A Gaming Desktop

[RaptorShark]

Hi all,

Looking to build myself the best machine I can with about a grand (in GBP, that is). I built one a few years ago before Intel started with its i-series processors and have since completely lost track of all the sockets and whatnot motherboards need.

Ideally I'd like to get a 3rd gen i7 in there with at least a GTX660. I'm not too read up on AMD/ATI offerings so unless you want to explain to my incompetent self why I shouldn't be so ignorant, I'd like to keep it to nVidia and Intel.

I really hope you can all help, and I'll be monitoring this extremely closely so if you need any more information, go ahead and ask.

Again, thanks!

 

[Inconspicuous Trenchcoat]

I'm not a great source, but here's some general guidelines:

If you will not be doing anything other than playing video games, internet browsing, video watching and other light general tasks, than get an i5 processor. The i7 provides little to no benefit to games. So save some money and get a i5 with a k at the end of the number--the "k" means it's unlocked for easier overclocking. That way you can give it some extra juice later on when it stops being current.

AMD's processors are behind the times currently. Don't get one of those unless you desperately need to save a little money.

For a GPU, I'd go with a Nvidia: 660ti or 670; or a AMD: 7870, 7950, 7970, depending on prices. With 1000 GBP you can buy a very nice system.

8GB of RAM is a good amount. 16GB is probably overkill unless you'll be doing video editing or professional levels of multi-tasking. Make sure you get 4 sticks if your motherboard supports Quad-Channel memory.

Also I'd recommend Tom's Hardware, Overclockers and the Steam Hardware forums for better, and quicker, advice. But I'm sure there's some knowledgeable people here too. Telling people what you'll be using the computer for would be useful.

 

[ohnoitsabear]

I'm not a great source, but here's some general guidelines:

If you will not be doing anything other than playing video games, internet browsing, video watching and other light general tasks, than get an i5 processor. The i7 provides little to no benefit to games. So save some money and get a i5 with a k at the end of the number--the "k" means it's unlocked for easier overclocking. That way you can give it some extra juice later on when it stops being current.

AMD's processors are behind the times currently. Don't get one of those unless you desperately need to save a little money.

For a GPU, I'd go with a Nvidia: 660ti or 670; or a AMD: 7870, 7950, 7970, depending on prices. With 1000 GBP you can buy a very nice system.

8GB of RAM is a good amount. 16GB is probably overkill unless you'll be doing video editing or professional levels of multi-tasking. Make sure you get 4 sticks if your motherboard supports Quad-Channel memory.

Also I'd recommend Tom's Hardware, Overclockers and the Steam Hardware forums for better, and quicker, advice. But I'm sure there's some knowledgeable people here too. Telling people what you'll be using the computer for would be useful.

This is pretty much what I would say. I do want to add that if you get an i5 over an i7, you will probably get a better processor (for gaming, at least) for less money.

And yeah, 8 GB of RAM is really all you need right now. By the time you will actually need 16 GB of RAM, RAM will be much cheaper than it is now.

And finally, you probably already know this, but don't skimp on the power supply. I'm not saying get super high wattages (unless you end up needing them), but get a well built one with a low failure rate. Cheap power supplies are more likely to fail, and if a power supply fails, there's a very good chance it will take most of your system with it.

 

[Zipa]

Go for AMD processors, they are more than enough for gaming, and their sockets are a lot simpler.
Personally I use the AMD Phenom II hex (6) core but obviously they do cheaper quad cores as well.


Oh and as a rule AMD motherboards are cheaper to compared to the intel ones. I swapped from a I5 processor to the above about 8 months ago and don't regret it, and I have used AMD in the past and never had issue with them, they also run cooler than intel processors because of the way they are built.

For your graphics card you can't go wrong with the 660TI or 670, they are very comparable performance wise.

Yeah 8 Gigs of RAM is more than enough.

Also be sure to check all the websites for the best deals, scan UK , ebuyer and overclockers.co.uk are all good sites to hit up as well as Amazon, they sometimes come in cheaper on certain parts.

 

[fix-the-spade]

I concur on power supplies. For myself if it doesn't have the word Seasonic or Corsair on it I stop looking, popped power supplies cause big headaches.

On GPUs, the plain GTX660 and AMD 7870 are basically interchangeable for performance, whilst a 660ti is faster if you can stretch the budget.

Get yourself on Scan.co.uk and start pricing up systems there. You don't have to buy anything from them but their site and basket is good for putting together baskets and sounding out the cost.

 

[RaptorShark]

Okay, having taken into account what you guys have been saying, here's what I have so far:

EVGA GeForce 660Ti
Intel Core i5 3570K
Corsair Dominator Platinum 2x4GB
MSI Z77A-GD65 Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard

I'm also looking to get it all in to this case if possible: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-026-AE

What do people think? it's at about £750 at the moment so while I like that it's lower than anticipated (so i can get a monitor and stuff), I'm open for suggestions. The areas where I'm a little concerned are the motherboard and how long that will last me (though I have it on good authority that it's 'a beast'), and whether or not the RAM is what I'm looking for - there are so many options with so many different words and numbers that it's hard to work out what's what.

edit: Forgot to mention the PSU - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-093-CS&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=

 

[ResonanceSD]

Hi all,

Looking to build myself the best machine I can with about a grand (in GBP, that is). I built one a few years ago before Intel started with its i-series processors and have since completely lost track of all the sockets and whatnot motherboards need.

Ideally I'd like to get a 3rd gen i7 in there with at least a GTX660. I'm not too read up on AMD/ATI offerings so unless you want to explain to my incompetent self why I shouldn't be so ignorant, I'd like to keep it to nVidia and Intel.

I really hope you can all help, and I'll be monitoring this extremely closely so if you need any more information, go ahead and ask.

Again, thanks!

make sure you check tom's hardware. They do "build a rig for $x" very frequently, and there's a looot of people on there who are very clued in about gaming rigs.

Start here.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/build-a-pc-overclock-benchmark,3276.html


This is their step-by-step $1000 build.

 

[RaptorShark]

make sure you check tom's hardware. They do "build a rig for $x" very frequently, and there's a looot of people on there who are very clued in about gaming rigs.

Start here.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/build-a-pc-overclock-benchmark,3276.html


This is their step-by-step $1000 build.

After taking a look at the $1000 build, mine isn't too far off it tbh. In light of it though, I've added the Xigmatek Loki SD963 92 mm CPU Cooler and a 90GB OCZ SSD.

 

[wabbbit]

Okay, having taken into account what you guys have been saying, here's what I have so far:

EVGA GeForce 660Ti
Intel Core i5 3570K
Corsair Dominator Platinum 2x4GB
MSI Z77A-GD65 Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard

I'm also looking to get it all in to this case if possible: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-026-AE

What do people think? it's at about £750 at the moment so while I like that it's lower than anticipated (so i can get a monitor and stuff), I'm open for suggestions. The areas where I'm a little concerned are the motherboard and how long that will last me (though I have it on good authority that it's 'a beast'), and whether or not the RAM is what I'm looking for - there are so many options with so many different words and numbers that it's hard to work out what's what.

edit: Forgot to mention the PSU - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-093-CS&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=

I'd personally go for the ASUS equivelent board, but looks good. Pretty much the same as mine but I have an OCd 560ti - I can play 99% of things on full settings with no problems.

 

[RaptorShark]

I'd personally go for the ASUS equivelent board, but looks good. Pretty much the same as mine but I have an OCd 560ti - I can play 99% of things on full settings with no problems.

I'd probably be inclined to agree with you simply because I trust Asus more as a company, but what's the difference between the MSI and ASUS boards?

You mean this one, right: http://www.scan.co.uk/products/asus-p8z77-v-intel-z77-s-1155-ddr3-sata-iii-6gb-s-sata-raid-pcie-30-(x16)-displayport-dvi-d-hdmi-atx?utm_source=google+shopping&utm_medium=google+shopping ?

 

[Joccaren]

Other people have covered this fairly well, but I'll put in as well.

For gaming, just get an i5. They handle games fine. Unless you're playing Dwarf Fortress on a 16x16 embark late game breaking into hell. Then you'll need the best i7 you can get OCd to play well, but that's a special and rediculous case.
Presently I'm making a mod for Skyrim, and as part of that I've generated an entire Skyrim sized world map to work with. That was CPU intensive whilst it built, as well as RAM intensive. If you think you'll be doing a lot of that, get an i7 as well, otherwise the i5 will be fine.

8Gb of RAM will work fine for all your gaming needs, unless you're going to be doing a ton of multitasking, or building entire Skyrim worlds. Then you might need more.

660Ti, 670 or if you've got too much money a 680 is what I'd get for a GPU.

Agreed on getting an ASUS motherboard - they're good, most of the time.

ATI and AMD have fallen behind in terms of power with this generation, so its the right move getting Intel and Nvidia, unless you're on a tight budget and can't afford them.

Also, if you've got enough spare money, I'd invest in a fair SSD. I've got a 250Gb SanDisk SSD with 550Mb Read and Write speed, and it works fairly well. You will notice Windows loading a lot faster than normal, and sometimes you'll notice a marked increase in how quickly game levels load.

 

[Crises^]

Here you go from ebuyers which is a uk site.



Corsair Carbide 500R White Case 276072 2 in stock £92.99 £92.99

Asus SABERTOOTH Z77 Socket 1155 HDMI DisplayPort 8 Channel Audio ATX Motherboard 363671 75 in stock £179.00 £179.00

G-Skill 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1600Mhz RipjawsX Memory Kit CL9 (9-9-9-24) 1.5V 264750 185 in stock £30.10 £30.10
Intel Core i5 3570K 3.4GHz Socket 1155 6MB Cache Retail Boxed Processor 349029 216 in stock £176.30 £176.30

Corsair CWCH80 Hydro Series H80 High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler 275971 17 in stock £69.56 £69.56

WD 2TB 3.5" SATA-III 6GB/s Caviar Green Hard Drive - 64MB Cache - WD20EARX 264274 > 25 in stock £74.99 £74.99

Gigabyte GTX 670 Windforce 3X 2GB GDDR5 Dual DVI HDMI DisplayPort PCI-E Graphics Card 368520 3 in stock £326.50 £326.50

OCZ 120GB Solid 3 SSD - 2.5" SATA-III - Read 500MB/s Write 450MB/s 278646 > 99 in stock £64.98 £64.98


Save as List Cart total inc vat: £1014.42

 

[Crises^]

Here you go from ebuyers which is a uk site.



Corsair Carbide 500R White Case £92.99 £92.99

Asus SABERTOOTH Z77 Socket 1155 HDMI DisplayPort 8 Channel Audio ATX Motherboard £179.00 £179.00

G-Skill 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1600Mhz RipjawsX Memory Kit CL9 (9-9-9-24) 1.5V £30.10 £30.10
Intel Core i5 3570K 3.4GHz Socket 1155 6MB Cache Retail Boxed Processor £176.30 £176.30

Corsair CWCH80 Hydro Series H80 High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler £69.56 £69.56

WD 2TB 3.5" SATA-III 6GB/s Caviar Green Hard Drive - 64MB Cache £74.99 £74.99

Gigabyte GTX 670 Windforce 3X 2GB GDDR5 Dual DVI HDMI DisplayPort PCI-E Graphics Card £326.50 £326.50

OCZ 120GB Solid 3 SSD - 2.5" SATA-III - Read 500MB/s Write 450MB/s 278646 > 99 in stock £64.98 £64.98


Save as List Cart total inc vat: £1014.42

 

[RaptorShark]

Here you go from ebuyers which is a uk site.



Corsair Carbide 500R White Case £92.99 £92.99

Asus SABERTOOTH Z77 Socket 1155 HDMI DisplayPort 8 Channel Audio ATX Motherboard £179.00 £179.00

G-Skill 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1600Mhz RipjawsX Memory Kit CL9 (9-9-9-24) 1.5V £30.10 £30.10
Intel Core i5 3570K 3.4GHz Socket 1155 6MB Cache Retail Boxed Processor £176.30 £176.30

Corsair CWCH80 Hydro Series H80 High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler £69.56 £69.56

WD 2TB 3.5" SATA-III 6GB/s Caviar Green Hard Drive - 64MB Cache £74.99 £74.99

Gigabyte GTX 670 Windforce 3X 2GB GDDR5 Dual DVI HDMI DisplayPort PCI-E Graphics Card £326.50 £326.50

OCZ 120GB Solid 3 SSD - 2.5" SATA-III - Read 500MB/s Write 450MB/s 278646 > 99 in stock £64.98 £64.98


Save as List Cart total inc vat: £1014.42

I was hoping to be able to keep as far under £1000 as possible - I'm pretty comfortable with the £750-850 set-up people here have helped me put together. Thanks though.

Okay, so the list as of now is this:

PCPartPicker part list [http://pcpartpicker.com/uk/p/k0Dc] / Price breakdown by merchant [http://pcpartpicker.com/uk/p/k0Dc/by_merchant/] / Benchmarks [http://pcpartpicker.com/uk/p/k0Dc/benchmarks/]

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor [http://pcpartpicker.com/uk/part/intel-cpu-bx80637i53570k] (£167.99 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Motherboard: Asus P8H77-V ATX LGA1155 Motherboard [http://pcpartpicker.com/uk/part/asus-motherboard-p8h77v] (£83.99 @ Dabs)
Memory: Corsair Dominator Platinum 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory [http://pcpartpicker.com/uk/part/corsair-memory-cmd8gx3m2a1866c9] (£71.59 @ Scan.co.uk)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive [http://pcpartpicker.com/uk/part/seagate-internal-hard-drive-st500dm002] (£43.00 @ Scan.co.uk)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 660 Ti 2GB Video Card [http://pcpartpicker.com/uk/part/evga-video-card-02gp43660kr] (£225.19 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: Corsair Enthusiast 650W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply [http://pcpartpicker.com/uk/part/corsair-power-supply-tx650m] (£76.83 @ Ebuyer)
Total: £668.59
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

And the case will be this: http://compare.ebay.co.uk/like/140858191672?var=lv<yp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes&var=sbar&cbt=y


Plus optical drive, monitor, etc..
Any final thoughts? Is the PSU suitable? Will it all fit in to that case?

 

[Crises^]

=Snip

Cool No problem it's a good system your building there especially for that price, enjoy

 

[octafish]

system snip

Two things:
500Gb is a bit small, I have a Steam and Applications Hard Drive with about 700Gb worth of Programs on it, that doesn't include DVD backups or high quality CD Rips. If you think it is big enough that's fine you can add more later.

You don't have a CPU cooler listed, you'll need one if you're going to overclock. If you aren't going to overclock don't waste money on a K chip. You'll need to do some research, I just buy the biggest Noctua that will fit in my case, I'm sure there are better value coolers out there. Unless you go all out on a custom loop don't bother with liquid cooling. (You can't afford a custom loop).

 

[SirDeadly]

As others have said go with a i5 CPU and don't do what I did with the motherboard and buy one that's too small to fit everything in.

8GB of RAM is enough for now, I just went with a cool sounding brand.

I prefer the AMD Radeon HD series GPU's I have the 7800 after my previous one died on me.

Make sure you get a really good power supply unit, don't go cheap for these.

A 500GB HDD is enough for me at the moment but I'd prefer to have at least 1TB.

 

[Joccaren]

snip

Looks fine, mostly.
As Octafish has pointed out, you don't need the i5 3570K unless you're going to be overclocking - and if you are you should get some better CPU cooling - and if you're not going to overclock simply an i5 3570 will do.
500Gb should be fine as a starting drive. If you plan on putting a lot of games or movies on it, you can buy another drive and plug it in later, and if not then you'll be fine for now.
Yes, that will all fit in the case no problem.
650W should work as a power supply, as the majority of any PC won't use too much wattage, its the Graphics card that you've mostly got to worry about in that department, and I'd be surprised if the 660Ti overtook 500W of power useage.

 

[ripdajacker]

The i7 may not bee all that critical for games, a high end i5 will get the job done since most games don't leverage the 8 simultaneous threads the i7 can run.

8GB ram, a decent motherboard that allows overclocking (I prefer Gigabyte).

As for the graphics it depends on your needs. I tend to go for the ones that produce less noise and heat.

500GB hdd is not enough, it's almost the same price as a 2TB, so go for that.

 

[RaptorShark]

I'm not too bothered about the HDD. I was going for speed more than anything but when more fundage becomes available I'll probably stick an SSD in there, and until then I have another HDD that I'll be salvaging from an old PC.