First Gaming PC Build: £1000-£1200 budget

cimad001 · May 6, 2015

Approximate Purchase Date: This month, ASAP is preferred

Budget Range: £1000-£1200, however depending on circumstances, I could probably squeeze in another £300

System Usage from Most to Least Important: High-end Gaming, Music, General internet usage

Are you buying a monitor: Yes (recommendations would be great)

Parts to Upgrade: Need everything - first time, building from scratch

Do you need to buy OS: Yes

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Any is fine

Location: United Kingdom, Derby

Parts Preferences: No preferences (recommendations would be great)

Overclocking: Don't plan on it

SLI or Crossfire: Not sure?

Your Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080 (May change?)

Additional Comments:

Hi this is my first time building a gaming desktop computer so I'm not really sure where to start, but I'm open to any suggestions! I have a general idea on some parts (Intel i7-3770k for CPU, Corsair Dominator 32 GB 2133 for RAM, MSI Nvidia GTX 780 for GPU, Western Digital 2 TB Black for HDDs), but unsure if they'll all fit/go together and could really do with some advice!

I'm looking to play are games such as Witcher 3:It has a Recommended System Requirements of:

Intel CPU Core i7 3770 3,4 GHz
AMD CPU AMD FX-8350 4 GHz
Nvidia GPU GeForce GTX 770
AMD GPU Radeon R9 290
RAM 8GB
OS 64-bit Windows 7 or 64-bit Windows 8 (8.1)
DirectX 11
HDD Space 40 GB

And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading:

I'm currently using a laptop to play games and work, and its not a great experience, I need a desktop thats great for intensive gaming and is future proofed allowing me to play the newest games on max/near-max settings

timeconsumer · May 6, 2015

I'm going to come in at the low end of your budget here, including monitor and OS. This is off from your original plan of 32gb of RAM (completely unnecessary for gaming.) The i7-3770k won't be much, if any improvement over an i5 for gaming, especially since you don't want to overclock. And a GTX 780 is slightly older tech. I included an SSD, just for fun.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (£143.99 @ Novatech)
Motherboard: MSI H97 PC MATE ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£61.16 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: Mushkin Blackline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£47.94 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£80.01 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£42.36 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 970 4GB Video Card (£258.99 @ Dabs)
Case: NZXT S340 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case (£56.81 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£48.64 @ More Computers)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£76.74 @ Aria PC)
Monitor: Asus VG248QE 144Hz 24.0" Monitor (£237.90 @ Aria PC)
Total: £1054.54
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-05-06 21:00 BST+0100

If this is not the direction you want to go, we can always change it. But a GTX 970 can handle just about anything you want to throw at it in 1080p.

Xibyth · May 6, 2015

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£184.66 @ Ebuyer)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£25.98 @ Novatech)
Motherboard: Asus Z97-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£110.24 @ Ebuyer)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (£62.98 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£80.01 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£53.94 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 960 4GB SuperSC ACX 2.0+ Video Card (£201.60 @ Aria PC)
Case: Fractal Design Define R5 w/Window (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case (£85.62 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£48.64 @ More Computers)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer (£10.16 @ CCL Computers)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£76.74 @ Aria PC)
Monitor: Asus MX239H 23.0" Monitor (£167.08 @ Scan.co.uk)
Keyboard: Cooler Master CM Storm Quick Fire TK Wired Gaming Keyboard (£77.98 @ Scan.co.uk)
Mouse: Logitech G502 Wired Optical Mouse (£49.99 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £1235.62
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-05-06 21:02 BST+0100

Slightly over budget, but if you squeeze in that extra 300 theres a better GPU and a better monitor I can adjust in.

Pilotso · May 6, 2015

http://pcpartpicker.com/user/Pilotso/saved/#view=cd7gXL

I would reccomend this without the second 970 and a cheaper cpu cooler.

Rapajez · May 8, 2015

Pilotso :

I'd avoid a 970 SLI, only because the raw GPU power will end up throttled by the VRAM on the most demanding games. (The only ones that would benefit from a 970 SLI). Keep in mind, VRAM is mirrored across GPUs, so 2 or 3 4GB cards in SLI, still means 4GB of total VRAM.

Go with TimeConsumer's build, unless you really want to overclock. You'll get much more gaming performance jumping to the 970, then you will from moderate i5 overclocks.

Pilotso · May 8, 2015

Well if you go with TimeConsumer's build, you have room to upgrade the 4460 to something like a 4690 (not a k model) and maybe a 980.

timeconsumer · May 8, 2015

Yes, but there's also nothing wrong with coming in under, or at the low end of a budget.

bsod1 · May 8, 2015

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4590 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor (£154.98 @ Novatech)
Motherboard: Asus H97-PLUS ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£85.16 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (£49.99 @ Scan.co.uk)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£79.89 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£42.92 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card (£277.00 @ Aria PC)
Case: Fractal Design Define R5 w/Window (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case (£85.62 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: SeaSonic M12II 650W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (£79.44 @ Scan.co.uk)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£76.74 @ Aria PC)
Monitor: Dell S2240L 60Hz 21.5" Monitor (£118.87 @ CCL Computers)
Keyboard: Cooler Master CM Storm Devastator Gaming Bundle Wired Gaming Keyboard w/Optical Mouse (£26.28 @ Ebuyer)
Total: £1076.89
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-05-08 18:43 BST+0100

This is a 60Hz monitor.

and the next build is 144Hz. Your pick.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4590 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor (£154.98 @ Novatech)
Motherboard: Asus H97-PLUS ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£85.16 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (£49.99 @ Scan.co.uk)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£79.89 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£42.92 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card (£277.00 @ Aria PC)
Case: Fractal Design Define R5 w/Window (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case (£85.62 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: SeaSonic M12II 650W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (£79.44 @ Scan.co.uk)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£76.74 @ Aria PC)
Monitor: AOC G2460PQU 144Hz 24.0" Monitor (£191.59 @ Aria PC)
Keyboard: Cooler Master CM Storm Devastator Gaming Bundle Wired Gaming Keyboard w/Optical Mouse (£26.28 @ Ebuyer)
Total: £1149.61
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-05-08 18:45 BST+0100

sora · May 8, 2015

Pilotso :

The 4460 is still enough for daily needs though, and, in my opinion, the GTX 980 is kind of overkill haha.

Xibyth · May 8, 2015

sora :

The reason I suggest the 960 is on the 750ti shadowplay does have a minor hardware resources impact, the encoder will take a bit of GPU power to supplement it. Not to mention I doubt he will only ever play those and a 960 combined with an i5 will make that a painless experience if he wants to stream those as well.

okcnaline · May 8, 2015

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£184.66 @ Ebuyer)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£25.49 @ Novatech)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 EXTREME6 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£141.28 @ Ebuyer)
Memory: Kingston Fury Black Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (£46.45 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£43.90 @ Dabs)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card (£251.99 @ Aria PC)
Case: NZXT S340 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case (£57.41 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: XFX TS 650W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply (£59.33 @ More Computers)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£67.95 @ Ebuyer)
Monitor: Asus VX228H 60Hz 21.5" Monitor (£115.72 @ Amazon UK)
Keyboard: Corsair K70 RGB UK Wired Gaming Keyboard (£134.99 @ Ebuyer)
Mouse: Logitech G502 Wired Optical Mouse (£49.99 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £1179.16
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-05-08 21:31 BST+0100

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First Gaming PC Build: £1000-£1200 budget

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