I'm debating whether or not to build a computer myself and basically I’m a complete noob. Personally I would be willing to pay approximately £100 - £150 more to have the whole thing pre-assembled, set up and ready to go on arrival. Anything above that and I would consider building it myself.
I have been using Cyberpowersystems to help build a computer and have come up with the following build. I have also been reading a number of articles forums etc. to give myself some understanding. My build on Cyberpower is: Configuration#: 820628 (http://www.cyberpowersystem.co.uk/saved/820628)
CASE: Cooler Master Dominator CM-690 III Mid-Tower Gaming Case w/ Side Panel Window [+35] (Black Colour)
CPU: INTEL® Core™ i5-4690K Quad Core 3.50 GHz 6MB Cache LGA1150 + HD Graphics ***Overclockable XXX***
FAN: Be Quiet Dark Rock 3 CPU Fan with 7 x Direct Contact heat-pipes ***Overclockable XXX***
HDD: 1TB SATA-III 6.0Gb/s Cache 7200RPM Hard Drive (Single Hard Drive)
MEMORY: 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3/1866mhz Dual Channel Memory (Kingston HyperX Fury Blue w/Heat Spreader)
MOTHERBOARD: Gigabyte Z97X-SLI INTEL Z97 Chipset, ATX Mainboard w/ 4 RAM slots, 7.1 HD Audio, HDMI, GbLAN, USB 3.0, SATA-III, 1x Gen2 PCIe x16, 1x Gen2 PCIe x8, 3x Gen2 PCIe x1, & 2x PCI
VIDEO: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 2GB 16X PCIe 3.0 Video Card [+156] (Single Card)
POWERSUPPLY: 750 Watts Power Supplies [+46] (Corsair 750 Watts CX750M Modular Gaming Power Supply, 80+
CS_FAN: Maximum Case Cooling Fans for your selected case, and match the colour of the fans already in the case [+25]
NETWORK: ONBOARD 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT -- As standard on all PCs
OS: Microsoft® Windows 8.1 (64-bit Edition)
BLUETOOTH: None
CAPTURECARD: None
CD: NONE [-8]
EXPAN:NONE
FA_HDD: None
FLASHMEDIA: None
FREEBIE_CU1:INTEL software and Game bundle (Grid Autosport, Shadowrun Returns, Starchart and McAfee LiveSafe) [+0]
FREEBIE_VC1:FREE Borderlands The Pre-Sequel [+0]
HDD2:NONE
IEEE_CARD:NONE
INSURANCE:NONE
MB_SRT_Z87: None
OVERCLOCK: No Overclocking
RUSH: NONE
SERVERUNIT: NONE
SOUND: HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO
SPEAKERS: NONE
TABLET: None
TEMP: NONE
TVRC: NONE
UPS: None
USB1: USB 3 Hubs -- Akasa 4 x USB 3.0 Ports [+20]
WARRANTY
ESKTOP SILVER WARRANTY: 3 Year Labour, 2 Year Parts, 1 Year Collect and Return plus Life-Time Technical Support [+19]
WNC: ASUS PCE-N15 PCI-E Wireless 802.11n 300Mbps Network Interface Card [+14]
XWNA:NONE
£1046.40 in VAT) - (£872 ex. VAT)
When I have seen previous build suggestions, they only ever seem to include the first 8 items on the list above and say this PC costs X amount. When in fact, once you add the other items it adds a considerable amount. Why is this? Surely things such as OS, USB ports and wireless are essential and add approximately £115. Is there anything on my build I really don’t need, or that I should actually add.
Expectations / Use:
I intend to use it primarily as a gaming PC hooked up to my Sony Bravia 42” and want to play most game on at 60fps or above at 1080p, which I think is the most the TV can handle anyway. Other than that I will be streaming TV shows and the odd bit of surfing the net.
I am also looking for longevity. I don’t want to have to make upgrades on a regular basis but want the build to have the capacity for when it is needed e.g. adding a second GPU for SLI, more RAM or SSD.
Also I’m thinking that I don’t want to overclock straight off the bat, but want the option to in future if games become more demanding, which will then prevent or at least delay me needing to upgrade components.
Other than opinions on my build, my main questions revolve around the GPU and SSD. How good a graphics card do I need for my requirements? Does my TV limit the maximum resolution and / or any other settings? If it does, then I’m ok with that as I don’t want a smaller monitor, but does it mean I should limit the PC hardware to match.
One of my main gripes with console gaming is the load times, especially on games such as Skyrim. This is why I’m thinking adding a SSD. What kind of load times can I expect from just a 1T HDD compared to a SDD or even HDD / SDD combo? If I do get both, is the Intel Smart Response Technology required and if I don’t, how hard is it to set up duel HDD /SDD retrospectively?
As I said, I’m completely new to this, so please feel free to tell me how wrong I am. Are my expectations unrealistic for the price range, or am I overspending on a system that I'm not going to use to its full capabilities. I know I’m asking for a lot of info so would appreciate any input.
Thanks.
I have been using Cyberpowersystems to help build a computer and have come up with the following build. I have also been reading a number of articles forums etc. to give myself some understanding. My build on Cyberpower is: Configuration#: 820628 (http://www.cyberpowersystem.co.uk/saved/820628)
CASE: Cooler Master Dominator CM-690 III Mid-Tower Gaming Case w/ Side Panel Window [+35] (Black Colour)
CPU: INTEL® Core™ i5-4690K Quad Core 3.50 GHz 6MB Cache LGA1150 + HD Graphics ***Overclockable XXX***
FAN: Be Quiet Dark Rock 3 CPU Fan with 7 x Direct Contact heat-pipes ***Overclockable XXX***
HDD: 1TB SATA-III 6.0Gb/s Cache 7200RPM Hard Drive (Single Hard Drive)
MEMORY: 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3/1866mhz Dual Channel Memory (Kingston HyperX Fury Blue w/Heat Spreader)
MOTHERBOARD: Gigabyte Z97X-SLI INTEL Z97 Chipset, ATX Mainboard w/ 4 RAM slots, 7.1 HD Audio, HDMI, GbLAN, USB 3.0, SATA-III, 1x Gen2 PCIe x16, 1x Gen2 PCIe x8, 3x Gen2 PCIe x1, & 2x PCI
VIDEO: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 2GB 16X PCIe 3.0 Video Card [+156] (Single Card)
POWERSUPPLY: 750 Watts Power Supplies [+46] (Corsair 750 Watts CX750M Modular Gaming Power Supply, 80+
CS_FAN: Maximum Case Cooling Fans for your selected case, and match the colour of the fans already in the case [+25]
NETWORK: ONBOARD 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT -- As standard on all PCs
OS: Microsoft® Windows 8.1 (64-bit Edition)
BLUETOOTH: None
CAPTURECARD: None
CD: NONE [-8]
EXPAN:NONE
FA_HDD: None
FLASHMEDIA: None
FREEBIE_CU1:INTEL software and Game bundle (Grid Autosport, Shadowrun Returns, Starchart and McAfee LiveSafe) [+0]
FREEBIE_VC1:FREE Borderlands The Pre-Sequel [+0]
HDD2:NONE
IEEE_CARD:NONE
INSURANCE:NONE
MB_SRT_Z87: None
OVERCLOCK: No Overclocking
RUSH: NONE
SERVERUNIT: NONE
SOUND: HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO
SPEAKERS: NONE
TABLET: None
TEMP: NONE
TVRC: NONE
UPS: None
USB1: USB 3 Hubs -- Akasa 4 x USB 3.0 Ports [+20]
WARRANTY
ESKTOP SILVER WARRANTY: 3 Year Labour, 2 Year Parts, 1 Year Collect and Return plus Life-Time Technical Support [+19]WNC: ASUS PCE-N15 PCI-E Wireless 802.11n 300Mbps Network Interface Card [+14]
XWNA:NONE
£1046.40 in VAT) - (£872 ex. VAT)
When I have seen previous build suggestions, they only ever seem to include the first 8 items on the list above and say this PC costs X amount. When in fact, once you add the other items it adds a considerable amount. Why is this? Surely things such as OS, USB ports and wireless are essential and add approximately £115. Is there anything on my build I really don’t need, or that I should actually add.
Expectations / Use:
I intend to use it primarily as a gaming PC hooked up to my Sony Bravia 42” and want to play most game on at 60fps or above at 1080p, which I think is the most the TV can handle anyway. Other than that I will be streaming TV shows and the odd bit of surfing the net.
I am also looking for longevity. I don’t want to have to make upgrades on a regular basis but want the build to have the capacity for when it is needed e.g. adding a second GPU for SLI, more RAM or SSD.
Also I’m thinking that I don’t want to overclock straight off the bat, but want the option to in future if games become more demanding, which will then prevent or at least delay me needing to upgrade components.
Other than opinions on my build, my main questions revolve around the GPU and SSD. How good a graphics card do I need for my requirements? Does my TV limit the maximum resolution and / or any other settings? If it does, then I’m ok with that as I don’t want a smaller monitor, but does it mean I should limit the PC hardware to match.
One of my main gripes with console gaming is the load times, especially on games such as Skyrim. This is why I’m thinking adding a SSD. What kind of load times can I expect from just a 1T HDD compared to a SDD or even HDD / SDD combo? If I do get both, is the Intel Smart Response Technology required and if I don’t, how hard is it to set up duel HDD /SDD retrospectively?
As I said, I’m completely new to this, so please feel free to tell me how wrong I am. Are my expectations unrealistic for the price range, or am I overspending on a system that I'm not going to use to its full capabilities. I know I’m asking for a lot of info so would appreciate any input.
Thanks.
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