First Gaming Build - Advice Needed!

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Askwil

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Oct 23, 2011
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Hi guys I have done some research and my chosen parts are below!

I will be using this system for gaming, Photoshop and 3d modelling and rendering but mostly gaming!

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/YfCwpg

It comes in over my budget of £600 so anywhere I can maybe save a bit of money and not lose much performance please let me know!

I do want to overclock and hopefully (from research) should be able to get to 4.5Ghz

Really any advice is appreciated as I really want to get on with building this PC :)

Thanks guys
 
Solution
tiny voices
I would get an i5 4460 and an h97 motherboard. You don't need overclocking. This setup will perform the same anyway. Plus the motherboard listed above is pretty bottom end for overclocking. It will not overclock well and doesn't even support SLI. If you really want to overclock, you would need to spend decently more on a quality motherboard. For this reason I recommend dropping to an i5 4460 and H97 motherboard.
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Brunostako

Brunostako

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Dec 16, 2013
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Hi.

This is my suggestion:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£173.94 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£24.97 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: MSI Z97 PC MATE ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£64.54 @ Ebuyer)
Memory: Kingston Predator Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£44.37 @ PC World Business)
Storage: Kingston Fury 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£77.90 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 285 2GB TurboDuo Video Card (£144.99 @ Ebuyer)
Case: Thermaltake Commander MS/I Snow Edition (White/Black) ATX Mid Tower Case (£32.21 @ CCL Computers)
Power Supply: EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£46.09 @ Aria PC)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer (£10.46 @ Aria PC)
Total: £619.47
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-15 23:10 GMT+0000

I couldn't make it less than 600 without changing the GPU. The R9 285 performs much better than the GTX 760. Also the Kingston Fury series SSDs are a bit better than the V300 series because they are newer versions. Also the EVGA PSU is better the the Corsair's one.
 
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Askwil

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Hi Brunostako thanks for the advice!

I always have trouble comparing Nvidia and Ati.

Also the brand of the GPU I have never heard of which makes me reluctant. Does this make a big difference?

Oh and will the heatsinks on the RAM be an issue with space with the cooler etc?

Thanks again the suggestions you've made have definitely helped! If anyone has any more that would be awesome!
 
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S

sora

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PowerColor is actually a decent brand that makes great power supplies. I doubt there will be any issues with the space with the cooler.
 
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Askwil

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Ah I see well I looked into both GPUs and the 285 even though only marginally better is a fair bit smaller which may be nice.

I may leave out the DVD drive initially.

If anyone has any more suggestions on the config Brunostako posted to either improve or cut price that would be great.

Also I will be buying parts in stages so which from the above are the best to buy now e.g. are on good sale at the moment. I will be buying over a couple of months. Am thinking GPU because until jan 31st I can get 3 free games from AMD if I get it now.

Thanks for the GPU suggestion though seems like a so much better deal than the 750. I have always had nvidia so was initially reluctant!

Thanks again
 
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Askwil

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I wanted to get at least 600w ideally that's why I went for the corsair cw600m. Then I was told the EVGA was better. Is there anything specifically wrong with the EVGA compared to the ones you suggested as I would like 600w and under £50 if possible and the season if 620 is around £80.
 
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Askwil

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Good stuff thanks for the clarification I will hold off on buying the PSU and try and catch a good deal on it and keep and eye out.

I am going to purchase the GPU while its cheap and has the 3 games free offer so thanks for all of your help everyone.

As ever if anyone can see somewhere I can save some cash (the PSU has set me back!) That would be awesome!!

Thanks again
 
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tiny voices

tiny voices

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Sep 6, 2012
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I would get an i5 4460 and an h97 motherboard. You don't need overclocking. This setup will perform the same anyway. Plus the motherboard listed above is pretty bottom end for overclocking. It will not overclock well and doesn't even support SLI. If you really want to overclock, you would need to spend decently more on a quality motherboard. For this reason I recommend dropping to an i5 4460 and H97 motherboard.
 
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Askwil

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OK and what would be the motherboard option if I did want to over clock? I read the one in my initial post would work well with the CPU and cooler to around 4.4 or 4.5 Ghz

The reason I'd like to over clock is some of the 3d modelling and rendering software I use can be quite CPU intensive and if its not a load more expensive I'd like to go down that route.
 
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Askwil

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The thing I ask myself is do I need SLI? It has crossfire and I wont be upgrading the card for a couple of years at least and I may overhaul mobo at that point.

Its not essential I get 4.5 if I can get over 4 id be happy...

I just dont have the budget to get a more expensive mobo but I want the 4690k so I have the option in the future to OC as high as possible if needed.

Picked the mobo in my original post as well as the cooler as someone said they had overclocked to 4.5.

Motherboards have always been the most complicated part of a pc to buy as there are so many options I just lost!

So basically I want to oc to at least 4 and the card I have I may run in crossfire in the future. And I ineed that at around a £70. If it comes to the time to buy and I can afford the z97-a I will go for it!

 
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tiny voices

tiny voices

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You cannot CF on that board either. They just say you can. The second PCI lanes only runs at x4 so SLI and CF are out. Can't do either on that board.

You should be able to get to 4.0 on that board and cooler but I doubt you will get stable much higher than 4.1 or so unless you win the silicon lottery.
 
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Askwil

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Ah OK thanks for that I had no idea!

Is there a board between those and the Asus z97 a that would get a reasonable over clock and has sl/crossfire enabled?

Or what are the definate specs I need to look for in a board for what I want to achieve

I really need to keep it below £100 ideally below £80 and with the PSU you suggested bringing the price up I need to compromise somewhere!

And thank you for all of your help I really appreciate it just want to get the best I can for my money!
 
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Askwil

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Thanks for the reply, I see a lot boasting 8 power phases is this the same as the 8+2 you are talking about?

Sorry I have never even heard of the term power phase before I looked into overclocking!

If so how does this one look?

ASRock Z97 Extreme 3

Supposedly 8 power phases and someone mentioned the ports are suitable for crossfire.

If this is totally wrong what should I looking for to ensure it is crossfire ready? As with all the things I have considered buying I will have a few options and when I decide to buy I will go with the best value so I will definately be taking into account the Asus Z97-A as well.

Also based on what you mentioned previously I may consider a non overclocked route. I am just thinking its a lot of money for me to try my first overclock, also warranty concerns are preying on my mind. I wouldn't like to go as low as the 4660 though at 3.2Ghz, my laptop currently turbos to 2.8Ghz and I am wanting a really noticeable difference.

I would still like the i5 4690k as the speed is still really good at turbo and the option is always there to overclock a little. Also its only £10 more then the i5 4690. This means I can save a little money on the motherboard and maybe even just use the stock cooler for a while and see how it performs.

If I am not going to overclock can I save money elsewhere such as the PSU or do I still need the one you suggested?

Sorry I know it seems as though I am going around in circles I just want to make an educated decision!

Thanks again for your help
 
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Askwil

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I see I just assumed less GHz less performance but looking at them side by side on cpuboss I can see there is little performance difference on the tests.

Would it be beneficial (longevity wise) to still get the z97 decent mobo so if I want to upgrade in the future I have newer options?

Also if my budget is tight by the end of the build is the stock cooler OK to use for gaming?

Thanks again I am going to re price everything up now and post a new revised spec up for a final review I think!
 
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Askwil

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PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (£130.94 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 Extreme3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£97.16 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: Kingston Predator Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£49.17 @ PC World Business)
Storage: Kingston Fury 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£84.11 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 285 2GB TurboDuo Video Card (£144.99 @ Ebuyer)
Case: Fractal Design Core 2500 ATX Mid Tower Case (£39.50 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: XFX XTR 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£76.78 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £622.65
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-18 00:11 GMT+0000

OK there's a revised list if I don't over clock... If I do its an extra £60 for the cooler and 4690k so I will possibly leave those until last and have a good think.

Does this list seem like a decent build taking all these posts into account? Also will a mid atx fit all of this or should I go for a bigger case?

Thanks again!!
 
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