG Motherboard?

 

Then secondly, I'm just looking for some general feedback on this build. It's basically my second build with how many new parts I am getting, though it's only because my hand is forced. As the system has been failing a bit here and there, and I do not have time to save up more. I like building my new PC's around some themes, this one will be a more "elegant/royal/luxury" theme, hence the focus on the white motherboard and the white case (I even have a build in mind for the future for a Royal Vampire theme. Because I love vampires. Red liquid cooled and all, but that's far ahead in the future). The RAM would eventually be replaced with G.Skill Trident-Z Royal. The reason I went with a Ryzen 5 5600X instead of a 5600 is because the place I am buying it at, didn't have that much of a difference in price. The ROG Strix was, once again, because it was the only white motherboard in my price range AND had the USB Ports I needed (Gen 2 Type-C for example) though I am curious if any of you would have picked a different board, the Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB was picked because it's of the same series I use now, and I am very happy with it so I knew it was a safe and reliable investments... Plus it was cheap. Now, the SSD's are only possible because the place I am buying at has a massive sale at the moment, were it not for that, I might have re-used my current drives. My GPU I'll just be reusing because it works perfectly fine for my needs, and replacing that one would be a wallet-killer. The case, again because it's white, and NZXT seems to have great cable management at the back. Now there is a different one in the competition if this one would truly not work, and that's the Fractal Design Pop XL Air White. The reason I didn't pick that one, is because I am worried about cable management and airflow. And I know NZXT is a relatively good brand. And finally the PSU, I am currently using a BeQuiet! System Power 9 500 Watt. It works perfectly, doesn't make too much sound. And the System Power 10 is cheap so fits in my budget. Should I upgrade to a gold standard one? Probably, but that makes me go way over budget, as any good ones are quickly triple the price. I am also running a very old Philips monitor of which I can't find the exact model number online, though it's a grey 190B according to the stamp on the top left of it. And a XP-Pen Artist 15.6 Pro plugged directly into the PC for its power.

 

I am still a bit on the fence about the SSD, because I am worried about its life cycle. My current OS SSD is already at 89% according to CrystalDiskInfo with a total power-on hours of 12668 at the moment of writing, and my SSD Games M.2 at 96% with 10102 hours. Almost daily runtimes, on average probably around 6-8 hours from Monday to Friday and probably around 13-18 hours on weekends. While the HDD's listed as a ST3500630AS in device manager, have been going for over 15-ish years without a single problem. Recently even did a full detailed scan, SMART, Corruption check, etc, and they're in perfect health. Even though those drives probably have been hammered the most with data, gaming, 3D Rendering in SFM, etc.  

 

I think that's all. I do apologize for the ridiculously long post. But I did want to give as much information as possible. Should I have missed something, or there's somehow more information needed, let me know. Any help with the Front Panel header and feedback on the build itself will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[brob]

https://support.nzxt.com/hc/en-us/articles/8020203585435-H-Series-Breakout-Cable

 

Buying a 250GB 2.5" SSD is an utter waste. One can get a 1TB NVMe drive for not much more. Keep in mind that higher capacity SSD have higher endurance. 

 

The Pop Air cases have excellent airflow. Since front panel USB-C is an add-on, you won't have a dangling front panel cable . But the port can be added if a supporting motherboard is acquired. As with most Fractal Design cases it has excellent cable management. You might also consider the Focus 2 case.

 

1 hour ago, Mechastructor said:

My current OS SSD is already at 89%

 

89% of what?

 

Power on hours are not material. Total writes are what affect drive endurance.

 

In most consumer use cases expected SSD drive life is more than sufficient. Drive endurance is the number of bytes that can be written before exhausting the unit. On a 1TB 970 Evo Plus endurance is 1,200 TB written. If my math is correct this translates to over 650GB written every day of the 5 year warranty.

[Mechastructor]

Quote

Buying a 250GB 2.5" SSD is an utter waste. One can get a 1TB NVMe drive for not much more. Keep in mind that higher capacity SSD have higher endurance. 

While true I could possibly use another M.2, my thought process was to use a cheap SSD purely for the OS and nothing else (Except any programs that might automatically install themselves on that SSD) and then keep 1 M.2 slot open on the board for any future upgrades. Though that a higher capacity had higher endurance I didn't know.

Quote

89% of what?

According to CrystalDiskInfo, 89% of its health left. If it's total writes that matters. For the OS SSD it's 34TB (34117) and the Games M.2 SSD 25TB (25008GB). Although I must say I didn't expect an SSD to have so much TB write endurance. I suppose I am so afraid of the lifespan is due my HDD's having been used far longer and with more writes than the SSD's and them still being in perfect condition, compared to the SSD. 

[brob]

30 minutes ago, Mechastructor said:

According to CrystalDiskInfo, 89% of its health left.

 

So 11% of health used over 3 years. I think that suggests more than 20 years of life.