Say Hello to Minerva - New Computer

As I promised here are the specs of my new computer who I have called Minerva (sad I know but Ive always given my computers a name). Now its not the prettiest setup and pretty much every peripheral is a different
style, but it works and I'll go into detail on certain things a little later. So without much further ado, here are the specs;

I bought my custom PC from PC Specialist,
a UK based firm that does reasonably prices
PCs and Laptops for a range of uses. I used
this company when I bought my first computer upon starting University and it had served me well. So when the time came to buy a new one,
I looked around and PC Specialist has the best value for money for the specs I was thinking about.

Case:
PCS ENIGMA 6003B BLACK CASE
Processor (CPU):
Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-7600K (3.8GHz) 6MB Cache
Motherboard:
ASUS® PRIME Z270-P: ATX, LGA1151, USB 3.0, SATA 6GBs
Memory (RAM):
8GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 2133MHz (2 x 4GB)
Graphics Cards:
2GB AMD RADEON™ R7 240 - DVI,HDMI,VGA - DX® 11
1GB NVIDIA GeForce 9500 GT - DVI, VGA
Hard Disk:
1TB SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 32MB CACHE (OS)
2 500GB Maxtor HDD (Internal)
1 500GB Seagate HDD (External)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive:
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply:
CORSAIR 350W VS SERIES™ VS-350 POWER SUPPLY
Processor Cooling:
Super Quiet Titan DragonFly Heatpipe Intel CPU Cooler
Sound Card:
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Networking:
WIRELESS 802.11 AC1200 867Mbps/5GHz, 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD
USB Options:
Back Panel - 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 Ports. Front Panel - 1 x USB 3.0 & 1 x USB 2.0 Ports.
Operating System:
Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit

Now this setup cost about £750 just for the tower and operating system. I didn't need (couldn't really afford) a top end, be all and end all computer but just a good mid-range PC that is going to last me quite a few years and longer, as long as I update and upgrade it every so often. The second Graphics Card I pulled out of the old machine and installed in this one as it worked great with no issues, and I like to reuse stuff.
I have 3 internal hard disk drives totalling 2TB and on external with 500GB. Of the internals, the 1TB has the OS and main storage, one 500GB is the old XP hdd which has all the files from my old PC and the third is used as secondary storage. The three main rules that were taught to me by tutors at university were Back Up, Back Up and yep Back Up! So plenty of storage for keeping all my important files backed up!!


The Case

This is the case I picked and while not flashy it looks good. it was £30. I didn't pick one with clear side panels or flashy lights due to where it was going to be placed in my room. The clear panels and fancy lights would be hidden by a wardrobe and a screen.




Monitors 

The Monitors I use were ones from my old computer but were also ones that we already had around the house that weren't being used so cost me nothing. They are;

• Dell E773p CRT
• Dell E773c CRT
• Dell 1504FP

 Now Ive had some friends ask why I use
such old screens and the simple answer is they cost me nothing, but also old analog screens have better colour definition and screen refresh rate then flatscreen models, but lack the higher definition. The third screen while flat isn't HD was added tho the previous PC as a test and now Ive gotten used to is being there.

Now the screen orientation is a little unusual I know but it is to do with where my PC is located. It lives on a shelf over a stairwell is my room is located in the loft/attic space and the gap under screen 2 is where the tower is situated.

1 and 3 are the CRTs and 2 is the lighter flatscreen. All three screens are 17 inch.


Peripherals
All the peripherals are just cheap bits and pieces i picked up or found. The speakers are from an old family computer, the keyboard is a Logitech Ultra-Flat which was a mid-point between laptop keyboards Id used for years and a standard mechanical one. Id wanted the "click-clack" of a mechanical keyboard but not the chunkiness or complete flatness of a laptop style one. The mouse is a cheap wireless bluetooth Advent Mouse. For a Printer I have an HP Photosmart C4200 which is about 10 years old, still works perfectly and the ink cartridges are still available and cheap.


Operating System

Now I have used other operating systems since XP, vista as poor, I liked 7, hated 8 but so far I am liking 10. Now not everything is in the same place settings-wise but Ive found most of my often used utilities ans such. The one thing I don't like is the tiles on the start menu, so I have have gotten rid of them so the start menu is more what I'm used to. All the old programs I used to use on XP still work or have been updated so there is no problem there.

And that is all I wrote. Any questions or feedback would be greatly appreciated.