First gaming rig, budget around £1000

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kushy

Reputable
Jul 21, 2014
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Hey guys, newbie here trying to build his first gaming rig. Looking for a lil help =)

This is what I have so far:
http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/BptqP6

Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor - £158
ASRock Z87 Extreme3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard - £87
Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory - £62
Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive - £39
MSI GeForce GTX 770 4GB TWIN FROZR Video Card - £273
Corsair 760W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply - £119
Asus VS247H-P 23.6" Monitor - £137

Total: ~£875

I decided to go for the 4670k after reading a few reviews. I was gonna go for a cheaper AMD (like an FX), but am not sure about performance in older games due to weaker cores (and games like SC2)? I play a lot of older games, but also want to run the newer ones on some decent settings.

I'm not sure about "future-proofing" though. Not sure if I will want to run an SLI setup in future, or even if it's a good idea (like buying another GTX 770 when it's cheaper or something). I could probably save a bit of money by going for a cheaper mobo and PSU, but then I won't be able to do the SLI thing.

I guess that's my main thought process right now anyways. Decided to go for a cheaper 1080p monitor until next year when there's hopefully some reliable 1440p/120hz monitors going for cheap! No case chosen as of yet.

Thank you!
 
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zeyuanfu

zeyuanfu

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Jun 19, 2014
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Get the i5-4690K, it's only a bit more expensive and it has 22 nm lithography, better than AMD 32 nm. Also, get the R9 270 or 280. 290 if you have the $$$. Otherwise, everything's great.
 
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Yuhroon

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Jun 4, 2014
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I agree get the r9 200 series. I have one by myself (Sapphire Toxic R9 270x) and it costs only 200 euro --> Do the math: I can play fps eating games without any problems on highest details (ACBF, BF4)
 
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numanator

numanator

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Nov 14, 2013
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Upper limit of your budget:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£161.94 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£101.99 @ Ebuyer)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£62.16 @ Scan.co.uk)
Storage: Crucial MX100 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£54.04 @ Ebuyer)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£38.70 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 290 4GB Tri-X Video Card (£295.39 @ Aria PC)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case (£64.74 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£80.90 @ Amazon UK)
Monitor: Asus VS247H-P 23.6" Monitor (£137.09 @ Scan.co.uk)
Total: £996.95
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-07-21 23:13 BST+0100

-CPU- The 4690k and Z97 mobo are the newer models and are better overclockers. Also, you did not include a CPU cooler in your original build, did you plan to overclock?
-SSD- Added SSD to speed up boot up of OS and core programs (internet browser, word excel, doesn't help much with games but makes the OS very fast)
-Case- Lots of options for cases, the Fractal R4 has some sound dampening and good airflow
-GPU- R9 290 is a great choice for the price. I wouldn't get the 4gb gtx 770 it is a waste unless you plan to SLI for sure. Otherwise you could save some money on this by going with the r9 280x
-PSU- The EVGA G2 series are really good quality w/ 10 yr warranty. If you plan on SLI 280x then get the 850w version (would work for SLI 290s but is cutting it a bit closer).
 
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tiny voices

tiny voices

Titan
Sep 6, 2012
34,175
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What? he isn't going to fry his parts. Telling him to limit his budget because of a VERY slim change something goes wrong is pointless.

Thats like saving for a mustang, but buying a civic because "Rear wheel drive is more difficult to get used to".
 
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Y

Yuhroon

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Jun 4, 2014
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I agree. Frying your parts isn't that easy to do tbh. You better never build a pc if you're so obsessed about frying your parts
 
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zeyuanfu

zeyuanfu

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Jun 19, 2014
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If he ever DOES fry or break his parts, don't blame me...
 
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numanator

numanator

Honorable
Nov 14, 2013
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If you don't plan to overclock then this would be a good build:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1230 V3 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor (£175.00 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: ASRock H97 PRO4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£65.45 @ More Computers)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£62.16 @ Scan.co.uk)
Storage: Crucial MX100 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£54.04 @ Ebuyer)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£38.70 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 280X 3GB WINDFORCE Video Card (£201.00 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case (£64.74 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£80.90 @ Amazon UK)
Monitor: Asus VS247H-P 23.6" Monitor (£137.09 @ Scan.co.uk)
Total: £879.08
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-07-21 23:22 BST+0100

-CPU- The Xeon E3 1230v3 is essentially an i7 without the integrated graphics so it has the i7's hyperthreading. Great choice for a build that isn't going to be overclocking.
-GPU- Dropped down to the r9 280x which can play almost every game at max settings 1080p
 
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numanator

numanator

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Nov 14, 2013
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I have been gaming on PCs for 15 years and haven't fried a part. And that is including crappy pre-builts with cheap components in it. Also if you have a good quality PSU I don't see how you can fry your components unless you are spilling stuff onto your mobo or something.
 
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K

kushy

Reputable
Jul 21, 2014
6
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4,510
Thank you guys/gals!

The r9 290 looks good. Not much more than the gtx 770 either so I don't see why not =)

May as well go for the 4690k too. I haven't really thought about overclocking, but I guess it's always nice to have the option.

And I was wondering about cooling actually, my room gets stupidly hot even in winter.

Thanks again though, super quick replies.
 
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Y

Yuhroon

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Jun 4, 2014
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case fans and a cpu cooling of Cooler Master Hyper Evo212will do the job then.
 
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Y

Yuhroon

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Jun 4, 2014
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All depends on his VRAM. But I assume he will do it altough a 290 will do it for sure :)
Have fun building
 
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numanator

numanator

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Nov 14, 2013
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If you are planning on 1440p then the r9 290 is the way to go. The 280x is on par with the gtx 770 power wise (but better priced) and both are the sweet spot for 1080p gaming, 1440p is a bit too much for them without dropping the settings a bit (probably medium to high rather than Ultra w/ some high on 1080p)
 
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K

kunthakenthe

Admirable
May 20, 2014
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first of all get a z97 board newer and better overclocks. get 1866-2133 ram improves performance with intel chips. unless your sli'ing that 4gb 770 wont do good. a r9 280x would be cheaper and good with its 3gb of vram for the price of a gtx 770 however you could get r9 290 which is like a gtx 780. getting a 1080p monitor is not bad. get a evga 750w psu its fully modular(take out unnecessary cables),gold(meaning less watts are lost due to heat), and a 10 yr warranty for peace of mind. the 4690k is just 1 dollar more get a good cooler like a corsair h80i, kraken x60 if you want or get your self a water cooling loop if you really want a super overclock

edit: almost forgot the samsung 250gb ssd is on sale. it will make everything load up in a second Literally
 
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