New PC for gaming £2000

[paddy fogarty]

Hey all,

I'd like to get some advice on a new build. I have a budget of £2000 and I want to build a gaming system with the best bang for £.

High end gaming will be the primary function of this machine. I intend to run some audio applications but this will be secondary as a already run most of my audio from a mac book pro.

I'm new to pc building and this is my first project so water cooling, extensive moding etc... is probably not a great idea.

I'd ideally like it if someone can help me with a component list and some general guidance considering my budget. I think £2000 is pretty decent but I want to make sure im not shooting myself in the foot through unnecessary bottlenecks etc...

Can anyone help me with this? I'd be eternally grateful!

Regards

Paddy.

 

[rajaawad23]

I want to build a gaming system with the best bang for £

nice to hear some one in the UK wants to build a computer on this forum.

here is the list:
CPU - core i7 980x £784.99 http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-323-IN&groupid=701&catid=6&subcat=1272
Motherboard - Asus Rampage III Gene Intel X58 £194.99 http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-417-AS&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1692
RAM - Corsair Vengeance 12GB (3x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz £139.99 (X2 =24GB £279.98)
GPU - OcUK ATI Radeon HD 6950 Crossfire Bundle £457.97 http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BU-186-OK&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1752
HDD SSD - Crucial RealSSD C300 64GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s £95.99 http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-007-CR&tool=3
HDD - Western Digital Caviar Black 2TB SATA 6Gb/s £136.99 http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-368-WD&groupid=1657&catid=1660&subcat=1665
Case - Coolermaster Storm Scout Gaming Case £64.99 http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-175-CM
sound card - Asus Xonar D2 7.1 PCI Sound Card £93.98 http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=SC-000-AS&tool=3
DVD drive - LiteOn IHAS124-19 24x DVD±RW £13.99 http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CD-096-LO&groupid=701&catid=10&subcat=951

this all totals £1987 and will do run any thing at it's best, good for overclocking, amazing for gaming, and has a descent sound card.
hope this helps

 

[rajaawad23]

sorry forgot the link for the RAM http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-294-CS&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1389

 

[Silvune]

Here I would just like to say that I question the fitting of a 6950 in a CM Storm Scout case, as it doesn't have a huge amount of room for long graphics card and doesn't have any flexibility, aside from removing the HDD cage, which I don't think would be easy. Frankly if I had £2000 for a build I would be looking at a premium case.

Here's what I would recommend:

[strike]Intel Core i7 2600K OEM £253
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/intel-core-i7-2600k-unlocked-socket-1155-sandy-bridge-quad-core-34-ghz-8mb-cache-95w-oem

Gigabyte GA-P67A-UD7 £262
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/gigabyte-ga-p67a-ud7-intel-p67-express-s-1155-pci-e-20-(x16)-ddr3-2133-sata-6gb-s-sata-raid
Personally I don't think it's necessary to have a motherboard with two PCI-E 2.0 x16 at x16 each, I think dual x8 is plenty for most dual card systems.[/strike]
Turns out there is a hardware problems with Intels H67 and P67 chipsets, so you won't be able to get Sandy Bridge motherboards for a while, unless you don't mind the chance of your SATA 3Gbps failing. More reading: http://www.anandtech.com/show/4142/intel-discovers-bug-in-6series-chipset-begins-recall

Geil Value Plus 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1600 MHz CAS9 1.4-1.6V £90
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-105-GL&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1517
8GB is overkill for gaming, but you can afford it.

Thermalright MUX-120 £42
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/thermalright-mux-120-black-tower-heatsink-for-intel-1366-1156-775-amd-includes-1x120mm-fan
Will do a good job of keeping the i7 cool, but will also do it quietly.

Palit GeForce GTX 570 SONIC 1280MB £281
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1280mb-palit-gtx-570-sonic-40nm-3900mhz-gddr5-gpu-750mhz-shader-1500mhz-480-cores-dp-hdmi

Seasonic X-750 80Plus Gold Modular £142
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/750w-seasonic-x-series-modular-80-plus-gold-90-eff-sli-crossfire-eps-12v-fan-cooling

OCZ Vertex 2E 240GB 2.5" £353
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/240gb-ocz-technology-vertex-2e-25-sandforce-ssd-mlc-flash-read-285mb-s-write-275mb-s
You should consider waiting for the new/next generation of SSDs to come out which will have more capacity and performance for the price.

Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB £40 (primary storage - in case you get a smaller SSD and need to run some programs off a harddrive, also keep frequently accessed files here)
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/ss1tb-samsung-hd103sj-spinpoint-f3-sata-3gb-s-7200rpm-32mb-cache-89-ms-ncq-oem

Western Digital Caviar Green 2TB £72 (secondary storage)
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/2tb-western-digital-wd20ears-caviar-green-sata-3gb-s-5400plusrpm-64mb-cache-8ms

Case, personal choice so feel free to choose something that you like
Cooler Master ATCS 840 £151
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/coolermaster-atcs-840-black-classic-full-tower-aluminum-case-w-o-psu
If you're going to be buying a 2.5" SSD, you will have to consider whether the case will accommodate one, I don't think the ATCS was designed for SSDs, as it is an older design, but it is high quality and has loads of interior space. However you might need to buy some kind of mounting solution for 2.5" drives, if harddrive mounting system can't adapt to 2.5", which it might be able to.

Windows 7 64-bit Home Premium OEM £75

Choose your own optical drive and sound card.

Total: £1761

 

[paddy fogarty]

Hi Guys,

Thanks a lot for the help, this is really great!

Veteran, so would you suggest I revert to rajaawad23's advice on the CPU/Motherboard? i.e.

CPU - core i7 980x £784.99

Motherboard - Asus Rampage III Gene Intel X58 £194.99

Also, i've been looking at the Zalman GT 1000 Case for a while now and I think that might be my case of choice... I know its expensive but do you guys have any opposition to it?

 

[Stormphoenix]

If you're going for gaming I'd question the need for a i7 980x, a core i5 would do the job just as well fro a fraction of the cost.

 

[asteldian]

It really depends on what you are planning for your games. You have a budget for £2000, but I assume you don't want to spend that much for the sake of it. But regardless, I cannot stress enough how much of a waste going i7 980x would be. It is an overpriced pile of crap compared to te Sandy Bridge tech especially for gaming, DO NOT pay good money for it - even if sold at the same price as the new chips I would not pay for it
Me personally, I would be looking at:

i7 2600k - £263
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/intel-core-i7-2600k-unlocked-socket-1155-sandy-bridge-quad-core-34-ghz-8mb-cache-95w-retail
(though personally for gaming I think anymore than i5 2500k is excessive)

CPU Asus Sabertooth - £173
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/asus-sabertooth-p67-intel-p67-express-s-1155-pci-e-20-ddr3-1866-sata-6gb-s-sata-raid-atx

HAF X - £129
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/coolermaster-haf-x-black-full-gaming-tower-case-inc-side-window-usb3-w-o-psu
(though again it is personal preference, hell, I think the 912+ gives all most need at £57)

HDD - Samsung Spinpoint F3 1tb - £41
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/ss1tb-samsung-hd103sj-spinpoint-f3-sata-3gb-s-7200rpm-32mb-cache-89-ms-ncq-oem

RAM - Corsair 1600mhz 8gb - £83
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/8gb-(4x2gb)-corsair-xms3-classic-ddr3-pc3-12800-(1600)-non-ecc-unbuffered-cas-9-9-9-24-xmp-165v

PSU - XFX Black Edition 850W- £114
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/850w-xfx-black-edition-modular-80-plus-silver-88-eff-sli-crossfire-eps-12v-135mm-quiet-fan

GPU - GTX 570 - £285
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1280mb-palit-gtx-570-sonic-40nm-3900mhz-gddr5-gpu-750mhz-shader-1500mhz-480-cores-dp-hdmi

Cooler ~ anywhere from £20 - £50. My personal preference is the Hyper 212+ with an additional fan attached.

SSD if you want one and as you have the budget for it you may aswell. Probably don't really need more than 120gb, 64gb would possibly do.

Windows 7 - £75

24 inch monitor - £170 (lots to choose from)

I would not go with an i7 980x at all. The new Sandy Bridge is a far better chip and a far kinder price. There are issues with motherboards atm, but you can either wait, or just buy it and hope not to be effected.
I am unsure how severe the issue is, sata is backwards compatible, so, if you connect to the 6gb/s sata slots will it be effected by the issue the 3gb/s sffer from? I don't know but if not then there is no issue with buying now. If there is an issue then you need to wait because going back to i7 980x is a waste - the Sandy Bridges out perform it.

As gaming is your main function, then you should not really need more than a 1tb drive plus an SSD (the SSD is for OS and games you regularly play. It is indulgent but if you can afford one it is a nice to have) hell, I don't even fill a 500gb drive with my games and music.

As far as I am concerned £800 is all you need for a great gaming machine (+cash for Windows and monitor) About £950 if you want to indulge in the items in brackets which for me personally are not required
i5 2500k
Asus P8P67 Pro (or Sabrtooth if you want 16/16 SLI)
Hyper212+
Corsair RAM 4gb (can go for 8 if you wish)
GTX 570
500gb Samsung Spinpoint F3 (or 1Tb if you wish)
HAF 912+ case (922 or bigger if you wish)
DVD Drive - any £13 drive

That should give all the power you need for gaming for a good while, with the option of adding a second card

 

[rajaawad23]

If you're going for gaming I'd question the need for a i7 980x, a core i5 would do the job just as well fro a fraction of the cost.

I guess this is true, you could just go for a 920, 930 or 950 which all can be overclocked very well and are great for gaming.
you can always go for AMD, much cheaper and you woulld be getting core i7 performance for much less.

 

[paddy fogarty]

Thanks so much for the time and effort spent to help me with this, it really is a massive help.

It sounds like I wont have to spend nearly as much to get back in front of the gaming curve.

I think I will go for a SSD, I spend A LOT of time using ableton live and other music programs and the sample load times can get a bit boring. Also I assume having this will greatly reduce the load lag in games.

My only worry is that ill regret the component quality reductions we've made here. I dont need bleeding edge performance but i'd like to be maxing out games for as long as possible.

I agree entirely with you raj that there is no point over buying, I dont do the lan thing and I dont really care about benchmarks etc, I really just want the games to look beautiful and for the machine to be super fast and future proof (at least for a decent while)

The only other thing i'd like to know is what your guys impressions of eyefinity are. I like the idea of muti screen gaming and wouldnt mind giving it a bash in the future.


Thanks again for the help guys, it makes all the difference for guy like me.

 

[rajaawad23]

I think you should go for it, but keep in mind you will need a top end ATI graphics card like 5970 4GB version which i think is still the most powerful GPU till now.

 

[Silvune]

Hi Guys,

Thanks a lot for the help, this is really great!

Veteran, so would you suggest I revert to rajaawad23's advice on the CPU/Motherboard? i.e.

CPU - core i7 980x £784.99

Motherboard - Asus Rampage III Gene Intel X58 £194.99

Also, i've been looking at the Zalman GT 1000 Case for a while now and I think that might be my case of choice... I know its expensive but do you guys have any opposition to it?

If you need to buy before April, then yes go to 1366, but I would only get an i7-950, and the choice motherboards are around £150: Asus P6X58D-E, Sabertooth X58 or Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R. I don't know why the Rampage III Gene is ~£45 more expensive.

When I looked at a review of that case it looked like the cable management in it would be a pain, which is why I wouldn't go for it, but if you don't mind having cable clutter inside your case, and if you can actually source one, then I see no problem.

 

[paddy fogarty]

So here is a configuration based on your advice,

Is that graphics card necessary? I'd like to be able to run eyefinity with good res but that's a pricey card!

What will I be loosing out on moving from i7 to an i5 set up, will I notice much of a performance differential?


Case - Ill find something I like.
Sound Card - Ill find something.

CPU - Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge): http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-360-IN

MB - Asus P6X58D-E Intel X58: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-399-AS

HDD - Samsung Spinpoint F3 1tb - £41: http://www.scan.co.uk/products/ss1 [...] ms-ncq-oem

SSD - 256 Crucial RealSSD C300: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-005-CR

RAM - Corsair 1600mhz 8gb: £83: http://www.scan.co.uk/products/8gb [...] 4-xmp-165v

PSU - XFX Black Edition 850W: http://www.scan.co.uk/products/850 [...] -quiet-fan

GPU - XFX HD5970 Black Edition ATI http://www.scan.co.uk/products/4gb-xfx-hd-5970-black-le-pci-e-21-(x16)-4800mhz-gddr5-gpu-850mhz

 

[Silvune]

The CPU is not compatible with that motherboard. If you want to use a Sandy Bridge processor and motherboard then you will either have to wait until (it's now looking like) April/May. Or possibly find someone (a customer) who will sell you theirs.
If you want to keep the Asus P6X58D-E then the CPU should be the i7-950. The i5-2500K is faster than most Bloomfield/Nehalem i7s, so you would in fact be gaining performance.

You definitely should not pay £900 for a graphics card, go down to a 6970 2GB or wait for 6990s to become available or source a cheaper 5970 somewhere else. By the time new Sandy Bridge motherboards come out I would have thought the 6990 would be available.