PC Build Help

[MutenJoshi]

Hi everyone,

This is my first time on these forums and I am not as knowledgeable about components as the majority, if not all, of you so apologies if you get this all the time. I am going to buy all of the parts for my new PC that I will put together myself however I don't really know enough to decide which parts would be the best for my budget. I haven't done this before, I have only helped my friend put together his a couple of years ago. I tried finding some parts but I've since been told that I'd be paying more for inferior parts.

I want to play any game on full graphics (may be a bit more difficult with next gen games coming out soon). I am looking to build a computer that supports SLI so I can get as good a graphics card as I can afford now and add another a couple years down the line when I need to upgrade. My budget is £1,000 for everything, including a monitor. Could anyone lend a hand in finding the best parts to get for it as I need some help?

 

[RJC]

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £197.99
1 x Asus GeForce GTX 670 DirectCU II OC Gamer 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **FREE SHIPPING** £189.95
1 x BenQ RL2455HM 24" Widescreen LED Monitor - Black/Red £143.99
1 x Gigabyte Z87-D3HP Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £106.99
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE120BW) £86.99
1 x TeamGroup Xtreem LV 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C10 2400MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (TXD38G2400HC10QDC01) £59.99
1 x Toshiba (7K1000.D) 1TB SATA 6GB/s 32MB Cache - OEM (DT01ACA100) HDD £49.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 500W V2 '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020047-UK) £49.99
1 x Corsair Carbide 200R Compact ATX Case - Black £47.95
1 x Corsair Hydro H60 High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler *Manufacturer Refurbished Unit - 90 Day Guarantee £35.99
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £17.99
1 x Corsair AF120 Quiet Edition Low Noise High Airflow - Single Pack (CO-9050001-WW) £13.99
Total : £1,001.80 (includes shipping : FREE).

 

[leightonr25]

Nice build RJC, +1

However, the GPU, Motherboard, RAM, Monitor, HDD, Case and DVD drive are on offer. It would cost you another £170-£175 if you buy these while they aren't on offer, so I would buy it ASAP.

 

[Idleman]

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £197.99
1 x Asus GeForce GTX 670 DirectCU II OC Gamer 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **FREE SHIPPING** £189.95
1 x BenQ RL2455HM 24" Widescreen LED Monitor - Black/Red £143.99
1 x Gigabyte Z87-D3HP Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £106.99
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE120BW) £86.99
1 x TeamGroup Xtreem LV 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C10 2400MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (TXD38G2400HC10QDC01) £59.99
1 x Toshiba (7K1000.D) 1TB SATA 6GB/s 32MB Cache - OEM (DT01ACA100) HDD £49.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 500W V2 '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020047-UK) £49.99
1 x Corsair Carbide 200R Compact ATX Case - Black £47.95
1 x Corsair Hydro H60 High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler *Manufacturer Refurbished Unit - 90 Day Guarantee £35.99
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £17.99
1 x Corsair AF120 Quiet Edition Low Noise High Airflow - Single Pack (CO-9050001-WW) £13.99
Total : £1,001.80 (includes shipping : FREE).

Nice build, but I think you missed a few points.

I am looking to build a computer that supports SLI so I can get as good a graphics card as I can afford now and add another a couple years down the line when I need to upgrade. My budget is £1,000 for everything, including a monitor.

 

[Idleman]

Hi everyone,

This is my first time on these forums and I am not as knowledgeable about components as the majority, if not all, of you so apologies if you get this all the time. I am going to buy all of the parts for my new PC that I will put together myself however I don't really know enough to decide which parts would be the best for my budget. I haven't done this before, I have only helped my friend put together his a couple of years ago. I tried finding some parts but I've since been told that I'd be paying more for inferior parts.

I want to play any game on full graphics (may be a bit more difficult with next gen games coming out soon). I am looking to build a computer that supports SLI so I can get as good a graphics card as I can afford now and add another a couple years down the line when I need to upgrade. My budget is £1,000 for everything, including a monitor. Could anyone lend a hand in finding the best parts to get for it as I need some help?

Do you need an OS, speakers, k&m?
Have you any components from an existing PC you can reuse?

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £197.99
1 x VTX3D HD 7870 Black Boost Edition 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £155.99
1 x MSI Z87-G45 Gaming Series Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £116.99
1 x BenQ GL2460 24" Widescreen LED Slim Bezel Monitor - Black £113.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 8 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00403) £79.99
1 x XFX Pro 850W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £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 £51.95
1 x Mad Catz Cyborg R.A.T.3 3500 DPI Gaming Mouse £33.95
1 x Microsoft SideWinder X4 Gaming Keyboard - Retail (JQD-00006) £32.99
1 x Xigmatek Asgard Pro Gaming Case - Black £32.99
1 x Creative A320 2.1 Speakers (51MF0405AA003) £32.99
1 x OcUK 20x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £14.99
Total : £1,017.47 (includes shipping : £14.75).

 

[MutenJoshi]

Do you need an OS, speakers, k&m?
Have you any components from an existing PC you can reuse?

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £197.99
1 x VTX3D HD 7870 Black Boost Edition 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £155.99
1 x MSI Z87-G45 Gaming Series Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £116.99
1 x BenQ GL2460 24" Widescreen LED Slim Bezel Monitor - Black £113.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 8 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00403) £79.99
1 x XFX Pro 850W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £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 £51.95
1 x Mad Catz Cyborg R.A.T.3 3500 DPI Gaming Mouse £33.95
1 x Microsoft SideWinder X4 Gaming Keyboard - Retail (JQD-00006) £32.99
1 x Xigmatek Asgard Pro Gaming Case - Black £32.99
1 x Creative A320 2.1 Speakers (51MF0405AA003) £32.99
1 x OcUK 20x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £14.99
Total : £1,017.47 (includes shipping : £14.75).

Thank you both for the replies! It's very much appreciated. I'll need an OS but I have some speakers, keyboard and mouse I can use as a short term measure until I get some better ones. I don't have any components I can use from an old computer. I currently only have a terrible laptop that's almost dead.

 

[RJC]

No SSD:

The GPU is a steal at the current price!

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £197.99
1 x Asus GeForce GTX 670 DirectCU II OC Gamer 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **FREE SHIPPING** £189.95
1 x Gigabyte Z87X-D3H Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £131.99
1 x BenQ GL2460 24" Widescreen LED Slim Bezel Monitor - Black £113.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 8 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00403) £79.99
1 x XFX Pro 850W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £74.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD £71.99
1 x Patriot Viper "Black Mamba" Generation 3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17000C11 2133MHz Dual CHannel Kit (PV38G213C1K) £59.99
1 x Xigmatek Asgard Pro Gaming Case - Black £32.99
1 x Thermalright True Spirit 140 CPU Cooler £26.39
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £17.99
Total : £998.23 (includes shipping : FREE).

 

[Idleman]

No cooler but you can add one later.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £197.99
1 x VTX3D HD 7870 Black Boost Edition 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £155.99
1 x MSI Z87-G45 Gaming Series Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £116.99
1 x BenQ GL2460 24" Widescreen LED Slim Bezel Monitor - Black £113.99
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE120BW) £86.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 8 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00403) £79.99
1 x XFX Pro 850W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £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 £51.95
1 x Xigmatek Asgard Pro Gaming Case - Black £32.99
1 x OcUK 20x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £14.99
Total : £1,003.33 (includes shipping : £13.75).

 

[MutenJoshi]

No cooler but you can add one later.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £197.99
1 x VTX3D HD 7870 Black Boost Edition 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £155.99
1 x MSI Z87-G45 Gaming Series Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £116.99
1 x BenQ GL2460 24" Widescreen LED Slim Bezel Monitor - Black £113.99
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE120BW) £86.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 8 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00403) £79.99
1 x XFX Pro 850W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £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 £51.95
1 x Xigmatek Asgard Pro Gaming Case - Black £32.99
1 x OcUK 20x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £14.99
Total : £1,003.33 (includes shipping : £13.75).

How will this set up cope with next gen games like Battlefield 4 etc? I know pretty much nothing, especially with what makes a good graphics card.

 

[Idleman]

How will this set up cope with next gen games like Battlefield 4 etc? I know pretty much nothing, especially with what makes a good graphics card.

The VTX3D will OC to near 7950 stock speeds, making it excellent value.
In regards to future games, your guess is as good as mine. As BF 4 will use DirectX 11.1, AMD 7xxx series are supposed to be able to fully utilise this, whereas Nvidia 6xx series are`nt fully optimised for 11.1. The same can also be said for Win 7. But until it BF4 gets nearer the release date and we get some reviews, it`s pretty much all speculation.

 

[MutenJoshi]

I'm going to start ordering some of the parts tonight. It's pretty much the same as before but as a final check, how does this look?

Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor
MSI Z87-G45 Gaming ATX LGA1150 Motherboard
Patriot Viper 3 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory
Samsung 840 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk
Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
NZXT Phantom 410 (Black/White) ATX Mid Tower Case (Could change to a full tower).
XFX 850W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply
LG GH24NS95 DVD/CD Writer (Could change to a better looking one for the sake of an extra £10-20)

For the graphics card I plan to get: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-299-AS

However the following one has been mentioned:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-170-MS&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=2294

Is the second one much better and is it worth the extra £12?

Does the build look good value for money?

 

[RJC]

Look at the Samsung EVO SSD drives and see if your budget will allow for faster ram.

GPU, Look at the Asus.

 

[Idleman]

This, but you still need a monitor. And a cooler if you want to OC.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £197.99
1 x Asus GeForce GTX 670 DirectCU II OC Gamer 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **FREE SHIPPING** £197.99
1 x MSI Z87-G45 Gaming Series Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £124.99
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE120BW) £86.99
1 x NZXT Phantom 410 Enthusiast Midi Tower Case - Black/White £84.95
1 x XFX Pro 850W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £74.99
1 x Patriot Viper "Black Mamba" Generation 3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17000C11 2133MHz Dual CHannel Kit (PV38G213C1K) £65.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £49.99
1 x LG GH24NSB0 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
Total : £900.86 (includes shipping : FREE).



Do you still need an OS?

 

[MutenJoshi]

Samsung EVO seems to be around the same price, so cheers.

As for the RAM, are either of these good?

Patriot Viper 3 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory
Patriot Intel Extreme Master, Limited Ed 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory

If not, any recommendations?

 

[MutenJoshi]

This, but you still need a monitor. And a cooler if you want to OC.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £197.99
1 x Asus GeForce GTX 670 DirectCU II OC Gamer 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **FREE SHIPPING** £197.99
1 x MSI Z87-G45 Gaming Series Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £124.99
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE120BW) £86.99
1 x NZXT Phantom 410 Enthusiast Midi Tower Case - Black/White £84.95
1 x XFX Pro 850W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £74.99
1 x Patriot Viper "Black Mamba" Generation 3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17000C11 2133MHz Dual CHannel Kit (PV38G213C1K) £65.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £49.99
1 x LG GH24NSB0 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
Total : £900.86 (includes shipping : FREE).



Do you still need an OS?

Yeah, I need an OS unfortunately. Monitor won't be a problem though to begin with. I can do without (I have an older one as a short term measure). I might need to cut down on something by the look of it. I don't want to sacrifice too much performance for the sake of saving a bit of money though. Any ideas?

 

[Idleman]

Yeah, I need an OS unfortunately. Monitor won't be a problem though to begin with. I can do without (I have an older one as a short term measure). I might need to cut down on something by the look of it. I don't want to sacrifice too much performance for the sake of saving a bit of money though. Any ideas?

You could use Win 8 evaluation for a few months to see if you like it, it would also give you time to save up for an OS. Who knows, you might be able to get a cheap upgrade to Win 8.1 when it`s released near the end of the year.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/jj554510.aspx

This would save you £30, if you don`t mind "B" grade.

YOUR BASKET
1 x **B Grade** NZXT Phantom 410 Enthusiast Midi Tower Case - White £54
Total : £65.10 (includes shipping : £9.25).

 

[MutenJoshi]

You could use Win 8 evaluation for a few months to see if you like it, it would also give you time to save up for an OS. Who knows, you might be able to get a cheap upgrade to Win 8.1 when it`s released near the end of the year.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/jj554510.aspx

This would save you £30, if you don`t mind "B" grade.

YOUR BASKET
1 x **B Grade** NZXT Phantom 410 Enthusiast Midi Tower Case - White £54
Total : £65.10 (includes shipping : £9.25).

My plan is to buy some now and the rest when I get paid at the end of this month. The processor, motherboard and graphics card look to be set so I might get those three ordered tonight and spend the next week thinking about the rest. Ideally, it would cost 800 without the OS.

 

[MutenJoshi]

How hard would it be to change the case after I get it sorted? If I can find one for around £30 that will be okay, I can get one that looks better at a later date.

 

[Idleman]

How hard would it be to change the case after I get it sorted? If I can find one for around £30 that will be okay, I can get one that looks better at a later date.

That`s what I did, as I could`nt decide at the time. This is a great budget case.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Xigmatek Asgard Pro Gaming Case - Black £32.99
Total : £44.09 (includes shipping : £9.25).

 

[MutenJoshi]

I have received these compatibility notes based on the Intel i5-4670K and the Corsair XM3 RAM I opted for. Unfortunately, I have already had these delivered and am going to put the computer together on Friday so, if required, will need to order the replacement RAM tonight. Is this message anything to worry about or will it still work well? The website says they are compatible, but I wanted to check with you lot on here as I'm sure you understand it a lot better than me.

Compatibility Notes

Corsair XMS3 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory operating voltage of 1.65V exceeds the Intel Haswell CPU recommended maximum of 1.5V+5% (1.575V). This memory module may run at a reduced clock rate to meet the 1.5V voltage recommendation, or may require running at a voltage greater than the Intel recommended maximum.