Looking For High Performance Gaming PC Build

StevenGibson1994 · Oct 30, 2014

Hi, I am looking to build agaming pc that can run games on ultra at 1080p without any lag or any difficulty in doing it. I am wanting to go down the intel route for CPU and I am planning to overclock the CPU a later date. For the GPU I am not too bothered on weather it is AMD or NVIDIA.

Approximate Purchase Date: Just after christmas

Budget Range: £700 - £900

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Heavy Gaming

I do not need a OS

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Any site apart from Aria PC

Location: United Kingdom

Parts Preferences: by brand or type : Intel CPU and not to fussed on GPU

Overclocking: Yes

SLI or Crossfire: in the future if possible

Your Monitor Resolution: Samsing 40" 1080p TV

No need for a Optical Drive
I want the PC to be rather quiet and I will be running games such as BF4, Fifa 15, Football Manager 15 and Day Z

iceclock · Oct 30, 2014

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£174.50 @ Ebuyer)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-L9i 57.5 CFM CPU Cooler (£36.60 @ Scan.co.uk)
Motherboard: Asus Maximus VI Impact Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard (£159.50 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£62.40 @ Kustom PCs)
Storage: Plextor M5S Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£58.94 @ Scan.co.uk)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£37.14 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 280X 3GB TurboDuo Video Card (£199.99 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Lian-Li PC-Q28B Mini ITX Tower Case (£94.69 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Power Supply: XFX 850W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£75.07 @ More Computers)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer
Total: £898.83
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-30 17:48 GMT+0000

should do the trick

Rammy · Oct 30, 2014

You might want to look at this - http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/353572-31-build-upgrade-advice
Without that kind of info a lot of the advice you get will be at best speculative and most likely, poor.

Additionally, when looking at an ITX build, a significant consideration would be on whether or not you need an optical drive (many itx cases do not have full sized bays or one at all) and what sort of form factor you would like it to take. Not all ITX cases are particularly small and each will have it's own nuances with regards to component selection, so a case is usually a good place to start.

As a very rough guide, at your budget level (depending on if you need an OS etc) you are likely going to end up with something like a 4690K+GTX970/980 - the AMD cards are being fairly well discounted at the moment but at an ITX level I'm not sure if that's enough to offset the extra power/heat issues. Here's a sample build I already had saved (similar to one I'm doing myself in the near future) which is in your rough price range which might get you thinking - http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/rCd499

kwank-gb · Oct 30, 2014

I suggest:
Bitfenix phantom case
Any am3+ motherboard
Amd fx 6300(a charm to overclock)
1Tb hdd
Amd r9 290an
An after market cooler(antec for overclocking later)
Evga 500w+ psu
8Gb 1866mhz ram

I know you said intel, but amd processors are great to overclock

iceclock · Oct 30, 2014

interesting to the above but id the mobo i chose is of higher quality parts and i will change the gpu atm havent done a build in a while.

[PCPartPicker part list](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/fXkCMp) / [Price breakdown by merchant](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/fXkCMp/by_merchant/)

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
**CPU** | [Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80646i54690k) | £174.50 @ Ebuyer
**CPU Cooler** | [Noctua NH-L9i 57.5 CFM CPU Cooler](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/noctua-cpu-cooler-nhl9i) | £36.60 @ Scan.co.uk
**Motherboard** | [Asus Maximus VI Impact Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-motherboard-maximusviimpact) | £159.50 @ Amazon UK
**Memory** | [G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/gskill-memory-f312800cl9d8gbrl) | £62.40 @ Kustom PCs
**Storage** | [Plextor M5S Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/plextor-internal-hard-drive-px128m5s) | £58.94 @ Scan.co.uk
**Storage** | [Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/seagate-internal-hard-drive-st1000dm003) | £37.14 @ Aria PC
**Video Card** | [EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB ACX Video Card](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-video-card-04gp40972kr) | £258.08 @ Amazon UK
**Case** | [Lian-Li PC-Q28B Mini ITX Tower Case](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/lian-li-case-pcq28b) | £94.69 @ Overclockers.co.uk
**Power Supply** | [EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-power-supply-120g10650xr) | £63.31 @ Amazon UK
**Optical Drive** | [Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-optical-drive-drw24b1stblkbas) |-
| | **Total**
| Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available | £945.16
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-30 17:52 GMT+0000 |

also the case i chose is of higher quality

lmk if you have any more questions sir

MasterDell · Oct 30, 2014

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (£131.94 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: Asus H97I-PLUS Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard (£87.90 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Kingston Fury White Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (£59.98 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Crucial M500 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£49.98 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£39.99 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card (£289.98 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Cooler Master HAF Stacker 915R Mini ITX Tower Case (£49.98 @ Ebuyer)
Power Supply: Antec High Current Gamer 620W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (£63.88 @ Amazon UK)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer (£10.09 @ CCL Computers)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£71.99 @ Ebuyer)
Total: £855.71
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-30 17:58 GMT+0000

No need to spend anymore than that

MasterDell · Oct 30, 2014

iceclock :

interesting to the above but id the mobo i chose is of higher quality parts and i will change the gpu atm havent done a build in a while.

[PCPartPicker part list](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/fXkCMp) / [Price breakdown by merchant](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/fXkCMp/by_merchant/)

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
**CPU** | [Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80646i54690k) | £174.50 @ Ebuyer
**CPU Cooler** | [Noctua NH-L9i 57.5 CFM CPU Cooler](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/noctua-cpu-cooler-nhl9i) | £36.60 @ Scan.co.uk
**Motherboard** | [Asus Maximus VI Impact Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-motherboard-maximusviimpact) | £159.50 @ Amazon UK
**Memory** | [G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/gskill-memory-f312800cl9d8gbrl) | £62.40 @ Kustom PCs
**Storage** | [Plextor M5S Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/plextor-internal-hard-drive-px128m5s) | £58.94 @ Scan.co.uk
**Storage** | [Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/seagate-internal-hard-drive-st1000dm003) | £37.14 @ Aria PC
**Video Card** | [EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB ACX Video Card](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-video-card-04gp40972kr) | £258.08 @ Amazon UK
**Case** | [Lian-Li PC-Q28B Mini ITX Tower Case](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/lian-li-case-pcq28b) | £94.69 @ Overclockers.co.uk
**Power Supply** | [EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-power-supply-120g10650xr) | £63.31 @ Amazon UK
**Optical Drive** | [Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-optical-drive-drw24b1stblkbas) |-
| | **Total**
| Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available | £945.16
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-30 17:52 GMT+0000 |

also the case i chose is of higher quality

lmk if you have any more questions sir

Lol youre talking about quality yet you have a motherboard with no upgarde path, plextor SSD, terrifying PSU and a GPU with reported issue. XD Just saying. I also would definitely not OC in an itx build

StevenGibson1994 · Oct 30, 2014

MasterDell :

iceclock :

Lol youre talking about quality yet you have a motherboard with no upgarde path, plextor SSD, terrifying PSU and a GPU with reported issue. XD Just saying. I also would definitely not OC in an itx build

Would you suggest going with an ITX build rather than Mini ITX? If so I could go down that route?

iceclock · Oct 30, 2014

i dont see the problem mate its quite solid

that powersupply is of high quality and gpu is quite solid.

http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/evga_nex750_supernova_psu_gold_review,8.html

970 is quite strong as well

also if i could recommand micro-atx would give u more possibilities for watercooling and better cases lmk

whats your opinion on micro-atx

Rammy · Oct 30, 2014

Just to clarify a few points

kwank-gb :

This is nonsense. You can't do ITX AM3+ builds, and you can't do quality AM3+ builds at anything below ATX as the selection of mATX boards isn't exactly amazing. Additionally there is no such thing as a Bitfenix Phantom and assuming he means the Phenom M (which you can theoretically fit that stuff in) it's a really poor design for most builds.

iceclock :

I'm assuming you are referring to my build? Both of your builds make no sense at all - 850W PSU? L9i on a 4690K? Limited graphics spending on a gaming focused build?
The Lian Li cases are very good but they aren't a good choice for a high end build because they usually focus on compact dimensions, build quality and sleek aesthetics - not CPU cooler/component support and airflow. For a HTPC or stock clocked CPU, they are great (if expensive).
The Maximus Impact is basically the best board money can buy (though it's been effectively replaced by the Impact VII) but it's needlessly expensive if the OP doesn't need half the features. We don't even know if he plans to overclock - so it's a pointless luxury. Even with overclocking it's hard to make an argument for spending more than the ~£105 the Asus Z97I-PLUS or AsRock Z97E-ITX costs as that money would buy a lot more performance in graphics.

StevenGibson1994 :

In this context, ITX and mini-ITX are the same thing (mini-ITX being the official correct term and ITX being more of a slang reference). There's only three basic board sizes in the mainstream - ATX, mATX (micro ATX) and ITX (mini ITX)

iceclock · Oct 30, 2014

well he did say overclock and i agree overclocking on a mini-itx build doesnt seem logical

StevenGibson1994 · Oct 30, 2014

iceclock :

I can go with a Mid tower PC instead

iceclock · Oct 30, 2014

mid-tower or micro-atx lmk what u prefer

StevenGibson1994 · Oct 30, 2014

Thinking about it, I would like to go with a Mid tower.

Rammy · Oct 30, 2014

iceclock :

There's no reason why you can't overclock on an ITX build. You just need CPU cooler support, and there's plenty of quality ITX cases which can take large air tower coolers or have 120/140/240mm rad support.

There's very very few genuinely good arguments against ITX as a modern platform due to the variety of cases on the market to support every plausible configuration.

One thing I would say is that most cases build specifically for silence are going to be fairly large as they usually allow for sound proofing panels to aid their goal. This means there isn't really an ITX cases which really is the "go to" quiet case, but that doesn't mean you can't produce one with clever component selection and good decisions. The build I originally linked for example - is definitely skewed towards low noise. The case I picked has a both good airflow and a solid(ish) front section which usually helps to contain some of the noise and it also comes with a three speed fan controller built in for on the fly control. I also picked a quiet PSU with a hybrid fan which turns off when idle, and I'd also go for a substantial air cooler (perhaps bigger than the 212) to get as much passive cooling as possible. I'd perhaps also change the GTX970 too, given EVGA has taken a bit of stick for that particular card (like I say it was a build I already had saved).

MasterDell · Oct 30, 2014

Ice I am not going to argue with you. The 650G is an overpriced pile of garbage. Only PSUs they EVGA makes that are work buying are B2s G2s or P2s. What was wrong with my build Rammy? Honestly I dont see a point in going to mATX. What benefits would OP get? Water cooling? Why? H100i is just going to make a ton of noise and there is no space for an NHD14/15 or 220x. ATX, ITX or go home.

StevenGibson1994 · Oct 30, 2014

Rammy :

iceclock :

There's no reason why you can't overclock on an ITX build. You just need CPU cooler support, and there's plenty of quality ITX cases which can take large air tower coolers or have 120/140/240mm rad support.

There's very very few genuinely good arguments against ITX as a modern platform due to the variety of cases on the market to support every plausible configuration.

One thing I would say is that most cases build specifically for silence are going to be fairly large as they usually allow for sound proofing panels to aid their goal. This means there isn't really an ITX cases which really is the "go to" quiet case, but that doesn't mean you can't produce one with clever component selection and good decisions. The build I originally linked for example - is definitely skewed towards low noise. The case I picked has a both good airflow and a solid(ish) front section which usually helps to contain some of the noise and it also comes with a three speed fan controller built in for on the fly control. I also picked a quiet PSU with a hybrid fan which turns off when idle, and I'd also go for a substantial air cooler (perhaps bigger than the 212) to get as much passive cooling as possible. I'd perhaps also change the GTX970 too, given EVGA has taken a bit of stick for that particular card (like I say it was a build I already had saved).

I dont suppose you have a good high performance gaming PC in a mid tower case?

Rammy · Oct 30, 2014

MasterDell :

Nothing at all, I more or less agree with everything you've said. I'm not a big fan of the HAF Stacker (it's main gimmick is the stacking rather than a particular good layout/features etc) but that's more of a personal thing and cases are at least 50% subjective anyway. You are pretty much spot on for PSUs - much like Corsair, EVGA use a good selection of OEMs to make sure they can nail different market segments but it does mean some of their models come out oddly in terms of price/performance (though "garbage" is perhaps a bit harsh, it's FSP not the last word in quality or consistency but a provider of some very good units). All of the Superflower units are exceptionally good and actually very reasonably priced.

StevenGibson1994 :

Sure. The important thing with any build is to ignore the build spammers (and that includes me) and focus on what you specifically want. Component selection is secondary to practical usage and so if you want something particularly small or particularly quiet, that should be your starting point rather than attempting to skew a build later.
For what it's worth, I doubt you need a mid-tower really. With a single 1080P display something like a GTX970 will have a very respectable lifespan, meaning that a GTX970 SLI setup (arguably the big selling point of a larger case) is probably not going to be useful for you - by the time your GTX970 isn't good enough, you are probably better off binning it and buying a new single card. That's your call though - if you are thinking about potentially upgrading your display, or you for some reason are going to insist on trying to play BF4 with resolution scaling turned up (it happens a lot on these forums) then the potential for a graphics boost at some point may be beneficial.

A good starting point might be something like the Fractal Design Define R4. It's not the best performance case in the world, nor is it the most showy - it trades off some of that for sound proofing and it might be a good option for you depending on your expectations and how close you need to sit to your PC. There are other "quiet" cases on the market such as the Bitfenix Ghost (which perhaps goes too far towards quiet over performance) but the Define is quite a nice balance if you want to keep the noise under control.
Here's another rough build, I've stuck in a PSU for SLI (that one is up to you really, you only need a ~500-600W PSU here) and changed the GTX970 model but it's otherwise pretty similar.
http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/v6qKNG

iceclock · Oct 30, 2014

anyways what i recommand is more than sufficient unless u want a atx or miniatx build lmk

MasterDell · Oct 30, 2014

My suggested MicroATX build:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (£131.94 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£60.64 @ Ebuyer)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport XT 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£57.99 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£54.65 @ CCL Computers)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£39.99 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card (£274.99 @ CCL Computers)
Case: Corsair 350D Window MicroATX Mid Tower Case (£78.00 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: XFX 650W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (£60.16 @ More Computers)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer (£10.09 @ CCL Computers)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£71.99 @ Ebuyer)
Total: £840.44
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-30 23:22 GMT+0000

Just noticed Rammy's build. Both of our builds are similar. If you want to overclock get his build. If not then my build would be just fine.

StevenGibson1994 · Oct 31, 2014

iceclock :

go for a ATX build

MasterDell · Oct 31, 2014

StevenGibson1994 :

And the reason being?

StevenGibson1994 · Oct 31, 2014

MasterDell :

Went for ATX because have realised it will give me more options for cooling such as will be able to fit more fans in, Also SLI which I plan to do in the future

MasterDell · Oct 31, 2014

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£174.50 @ Ebuyer)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£23.86 @ CCL Computers)
Motherboard: MSI Z97-G55 SLI ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£82.76 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport XT 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£57.99 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£39.99 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card (£274.99 @ CCL Computers)
Case: NZXT Phantom 410 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case (£65.99 @ Novatech)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£84.49 @ Amazon UK)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer (£10.09 @ CCL Computers)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£71.99 @ Ebuyer)
Total: £886.65
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-31 13:40 GMT+0000

StevenGibson1994 · Oct 31, 2014

MasterDell :

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£174.50 @ Ebuyer)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£23.86 @ CCL Computers)
Motherboard: MSI Z97-G55 SLI ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£82.76 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport XT 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£57.99 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£39.99 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card (£274.99 @ CCL Computers)
Case: NZXT Phantom 410 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case (£65.99 @ Novatech)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£84.49 @ Amazon UK)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer (£10.09 @ CCL Computers)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£71.99 @ Ebuyer)
Total: £886.65
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-31 13:40 GMT+0000

I do not need an OS or a DVD drive
I came up with this Build, what do you think about it? - http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/stevengibsonXD/saved/ryTFf7

Looking For High Performance Gaming PC Build

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