New Year Upgrade!

[DanceswithUnix]

550W should be fine as long as you don't get into overclocking, which honestly I think these days is such a small gain for the instability risk and extra heat generated it is a very niche hobby. From a recent 3060ti review: https://hexus.net/tech/reviews/graph...x-trio/?page=9



So with a 16 core CPU and an RTX 3090, they are drawing just over 500W. Your CPU is drawing 40W less, and you seem an unlikely candidate for a £1500 GPU. so looking down the more likely 3060ti range you would be getting a power draw when gaming of under 300W with your CPU. Another tenner does get you a 650W PSU if you have leanings towards something really high end in future, but it seems highly unlikely you would need it.

Your GTX would still be better than integrated graphics, but for this build the integrated graphics isn't supported by the 3600 CPU so don't bother even trying it!

Nothing is truly future proof, but that is both a huge upgrade on what you have with easy upgrade path to a 16 core CPU and 128GB of ram. You have a good chance of new CPUs being supported up until AM5/DDR5 based machines come out, and the PCIe4 will squeeze a little extra out of future GPUs and SSDs if you upgrade those.

If you don't have one already, set up a USB stick for installing/upgrading Windows 10. You can put a fresh install of Windows 10 on there, and put in your old key on install and hopefully it will take it. I've had a pretty good success rate at that, and worst case you get a watermark at the bottom of the screen nagging you until you go buy a new key.

Looks like a nice build, I'm sure you will be happy with it. Do post when you get it running

[Pob255]

I agree 500-600w range is still good, it's not quite so good as it used to be, we're definitely seeing power numbers creep up, this is because of "boost" which is in all current cpu's and gpu's, which automatically push the clock higher under load, it's basically on-the-fly automatic overclocking and boost levels have been going up which is pushing load numbers up.

[DanceswithUnix]

My biggest worry is how many watts a 550W psu can deliver in 10 years time. Should be enough for a 3060ti or similar still, but not for the big guns.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

550W should be OK,especially for more mainstream GPUs. However,a TX650M is only around £12 more.

[Jager]

Cool, this all sounds good to me now and like I can start ordering it all

Annoyingly the TX650M PSU was on Ebay with the 20% off code.... that expired yesterday! damn!. I'm going to try and get my Scan account set to a student one as then I get 10% off. But I'm not sure if I fit the criteria. Plus I have to wait until Wednesday probably, that day I'll be home during their customer service live chat online hours

In the Bazooka motherboard description it says something about 'Front USB-C's'. Does that mean the USB-A ports on the front of my Antec 300 case will no longer work with this new motherboard?. Not the end of the world as there's plenty on the back of the PC

Also, I just tried to link my Hexus and Scan accounts to make me eligible for free delivery. Followed the instructions from This Thread. Filled in all the boxes right and it says "Your HEXUS account is not found - please check your details and try again." . The thread hasn't been updated in a few years but I assume it works still?. Not having much luck today

Edit// Seems to be a common issue with new users, which is incredibly irritating as I'm almost ready to order. Lots of people reporting issues in This Hexus Thread

[Jmurr]

I think that all looks pretty good / reasonable.

Personally, if you wanted it to last a long time without wanting to upgrade it in the future, I might try to save a little with a B450 board and just a SATA SSD (as you said previously I don't think you'd notice the difference with the nvme drive and its not a great one) - Then you could use the extra for a 3700x CPU instead

But your list is also fine, should do you 10 years

550W psu will definitely be enough at the moment - but would limit you to lower end GPU upgrades in the future (although from your usage it sounds like you probably wouldnt need the higher end models)

[Jmurr]

Cool, this all sounds good to me now and like I can start ordering it all

Annoyingly the TX650M PSU was on Ebay with the 20% off code.... that expired yesterday! damn!. I'm going to try and get my Scan account set to a student one as then I get 10% off. But I'm not sure if I fit the criteria. Plus I have to wait until Wednesday probably, that day I'll be home during their customer service live chat online hours

In the Bazooka motherboard description it says something about 'Front USB-C's'. Does that mean the USB-A ports on the front of my Antec 300 case will no longer work with this new motherboard?. Not the end of the world as there's plenty on the back of the PC

Also, I just tried to link my Hexus and Scan accounts to make me eligible for free delivery. Followed the instructions from This Thread. Filled in all the boxes right and it says "Your HEXUS account is not found - please check your details and try again." . The thread hasn't been updated in a few years but I assume it works still?. Not having much luck today

Edit// Seems to be a common issue with new users, which is incredibly irritating as I'm almost ready to order. Lots of people reporting issues in This Hexus Thread

From what I can tell - it just has a header on the motherboard for a front USB-C, but it also has a header for up to two front USB-A's - so you should be fine. There's a cable attached to the USB's at the front of your case, just got to plug it into the right header on the motherboard

[DanceswithUnix]

In the Bazooka motherboard description it says something about 'Front USB-C's'. Does that mean the USB-A ports on the front of my Antec 300 case will no longer work with this new motherboard?. Not the end of the world as there's plenty on the back of the PC
]

Motherboards come with a lot of USB options, and the Antec 300 is dated in this respect. Something for your birthday list:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07H18NB7F/

or something like it. Those USB C cables are still hand assembled high frequency things that add about a tenner to the cost of a case, so whilst it seems a lot for a couple of front mounted USB leads sadly that is what they cost.

Hopefully the Scan team will sort you out soon enough.

[Jager]

Thanks again for the replies. I feel like I'm now ready to start ordering, unless anyone has any reasons otherwise?? . Speak now or forever hold your peace

Awesome, thanks for the info.
Also that's good to hear about the USB's. I wasn't sure if it would only connect to USB-C ports built into cases, but glad to hear it works with USB-A too

Something for your birthday list

Well that's this week, so I doubt it . I like how the example product picture even looks like it's in an Antec 300 case, or one thats very similar. I think I'll just suck it up and use the rear USB 3 ports. I have a USB 3 hub anyway if needed.

I've sent an email to Hexus and Scan so hopefully I can get somewhere then get ordering this week

[Pob255]

wow that's pricey, I picked up a akasa one for my aging haf 912, to give me front usb 3 and 2 charging ports https://www.scan.co.uk/products/akas...r-charging-mob the 2 usb-a 3 connect to the motherboard usb3 header and the 2 charging only ports hook up to a sata power cable from the psu

if you want usb3 and usb-c https://www.scan.co.uk/products/akas...en1-connection

[DanceswithUnix]

wow that's pricey, I picked up a akasa one for my aging haf 912, to give me front usb 3 and 2 charging ports https://www.scan.co.uk/products/akas...r-charging-mob the 2 usb-a 3 connect to the motherboard usb3 header and the 2 charging only ports hook up to a sata power cable from the psu

if you want usb3 and usb-c https://www.scan.co.uk/products/akas...en1-connection

Part of the price is the lack of 3.5in external drive on the Antec 300 case, so it needs a 5.25in bay size or an adaptor. I'm sure I could 3D print an adaptor, but even that costs a coupe of quid.

The equivalent Akasa device is back up to £22, so better value than the one on Amazon but not hugely.

https://www.scan.co.uk/products/akas...pe-a-and-2-x-u

[DanceswithUnix]

Thanks again for the replies. I feel like I'm now ready to start ordering, unless anyone has any reasons otherwise?? . Speak now or forever hold your peace

Good luck finding parts. Am trying to put together an upgrade for my wife's PC atm, but it feels like none of the parts are in stock

Thankfully we aren't in a hurry, so I will just order bits as I see them available at a sane price.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

RM650 is £79 from the Corsair shop:
https://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/cor...r-shop-3646222

[Jager]

RM650 is £79 from the Corsair shop:
https://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/cor...r-shop-3646222

Is that even better than the TX650M ?


I think I might be buying the parts a bit at a time also . Stocks are certainly low but available across multiple sites

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Is that even better than the TX650M ?


I think I might be buying the parts a bit at a time also . Stocks are certainly low but available across multiple sites

It is the range above it so yes!! It's also fully modular too.

Edit!!

Some people do prefer the TX650M as its made by the OEM,Great Wall, instead of CWT(which is still decent). The RM650 does have a longer 10 year warranty. Although weirdly the TX650M appear to use slightly better capacitor brands.

[Jmurr]

It is the range above it so yes!! It's also fully modular too.

Edit!!

Some people do prefer the TX650M as its made by the OEM,Great Wall, instead of CWT(which is still decent). The RM650 does have a longer 10 year warranty. Although weirdly the TX650M appear to use slightly better capacitor brands.

Thanks, I had been wondering between those two PSUs myself today - so it seems like the TX650M might be the better choice if you're not too bothered about it being fully modular? Does seem odd that like you say the RM is supposed to be next tier up but TXM has better capacitors?