New gaming computer since last post 10 months ago

dmkat

Honorable
Dec 31, 2013
7
0
10,510
I made a thread last December needing a gaming desktop, by the time I purchase the computer it will be 10 months since that post. Would any improvements/cheaper possibilities be available that has changed in these 10 months? Thanks.

The helpful person who gave me a good idea of a rig suggested this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£173.82 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: MSI Z87-G41 PC Mate ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£64.98 @ Ebuyer)
Memory: Patriot Signature 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£56.91 @ Ebuyer)
Storage: Toshiba 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£55.00 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 280X 3GB Video Card (£224.60 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Cooler Master K280 ATX Mid Tower Case (£32.38 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£49.98 @ Scan.co.uk)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24F1ST DVD/CD Writer (£11.65 @ Amazon UK)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit) (£74.49 @ Ebuyer)
Monitor: LG 24EA53V-P 23.8" Monitor (£133.56 @ CCL Computers)
Keyboard: Logitech MK120 Wired Slim Keyboard w/Optical Mouse (£19.97 @ Amazon UK)
Speakers: Logitech Z323 30W 2.1ch Speakers (£41.32 @ Dabs)
Total: £938.66
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-12-31 16:34 GMT+0000)

My ideal spend would be around £700, but I am looking to spend between £500 and £1,000, hopefully nearer the former then the latter. I also would like to know if there are any companies that build computers cheaply? Or would I be better off finding a local computer company to do it, as I have no chance in building it haha, thanks.
 
Solution
4690K should be the same price, and Z97 should be the same or at most a little bit more, getting those will be more future proof and able to handle broadwell processors easily. You can stick with the EVGA PSU, I think it should be fine, though I do not know much about them.

mcorish

Reputable
Aug 11, 2014
120
0
4,760
For sure I would change out the CPU with an i5-4690K (Haswell Refresh) and the PSU, and EVGA has come out with a B2 series improvement. Also look at getting the Z97 board instead of a Z87.
 

dmkat

Honorable
Dec 31, 2013
7
0
10,510


Would this be more or less expensive? As I'm near the top end of my budget, thanks.

 

mcorish

Reputable
Aug 11, 2014
120
0
4,760
4690K should be the same price, and Z97 should be the same or at most a little bit more, getting those will be more future proof and able to handle broadwell processors easily. You can stick with the EVGA PSU, I think it should be fine, though I do not know much about them.
 
Solution
I agree with going with the upgraded CPU and motherboard. Some of the components on your list have had the price increase and the keyboard/mouse are no longer available. Here's an updated version of your build.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£164.34 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: MSI Z97 PC MATE ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£61.08 @ Ebuyer)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (£64.99 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£49.98 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 280X 3GB Dual-X Video Card (£200.59 @ Aria PC)
Case: Cooler Master K280 ATX Mid Tower Case (£31.54 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£43.16 @ Amazon UK)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-14 DVD/CD Writer (£11.21 @ Aria PC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£79.47 @ Amazon UK)
Monitor: LG 24EA53V-P 23.8" Monitor (£179.99 @ Amazon UK)
Keyboard: Logitech MK200 Wired Slim Keyboard w/Optical Mouse (£30.83 @ Amazon UK)
Speakers: Logitech Z323 30W 2.1ch Speakers (£40.49 @ Ebuyer)
Total: £957.67
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-21 15:04 BST+0100
 

dmkat

Honorable
Dec 31, 2013
7
0
10,510
Thanks very much for the heads up on price increases, is there any possibility of cutting down the price without losing performance? I'd like to be able to play pretty much any game at Ultra or Max for a good while yet, I'm not into heavy intensity games such as Far Cry (I think) but more games such as Age of Empires 3, Football Manager, CoD, Saints Row and GTA.

Thanks.
 
You could save a little by going with a non-overclockable CPU and a little slower RAM.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (£127.14 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: MSI Z97 PC MATE ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£61.50 @ Aria PC)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£59.98 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£52.74 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 280X 3GB Dual-X Video Card (£200.59 @ Aria PC)
Case: Cooler Master K280 ATX Mid Tower Case (£30.84 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£43.16 @ Amazon UK)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-14 DVD/CD Writer (£11.21 @ Aria PC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£79.47 @ Amazon UK)
Monitor: LG 24EA53V-P 23.8" Monitor (£179.99 @ Amazon UK)
Keyboard: Logitech MK200 Wired Slim Keyboard w/Optical Mouse (£30.83 @ Amazon UK)
Speakers: Logitech Z323 30W 2.1ch Speakers (£41.68 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £919.13
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-21 20:06 BST+0100
 

The Z97 should be as much as your Z87, the only thing is it will future-proof your computer so you will not need to flash the BIOS to use a Haswell CPU.