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Need advice for a $900/£600 Gaming PC

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  • Gaming
  • Systems
Last response: in Systems
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April 14, 2013 6:57:42 AM

Approximate Purchase Date: Within the next 30 days.

Budget Range: $800-$950 / £520-£620 (shipping not included)

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming -> Workstation

Parts Not Required: Keyboard, Mouse, Monitor, Speakers, OS

Preferred Website for Parts: Ideally http://www.scan.co.uk, however I am open to buying from other retailers.

Country: England - UK

Parts Preferences: Preferably Intel CPU, and Nvidia GeForce GPU

Overclocking: No

SLI or Crossfire: Maybe

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080

Additional Comments: I would like for the system to be quiet, and a window with some kind of LED lighting would be nice. (However both are not essential).

More about : advice 900 600 gaming

April 14, 2013 7:06:51 AM

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/amd-fx-8350-black-editio...
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1tb-seagate-st1000dm003-...
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/8gb-(2x4gb)-corsair-ddr3-vengeance-lp-cerulean-blue-pc3-12800-(1600)-cas-9-9-9-24-xmp-15v
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/msi-970a-g46-amd-970-s-a...(x16)-atx
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/750w-powercool-pc750um-m...
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/inwin-griffin-black-mid-...
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/inwin-griffin-black-mid-...


All together £620 without windows 7. It can run crysis 3 at high settings no problem. You may also want a disk drive. And the case is up to you, i included the one i have as i think it's a very good case.

Hope i helped.
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a b 4 Gaming
April 14, 2013 8:17:57 AM

Here's what I drummed up for you. I left off the case because that is really the individuals choice. I left 60 quid for you to choose the case. Also, you can change the 7850 to a 650 ti Boost or a 660 gtx (if you lean nvidia like I do).

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3350P 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor (£141.13 @ Dabs)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard (£104.19 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper Low Voltage Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£53.68 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£47.99 @ Ebuyer)
Video Card: Asus Radeon HD 7850 2GB Video Card (£161.98 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 600W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply (£56.84 @ Aria PC)
Total: £565.81
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-04-14 16:06 BST+0100)
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a b 4 Gaming
April 14, 2013 9:05:55 AM

On the lower end of that budget range all off Ebuyer UK
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April 14, 2013 10:07:28 AM

barto said:
Here's what I drummed up for you. I left off the case because that is really the individuals choice. I left 60 quid for you to choose the case. Also, you can change the 7850 to a 650 ti Boost or a 660 gtx (if you lean nvidia like I do).

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3350P 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor (£141.13 @ Dabs)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard (£104.19 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper Low Voltage Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£53.68 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£47.99 @ Ebuyer)
Video Card: Asus Radeon HD 7850 2GB Video Card (£161.98 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 600W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply (£56.84 @ Aria PC)
Total: £565.81
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-04-14 16:06 BST+0100)


Thanks for the quick reply! This seems like a meaty build, but (due to past experience), I get a little confused with CPUs and motherboards. Could you confirm that the motherboard has the right chipset for the CPU? I don't really understand what this means, but friends have told me that it is vital that the motherboard has a "compatible chipset"?
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April 14, 2013 10:08:59 AM

pribprib said:
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/amd-fx-8350-black-editio...
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1tb-seagate-st1000dm003-...
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/8gb-(2x4gb)-corsair-ddr3-vengeance-lp-cerulean-blue-pc3-12800-(1600)-cas-9-9-9-24-xmp-15v
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/msi-970a-g46-amd-970-s-a...(x16)-atx
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/750w-powercool-pc750um-m...
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/inwin-griffin-black-mid-...
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/inwin-griffin-black-mid-...


All together £620 without windows 7. It can run crysis 3 at high settings no problem. You may also want a disk drive. And the case is up to you, i included the one i have as i think it's a very good case.

Hope i helped.


Thanks for your reply, but some of the links that you have included don't work? :/ 
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a b 4 Gaming
April 14, 2013 11:15:20 AM

miles510 said:
Thanks for the quick reply! This seems like a meaty build, but (due to past experience), I get a little confused with CPUs and motherboards. Could you confirm that the motherboard has the right chipset for the CPU? I don't really understand what this means, but friends have told me that it is vital that the motherboard has a "compatible chipset"?


Sure, absolutely. Right now Intel's current processors use the 1155 socket. This includes all of the CPUs at this link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_microprocess... . Forgive me but I'm not going to list out all of them. There are particular chipsets that are compatible with the 1155 socket. For example, there is the Z77, H67 and the B75. These chipsets have features to each one. Let me put it to you like this: The CPU is the engine to a car. The socket would be the compatible transmission type. Then chipset would be the features of the transmission, like 5 sp auto, 6 sp manual, pedal gear box etc.

I wouldn't give you a build if it wasn't compatible. The 3350P is compatible with the motherboard I supplied. But, the features of that motherboard allow you to upgrade to a more powerful CPU. For example, the B75 chipset doesn't have overclocking abilities. So if you were to get a 3570k ( an overclockable CPU) and put it in the B75, it would be a waste because you couldn't unleash the 3570k's full power. However, the z77 chipset is a motherboard that you could overclock your CPU. Err-go, you could get a 3570k down the road or the i7 3770k.

Now, don't think the B75 is a bad chipset. It's a lower end motherboard, one not usually recommended for gaming. More or less for the average Facebook user or workstation PC.

Also, pribprib, while being helpful is a little over zealous. He's a little young and forgot a couple of things like a GPU for your build. You also don't need a 750w PSU unless you are planning on running two graphic cards (SLI or Crossfire technology) and I just don't think you are in the budget to do that.

Also, I configured the build with a 600w. You could probably take it down to 500-550w if you are pressed for cash.
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April 14, 2013 12:12:38 PM

barto said:
miles510 said:
Thanks for the quick reply! This seems like a meaty build, but (due to past experience), I get a little confused with CPUs and motherboards. Could you confirm that the motherboard has the right chipset for the CPU? I don't really understand what this means, but friends have told me that it is vital that the motherboard has a "compatible chipset"?


Sure, absolutely. Right now Intel's current processors use the 1155 socket. This includes all of the CPUs at this link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_microprocess... . Forgive me but I'm not going to list out all of them. There are particular chipsets that are compatible with the 1155 socket. For example, there is the Z77, H67 and the B75. These chipsets have features to each one. Let me put it to you like this: The CPU is the engine to a car. The socket would be the compatible transmission type. Then chipset would be the features of the transmission, like 5 sp auto, 6 sp manual, pedal gear box etc.

I wouldn't give you a build if it wasn't compatible. The 3350P is compatible with the motherboard I supplied. But, the features of that motherboard allow you to upgrade to a more powerful CPU. For example, the B75 chipset doesn't have overclocking abilities. So if you were to get a 3570k ( an overclockable CPU) and put it in the B75, it would be a waste because you couldn't unleash the 3570k's full power. However, the z77 chipset is a motherboard that you could overclock your CPU. Err-go, you could get a 3570k down the road or the i7 3770k.

Now, don't think the B75 is a bad chipset. It's a lower end motherboard, one not usually recommended for gaming. More or less for the average Facebook user or workstation PC.

Also, pribprib, while being helpful is a little over zealous. He's a little young and forgot a couple of things like a GPU for your build. You also don't need a 750w PSU unless you are planning on running two graphic cards (SLI or Crossfire technology) and I just don't think you are in the budget to do that.

Also, I configured the build with a 600w. You could probably take it down to 500-550w if you are pressed for cash.


Thanks! This has really helped me out. I understand that you wouldn't let incompatibilities into a recommendation, I just hoped that you could explain it to me (which you have very clearly [5*] ;) )
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April 15, 2013 10:17:05 AM

krthush said:
Ok... I might throw a spanner in the works, but imo this build will be best for you:

PCPartPicker part list: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/QRnz
Price breakdown by merchant: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/QRnz/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/QRnz/benchmarks/

CPU: AMD FX-8350 4.0GHz 8-Core Processor (£143.94 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: ASRock 970 Extreme3 ATX AM3+ Motherboard (£66.98 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Corsair XMS3 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£32.99 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£45.54 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7870 XT 2GB Video Card (£206.99 @ Novatech)
Case: Zalman Z11 Plus ATX Mid Tower Case (£47.99 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 500W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply (£49.99 @ Amazon UK)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer (£11.13 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £605.55
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-04-15 16:27 BST+0100)

Points:

-I know you said you wanted an intel cpu + nvidia gpu, but for your budget this is ideal.

-I can show you many benchmarks of the fx 8350 matching the i5 3570k's performance, and in terms of future games having better usage of all the cores (its a good future proof option), i.e. it shouldn't be missed out on.

-The HD7870xt is a godly card, nearly matching the performance of GTX 670s and HD 7950

-You'd be get TWO FREE games (Tomb Raider & Bioshock) with this build, because of AMD's reloaded deal.

-I have chosen you a nice case, with blue LED's and a window.

-All in all i believe this is best for you.


The spanner has well and truly been thrown in... That does seem really tempting. Thank you for giving me a system to compare to! This decision might turn out to be harder than I thought!
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April 16, 2013 2:38:48 AM

Soz, I'm back (i was banned for advertising, didn't know the rules were so strict on that, my bad)...

Let me re-post this build again (i still think its the best for you):


PCPartPicker part list: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/QRnz
Price breakdown by merchant: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/QRnz/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/QRnz/benchmarks/

CPU: AMD FX-8350 4.0GHz 8-Core Processor (£143.94 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: ASRock 970 Extreme3 ATX AM3+ Motherboard (£66.98 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Corsair XMS3 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£32.99 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£45.54 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7870 XT 2GB Video Card (£206.99 @ Novatech)
Case: Zalman Z11 Plus ATX Mid Tower Case (£47.99 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 500W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply (£49.99 @ Amazon UK)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer (£11.13 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £605.55
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-04-15 16:27 BST+0100)

Points:

-I know you said you wanted an intel cpu + nvidia gpu, but for your budget this is ideal.

-I can show you many benchmarks of the fx 8350 matching the i5 3570k's performance, and in terms of future games having better usage of all the cores (its a good future proof option), i.e. it shouldn't be missed out on.

-The HD7870xt is a godly card, nearly matching the performance of GTX 670s and HD 7950

-You'd be get TWO FREE games (Tomb Raider & Bioshock) with this build, because of AMD's reloaded deal.

-I have chosen you a nice case, with blue LED's and a window.

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a b 4 Gaming
April 16, 2013 7:02:58 AM

krthush, I didn't see anything that looked like advertising. Maybe just a bad link?

Also, just for friendly banter, I could modify the Intel build with a cheaper motherboard and cheaper RAM to balance for the more powerful GPU. While future games will utilize more cores, the idea that cores will be needed isn't solidified because of processor efficiency (which currently leans on the Intel side).

Also, low blow on the free games.

I will admit that you build is better if (because I don't feel like rebuilding one to match) you include a heatsink for the ability to overclock.
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April 16, 2013 7:16:48 AM

agreed, i do like to lean towards intel for cpus :S, but this video made me have second thoughts on i5 vs fx8350s these videos, especially for low budget builds.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4et7kDGSRfc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICVeN6WEGgg
+rightly so you can tweak yours to make it very good, it will basically go down to i5 vs fx 8350. tbf it really comes down to which specific games he plays at that point

Dunno if the guys wants to overclock or not, but ye he should get a heat sink if he wants to overclock :D .

(btw I dunno about the advertising, I think I did overstep by telling people my company could help them out)
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