Set-Up

[Mr Toodles]

Hi all. Great forum with some useful info.

I'm a complete novice when it comes to high end gaming PC's but have a budget of £1500-£2000 for a good set up.

The PC will be for gaming only. I don't need windows or anything like that I have an iPad for emails etc.

I will be playing games such as Comp of Heroes, Hearts of Iron etc.

Can somebody please offer some advice. I am thinking a Black Pearl will be ideal but would like some advice on upgrades/downgrades

Thanks in advance.

 

[zakblood]

do you need a monitor? keyboard and mouse, speakers etc?

option one, a i7 build

1 x Super Nova ROG Intel Core i7 3930K 3.20GHz @ 4.40GHz DDR3 Overclocked Bundle £979.99
- 1 x Standard Build Systems - Approximately 5-7 working days £0.00
1 x OCZ RevoDrive3 X2 240GB PCI-E SSD - (RVD3X2-FHPX4-240G) £399.98
1 x Gigabyte ATi Radeon HD 7950 Windforce 3X 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with Crysis 3 & Bioshock PC Games £239.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 3TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST3000DM001) HDD £104.99
1 x Antec P280 Super Midi Tower Case - Gun Metal Black £99.98
1 x Seasonic G series 550w '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £76.99
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £11.99
Total : £1,930.42 (includes shipping : £13.75).



Bundle Specification
- CPU: Intel Core i7 3930K 3.20GHz @ 4.40GHz CPU
- Motherboard: Asus X79 Rampage IV Extreme Intel X79 DDR3 Motherboard
- RAM: Patriot Viper 3 "Red Venom" 16GB (4x4GB) DDR3 PC3-14900C9 1866MHz Quad Channel
- Cooler: Prolimatech Megahalem CPU Cooler - Black
OCZ RevoDrive3 X2 240GB PCI-E SSD faster than 2 samsung pro's in raid0
- Maximum Read: 1500MB/sec
- Maximum Write: 1250MB/sec
Gigabyte ATi Radeon HD 7950 Windforce 3X 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
3tb hard drive

option 2

1 x OCZ RevoDrive3 X2 240GB PCI-E SSD - (RVD3X2-FHPX4-240G) £399.98
2 x Gigabyte ATi Radeon HD 7950 Windforce 3X 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with Crysis 3 & Bioshock PC Games £239.99 (£479.98)
1 x "Krypton Z77 ROG" Intel Core i5 3570K 3.40GHz @ 4.60GHz DDR3 Ivybridge Overclocked Bundle £195.00
- 1 x Asus Z77 Maximus V Gene Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £154.99
- 1 x Intel Core i7-3770K 3.50GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - OEM £269.99
- 1 x Standard Build Systems - Approximately 5-7 working days £0.00
1 x Seagate Barracuda 3TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST3000DM001) HDD £104.99
1 x Antec P280 Super Midi Tower Case - Gun Metal Black £99.98
1 x XFX 850W XXX Edition Modular '80 Plus Silver' Power Supply £99.98
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £11.99
Total : £1,834.58 (includes shipping : £14.75).



Bundle Specification
- CPU: Intel Core i7 3770K 3.40GHz @ 4.60GHz Ivybridge CPU
- Motherboard: Asus Z77 Maximus Gene Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard (Upgrade motherboards available)
- RAM: TeamGroup Elite 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel
- Cooler: Alpenfohn K2 Mount Doom CPU Cooler
- Artic Silver 5 Thermal Compound

OCZ RevoDrive3 X2 240GB PCI-E SSD faster than 2 samsung pro's in raid0
- Maximum Read: 1500MB/sec
- Maximum Write: 1250MB/sec
Gigabyte ATi Radeon HD 7950 Windforce 3X 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card X2 in crossfire mode
3tb hard drive

option 3 a diy build

1 x Intel Core i7-3970X 3.50GHz (Sandybridge-E) Socket LGA2011 Processor - Retail £839.99
1 x HIS HD 7970 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (H797F3G2M) with Crysis 3 & Bioshock PC Games £319.99
1 x Plextor M5 Pro 256GB Extreme Series Solid State Drive - (PX-256M5P) £185.99
1 x Gigabyte X79-UD3 Intel X79 (Socket 2011) DDR3 Motherboard £179.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 3TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST3000DM001) HDD £104.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Beast 16GB (4x4GB) PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Quad Channel Kit (KHX24C11T3K4/16X) £101.99
1 x Antec P280 Super Midi Tower Case - Gun Metal Black £99.98
1 x Seasonic G series 550w '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £76.99
1 x Alpenföhn K2 Mount Doom CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £59.99
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £11.99
Total : £1,996.88 (includes shipping : £12.50).

 

[DaleTheWhale]

I don't need windows or anything like that I have an iPad for emails etc

Do you have an Operating System already to hand to install?

Are you looking for something to be pre-built or would you be willing to put it together yourself?

 

[Mr Toodles]

Hey zakblood..

I need the whole set up. I'm currently using an old HP but I am now in the position to afford a decent set up. I'm not educated enough to figure everything out but I'm slowly learning. I want a set up that can run games on good settings that will last for a few years.

Thanks for your interest and hopefully you can expand my knowledge.

 

[Mr Toodles]

@The ReaperGuy. No. I would only need a system that would allow me to play games both on and offline. I have no need or desire for Windows, email, excel or any other nonsense. Purely a gaming system. I am looking for a per-built.

 

[Akagi]

@The ReaperGuy. No. I would only need a system that would allow me to play games both on and offline. I have no need or desire for Windows, email, excel or any other nonsense. Purely a gaming system.

How do you plan on playing games without Windows?

 

[DaleTheWhale]

I think your a little mis-understood, you would need an operating system in place to get onto the computer, unless you have an idea to go for some other operating system such as Linux or...?

Zak, I think the 3930k may be a tad too overkill for a simple gaming machine, would be a simpler to use a 3570k, no point using up the full 2k budget for the hell of it.

 

[Mr Toodles]

Acme15. That is precisely why I came on here. I stated I was a novice. How is your post supposed to be helpful. I would rather you kept your unhelpful comments to yourself. Thanks.

 

[Mr Toodles]

I think your a little mis-understood, you would need an operating system in place to get onto the computer, unless you have an idea to go for some other operating system such as Linux or...?

Zak, I think the 3930k may be a tad too overkill for a simple gaming machine, would be a simpler to use a 3570k, no point using up the full 2k budget for the hell of it.

So could I get a basic OS and used the saved money on a more useful upgrade?

 

[Akagi]

Acme15. That is precisely why I came on here. I stated I was a novice. How is your post supposed to be helpful. I would rather you kept your unhelpful comments to yourself. Thanks.

Also, you could play the games which you mentioned, completely maxed out on a PC thrown together from about £150 worth of used parts. Those are the sort of games I would expect to be able to play on my 5 year old mid range laptop, the latter could most likely be played on any PC that is capable of outputting colour

£2000 would bag you a system that is overkill even for games like Crysis 2 and Battlefield 3, as well as run games like Far Cry 3 and Crysis 3 on very high or even ultra settings in 1080P

 

[Mr Toodles]

I would rather you keep your inflated comments to yourself also. Thanks.

You stated that you were a novice with 'high end systems'.

Also, you could play the games which you mentioned, completely maxed out on a PC thrown together from about £150 - £200 worth of used parts. Those are the sort of games I would expect to be able to play on my 5 year old mid range laptop.

My comments weren't inflated.

I stated I was a novice wanting a high end system.

I have the budget for a good set-up which will let me explore different games.

Thanks again for you unhelpful comments.

 

[DaleTheWhale]

So could I get a basic OS and used the saved money on a more useful upgrade?

Precisely that, and with your budget I'm sure a lot of people will spec a nice system up for you. I would but I'm more a 500-1k kinder budgeter.

 

[lee32uk]

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte ATi Radeon HD 7950 Windforce 3X 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with Crysis 3 & Bioshock PC Games £239.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - OEM £187.99
1 x Plextor M5 Pro 256GB Extreme Series Solid State Drive - (PX-256M5P) £185.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77X-UD3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £129.98
1 x Silverstone Strider Plus 850W Modular '80 Plus Silver' Power Supply (SST-ST85F-P) £116.99
1 x Cooler Master CM-690 II Advanced USB3.0 Dominator Case - Black/White £83.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 8 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00403) £79.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD £79.99
1 x Phanteks PH-TC14PE CPU Cooler - Black (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £69.98
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £44.99
1 x LG GH24NS95 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £18.98
Total : £1,255.37 (includes shipping : £13.75).

 

[Mr Toodles]

Precisely that, and with your budget I'm sure a lot of people will spec a nice system up for you. I would but I'm more a 500-1k kinder budgeter.

Thanks for that. I have found a few companies that will build the PC. CyberPower seem quite reputable. Do you know of any companies with a good reputation? What do you think of the BlackPearl as a starting base? It has very good reviews and out performs machines costing £1500 more.

 

[RJC]

YOUR BASKET
2 x Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 Windforce 3X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with FREE Assassin's Creed III & FTP Currency £339.95 (£679.90)
1 x Intel Core i7-3820 3.60GHz (Sandybridge-E) Socket LGA2011 Processor - OEM £235.99
1 x Gigabyte X79-UP4 Intel X79 (Socket 2011) DDR3 Motherboard £209.99
1 x Corsair Obsidian 650D Gaming Midi Tower - Black £149.99
1 x Plextor M5 Pro 128GB Extreme Series Solid State Drive - (PX-128M5P) £99.95
1 x XFX 750W XXX Edition Modular '80 Plus Silver' Power Supply £96.98
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £79.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD £79.99
1 x Crucial Ballistix Sport 16GB (4x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Quad Channel Kit (BLS4CP4G3D1609DS1S00BEU) £79.99
1 x Phanteks PH-TC14PE CPU Cooler - Silver (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £66.98
1 x LG GH24NS95 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £18.98
Total : £1,815.24 (includes shipping : £13.75).

 

[zakblood]

black is good, these can be pre build at well, i spec high end as that what the black is, high end, there all i7 and top end at that, please don't judge me on spending all the budget, i did as asked

Intel® Core™ i7-3970X Extreme Edition Six-Core 3.50 GHz 15MB Intel Smart Cache LGA2011

Intel® Core™ i7-3930K Six-Core 3.20 GHz 12MB Intel Smart Cache LGA2011

Intel® Core™ i7-3820 Quad-Core 3.60 GHz 10MB Intel Smart Cache LGA2011

so please don't spec i5, as that not whats been asked for

 

[Mr Toodles]

Thanks, Lee. Would I need to add monitor/,Mouse/keyboard? Where would it be best to upgrade, if at all? Would that play most games and how long before it fell behind new game releases?

 

[Akagi]

Thanks again for you unhelpful comments.

I am merely trying to save you money, if you are not interested in saving money, then fine, go ahead and waste as much money as you want on a high end gaming PC so that you can play CoH at 10,000FPS on a monitor capable of displaying 60FPS.

 

[DaleTheWhale]

This is my two pence, if you want to build up that is & spend the whole 2k.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i7-3770K 3.50GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £279.95
2 x Gigabyte ATi Radeon HD 7950 Windforce 3X 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with Crysis 3 & Bioshock PC Games £239.99 (£479.98)
1 x Asus VN247H 24"Widescreen Super Narrow Bezel LED Monitor - Black £167.99
1 x Crucial RealSSD M4 256GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CT256M4SSD2) £157.99
1 x MSI Z77 MPower Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 ATX Motherboard with FREE F1 RC Car & MSI HDD Enclosure £149.99
1 x Corsair Graphite 600T Midi Tower Case - Limited Edition White £145.99
1 x Gigabyte Osmium Mechanical Gaming Keyboard £109.99
1 x XFX 850W XXX Edition Modular '80 Plus Silver' Power Supply £99.98
1 x Microsoft Windows 8 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00403) £79.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD £79.99
1 x Saitek Cyborg R.A.T. 7 6400 DPI Gaming Mouse - Contagion Edition £76.99
1 x BeQuiet Dark Rock Pro 2 CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £61.99
1 x Corsair Vengeance 1500 Dolby 7.1 Professional USB Gaming Headset £59.99
1 x Samsung Green (MV-3V4G3D/US) 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz 30nm Dual Channel Kit £49.99
Total : £2,021.03 (includes shipping : £16.85).

 

[RJC]

Cheaper alternative:


YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte ATi Radeon HD 7950 Windforce 3X 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with Crysis 3 & Bioshock PC Games £239.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £199.99
1 x IIyama Prolite E2473HS 24" Widescreen LED Monitor - Black £149.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77X-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £112.99
1 x Plextor M5 Pro 128GB Extreme Series Solid State Drive - (PX-128M5P) £99.95
1 x XFX 750W XXX Edition Modular '80 Plus Silver' Power Supply £96.98
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £79.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD £79.99
1 x Corsair Carbide 200R Compact ATX Case - Black £49.99
1 x Edifier Prisma White 2.1 Speaker System £47.99
1 x Adata XPG Gaming v1.0 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AX3U1600GC4G9-2G) £37.99
1 x Logitech G500 5700DPI Gaming Mouse (910-001262) £36.98
1 x Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure Edition CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £29.99
1 x TT eSports Challenger Gamers Keyboard £24.98
1 x LG GH24NS95 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £18.98
Total : £1,333.43 (includes shipping : £22.20).