Gaming Build £1400-£1800

[joe202]

Hi,

I am looking for some help on building a gaming PC capable of running the likes of battlefield on there highest possible settings for my budget.

Approximate Purchase Date: Next few weeks

Budget Range: £1400 - £1800

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming

Are you buying a monitor: Yes

Do you need to buy OS: Yes

Parts to Upgrade: Will need all parts as I currently have none to work with

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Any that are UK and are trustworthy

Location: England

Parts Preferences: Intel CPU and NVidia GPU

Overclocking: No

SLI or Crossfire: No

Your Monitor Resolution: Again I would like the best possible within my budget

And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: I want to be able to run current and upcoming games at there best possible settings

Thanks alot guys

 

[g-unit1111]

Here you go:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£177.80 @ Scan.co.uk)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler (£61.37 @ Scan.co.uk)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard (£109.99 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£42.00 @ CCL Computers)
Storage: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£67.99 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Storage: Samsung 830 Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (£77.98 @ Dabs)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 670 2GB Video Card (£321.20 @ Scan.co.uk)
Case: NZXT Switch 810 (White) ATX Full Tower Case (£134.99 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: Corsair 750W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply (£83.99 @ Dabs)
Optical Drive: Lite-On DS-8A8SH DVD/CD Writer (£20.75 @ CCL Computers)
Monitor: Asus VE247H 23.6" Monitor (£154.93 @ CCL Computers)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit) (£70.34 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £1323.33
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-08-15 21:34 BST+0100)

 

[nafoni]

What about a GTX 690?

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3550 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor (£158.58 @ Scan.co.uk)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Pro4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard (£93.32 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£61.70 @ CCL Computers)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£59.98 @ Dabs)
Storage: OCZ Vertex 4 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (£89.94 @ Scan.co.uk)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 690 4GB Video Card (£801.48 @ Dabs)
Case: Cooler Master HAF 922 ATX Mid Tower Case (£86.38 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: Corsair 650W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply (£77.58 @ Scan.co.uk)
Optical Drive: Sony DDU1681S-0B DVD/CD Drive (£11.96 @ CCL Computers)
Monitor: Asus VG236HE 120Hz 23.0" Monitor (£273.38 @ Dabs)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit) (£70.34 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £1784.64
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-08-15 21:41 BST+0100)

 

[nafoni]

THe GTX 690 is absolutely not "necessary". Even a GTX 670 will run games excellent on a resolution like 1080p.

@12321232: There is no need to get an i7 CPU for a gaming build. The i5 CPUs perform equal.

Again, you really don't have to spend 1800£, but doing so will give you a king of the hill gaming rig.

@g-unit1111 He says no OC, SLI.

 

[nafoni]

THERE WE GO THIS IS A PC PS 16 GB RAM WOULD BE NICE AT 2400 MHZ

Not necessary for a gaming PC.

 

[g-unit1111]

here is what you are doing wrong he wants an 1800 pound pc not 1300
i know this pc is a beast but he wants a god damn animal that can do anything!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! so start upgrading GPU to the best in existence and CPU to i7 3930K

It's not needed on a gaming system - the 3930K won't be fully utilized. You don't need an £1800 system to play games on - if it were a Photoshop / CS5 build I'd say differently but anything more than what I posted will be overkill. I guess you could add a second 670 and then you'd meet the budget but you don't always have to in order to get extreme performance. The 690 isn't really necessary either - dual 670s will give you a better graphics boost than a single 690 will.

 

[joe202]

Wow didn't expect anybody too reply that quickly.

@12321232: Although my budget is £1800 I would rather not spend it all if i can get something that is more than capable for less than that.

@nafoni: With that case would I not need a CPU cooler, also would it better to go with SLI rather than spend £800 on one video card.

Thanks for all the help guys.

 

[g-unit1111]

THe GTX 690 is absolutely not "necessary". Even a GTX 670 will run games excellent on a resolution like 1080p.

@12321232: There is no need to get an i7 CPU for a gaming build. The i5 CPUs perform equal.

Again, you really don't have to spend 1800£, but doing so will give you a king of the hill gaming rig.

@g-unit1111 He says no OC, SLI.

You don't always have to but it's there in case you do. You always want to keep all your options open - especially on high end builds.

 

[joe202]

So say if I did say yes to OC and SLI could I get a better system for my money.

Again, thanks for the help guys.

 

[nafoni]

What about...

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£177.80 @ Scan.co.uk)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£25.79 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard (£109.99 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£39.31 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£59.94 @ CCL Computers)
Storage: OCZ Vertex 4 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (£89.94 @ Scan.co.uk)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 670 2GB Video Card (£341.48 @ Dabs)
Case: Cooler Master HAF 922 ATX Mid Tower Case (£86.38 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: Corsair 750W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply (£89.70 @ Scan.co.uk)
Optical Drive: Sony DDU1681S-0B DVD/CD Drive (£11.96 @ CCL Computers)
Monitor: Asus VG236HE 120Hz 23.0" Monitor (£273.38 @ Dabs)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit) (£71.05 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £1376.72
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-08-15 22:18 BST+0100)

Very similar to g-unit's build. I'd say the main difference is a better monitor.

Some comments:
-Overclocking - do it. It's worth it for a high-end build, and it's not hard (my BIOS did it automatically when I asked it to). The overclocking is the reason I added that Hyper 212 CPU fan. Very good fan for the price, and will get your CPU up to 4-4,5GHz.
-SLI - again, high-end build - you want the possibility to do it in the future. The Extreme4 motherboard is an excellent motherboard that supports SLI. SLI is the reason I've upped the PSU to 750W - it should handle your CPU + 2xGTX 670 + overclocks just fine.
-The HAF cases (High Air Flow) are very good for keeping your stuff cool. You won't need any extra fans than the already mounted case fans + the Hyper 212 CPU fan.

Some questions
-How much space do you want on your HDD (I picked 1TB)?
-Do you want to install your games on a SSD (your budget allows it)?

 

[joe202]

@nafoni: I think I will be overclocking, especially if it isn’t that hard to do. Also 1TB should be more than enough space for the HDD.

About installing games the on an SSD, will it prove to make that much of a difference to installing them on the HDD?

And I will most likely go SLI at a later date.

Again thanks for the quick reply and the help, I really do appreciate it.

 

[nafoni]

Installing games on a SSD instead of a HDD will not improve the games' performance at all. What it will improve is the loading times.

To simplify the question: do you want to sacrifice 100£ ± to shorten loading times in games?

We're talking about upgrading from a 128GB SSD to a 256GB one (you'll get a few games on a 128GB SSD as well, but I'd recommend going 256GB if you want to install games on a SSD. Steam, for example, forces you to install all games on the same drive, something that a 128GB SSD will not be able to handle if you have a few games).

 

[joe202]

Well then I think I will defiantly be upgrading to a 256GB SSD as the less time loading games the better.

Is there a 256GB SSD of the version you suggested or would I have get a different make altogether.

Also one final thing will this build be fairly quiet?

Thanks

 

[g-unit1111]

Well then I think I will defiantly be upgrading to a 256GB SSD as the less time loading games the better.

Is there a 256GB SSD of the version you suggested or would I have get a different make altogether.

Also one final thing will this build be fairly quiet?

Thanks

The cost per GB isn't worth it on a 256GB SSD, IMO. It's better to get a 2TB drive to supplement it and a low cost 64 - 128GB SSD. You don't want to overload an SSD and you don't want to put a lot of stress on it as SSDs have a much more limited read - write cycle over a traditional HD.

 

[nafoni]

^I actually agree. Go for a 128GB SSD + 1-2TB HDD for now. SSD prices will also decrease in the future, so you can get another one if you absolutely want to.

And yes, everything should be quiet.

 

[joe202]

Ok then, I will go with 128GB SSD and 2TB HDD.

Also do have any suggestions on a mouse and keyboard that are good for gaming but are not going to cost a fortune.

Thanks again.

 

[nafoni]

Mouse and keyboard. What I have:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Microsoft-Sidewinder-X4-Keyboard-Layout/dp/B0037KLSS8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1345068378&sr=8-1
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Logitech-G400-Optical-Gaming-Mouse/dp/B00573Y2RC/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1345068414&sr=1-1

Both cheap and very good imo. I've never been a fan of spending a lot on mouse & keyboard, and these do the job very good for me.

The Sidewinder x4 keyboard has 6 macro buttons (you can cycle 3 profiles, practically making it 18 buttons), handy keys for mute/volume+/volume-, it has a red light under all the keys + a handy "open calculator" button. Easy to recommend.

The G400 mouse is really just a mouse, and I don't expect anything more. It does have some handy buttons though, like increasing/decreasing sensitivity + back/forward in webbrowsers etc.

There are tons to pick from out there though. My #1 recommendation would be to get both a wired keyboard and a wired mouse. Since this is actually a desktop computer, I don't think this is a problem.

 

[joe202]

Thanks for all the help nafoni, this is an awesome build that I will definitely be getting. Will most likely be ordering it all tomorrow and I cannot wait to get it up and running.

Again thanks for the help.

 

[nafoni]

No problem! Don't hesitate to ask us if you have any more questions