Budget of £700-850, any ideas for a PC build?

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Humble3

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Hi,

I'm looking to build a new PC for gaming purposes, I have a budget of £700-850. I might be able to use some parts from my current PC.

Current PC:
Mobo: Asus M5A78L/USB3 AMD Socket AM3+ 8 Channel HD Audio ATX Motherboard
Case: Cooler Master K-series K280 - Usb3.0 Atx Case
RAM: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1600Mhz CL9 1.5V Non-ECC Unbuffered
Dvd Drive: Samsung SH-118AB 18x DVD ROM Drive - Black
GPU: Geforce GTX 650 Ti
CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition 3.4GHz Socket AM3 6MB L3 Cache Cache 125W Retail Boxed Processor
HDD: Seagate 1TB Barracuda 3.5" SATA-III Hard Drive - 7200RPM 64MB Cache
PSU: Corsair 500W CX Builder 80 Plus Bronze PSU 3 Year Warranty.

I am looking to play most new games at high/ultra graphics and a steady fps. I mainly play League of Legends, but will be interested in playing battlefield 1 and future games when they are released.

My budget might be able to increase by £100 if need be, but I would rather keep the price within budget.

Thank you for your time. :)
 
Solution
plywrlw
Performance wise the GTX 1060 seems to have the edge over the RX 480 in most titles.

But importantly the increase in performance is offset by an almost equal increase in price £200 for 4Gb vs £238 for non-compact 1060.

You will also not be able to add a second GPU for SLI with a 1060 so if dual cards are in your future the RX 480 would be better.

It comes down, as usual to price & efficiency.

I'm considering getting a 1060 for my PC to be honest as my HD 7950 is getting on a bit now but I might just wait another year...we'll see!
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plywrlw

plywrlw

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You could certainly re-use the case, HDD and DVD drive. You could even re-use the RAM if you got a USB 3.0 compatible motherboard but for the sake of £40 I think going with newer DDR4 RAM makes more sense.

Would you be interested in overclocking your processor in a new build?

Is your current PC a custom-built one or did you buy it ready-made from a company? I ask because you might be able to move the Windows license from your old PC to the new one if it's not OEM, particularly if you're running Win 10 (or are willing to upgrade to 10)
 
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Humble3

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It is custom built yes, but my friend help me put it together. I'm already running windows 10. I only have a windows 8 upgrade disc.
 
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Rabmac

Rabmac

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This build brings you in under budget and there is a good chance you can add your current RAM to it and give yourself 16GB, which is why I choose an older generation of CPU. I can do a Skylake build for you if you want.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£172.00 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M PRO4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£69.91 @ More Computers)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£29.49 @ Ebuyer)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£72.99 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 970 4GB Video Card (£199.98 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case (£45.22 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA G2 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£70.97 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £660.56
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-07-13 14:29 BST+0100

Please note I recommended a GTX 970 but you could swap this out for a R9 390, RX 480, GTX 1060 for a similar price. You also have the option of going for GTX 1070 or GTX 980Ti if you want to go top of your budget.
 
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Humble3

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I've been looking at the gtx 1070 is it worth going?
 
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Hlsgsz

Hlsgsz

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NOt much worth recycling fro your old build. Maybe the case and DVD drive.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (£178.61 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: *Gigabyte GA-B150M-DS3H Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (£63.99 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: *Kingston FURY 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory (£52.37 @ BT Shop)
Storage: PNY CS1311 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£52.97 @ CCL Computers)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£39.00 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 1070 8GB SC Gaming ACX 3.0 Video Card (£409.99 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: XFX TS 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply
Total: £796.93
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-07-13 14:47 BST+0100

EDIT: the GTX 1070 si definitely worth getting.
 
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Rabmac

Rabmac

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PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (£178.61 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: MSI H170A PC Mate ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (£81.99 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory (£55.00 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£72.99 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB WINDFORCE 3X Video Card (£199.99 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA G2 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£70.97 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £659.55
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-07-13 14:50 BST+0100
 
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Humble3

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Nice, would I need a CPU cooler?
 
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Hlsgsz

Hlsgsz

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No. The stock cooler is sufficient.
And tehre isno difference in performance whatsoever between mATX and ATX. Teh only difference is size and number of PCIE connectors, which pretty much nobody uses more than two of.
 
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Rabmac

Rabmac

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If you are playing at 1080p then I personally think the GTX 970 is a good choice and that the GTX 1070 is not worth the extra £200. Going back to playing at 1080p and the choice of card, you may also consider the R9 390 which is slightly more expensive but is slightly better for most titles. The Rx 480 or GTX 1060 may be better choices but I have not seen enough data to say just yet.
 
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plywrlw

plywrlw

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- Latest Intel processor and motherboard so up-to-date
- SSD plugs straight into motherboard so uses very little space and no cables to mess with
- If you're gaming at 1080p you will have plenty of power from an RX 480 (or alternatively wait a little while and see what the GTX 1060 is like)
- Decent, gold-rated Seasonic built PSU that's miles better quality than your CX500 which isn't really suited to a gaming PC


PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (£178.61 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: Asus H170-PRO ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (£94.98 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory (£35.73 @ BT Shop)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO 250GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive (£73.44 @ CCL Computers)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon RX 480 8GB Video Card (£219.99 @ Ebuyer)
Power Supply: Antec TruePower Classic 550W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply (£54.15 @ BT Shop)
Total: £657.80
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-07-13 14:59 BST+0100

You should sell your old parts on eBay or similar as they're working

EDIT: Swapped RAM as it was from a different build, sorry
 
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Humble3

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Cheers. Stupid question but if I bought 2 8GB RAM cards individually because they are cheaper than the 2 x 8 GB kit, it doesnt make a difference does it? :p
 
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Hlsgsz

Hlsgsz

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Occupying the M.2 slot with a SATA SSD in a desktop is not a good idea as it will perform the same as it's 2.5" counterpard. Bette keep that M.2 slot for when NVMe SSD prices come down to a reasonable level.
 
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Hlsgsz

Hlsgsz

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It does. It would be a crapshoot whether they would work in dual channel or not. ALWAYS buy kits!
 
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Humble3

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I'm using dual-monitor, the RX480 only has one HDMI port. Am I being stupid or does that mean I can't have dual monitor? or would I have to have one monitor through the Mobo?

EDIT: The PSU you recommend is no longer available now. Could you recommend an alternative?
 
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Hlsgsz

Hlsgsz

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The RX 480 has one HDMI and 3 DisplayPort connectors and supports atleast 4 monitors. HDMI and DP are intercompatible, so, even if your monitors don't have DP, you can connect them with a DP-HDMI cable. No adapters required, just teh right type of cable.
 
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Hlsgsz

Hlsgsz

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Teh PSU i recommended: https://www.amazon.co.uk/XFX-ATX-550-Power-Supply/dp/B004RJ8EKI/ref=sr_1_sc_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1468419988&sr=1-1-spell&keywords=xfsx+ts+550w

EDIT: and here's teh cable you would need for your monitor(s) https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rankie%C2%AE-Plated-DisplayPort-Cable-Meters/dp/B00Z05JMKO/ref=sr_1_6?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1468420044&sr=1-6&keywords=DP-HDMI+cable
 
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Rabmac

Rabmac

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To have dual monitor with that RX 480 card at least one of your monitors would have to have a display port connection and the other one would have to have either HDMI or display port.

A note on the RX 480, some of the benchmarks I have seen show the GTX 970 performing better than the RX 480.
 
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plywrlw

plywrlw

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OK, swapped out the M.2 SSD for a plain 'ole 2.5" which is a solid budget choice. I'm sure you won't notice much difference anyway unless you move a ton of files around.

The Superflower Golden Green is a decent gold-rated unit. Another option would be to pony up for the more expensive but much nicer EVGA G2 http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/qYTrxr/evga-power-supply-220g20550y1

As for the RX480, it might be worth looking into the non-reference designs as they are released. They are likely to run cooler, quieter and have different connector options (though nothing wrong with using an adaptor too)

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (£178.61 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: Asus H170-PRO ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (£94.98 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2666 Memory (£36.63 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: A-Data Premier SP550 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£47.99 @ Novatech)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon RX 480 8GB Video Card (£219.99 @ Ebuyer)
Power Supply: Super Flower Golden Green HX 550W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply (£60.59 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £638.79
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-07-13 15:36 BST+0100
 
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Humble3

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Jan 14, 2013
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Thank you for everyone's input. I've put together this from all your answers. Would this build allow me to play future games at high quality at 1080p on dual monitors.

New build:
PCPartPicker part list: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/yJHJ8K
Price breakdown by merchant: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/yJHJ8K/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (£178.61 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: Asus H170 PRO GAMING ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (£103.63 @ BT Shop)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2666 Memory (£36.63 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: PNY CS1311 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£52.97 @ CCL Computers)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£39.00 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon RX 480 8GB Video Card (£219.99 @ Ebuyer)
Power Supply: XFX TS 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply
Total: £630.83
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

If I sell my current build as a whole, I would have to buy a new case and OS.

EDIT* The PSU would be £61.06
 
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