[GTALUG] PC build recommendation

[Alex Volkov]

Hey Lennart,

Thank you for you comments, see my replies below.

On 02/27/18 11:32, Lennart Sorensen wrote:
> On Mon, Feb 26, 2018 at 07:36:36PM -0500, Alex Volkov via talk wrote:
>> Hey everyone,
>>
>> I'm assembling a computer and I'm looking for some feedback.
>>
>> The computer I'm building I'll use for development, run some VMs, edit video
>> time-to-time.  I also already have a 1Gb hard drive which I plan to use for
>> VMs.
> I hope you meant 1TB.
   Yes. It's been pointed out to me that I wrote '1Gb' and not '1Tb' a 
minute after I've send the message.
>
>> One of the big requirements is to be small size, lots of memory (eventually
>> upgrade to 32GB) and have a somewhat beefy CPU (Thus Ryzen 2400G).
>>
>> I've chosen Asrock AB350 mini ITX because it's small and it's got dual HDMI.
> Displayport is much much more versatile and futureproof.  And supports
> daisy chaining monitors and higher resolution than HDMI.  Also trivially
> adapts to DVI, HDMI, etc.  I would not consider buying anything without
> at least one displayport.  Especially since the HDMI on the AM4 boards
> is 1.4 not 2.0, and hence limited to 4k @ 30Hz, not 60Hz.  At least
> intel based boards tend to be HDMI 2.0 these days.
All the cheap screens I have either have HDMI or DVI, so I thought to 
have a simple common display output that would give me the same gamma 
settings across all of the screens. Displayport is more versatile, and 
there seem to exist adapters out there that go from DisplayPort to Dual 
HDMI or Dual DVI, the question is would this kind of set up work with 
X11, KDE on open source drivers with Radeon Vega chip?
I'm more concerned with what kind of hardware I can reliably use today 
that trying to future proof it and then spending weeks messing with the 
settings.

>
> The MSI B350I PRO appears to have HDMI+DP and is mITX.  I guess someone
> does make it then.  It does appear to be so recent though that I can't
> find any store that carries it yet.
There are bunch of much cheaper mini-ATX cards with more feature, I'm 
trying to figure out if I can relax the requirement of having mITX card. 
There's also one mITX motherboard from gigabyte -- GA-AB350N, but having 
been burned by one of their boards before GA-970A-UD3P r2 (Bugs in linux 
kernel for Via USB 3, confusing memory management settings in UEFI, 
hardware issues) I would rather not go through that again. I think I'll 
wait for MSI board.

The thing I like about ASRock board is that it's only has compact 
digital output video ports of the same type (and no HDMI+DVI+VGA 
nonsense), Intel Gigabit Ethernet and Intel wireless chip and lots and 
lots of USB3 ports; but things like brand and quality control do worth 
something.
>
>> I'm thinking maybe I can reduce some specs to save a few bucks.
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> Alex.
>>
>>
>> PCPartPicker part list: https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/list/Z6Rttg
>> Price breakdown by merchant:
>> https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/list/Z6Rttg/by_merchant/
>>
>> CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 2400G 3.6GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($209.99 @ Memory
>> Express)
>> Motherboard: ASRock - AB350 Gaming-ITX/ac Mini ITX AM4 Motherboard  ($142.75
>> @ Vuugo)
> ASRock is not a brand I would buy.  I stick with Asus although they cost
> a bit more.  They do not appear to have any ryzen mini itx boards with
> video output however.  ASRock doesn't seem to have displayport on mITX
> Ryzen boards.  How I hate mITX and its lack of features.  Lots of money
> and no features.  If I want that small I will buy a laptop.
MiniATX is so much cheaper, but at the same time so much larger. If only 
there were a Ryzen-based NUC-like platform for a decent price. This 
build, even with miniITX form factor that makes everything more 
expensive, is still cheaper than a NUC with the similar specifications.

>
>> Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 16GB (1 x 16GB) DDR4-3200 Memory
>> ($219.99 @ Newegg Canada)
>> Storage: Crucial - MX300 275GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($104.00 @ Mike's
>> Computer Shop)
> Why a SATA M.2 rather than the much faster NVMe?
I haven't heard of NVMe yet, I guess it's a relatively new standard, so 
should I use something like this instead? -- WD Black 256GB Performance 
SSD - M.2 2280 PCIe NVMe Solid State Drive - WDS256G1X0C
>
>> Case: Antec - ISK 300-150 Mini ITX Desktop Case w/150W Power Supply  ($96.99
>> @ PC-Canada)
> Hmm, I guess 150W might actually be enough when you use onboard video.
PCPartpicker says that the system would consume 119W at its peak, so I 
can probably get away with 150W power supply.

I've been trying to find mITX cases that don't have slim 5.25" bay and 
no 3.5 bays which proved to be challenging. I started looking for cases 
on aliexpress, where there are a few -- but if I go with that route I 
would need to find a rather sizeable 12V brick power supply and a beefy 
DC-DC buck converters, it is particularly hard to find buck converters 
that go above 60W;

>
>> Total: $773.72
>> Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
>> Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-02-26 19:26 EST-0500
>>
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