£800 Gaming build please review!

deanop91 · Nov 9, 2014

Hi all,

I am starting my first pc build and looking for some advice from the experts!

I have done a fair bit of research and have decided that for my budget this is probably the best I am going to get solely for gaming.

My requirements would be:

£800... ideally
Be able to play modern games at full settings around the 60 fps mark

If anyone has a spare moment to take a look over my initial build idea, and has any input it would be very much appreciated

!

Parts are open to any suggestions.

I believe the parts are all compatible?

**CPU** | [Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80646i54690k) | £167.50 @ Amazon UK

**CPU Cooler** | [Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/cooler-master-cpu-cooler-rr212e20pkr2) | £23.82 @ CCL Computers

**Motherboard** | [MSI Z97 PC MATE ATX LGA1150 Motherboard](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/msi-motherboard-z97pcmate) | £63.42 @ Amazon UK

**Memory** | [G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory]
(http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/gskill-memory-f317000cl11d8gbxl) | £59.95 @ Aria PC

**Storage** | [Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/seagate-internal-hard-drive-st1000dm003) | £39.16 @ Aria PC

**Case** | [NZXT Phantom 410 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/nzxt-case-caph410w1) | £65.99 @ Novatech

**Power Supply** | [Corsair CSM 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-power-supply-cs550m) | £55.99 @ Aria PC

**Optical Drive** | [Samsung SH-224DB/RSBS DVD/CD Writer](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/samsung-optical-drive-sh224dbrsbs) | £11.76 @ CCL Computers

**Operating System** | [Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit)](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/microsoft-os-gfc02050) | £69.99 @ Ebuyer

**Graphics Card**| MSI R9 290X GAMING TWIN FROZR IV 4GB Pre Overclocked PCI Express Graphics Card| (http://www.ebuyer.com/614553-msi-r9-290x-gaming-4gb-gddr5-dual-dvi-hdmi-displayport-pci-e-graphics-r9-290x-gaming-4g) £243.99

| | **Total**
| Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available | £801.57
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-09 19:40 GMT+0000 |

DonkeyOatie · Nov 9, 2014

Great build and all the parts are compatible.

My only issue is your power supply. http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-1804779/power-supply-unit-tier-list.html

I'd buy this PSU, for about the same price, except it is not modular. https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/antec-power-supply-tp550c

or this semi-modular for slightly more. https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/antec-power-supply-hcg620m

Darkbreeze · Nov 9, 2014

Nah, that board sucks too if you're going to overclock, which I'm assuming you are due to the EVO cooler. The PSU is not sufficient quality for that build either. The R9 290 is a much better bargain considering only the texel rate is higher on the 290x, and not by that much all things considered. I'm tweaking the build and will be right back.

deanop91 · Nov 9, 2014

DonkeyOatie :

Hey, thanks very much for the speedy reply and the links.

I think the PSU bit confuses me, having only maintained gaming laptops in the past.

Modular from my understanding means that the you can pick and choose the cables?

Is this basically a cable management preferrence? Or is it that in some cases it will need to be modular as certain cables are required for components? Nooby question

deanop91 · Nov 9, 2014

Ah much appreciated DarkBreeze, I couldn't decide between the 290x or 290 but from what you are saying I might as well save the cash and put it onto the motherboard.

If you could tweak it without budget going through the roof would be awesome.

DonkeyOatie · Nov 9, 2014

DarkBreeze did ask an important question. You did not say that you were planning to overclock, so I assumed that you were not, DarkBreeze decided from your build that you were going to overclock. Which is it?

Modular power supplies allows you to leave out cables you do not need, and makes it easier to route cables since both ends are free to move. Some power supplies have short, or flat ribbon options for their modular supplies, to be used in smaller cases. Non-modular, semi, or full all do the same thing for equivalent power supplies. If you read some PSU reviews, such as on jonnyguru, you will get a better idea.

Darkbreeze · Nov 9, 2014

Here's what I'm seeing and if I was you, I'd really save a little more money to increase the budget for a few well recommended improvements that are not on this built I'm posting.

One, I'd add an SSD for the boot drive and OS installation. This will increase the speed of pretty much everything. For gaming it's only really going to benefit you when loading maps and such, however, contrary to what most people state when critiquing builds, it does benefit in other ways because system services that require disk access will be able to perform their tasks more quickly thus returning resources to the system more quickly. Even when gaming, system services are going to run regardless of how you tweak the system services profile in administrative tools.

Two, I've included only a 550w PSU, although it's a good one, I'd really recommend going with a 600-650w unit that's at least a Tier 2B unit from here:

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-1804779/power-supply-unit-tier-list.html

Three, you could probably drop the memory down to 1866mhz modules and shave some money off the overall cost without losing much if any gaming performance.

Four, I changed the case. That NZXT case has all 120mm fans which have to run much faster than 140 or bigger fans to provide the same amount of cooling which increases the noise level significantly. The CM Storm enforcer case I included, which I happen to use on my rig, has a 200mm front fan and the rest are 140mm's so it runs very cool at really low noise levels.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£167.50 @ Amazon UK)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£23.82 @ CCL Computers)
Motherboard: Asus Z97-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£106.19 @ Aria PC)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory (£69.35 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£39.16 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 290 4GB Double Dissipation Video Card (£219.95 @ Scan.co.uk)
Case: Cooler Master Storm Enforcer ATX Mid Tower Case (£64.98 @ Ebuyer)
Power Supply: XFX TS 550W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply (£61.86 @ Scan.co.uk)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer (£10.46 @ Aria PC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£69.99 @ Ebuyer)
Total: £833.26
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-09 21:35 GMT+0000

deanop91 · Nov 9, 2014

DonkeyOatie :

Yeah thanks I just had a look and I understand the whole modular thing now. I think with a half decent fan syste the extra cables can just be tucked away.

In terms of the overclocking yes I was ideally looking to overclock the CPU to get the best out of it which was why I went the extra for the K.

Darkbreeze · Nov 9, 2014

deanop91 :

If max gaming with minimum budget is the situation, don't concern yourself with modular units. Modular units are important in some cases to help maximize airflow by removing possible restrictions but mainly it's cosmetic for building aesthetically pleasing works of electronic art. I use non modular designs and am able to manage cabling perfectly fine with no airflow issues.

If you can afford the higher cost of a modular unit and are worried about making it "pretty", by all means go for it. Otherwise, save the money, spend a little extra time routing and securing the internal cabling during the build and forget it.

Being modular has nothing to do with the actual performance or capabilities of the unit. Also, the 80plus rating is laughable on any unit that does place high on the tier list anyhow. If it's a high quality unit and it has a high 80plus rating, great, if not, the efficiency isn't that important. Gamers running cards that suck massive amounts of power down and running big overclocks, are generally not worried about efficiency as much as a mainstream user.

More important, for the money difference, would be getting a highly rated PSU of larger capacity so the unit will rarely if ever have to be pushed anywhere near it's cap, which will in fact allow it to be more efficient and run cooler.

Darkbreeze · Nov 9, 2014

deanop91 :

Exactly. The K processor plus the inclusion of the EVO cooler could only mean an overclock, or somebody who really didn't have a clue.

deanop91 · Nov 9, 2014

Darkbreeze :

Hey, thanks for the awesome detail you have gone into, I much prefer ASUS as a brand but was trying to save money, definitely going to take your advice on that one though.

In response:

1. I really wanted to invest in an SSD but felt that it was just another 50 quid on top of a scaling budget. Was struggling to justify it in my head.... very tempted now though.

2. I will definitely look into a 600w in that case, the list will help a lot.

3. There didn't seem to be much difference in the price of the 1866 RAM compared to these as we are only talking £59. Don't think from what I have seen that I can get a half decent RAM for less?

4. The case was mainly just based on visuals of being able to look at my creation but that case with the bigger fans does sound like a better idea from a performance and noise perspective.

Some further questions if you wouldn't mind:

Is that graphics card that you have swapped it to going to be better than than the MSI 290 as it seemed to have good reviews? http://www.ebuyer.com/614483-msi-r9-290-gaming-4gb-gddr5-dual-dvi-hdmi-displayport-pci-e-graphics-r9-290-gaming-4g

I suppose the thing that I am wondering now is am I better off getting a lesser processor that isn't overclockable and then not having to invest in a cooler to save money and get an SSD or one of the other improvements you suggested instead? Or will I see more benefit by sticking to the overclocking plans?

Darkbreeze · Nov 9, 2014

Hmm, how strange. You're right, the 2133 is the same price across the pond so no reason to go lower.

Darkbreeze · Nov 9, 2014

Nope. That CPU is about the best gaming processor you can get right now without spending 4 bills and the overclock is a real benefit when paired with a high end card. Plus, you can always ADD an SSD later, just make sure to use something like Acronis True image or another backup programs to save disk images so you can just clone a copy of your OS at that time to the new SSD.

You really can't just change the other parts later, at least not without making the purchase you already made a waste of money.

deanop91 · Nov 9, 2014

Darkbreeze :

Makes me a bit cautious but it's a known brand so I guess it should be okay.

Darkbreeze · Nov 9, 2014

XFX, MSI, Sapphire, Gigabyte, Zotac, EVGA and ASUS all make good cards to any of them will probably be ok. I personally like XFX and MSI at about equal levels.

Darkbreeze · Nov 9, 2014

The memory I put in the build has a CAS latency of 9 while the RAM in your build had a CAS latency of 11. The lower latency WILL make a difference in gaming and overall system responsiveness.

deanop91 · Nov 9, 2014

Darkbreeze :

Ah I definitely overlooked that, would explain the lack of price difference.

So thanks for all of your advice it's really been an eye opener.

Would this then be my best option for the build?

I put in a bigger PSU that seems to match the PSU list you gave

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£167.50 @ Amazon UK)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£23.82 @ CCL Computers)
Motherboard: Asus Z97-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£106.19 @ Aria PC)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory (£69.35 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£39.16 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 290 4GB Double Dissipation Video Card (£219.95 @ Scan.co.uk)
Case: Cooler Master Storm Enforcer ATX Mid Tower Case (£64.98 @ Ebuyer)
Power Supply: XFX 650W XXX Edition 80+ Bronze http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B008O50WKG/?tag=pcp0f-21
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer (£10.46 @ Aria PC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£69.99 @ Ebuyer)

As an alternate with an SSD or is this SSD too crappy to be worth it?

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£167.50 @ Amazon UK)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£23.82 @ CCL Computers)
Motherboard: Asus Z97-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£106.19 @ Aria PC)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory (£69.35 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£39.16 @ Aria PC)
SSD for OS: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/kingston-internal-hard-drive-shfs37a120g
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 290 4GB Double Dissipation Video Card (£219.95 @ Scan.co.uk)
Case: Cooler Master Storm Enforcer ATX Mid Tower Case (£64.98 @ Ebuyer)
Power Supply: XFX 650W XXX Edition 80+ Bronze http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B008O50WKG/?tag=pcp0f-21
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer (£10.46 @ Aria PC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£69.99 @ Ebuyer)

Darkbreeze · Nov 9, 2014

The first one looks good but I wouldn't go with the Kingston SSD. It only has a 120MB/s write speed, which is pretty poor for an SSD. The Kingston V300 SSDnow series, which is cheaper, actually has much faster times at 450 read and 450 write. Myself, I stick to SSD's made by OCZ (Vector series, not Vertex), Samsung or Intel, but the Sandisk SDSSDP-128G-G25 has very fast speeds at budget prices too. I don't know about the long term reliability of that drive since I'm not as familiar with it but it does have 550 read and 510 write speeds so it might be an even better choice to save some cash.

deanop91 · Nov 9, 2014

Just wanna make a point of saying thanks buddy, have helped me out more than I was expecting.

I will mark that as solution. Hope this build turns out well!!

Darkbreeze · Nov 9, 2014

It will. Good luck to you and if you have further questions later or whenever, feel free to PM or post a new thread and PM me with the link.

£800 Gaming build please review!

Reputable

Champion

Retired Mod

Reputable

Reputable

Champion

Retired Mod

Reputable

Retired Mod

Retired Mod

Reputable

Retired Mod

Retired Mod

Reputable

Retired Mod

Retired Mod

Reputable

Retired Mod

Reputable

Retired Mod

Share this page