From boy to Man - My first gaming PC rig

Kallel

Kallel

Kallel

Associate
Joined
24 Jul 2013
Posts
7
Location
London, UK
Hi all,

I need your unparalleled expertise and advice on building my first custom gaming rig from my current pre-built machine.

I'm looking to start getting some parts now and then by next month putting it all together. Currently I have a budget of £400 but that'll expand to about £600/700

This pc will mainly be a gaming and media powerhouse hooked up to my TV and sound system to easily run my current games such as Battlefield 3, Planet side 2, a few moba's like Smite and HON, Steam games (L4D2, TF2, ArmAII, Dota 2 ect...) and of course be ready for next gen titles like Battlefield 4

The only thing I have at the moment, is the OS and an ATI Radeon HD 5870. I'm not requiring a monitor, keyboard or mouse.

Essentially I'm looking for an Intel i5 build with at least 8GB of ram (looking to expand in the future). I've also been told to check out a Z77 motherboard for overclocking? (not essential). Any ideas including 4th gen i5 would be a great insight also.

Stuff I would like:

Housing everything in a Coolermaster HAF XM Case

I know it's asking for a lot, but I would love it if you could give me several options from scratch and also examples including my graphics card.

Thank you all in advance :D

All the best,

Kallel
 
Hi,

Thanks for the warm welcome.

I doubt anything from the machine is reusable since it was stock dell pre built machine

Summary:
OS - Windows Vista 64-bit SP2
CPU - Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 @ 2.66GHz
RAM - 4.0GB Dual-Channel DDR2 @ 332MHz
Motherboard - Dell 0RN474 (Socket 775)
Graphics - 256MB nVidia GeForce 8600 GT
Hard Drives - 2 x 244GB Seagate ST3250820AS ATA
Optical Drives - PBDS DVD+-RW DH-16W1S ATA Device
 
Great! more storage in the end.

Sorry should have explained that I have a separate copy of Windows 7 professional as well as the Radeon HD 5870 graphics card
 
IB using your 5870.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £185.99
1 x Cooler Master HAF X-M Midi Tower Windowed Case - Black £109.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £89.99
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TD120BW) £74.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £53.99
1 x Thermaltake Smart 530W '80 Plus' Power Supply £49.99
1 x Adata XPG Gaming v1.0 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AX3U1600GC4G9-2G) £43.99
1 x Thermalright HR-02 Macho CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1150 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366) £39.98
Total : £663.91 (includes shipping : £12.50).



Haswell.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £191.99
1 x Cooler Master HAF X-M Midi Tower Windowed Case - Black £109.99
1 x Gigabyte Z87-D3HP Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £103.99
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TD120BW) £74.99
1 x Patriot Viper "Black Mamba" Generation 3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17000C11 2133MHz Dual CHannel Kit (PV38G213C1K) £59.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £53.99
1 x Thermaltake Smart 530W '80 Plus' Power Supply £49.99
1 x Thermalright HR-02 Macho CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1150 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366) £39.98
Total : £699.91 (includes shipping : £12.50).

 
I also think £700 may be tight with your choice of case, but we can try.

First attempt:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-4670 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £179.99
1 x HIS HD 7850 IceQ 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (H785Q2G2M) £161.99
1 x Cooler Master HAF X-M Midi Tower Case - Black £109.99
1 x Gigabyte Z87-D3HP Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £103.99
1 x Patriot Viper "Black Mamba" Generation 3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17000C11 2133MHz Dual CHannel Kit (PV38G213C1K) £59.99
1 x Thermaltake Smart M550W '80 Plus Bronze' Modular Power Supply £59.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £53.99
1 x Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1150 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £26.99
Total : £771.91 (includes shipping : £12.50).

 
Many many thanks Idleman :D and to the rest of you guys, these are all awesome suggestions I was looking for.

Budget wise I think you're right snips86x, the choice of case would need to be removed to bring the budget more in line. What are some alternatives you'd all recommend?
 
Kallel said:
Many many thanks Idleman :D and to the rest of you guys, these are all awesome suggestions I was looking for.

Budget wise I think you're right snips86x, the choice of case would need to be removed to bring the budget more in line. What are some alternatives you'd all recommend?
Click to expand...

Here are a few:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Thermaltake Chaser A31 Gaming Windowed Case - Black/Blue £79.99
1 x Corsair Carbide 300R Mid Tower Windowed Case - Black £69.95
1 x Cooler Master HAF 912 Advanced Midi Tower Case - Black £69.95
1 x BitFenix Ronin Tower Case - Black £69.95
1 x Corsair Carbide 300R Mid Tower Case - Black £65.99
1 x Zalman Z11 Plus Midi Tower Gaming Case - Black £59.99
Total : £461.71 (includes shipping : £38.25).



Personally, if you are dead set on a case, there is little chance you'd be happy with something else. I know I wouldn't be. Could you find an extra £70-80?
 
snips86x said:
Personally, if you are dead set on a case, there is little chance you'd be happy with something else. I know I wouldn't be. Could you find an extra £70-80?
Click to expand...

Brilliant options! Like the look of the HAF 912 also.

I share the feeling :p I'll make some cutbacks to stretch the extra mile
 
The Gpu comes with 8 free games, so you could get some of your money back if you sell them. If you can find someone to buy your existing PC, this could get you a bit more to invest in your new system.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £191.99
1 x HIS HD 7850 IceQ 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (H785Q2G2M) £161.99
1 x Gigabyte Z87-D3HP Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £103.99
1 x Patriot Viper "Black Mamba" Generation 3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17000C11 2133MHz Dual CHannel Kit (PV38G213C1K) £59.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £53.99
1 x Thermaltake Smart 530W '80 Plus' Power Supply £49.99
1 x Thermalright HR-02 Macho CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1150 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366) £39.98
1 x Xigmatek Asgard Pro Gaming Case - Black £32.99
Total : £709.01 (includes shipping : £11.75).



http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18524378
 
Idleman said:
The Gpu comes with 8 free games, so you could get some of your money back if you sell them. If you can find someone to buy your existing PC, this could get you a bit more to invest in your new system.
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Click to expand...

Well now, that is interesting. Any idea on what the free games are or is it just a random assortment of titles?
 
Idleman said:
The Gpu comes with 8 free games, so you could get some of your money back if you sell them. If you can find someone to buy your existing PC, this could get you a bit more to invest in your new system.
Click to expand...

Well now, that is interesting. Any idea on what the free games are or is it just a random assortment of titles?
 
Kallel said:
Well now, that is interesting. Any idea on what the free games are or is it just a random assortment of titles?
Click to expand...

Oh yeah, I should have mentioned that in the spec I did.

Well.....you get £150 of free games!!! :D Sell them to make some of the money back. :rolleyes:
 
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