Games PC (UK) ~£800-£1000

[ms228]

Hi all,

Looking to build a Gaming PC, I haven't built one for about 10yrs so a little bit out of date with the new hardware! I would like this to replace my PS3, so I would like to be able to use a controller and play games through my TV (37in) HDMI output.

I have been skimming the posts and have compiled the below list (all items are from overclockers.co.uk, so may not be the best price out there, eg. Mobo i found for ~£90).

I think some parts could be altered to make it cheaper and still fit for purpose (graphics card - not sure about the manufacturer, a Solid State Drive would be brilliant and i am not too sure if i need such a pricey mobo):

KFA2 GeForce GTX 670 EX OC 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-031-KF
£359.99

Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-404-IN
£167.99

ASRock Z77 Extreme4 Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-064-AK
£109.99

OcUK Tech Labs - Corsair Carbide 300R Midi-Tower Case - Black - Noise Dampened
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-075-CS
£80.99

Corsair Builder Series CX 750w Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020061-UK)
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-118-CS
£69.98

Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-257-SE
£69.98

Avexir MPower Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (AVD3U16000904G-2CM)
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-020-AR
£49.99

Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2)
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-035-CM
£26.99

Total: £935.90 incl shipping



Approximate Purchase Date: next couple of months

Budget Range: £800 would be great, but if it will be future proofed then up to £1000

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, surfing net, movies

Are you buying a monitor: No

Do you need to buy OS: No

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: amazon, overclockers

Location: Exeter, UK

Parts Preferences: Intel, Nvidia

Overclocking: Maybe

SLI or Crossfire: Maybe (in the furture if required)

Your Monitor Resolution: Connecting to TV (37in HDMI) or i have a 21in Monitor

Additional Comments:

And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: For gaming instead of using PS3

 

[ms228]

Config built on part picker (some things i could not get on the site like the case and i think if i shop around a bit then i could maybe get this for around £900):

http://pcpartpicker.com/uk/p/xTHX

 

[mikerockett]

Drop to 8gb of ram and make sure its low profile.

750w is probably more than you need from the PSU but gives you some head room in the future.

Other than that it looks ok.

Do shop around though, good places in the UK are ebuyer, Aria and Scan.

Edit: No case listed in your PC Part Picker list but i see you have one listed above. Case's are a bit subjective and mostly you should go for one you like but that case is quite expensive, think you could get a nicer one cheaper.

 

[J_E_D_70]

Never heard of the memory or GPU manufacturers but if you know they make good products then press.

We'll basically have the same machine I love it!

 

[mikerockett]

Never heard of the memory or GPU manufacturers but if you know they make good products then press.

We'll basically have the same machine I love it!

You've never heard of Corsair or Gigabyte?

Check his second post for his up to date list with better manufacturers

 

[J_E_D_70]

Ahh - nevermind me - saw KFA2 and Avexir.

@OP: Have to set a fan profile in the Extreme4 BIOS. The default is way too loud.

 

[camohanna]

If you want to push your budget, this is an option. If you have to downgrade, get a 120GB ssd and xfx 7870 ghz gpu

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/uk/p/y04V
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/uk/p/y04V/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/uk/p/y04V/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£161.99 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£25.45 @ Scan.co.uk)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard (£101.98 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£36.98 @ Novatech)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£52.79 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Intel 330 Series 180GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (£117.82 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 7970 3GB Video Card (£296.15 @ Scan.co.uk)
Case: Cooler Master Storm Enforcer ATX Mid Tower Case (£70.78 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 750W 80 PLUS Silver Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply (£96.98 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer (£12.98 @ Scan.co.uk)
Total: £973.90
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-01-17 02:45 GMT+0000)

 

[mikerockett]

^+1 that's a nice build if you can stretch the budget, only thing i would change would be to get low profile RAM.

 

[ms228]

How come you would go for the Radeon HD 7970 over the GTX 670 (except for cost!!), do you think i will get the same performance?

Plus what is low profile RAM, i've heard a few people suggest that?

Cheers,

Mark

 

[mikerockett]

Basically it's RAM without the tall heat spreaders on the top, they're pretty much just a gimmick and give no real performance to heat dissipation.

7970 has performance on par with the gtx 680 so it's a little better.

 

[ms228]

Basically it's RAM without the tall heat spreaders on the top, they're pretty much just a gimmick and give no real performance to heat dissipation.

7970 has performance on par with the gtx 680 so it's a little better.

Thanks for the RAM info....do you know if this Radeon 7970 would give the same performace as the above:

GIGABYTE WindForce Radeon HD 7970 OC 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Graphics+Cards+-+GPUs/Graphics+Cards+-+AMD/Radeon+HD+7970/GIGABYTE+WindForce+Radeon+HD+7970+OC+3072MB+GDDR5+PCI-Express+Graphics+Card+?productId=53471

Seems like a pretty good deal! Also is it worth going for 5gb RAM over 3gb on the GPU?

Cheers,

Mark

 

[mikerockett]

XFX and gigabyte are both reasonable manufacturers, they will perform similar.

In terms of RAM on the GPU it depends on your monitor set up, 2gb is fine for single monitor 6gb for 3. Not seen a card with 5gb. The one you linked and the one linked above are both 3gb, they will do fine for you i think.

 

[ms228]

Hi all,

After a lot of thinking i think i may go for this build, but wanted to run it passed everyont just to make sure it looks ok?

I've saved some money on certain areas, but hope all the hardware is still quality. I've gone for the GTX 670 as i like the features (CUDA, Vsync etc...)

http://pcpartpicker.com/uk/p/yLk5

CPU Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core £158.99
CPU Cooler Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing £25.45
Motherboard ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 £101.98
Memory G.Skill Sniper Low Voltage Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 £53.99
Storage Seagate Constellation ES 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM £43.99
Crucial M4 128GB 2.5" SSD £79.98
Video Card MSI GeForce GTX 670 2GB £305.60
Case Fractal Design Define R4 (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower £86.63
Power Supply Corsair 650W ATX12V / EPS12V £67.10
Optical Drive Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer £12.98

Total: £936.69

 

[mikerockett]

All looks good, only thing id say is you could save a bit of money on that RAM, it's quite expensive.

Corsair vengeance low profile is only £35.38

 

[ms228]

Final build ordered (got the asus GTX 680 in the end as i couldn't find the MSI PE most places i looked, but should be nice and quiet), hopefully will arrive for the weekend - then the building will commence!!

Thanks for all your help!!

 

[mikerockett]

No worries, good luck with the build and enjoy your rig

 

[camohanna]

Indeed, dont forget to best answer!