£1200 Gaming PC - Spec Check / Tune

DaveyD

DaveyD

DaveyD

Man of Honour
Joined
19 Jan 2003
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Location
Warwickshire
Hi all,

I'm looking to spend around £1,200 on a new gaming PC for Battlefield 4 and to catch up on some PC gaming I've missed for the past 7 or 8 years.

I will be running the PC on my TV @ 1080p maximum resolution, if this is any help. I would like to hope I can manage a steady 60fps on most games with this spec.

I've had a bit of a search around the forum to see what's currently trending in specs, but I'm certainly open to suggestions and to more advice.

I've gone for the i7 processor and the Radeon, but I'm completely open to changing these.

Regarding overclocking - I am happy to attempt it - not sure exactly what extra cooling capabilities I'll need for the CPU or the graphics card. At the moment I'd rather a great base spec PC that could be modified later.

Finally - the case - I really am not interested in how good the case looks - it's going to be out of sight. If the case I've selected isn't that suitable, please let me know too!

YOUR BASKET
1 x Sapphire Radeon R9 280X Toxic OC 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Card £269.99
1 x Intel Core i7-3770K 3.50GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - OEM £251.99
1 x Gigabyte Z87X-OC Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £158.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 8.1 Pro 64-Bit DVD - OEM (FQC-06949) £106.99
1 x Antec High Current Gamer 750W Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (0-761345-06223-7) £99.95
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE120BW) £86.99
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan ORANGE 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLAD38G2400HC11CDC01) £65.99
1 x Pioneer BDC-207DBK 8x BluRay ROM / DVDRW SATA-II Optical Drive - Black (OEM) £55.99
1 x Xigmatek Asgard III Windowed Gaming Case - Black £32.99
Total : £1,143.96 (includes shipping : £11.75).



Things I already have:
Keyboard / Mouse
Large Secondary HDD
Sound
Monitor
 
I can see what you're trying to do here.

Firstly, there a few holes in your spec, the CPU is Ivybirdge, the Motherboard is Haswell (won't work). Also the OEM CPU comes without a stock cooler and you haven't specced a cooler. (you need a cooler)..

I have a few questions.

Are you looking at Xire/SLI in the future?
Do you NEED a blu-ray dirve? (it just eats up a fair chunk of the budget)
 
Better case for the same price.
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-010-BX&groupid=2362&catid=1850

Why is it better? (in my opinion)
  • Bottom mounted PSU
  • No tacky/gimmicky tool free mounting(they never work as well as screws)
  • Supports more fans
  • Power/Reset buttons and USB ports are located on top of the case, great if you have the case located inside a desk or on the floor
  • Has some *limited* routing holes, compared to *none that i can see* on the Xigmatek case

It's not the best looking case, but the insides are what make it a bargain.
 
How about something like this?

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i7-4770K 3.50GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £275.99
1 x Gigabyte Radeon R9 280X WindForce 3X OC 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £245.99
1 x Antec High Current Pro 750W Modular '80 Plus Gold' Power Supply £129.95
1 x MSI Z87-G45 Gaming Series Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £113.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 8.1 Pro 64-Bit DVD - OEM (FQC-06949) £106.99
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE120BW) £86.99
1 x Corsair Carbide 300R Mid Tower Windowed Case - Black (CC-9011017-WW) £78.95
1 x Phanteks PH-TC14PE CPU Cooler - Red £69.98
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan RED 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17100C11 2133MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLD38G2133HC11ADC01) £69.95
1 x Pioneer BDC-207DBK 8x BluRay ROM / DVDRW SATA-II Optical Drive - Black (OEM) £55.99
Total : £1,234.76 (includes shipping : FREE).



You should get a nice overclock on the i7 and temps should be reasonably low too!
The Windforce cards are really quite as well as efficient, not sure if it's v locked.
 
A bit over, but you could save that on the PSU if you don't want to Crossfire, on the OS if you don't mind using a three-month free trial, or on the blu-ray drive if you don't really need it.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i7-4770K 3.50GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £275.99
1 x Sapphire Radeon R9 280X Toxic OC 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Card £269.99
1 x Gigabyte Z87X-OC Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £158.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 8.1 Pro 64-Bit DVD - OEM (FQC-06949) £106.99
1 x Antec High Current Gamer 750W Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (0-761345-06223-7) £99.95
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE120BW) £86.99
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan ORANGE 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLAD38G2400HC11CDC01) £65.99
1 x Antec 302 Three Hundred Two Ultimate Gaming Case - Black £59.99
1 x BeQuiet Dark Rock 2 CPU Cooler £49.99
1 x Corsair AF120 Quiet Edition Low Noise High Airflow - Dual Pack (CO-9050002-WW) £19.99
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £14.99
Total : £1,222.44 (includes shipping : £10.50).

 
Last edited:
snips86x said:
How about something like this?

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i7-4770K 3.50GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £275.99
1 x Gigabyte Radeon R9 280X WindForce 3X OC 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £245.99
1 x Antec High Current Pro 750W Modular '80 Plus Gold' Power Supply £129.95
1 x MSI Z87-G45 Gaming Series Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £113.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 8.1 Pro 64-Bit DVD - OEM (FQC-06949) £106.99
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE120BW) £86.99
1 x Corsair Carbide 300R Mid Tower Windowed Case - Black (CC-9011017-WW) £78.95
1 x Phanteks PH-TC14PE CPU Cooler - Red £69.98
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan RED 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17100C11 2133MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLD38G2133HC11ADC01) £69.95
1 x Pioneer BDC-207DBK 8x BluRay ROM / DVDRW SATA-II Optical Drive - Black (OEM) £55.99
Total : £1,234.76 (includes shipping : FREE).



You should get a nice overclock on the i7 and temps should be reasonably low too!
The Windforce cards are really quite as well as efficient, not sure if it's v locked.
Click to expand...

A 750W £130 PSU for a single 280X and a £70 cooler for someone who hasn't expressed much interest in overclocking?

Not sure i'd agree with those two choices, but the rest looks pretty sound to me.
 
Ooops, deliberate mistakes there of course....

I'd forgotten the OEM doesn't come with cooler.

If crossfire/sli will give a significant improvement, then yes I will consider that in the future, so I guess size of case will dictate this a little depending on how big the card(s) are.

Blu-ray isn't absolutely needed- so can probably drop that for a generic DVD RW drive.
 
TooMuchCheese said:
A 750W £130 PSU for a single 280X and a £70 cooler for someone who hasn't expressed much interest in overclocking?

Not sure i'd agree with those two choices, but the rest looks pretty sound to me.
Click to expand...

The 750w Gold Rated Antec will take 2x 280x and the cooler is more than sufficient to take an overclocked i7.

Agreed Doom, case needs to be changed, but it's a start.

Fulax said:
Edited. Is 8.1 Pro necessary?
Click to expand...

With the issue being outlined in the Software section, I'd stick to Windows 7 or Win 8 if your looking for DX11.2 support.
 
Well Xfire is one way of improving, though if you'll be happy with your rig for 18months - 2 years you may aswell just buy a new GPU (GPU tech moves quicker than CPU tech, currently).

If you were after a single card build, something like this would be ideal (and under budget).

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte Radeon R9 280X WindForce 3X OC 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £245.99
1 x Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £185.99
1 x Gigabyte Z87-D3HP Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £109.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 8.1 Pro 64-Bit DVD - OEM (FQC-06949) £106.99
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE120BW) £86.99
1 x Antec High Current Gamer 620W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £79.99
1 x Patriot Viper "Sapphire Blue" 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17000C11 2133MHz Dual Channel Kit (PV38G213C1KBL) £69.95
1 x Corsair Carbide 200R Compact ATX Case - Black (CC-9011023-WW) £49.99
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £14.99
Total : £963.47 (includes shipping : £10.50).



The motherboard comes with a free cooler. :)

The case is suberb and as its hidden it doesn't need a window.
 
Or

YOUR BASKET
1 x HIS Radeon R9 290 Boost 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £309.95
1 x Intel Core i7-4770K 3.50GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £275.99
1 x MSI Z87-G45 Gaming Series Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £113.99
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE120BW) £86.99
1 x Corsair 2013 Edition Gamer Series GS 700W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020064-UK) £79.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00614) £71.99
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan RED 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17100C11 2133MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLD38G2133HC11ADC01) £69.95
1 x BeQuiet Dark Rock 2 CPU Cooler £49.99
1 x Corsair Carbide 200R Compact ATX Case - Black (CC-9011023-WW) £49.99
1 x Corsair AF120 Quiet Edition Low Noise High Airflow - Dual Pack (CO-9050002-WW) £19.99
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £14.99
Total : £1,156.40 (includes shipping : £10.50).

 
Last edited:
DaveyD said:
Versus Win 7 you mean? or vs. 8.1 Standard? Honestly didn't really think about it - would I lose out on anything going to Standard?
Click to expand...

Fulax said:
Standard 8.1, I mean. Here's a comparison table: http://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/wind...technologies/windows-8-1/compare/default.aspx

The standard version is £40 cheaper.
Click to expand...

The issues previously with Win 7 variants was due to the support and amount of RAM you could use. Since the basic version now supports 128gb, the basic version should be fine.
 
Fulax,

THe 290X is a generator a noisey one..

The motherboard is way OTT for a single card system, which it will be as the PSU won't handle 2 cards (i wouldn't attempt it).

Also that case has poor cable management features.
 
Bah, thought I'd changed the motherboard.

A 750W PSU also would not be enough for two, so it was either get a more expensive PSU with room for Crossfire, or a lower wattage and cheaper one without.
 
Most people have used a 750W with the 280X which'll be fine, but for the 290(non-X) you'd be talking 800W-850W to be safe.

I did (sorry to say) a superior single card system above. :)
 
Doomedspeed said:
Most people have used a 750W with the 280X which'll be fine, but for the 290(non-X) you'd be talking 800W-850W to be safe.

I did (sorry to say) a superior single card system above. :)
Click to expand...

Aye, I meant for 290s in Crossfire.

And an i7 would give a decent performance boost over an i5 in BF4, no? Or was that pre-launch stuff about making better use of extra cores/threads/whatever just marketng bluff for AMD?
 
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