Build me a UK gaming system for £1000 - self build newbie

[bennett346]

I'm based in the UK and looking to build a new gaming PC but it's somewhat overwhelming finding parts and i don't really know where to get the best deals/how to make sure everything is compatible, so i want your help!

I was going to go down the CyberPower route but after reading so much about poor service etc. i've decided to take the plunge and do this myself, scary as I find it.

As a base guide to you, i'm looking at:

* Z87 mobo
* i5 4670k (Most likely OC'ing in a few months)
* either a single 1TB HDD or a small SSD and 500GB HDD
* adequate cooling (bear in mind i have never owned nor built a specialist PC before so is water cooling difficult to install?)
* GTX 760 2GB
* 8GB RAM
* Win7 64bit, wireless networking, on-board sound fine for now
* I also need a monitor (22-24 inch is fine, would like full HD).

I hope someone can help me, and maybe even put my mind at rest in terms of self building. I'm pretty good at these things but if i don't have clear instructions that explain all the different terminology i get stuck. Mainly though it's how to find the good deals in terms of sourcing parts that i'm stuck with.

Looking to begin buying and building as soon as i have a list of parts and places to buy them from.

Thanks

 

[dottorrent]

Hi, and welcome to Tom's Hardware. Let me start off with some tips and answers for you -

There is no need to be afraid of building your first system from scratch. Building a system is quick, easy and more cost effective than buying one pre-built. Just make sure you buy an Anti-static safety band, as a statically charged finger can destroy your sensitive components by even hovering your fingers over them. They're only about £5 at a Maplin or at any PC specialist E-tailer e.g. Scan.co.uk. That £5 can prevent let's say, £500 in component damage.

Secondly, All-in-One watercooling solutions are not that hard to install. Trust me, they're simple to install.

Lastly, if you have any problems trying to install any components, or just need more information, please reference to the tutorials here at Tom's Hardware or this detailed tutorial seen here by LinusTechTips - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roFb3TNePIg

And now for my recommended build for £1000 -

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£168.94 @ Amazon UK)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£23.98 @ Scan.co.uk)
Motherboard: ASRock Z87 Extreme3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£94.99 @ Ebuyer)
Memory: Kingston XMP Blu Red Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£49.73 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (£69.95 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£46.42 @ CCL Computers)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 660 Ti 2GB Video Card (£189.95 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Cooler Master Storm Scout 2 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case (£74.65 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: XFX 650W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (£70.39 @ Aria PC)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer (£12.50 @ Ebuyer)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 - OEM (64-bit) (£69.32 @ CCL Computers)
Monitor: AOC i2367Fh 60Hz 23.0" Monitor (£124.98 @ Ebuyer)
Total: £995.80
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-12-02 15:28 GMT+0000)

This build will be perfect for £1000. Plus, the 760 is no more powerful than the 660 ti. Still a great card though.

 

[mikerockett]

+1 to the above, very nice and balanced build. As they are similarly priced i would suggest getting the 760 though. No point getting older hardware even if it is the same performance.

Only other comment would be that the PSU might be a bit over done. 650w is plenty more than this system will require but it does give some nice headroom for future.

 

[bennett346]

Good responses, just what I was looking for. Will the above components be suitable for a medium overclock in terms of heat management and PSU stability? I was thinking of maybe dropping to a 500/550W PSU but getting a good stable Gold Certified one for reliability. Also I will be going for Windows 7 instead of 8 but they are virtually the same price anyway so that does not change anything.

 

[bennett346]

What do you think of the Seagate Barracuda 1TB 7200RPM HDD? £42.99. I hear Seagate are among the best hard drive manufacturers. I'm also getting a warning saying

"Kingston XMP Blu Red Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory operating voltage of 1.65V exceeds the Intel Haswell CPU recommended maximum of 1.5V+5% (1.575V). This memory module may run at a reduced clock rate to meet the 1.5V voltage recommendation, or may require running at a voltage greater than the Intel recommended maximum."

 

[RedJaron]

Good responses, just what I was looking for. Will the above components be suitable for a medium overclock in terms of heat management and PSU stability? I was thinking of maybe dropping to a 500/550W PSU but getting a good stable Gold Certified one for reliability. Also I will be going for Windows 7 instead of 8 but they are virtually the same price anyway so that does not change anything.

What do you think of the Seagate Barracuda 1TB 7200RPM HDD? £42.99. I hear Seagate are among the best hard drive manufacturers. I'm also getting a warning saying

"Kingston XMP Blu Red Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory operating voltage of 1.65V exceeds the Intel Haswell CPU recommended maximum of 1.5V+5% (1.575V). This memory module may run at a reduced clock rate to meet the 1.5V voltage recommendation, or may require running at a voltage greater than the Intel recommended maximum."

If you're staying with a single GPU, I see no need to go above 550W on the PSU. Save yourself a little money and put it toward something else. I like the above listed part list with two exceptions. Like Mike I'd prefer a 760 over the 660 ( or a 270x if you want to go Radeon. ) I also prefer the ASRock Extreme4 over the Extreme3 because it adds eSATA which is something I use.

I've used Seagate, Hitachi, and Western Digital all with great results. Any usual suspect spindle drive will be great. A quick word on capactiy though. A 1TB drive isn't much more tahn a 500GB one. In many cases I think it's worth it to spend the extra $15 to double your capacity.

And yes, Intel doesn't like RAM that goes above 1.5V. you can get some great deals right now for rated 1.5V kits from G Skill, Team, Crucial, Corsair, and others.

Finally, don't think OCing is a necessity or anything. Some people go for it, some don't bother. Don't think you need an unlocked CPU to get good performance. A stock i5 is more than match for any games now or in the next few years. You'll quickly run out of GPU power before the i5 becomes the bottleneck.

 

[sacara21]

I like the build above, but this is an alternate route if you drop the SSD.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£168.94 @ Amazon UK)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£23.98 @ Scan.co.uk)
Motherboard: ASRock Z87 Extreme3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£94.99 @ Ebuyer)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LP 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory (£53.49 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£45.31 @ CCL Computers)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 760 2GB Video Card (£199.99 @ Aria PC)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 (Titanium Grey) ATX Mid Tower Case (£79.99 @ Novatech)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£96.90 @ Scan.co.uk)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHDS118-04 DVD/CD Drive (£10.78 @ Scan.co.uk)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£65.99 @ Aria PC)
Monitor: Asus VE248H 24.0" Monitor (£154.43 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £994.79
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-12-03 06:18 GMT+0000)

Ever so slightly better gpu, larger power supply that has a gold rating and is fully modular to allow for SLI 760's down the road, 2133 memory which only costs slightly more (so why not right?), and a 24" monitor with a 2ms response time at 1920x1080p.

Not saying this build is any better than the pervious one, just showing you the options if you were to drop the SSD and just pick one up later.

 

[RedJaron]

I like the build above, but this is an alternate route if you drop the SSD.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£168.94 @ Amazon UK)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£23.98 @ Scan.co.uk)
Motherboard: ASRock Z87 Extreme3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£94.99 @ Ebuyer)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LP 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory (£53.49 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£45.31 @ CCL Computers)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 760 2GB Video Card (£199.99 @ Aria PC)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 (Titanium Grey) ATX Mid Tower Case (£79.99 @ Novatech)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£96.90 @ Scan.co.uk)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHDS118-04 DVD/CD Drive (£10.78 @ Scan.co.uk)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£65.99 @ Aria PC)
Monitor: Asus VE248H 24.0" Monitor (£154.43 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £994.79
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-12-03 06:18 GMT+0000)

Ever so slightly better gpu, larger power supply that has a gold rating and is fully modular to allow for SLI 760's down the road, 2133 memory which only costs slightly more (so why not right?), and a 24" monitor with a 2ms response time at 1920x1080p.

Not saying this build is any better than the pervious one, just showing you the options if you were to drop the SSD and just pick one up later.

Again, I'd bump this up to the Extreme4 model. But if you don't need or want eSATA, the Extreme3 is a great board too.

You're spending way too much on the RAM. 1866 already has marginal benefits over 1600, going up to 2133 is pointless except for APUs.

The PSU is overblown. The XFK PRO550W for £50 will handle any single GPU card. The XFX PRO650W for £65 will power any two GPUs ( with the possible exception of twin 290X or 780 Ti. )

Savings from the RAM and PSU would just about cover a 128GB SSD.

Try this:
PCPartPicker part list

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£168.94 @ Amazon UK)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£23.98 @ Scan.co.uk)
Motherboard: ASRock Z87 Extreme3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£94.99 @ Ebuyer)
Memory: Patriot Intel Extreme Master, Limited Ed 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£49.99 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Crucial M500 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (£67.99 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£46.40 @ CCL Computers)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 760 2GB Video Card (£197.71 @ Scan.co.uk)
Wireless Network Adapter: Asus PCE-N15 802.11b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter (£15.65 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£48.99 @ Amazon UK)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer (£12.50 @ Ebuyer)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£65.99 @ Aria PC)
Total: £793.13

Leaves you £200 for monitor and case ( both are rather personal preference choices, so I didn't include them. )