Advice or Feedback on My First Build? (£1200 Gaming PC)

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
F

Fraser_Finlay

Reputable
Jan 8, 2015
11
0
4,510
Hey everyone, this is my first post on the forum and I was just looking for some advice or feedback on what will be my first time building my own computer.

Building my own PC is something I have been interested in for many years and I am finally in a position financially where I can spend (to me) a large sum of money on one that meets my requirements. I'm a Computer Games Development student so I will definitely be using my PC to play a lot of games. I have been interested in computers my whole life; I would actually rather build my own than buy one pre-made because I think it will be an enlightening, enjoyable experience.

So, this is what I have planned out initially, any comments on the components I have chosen would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!:

Approximate Purchase Date: Next Week.

Budget Range: £1000-£1200

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, General home use (e.g University work, surfing the internet, watching movies), maybe some Video Editing.

Are you buying a monitor: No

Do you need to buy OS: No

Preferred Website(s) for Parts:Amazon.co.uk
Overclockers.co.uk
Any other UK based websites you guys recommend I will check out!

Location: City, State/Region, Country: UK, Scotland to be more specific.

Parts Preferences: Not really any specific preferences when it comes to brands, just whatever is best value for money. I would like an Intel Processor though.

Overclocking: Maybe. I haven't done enough research to decide if Overclocking is something I will need to do yet.
 
Solution
Onus
I have three suggestions, one major, two minor.
For the first minor one, the CM Hyper212 EVO is a bang/buck Loser. Go here for a listing of comparable but cheaper competitors: http://www.tomshardware.com/faq/id-2467876/alternatives-hyper-212-evo-budget-cooling.html
Second minor one, if you'd rather cut down the cost, a gaming PC still only needs 8GB of RAM, so you could get a 2x4GB kit.
More significantly, you do not want a "Green" drive as the only drive in a system, because it will be very slow. It is fine as a data drive if you add a SSD. If you want to only get one drive at the outset, I recommend the WD Black series, in whatever size you need. Not only are they fast, but they are also the only consumer hard drive to have...
Sort by date Sort by votes
F

Fraser_Finlay

Reputable
Jan 8, 2015
11
0
4,510
Parts I have picked initially from Amazon.co.uk:

CPU: Intel Core i7 i7-4790K CPU (Quad Core 4GHz, Socket H3 LGA-1150)
LINK

Motherboard: Mod 1150 ASUS Z97 Maximus VII Hero ATX Motherboard
LINK

Memory: Corsair CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9 Vengeance 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1600 Mhz CL9 XMP Performance Desktop Memory Kit Black
LINK

Case: Zalman Z11 Plus Midi Tower Case (ATX, M-ATX, Supports Bottom PSU Installation and Aperture for Cable Management, Anti-Vibration Rubber Stand)
LINK

Power Supply: Corsair CP-9020054-UK RM Series RM650 80 Plus Gold 650W ATX/EPS Fully Modular Power Supply Unit
LINK

Cooling: Cooler Master Hyper T4 CPU Cooler
LINK

Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 970 Graphic Card (4GB, DDR5, 256 Bit)
LINK

Storage: WD 2 TB 3.5-inch Internal Hard Drive - Black
LINK

Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5 inch Basic SATA Solid State Drive
LINK

Optical Drive: Asus DVD-RW Drive (DRW-24F1ST/BLK/AS, S-ATA, DVDR: 24x, CD-R: 48x, E-Green, Disc Encryption II)
LINK

If you have taken the time to read this far, thanks!

I would really appreciate any advice or comments about the parts I have chosen and if I'm on the right track or should consider swapping some parts out for viable replacements. I would love to get the actual building process under way as soon as possible; reading some of the guides on this forum and watching some tutorials online has got me excited to begin this new project.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Onus

Onus

Titan
Jan 27, 2006
37,037
12
89,965
I have three suggestions, one major, two minor.
For the first minor one, the CM Hyper212 EVO is a bang/buck Loser. Go here for a listing of comparable but cheaper competitors: http://www.tomshardware.com/faq/id-2467876/alternatives-hyper-212-evo-budget-cooling.html
Second minor one, if you'd rather cut down the cost, a gaming PC still only needs 8GB of RAM, so you could get a 2x4GB kit.
More significantly, you do not want a "Green" drive as the only drive in a system, because it will be very slow. It is fine as a data drive if you add a SSD. If you want to only get one drive at the outset, I recommend the WD Black series, in whatever size you need. Not only are they fast, but they are also the only consumer hard drive to have retained a five year warranty since some floods in Thailand a few years ago halted hard drive production for a while. Most others cut back to as little as two years, which does not inspire confidence.
 
Upvote 1 Downvote
Solution
Onus

Onus

Titan
Jan 27, 2006
37,037
12
89,965
You can get the cost of that one down by getting a cooler other than the [awwwwk!] Hyper212 EVO [awwwwwk!] (per the earlier list) and by using a smaller PSU of similar quality. Unless you intend to add a second graphics card later, 550W would be enough.
 
Upvote 1 Downvote
galactigus

galactigus

Honorable
Jan 4, 2014
707
0
11,160
I agree with Onus
It all looks ok to me I just wouldn't personally buy 16gb of ram atm because 8 is plenty for gaming but if you've got the money and want to do the full 16 that's fine might become handy in the future.
No SSD on there which imo is a must have if you want your OS to start up and run quickly.
And the hyper 212 evo is an ok cooler I have it in my system and my processor never gets over 45 C my processor being an fx 6300. However the fan on the hyper 212 is crap and mine started making horrible noise after like 4-6 months of use but the good thing is you can just slap a different fan on there. Now as to whether it will fit your case I would say yes because my case is about an inch or 2 smaller and it fits in mine just fine.
 
Upvote 1 Downvote
-Lone-

-Lone-

Admirable
Nov 5, 2014
3,484
0
7,460


The 840 evo 250GB is in the list, must be that stupid glitch thing again where someone can't see one of the parts.

Edit: Unless you mean the original build, then never mind :)
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
F

Fraser_Finlay

Reputable
Jan 8, 2015
11
0
4,510


Thanks for the response! I'll definitely check out that list of replacement aftermarket coolers; that was an area I was unsure of because I'm not sure if I'm going to be overclocking. I would still probably rather have an aftermarket cooler rather than the stock one that comes with the processor though if I'm being honest, just to be safe.

As for the RAM, I initially picked out 8GB which did keep the cost down a bit. The reason I changed to 16GB was that I was interested in futureproofing my PC and I figured if I buy all the RAM I could possibly need now then I wont need to buy more in the future. However, I'll probably drop back down to 8GB RAM and then I can just upgrade if I ever need it.

Thanks for the tip about the HDD, I had no idea! I'm going to go look into some other options just now. The only reason I never included a Solid State Drive is because I thought they might be a bit too expensive but I'll have a look and see if there are any suitable ones in my price range.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
galactigus

galactigus

Honorable
Jan 4, 2014
707
0
11,160



Ya original build you were good to recommend an SSD.

 
Upvote 0 Downvote
F

Fraser_Finlay

Reputable
Jan 8, 2015
11
0
4,510


This is the way the prices are on Amazon.co.uk just now:

CPU - £274.00
Motherboard - £164.05
Memory - £129.99 (although I'm probably going to drop down to 8GB per your recommendations which would reduce the cost)
Case - £51.99
Power Supply - £97.41 (will look for a smaller PSU thanks to Onus so this price will probably come down a bit)
Cooling - £27.78 (will look for a different cooler, price will change)
Video Card - £276.12
Storage - £59.90 (I'll have to look for another HDD as well, maybe even invest in a SDD)
Optical Drive - £18.07

So that makes the total of my original plan equal to £1099.31. Obviously, I'm gonna go back and change some components and the price will therefore change but I'll post any changes I make on this thread. I already have a copy of Windows 7 available which I'm going to use so I wont need to factor in the cost of the OS. Thanks for the response!

 
Upvote 0 Downvote
galactigus

galactigus

Honorable
Jan 4, 2014
707
0
11,160


Ya the thing about an ssd is it doesn't have to be huge size you should keep the HDD for storage and just get an SSD to install your OS to 120 gb should be plenty.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820721107&cm_re=kingston_ssd-_-20-721-107-_-Product

 
Upvote 0 Downvote
F

Fraser_Finlay

Reputable
Jan 8, 2015
11
0
4,510


Awwww man! That is a great deal! Unfortunately, I'd probably end up spending so much shipping and import tax to get it into the UK it would work out to be roughly the same price as one I could get off Amazon UK. Thanks for the suggestion though.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
F

Fraser_Finlay

Reputable
Jan 8, 2015
11
0
4,510


Would something like this be a good choice?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-120GB-Basic-Solid-State/dp/B00E3W15P0/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1420761212&sr=1-1&keywords=Samsung+840+EVO+120GB+2.5+inch+Basic+SATA+Solid+State+Drive

 
Upvote 0 Downvote
galactigus

galactigus

Honorable
Jan 4, 2014
707
0
11,160
Yes a lot of people buy samsung they are very reliable. Actually I have one in my case windows 7 boots in less than 30 seconds. Only problem I see with that specific one is that you'd have to buy it from a second hand seller amazon has the ssd backordered so you wouldn't be able to get it directly from them.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
F

Fraser_Finlay

Reputable
Jan 8, 2015
11
0
4,510


That's great to hear. I'll definitely look into this SSD and just store my OS + maybe a few programs I use frequently. That particular SSD just happened to be the first one I noticed that I liked the specifications (Brand, size, price, etc...) but I'll have a look around to see if any more look appealing that are stocked by Amazon.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
S

sora

Splendid
Oct 30, 2013
7,812
0
31,460
Upvote 0 Downvote
F

Fraser_Finlay

Reputable
Jan 8, 2015
11
0
4,510
So, do you guys think it would be a good idea to switch to this PSU?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Corsair-CP-9020053-UK-Series-Modular-Supply/dp/B00FG9G0PY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420764531&sr=8-1&keywords=Corsair+CP-9020053-UK+RM+Series+RM550+80+Plus+Gold+550W+ATX%2FEPS+Fully+Modular+Power+Supply+Unit

It's the same as the other one but instead of being 650W it's 550W. Shaves a little off the price, I'm only planning on having one graphics card because I don't know of any games that would require me to have two.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
F

Fraser_Finlay

Reputable
Jan 8, 2015
11
0
4,510
How about the Cooler Master Hyper T4 CPU Cooler as a replacement for the Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO (120mm)?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cooler-Master-Hyper-T4-CPU/dp/B009XGZZPC/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1420764988&sr=1-1&keywords=Cooler+Master+Hyper+T4+CPU+Cooler


As far as the HDD goes, I've done some more research on that different categories and realised that the "Green" range are the slowest available because they are the most economical like Onus said. I've picked out this one from the "Black" series that I think looks like a better fit, it's a little more expensive though but it should be worth it in the long run. If I pair it with the Samsung SSD I was looking at earlier then I shouldn't have any problems.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/WD-3-5-inch-Internal-Hard-Drive/dp/B00FJRS628/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1420765686&sr=1-1&keywords=WD+2+TB+3.5-inch+Internal+Hard+Drive+-+Black
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
F

Fraser_Finlay

Reputable
Jan 8, 2015
11
0
4,510
Ok, so I have updated the second post in the thread with the new parts I have chosen based on your recommendations. The only 2 things I am still unsure on are whether it would be a good idea to shave some more off the total price by purchasing this SSD or sticking with the Samsung I originally picked:

Crucial CT120M500SSD1 120GB M500 SATA 6Gb/s 2.5 Inch Internal Solid State Drive
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Crucial-CT120M500SSD1-120GB-Internal-Solid/dp/B00BQ4F9ZA/ref=sr_1_9?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1420835542&sr=1-9&keywords=solid+state+drives

The other, more important issue is the power supply. I think I would be fine with a 550W PSU, but the same model in the 650W version is only a fraction more expensive. Would it be worth it in the long run just spending a little more on a bigger PSU?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
galactigus

galactigus

Honorable
Jan 4, 2014
707
0
11,160
The samsung SSD is a lot faster and I would highly recommend it over the crucial. I also recommend you do get that 650w psu because your gpu although it wont draw 500w is recommended to have a 500w minimum psu and it's always better to have more power than to push the button on your case and find out you don't have enough.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
F

Fraser_Finlay

Reputable
Jan 8, 2015
11
0
4,510


Thanks for the advice. I'm gonna go with the Samsung SSD and the 650W PSU.

Hopefully I'll be buying all the parts I need tomorrow during the day!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom