The Best Graphics Card for the job (Entry Level)

[CStrife91]

Hello,

I am new to the forum and have always come on here for peoples views on like components etc and I see it as a very good place to go. So I thought I'd go on here to see your views on what I need for my system, I have yet to purchase it but my budget is £1000. And so far the cheapest spec that I think is good for entry level is the following.

Coolermaster CM 690 Case
Coolermaster 750Watt Silent PSU
Intel i7 3770K CPU
Gigabyte Z77 1155 Ivybridge Motherboard
DVD-RW (Black)
8GB DDR3 2 X 4GB RAM
1TB SATA-III 7200RPM Hard Drive
Nvidia GTX 660ti Graphics Card
Windows 7 Premium 64 Bit

I have looked all over the place and I haven't seen complaints with this setup. However I have been seeing a lot of complaints towards the GTX 660ti and lean more towards AMD Radeon. I am basically going to be using at least 2 monitors at some point as I want to do a lot of HD movie editing with adobe after effects and from other shops I go to they said I might as well go for a Gaming set up as it will do the job.

I have no more money to spend on it cause I need it as soon as possible as this laptop I have (Which is shocking) is on the path of death.

Many thanks in advance, if you could recommend other components that shouldn't effect the price they are welcome also. (In the past my system was originally going to have a 560ti 448 core edition but then they released the 660 ti about a week after I started saving up).

Thanks

 

[Darkoil]

I had a quick look around and I calculated that conservatively all that should cost 869, I reckon with a really good look around you could get it below the 800 mark. I think your idea of entry level differs from mine, the I7 you are looking at is a really nice cpu and I would be inclined to say it is top of the range. With the money you are under 1000 pound you might as well spend an extra 50 quid and get a gtx 670.

 

[CStrife91]

I had a quick look around and I calculated that conservatively all that should cost 869, I reckon with a really good look around you could get it below the 800 mark. I think your idea of entry level differs from mine, the I7 you are looking at is a really nice cpu and I would be inclined to say it is top of the range. With the money you are under 1000 pound you might as well spend an extra 50 quid and get a gtx 670.

Can I ask where you have been looking for these components? I had a gut feeling that it could be made cheaper then the £1000 quote I have from a reliable company I visit. I would love to build one but I have never built a computer before nor would I like to at that sort of price, I think it is all the labour etc which comes into the price as well. I mean maybe the let down for this is the motherboard etc and yer I had been told the i5-3570k would have been ideal but for the extra like £60-£90 for future proofing I see it as a solid investment.

Would you recommend I construct it myself?

 

[simon12]

Good sites to check prices in the UK are Ebuyer Aria Scan Novatech Pixmania Amazon & overclockers, (just add .co.uk to the end of them) If you don't want to split the order between companies then Ebuyer or Aria will most likely be best Novatewch and Pixmania have amazing deals on certain products though. The i7 will not future proof it for gaming it will just make encoding faster, I suggest you get the i5 and spend more on the GPU but unless you are running more than 1 monitor the 660ti will be fine. You can get the Radeon 7950 cheaper though unless you found a deal on it I can't.

 

[Darkoil]

Ah I see, yes if a outside party is building it for you then it will be more. All I can say is a few year ago I was looking for a moderate PC that could play crysis 1 and I could not find a prebuilt one for anywhere near my budget. I literally had no clue about the components in a pc but I went ahead and decided to build one myself and I managed to build a fair beast for only 270 pound. If you do decide to shop around and buy the parts seperatly then I recomend buying the CPU and motherboard as a prebuilt bundle, 1 it's cheaper and 2 you won't have to mess around attaching the cpu. You actually have the difficult part out of the way, you have a list of components that you want and know will work well together.

 

[CStrife91]

I have just now been quoted a similar build but using the i5-3570K and a GTX 670

Coolermaster CM 690 Case
Corsair 750Watt Silent PSU
Intel i5 3570K CPU
Gigabyte Z77 1155 Ivybridge Motherboard
DVD-RW (Black)
8GB DDR3 2 X 4GB RAM Corsair Vengeance
1TB SATA-III 7200RPM Hard Drive
Asus 2GB 670 GTX PCX Graphics Card
Windows 7 Premium 64 Bit

£1050 built and tested

Is there any chance I could get this for cheaper? Or would it be best if I bought the whole lot and built it myself. The only thing I worry with is that the warranty will be a pain in the butt to sort out. Rather then the system going wrong I'd have to pin point the problem myself and rectify it.

 

[simon12]

Just did this quicly and its under £782 http://pcpartpicker.com/uk/p/jPgF

 

[CStrife91]

Just did this quicly and its under £782 http://pcpartpicker.com/uk/p/jPgF

Hmmm I mean that is a lot cheaper but then I have to buy the operating system and most of that stuff will have postage as well. But it will still be cheaper. I have had a look at doing half and half and like using a bundle from MESH for £300 slap it in with what the company is doing and I can get it done with their labour for £931 which is a bigger difference, and the memory and the motherboard are slightly better as well which is a bonus. I have until the 25th of this month to have my mind sorted. I just wish that GTX 670 was priced cheaper.

Would AMD be a better choice at that price? I mean like the Radeon 7970?