Build review

Budget:
Pretty much the cost of the build rn, but I could make some room to get something if its going to make a significant difference.

Expectations:
Will last a few years and upgradeable when I need to. 1440p gaming. Dual monitor.

Usage:
Gaming FPS and any other types of games I want to play, I’m new to PC gaming so I haven’t played anything at all pretty much.

Special Needs:
Normal gaming needs I guess

Saved Ticket #: 3966493

Specifications:
Chassis Model: Digital Storm Lumos
Exterior Finish: - Standard Factory Finish
Trim Accents: - Standard Factory Finish
Processor: AMD Ryzen 7 5800X (8-Core) 4.7 GHz Turbo
Motherboard: ASUS PRIME X570-PRO (AMD X570 Chipset) (Up to 3x PCI-E Devices)
System Memory: 32GB DDR4 3600MHz G.Skill TridentZ (RGB Light Bar)
Power Supply: 850W Digital Storm Performance Series (Modular) (80 Plus Gold)
Expansion Bay: - No Thanks
Optical Drive: - No Thanks
Storage Set 1: 1x SSD M.2 (1TB Digital Storm M.2 Performance Series)
Storage Set 2: 1x Storage (2TB Seagate / Toshiba / Hitachi)
Storage Set 3: - No Thanks
RAID Config: - No Thanks
RAID Card: - No Thanks
Internet Access: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections)
Graphics Card(s): 1x GeForce RTX 3080 10GB (VR Ready)
Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio
Add On Card: - No Thanks
Extreme Cooling: H20: Stage 2: Digital Storm Vortex Liquid CPU Cooler (Dual Fan) (Fully Sealed + No Maintenance)
HydroLux Tubing Style: - Not Applicable, I do not have a custom HydroLux liquid cooling system selected
HydroLux Fluid Color: - Not Applicable, I do not have a custom HydroLux liquid cooling system selected
Cable Management: Exotic Cable Management - Black - (Cable Combs with Custom Color Sleeved Extension Cables)
Chassis Fans: Cooler Master MasterFan Halo (RGB Fans) (Remote Control Only)
Internal Lighting: Remote Controlled Advanced LED Lighting System (Multiple RGB Color Modes)
Airflow Control: - No Thanks
Chassis Mods: - No Thanks
Noise Reduction: - No Thanks
LaserMark: Option Not Available
CPU Boost: Stock Factory Turbo Boost Advanced Automatic Overclocking
Graphics: - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my video card(s)
OS Boost: - No Thanks, Please do not tweak the services on the operating system
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Professional (64-Bit)
Recovery Tools: USB Drive - Windows 10 Installation (Format and Clean Install)
Virus Protection: Windows Defender Antivirus (Built-in to Windows 10)
Office: - No Thanks
Mouse Pad: - No Thanks
Display: - No Thanks
Surge Shield: - No Thanks
Speakers: - No Thanks
Keyboard: - No Thanks
Mouse: - No Thanks
Branded Gear: - No Thanks
Priority Build: - No Thanks, Ship Within 30-35 Business Days After Order Is Successfully Processed
Warranty: Life-time Expert Care with 3 Year Limited Warranty

Feedback would be much appreciated!

I heard the ssd was a lot slower than nvme, is this a big problem if this is going to be a gaming computer and will also be used for schoolwork?

Are the RGB fans colors customizable online?

Also do I need an OS Boost for unnecessary things cause I don’t even know what those are.
Thanks

Originally posted by tintin33209 Are the RGB fans colors customizable online?

EDIT: Forgot to address this.

The physical fan plastic or the LED colors? For the LEDs, the system should include a remote similar to this -- as far as I'm aware.

Originally posted by tintin33209 Also do I need an OS Boost for unnecessary things cause I don’t even know what those are.

No. Nowadays tweaking default OS services is generally pointless.

Edited by MrCheetah - 10 Jul 2021 at 6:33pm

Originally posted by tintin33209 Did you say I could swap games from one storage to the other at any point?

The process is different for each platform/install type, though popular ones do include a transfer option.

How To Move Microsoft Store Games To A Different Partition

How to Move Steam Games To Another Drive Without Redownloading Them in 5 Easy Steps

How to Move PC Games to a Different Hard Drive

It isn't something I'd recommend doing frequently, but could be beneficial for the game or games you favor (i.e., play regularly) at a time.

Originally posted by tintin33209 Also is windows usually installed on the nvme?

The OS, standard programs, and any additional you purchase from DS should be installed on Storage Set 1.

Originally posted by tintin33209 What should I want to put on the faster and slower storage sets, as a must?

The choices will depend on your preference/needs. Obviously, the OS and standard software should go on the fastest drive. You should also be able to install whatever you use for shcoolwork on the main drive. Again, as far as games, you could put all games on the HDD, but load times will be pokey. Not quite previous gen. console slow (as those are typically 5,400RPM drives on SATA-II and SATA-III connections). Or you could install most of your library on the HDD, then have your currently favorite one or two games on the main (NVMe) drive. The approach and benefit are determined by:

• how much attention you give to a single game and how quickly you finish them.
• the type of game (e.g., RTS and single player campaigns will be hindered far less by storage speed).
• game installation size
-- drive space required
-- you wouldn't want to transfer dozens or hundreds of GBs often

Edited by MrCheetah - 10 Jul 2021 at 6:39pm

Last but not least, if you don't already have a backup method in place, choose one -- losing game progress can be saddening and frustrating but losing school and other 'work' progress is another level of...

... In my opinion.

You can take advantage of free or cheap cloud storage options (e.g., OneDrive, MEGA, Google Drive, Dropbox) and/or maintain local backups.

For local backups, you could add another internal drive, however, I'd suggest a simple USB HDD.

Why external?
• You can turn it off when not needed -- reduces wear a little and in the instance your PC might get infected, the tainted files won't be automatically replace/get added to your recovery copy.
• You can more easily connect the drive to another computer (if ever necessary)

Backup and Restore in Windows 10 | Microsoft Support

The best free backup software and services: Reviews and buying advice for protecting your data | PCWorld

Edited by MrCheetah - 10 Jul 2021 at 7:34pm

Originally posted by tintin33209 Sounds good, do you know the best way to prolong the life of the PC?

There are a lot of possible angles for that subject. :-) If you have a specific topic/concern, by all means ask away.

As far as physical maintenance... You shouldn't need to do much. Heat is the most common destructive condition. Almost every component has minimal thermal protection but you can do some things to help.

• Avoid dust build-up
-- A layer of dust acts like a blanket, insulating at least some heat.
-- Dust and other particles can also add friction, and thus heat, to mechanical components (e.g., fans).
--- What kind of and how many/density of particles in the air will determine if and how often you may need to clean the interior of the PC

• Occasionally check fan operation. Normally, there will be a grinding or whining sound when a mechanical component is struggling. However, it's still good practice to give a visual inspection routinely.

Other:

• HDDs and SSDs do eventually fail, although, your use case shouldn't put any excessive stress on them. So, not a lot to do except have copies of important files for when that unfortunate moment occurs (which shouldn't be for several years, probably not even before you upgrade to a new PC).

• Anti-virus, anti-malware, etc
-- Windows has Defender, Microsoft's basic AV that's updated via Windows Update.
-- You are the best defense
--- If you're not clicking on a lot of ads, downloading pirated software or multimedia (e.g., movies), clicking on unknown links in unexpected/suspicious emails, visiting untrusted websites, and similar, your system should stay virus, malware, etc free.

Edited by MrCheetah - 11 Jul 2021 at 3:16pm

Originally posted by Cretae MrCheetah has covered all the main topics very well IMHO, and done a lot of research for you. I think you would be well advised to step up to the MSI Gaming Pro Carbon motherboard. the standard issue board is nothing to sneeze at, but the Pro Carbon will handle heat better, and perhaps increase your system longevity. The 32GB of RAM is really overkill for gaming and schoolwork if you need to trim the budget somewhere. The better board will be money better spent, and you can always expand on your RAM anytime in the future. The Samsung 980 is an excellent pick. If you stick with the 1TB model, it would be of great benefit if you would use the Windows wizard or a free 3rd party software to partition that drive. Allocate maybe 200GB to your "C" drive for windows, apps, browser and maintenance software. It may not have to be even that large. The benefit is in scanning your main drive for malware, viruses, etc. in very short times. Better is that if you ever are forced to re-install Windows, you will only need to wipe and re-install what's on the partition, and not the whole drive.

Yeah I’ll have to experiment with the PC to see how everything works so I can backup files.

My opinion is that if you can upgrade the motherboard at a reasonable cost within your budget, it is a good idea for better thermal management and maybe longer life. There are no guarantees of that in electronic components.

If you wish to nearly double the cost of an upgrade, there should be a compelling reason to do so IMHO. The MSI Gaming Pro Carbon is highly rated and a favorite of mine precisely because it doesn't cost a lot for the upgrade. Asus makes a variety of good boards. if you think it's got $102 more of value to you, buy it. The difference is mostly in the number of various ports/connectors the Asus has you may never need. It does have the external BIOS reset button, but I've never reset my BIOS in 36 years. It's not a rip-off, it's a better board, but we can play this game all day. Generally, a more expensive board will always have features another board doesn't have. I don't see anything that would compel me to get the Asus.

For backups I use an external USB drive and totally disconnect from the pc once backups are done. Any attack that paralyzes your system might also migrate to everything you have connected.