Gaming PC spec, help needed.

Cemetary Gates

Cemetary Gates

Cemetary Gates

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Joined
30 Jul 2013
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37
Hi there everyone,

A few months ago the members on this forum were a great help in me building my first gaming PC. Especially teppic, who was very helpful at every stage. I have now been asked to build a PC for a friend which I feel pretty confident in doing, but not so confident in choosing the best components for his budget.

If anyone would be kind enough to offer some ideas or advice it would be most appreciated. His budget is between £1200 - 1300. Display is not required but everything else is. He wants to play a pretty broad range of games but he is a big fan of the Battlefield games and so I would expect he would like it to perform well with BF4. Also it would be nice if it was possible to be able to upgrade at a later date, perhaps by adding a second GPU and/or upgrading the CPU. Thanks in advance for your time :)
 
Hi CG,

Here's a black/red build for your perusal. :)

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i7-4770K 3.50GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £245.99
1 x MSI Radeon R9 280X Gaming Edition OC 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £245.99
1 x NZXT Phantom 630 High Performance Modular Ultra Tower Case - Black £145.99
1 x Samsung 250GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE250BW) £139.99
1 x MSI Z87-G45 Gaming Series Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £124.99
1 x Seasonic G series 750w '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £99.95
1 x Corsair Hydro H105 Extreme Performance Liquid CPU Cooler (CW-9060016-WW ) £93.95
1 x Avexir Core Red Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17200C9 2133MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U21330904G-2CIR) - Red Light £79.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD £59.99
1 x Pioneer 24x Internal DVR-221LBK DVD Rewriter - OEM £17.99
1 x NZXT FZ-140 Airflow Fan Series, Red LED - 140mm £12.98
Total : £1,298.34 (includes shipping : £25.45).



The 200mm fan on the side panel of the case would help with the heat issues of running SLI. Especially if you switched its position to exhaust instead of intake. The cards would already be fed enough intake air from the 200mm front fan and one of the 140mm fans in the interior pivot mount (case brings one 140mm on the rear and added another 140mm to basket) which is perfectly positioned very close to the end of the card/s, and would blow air directly between them.

The new Hydro H105 brings a few coloured metal rings to go on the CPU pump, including a red one. It'll also have full RGB LED choices with software (I think).

I tend to go for Nvidia if budget allows, but AMD cards are said to run BF4 better.

You can get more power into a £1300 build if you go for a budget case (and tweak other areas), but make sure the cooling for SLI will be good.


Optional fluff:

YOUR BASKET
1 x BitFenix Alchemy Premium Modding LED Strip - Connect White 30cm £16.79
1 x BitFenix Alchemy 24-Pin ATX Extension 30cm - sleeved black/red/black £7.49
1 x BitFenix 6-Pin PCIe Extension 45cm - sleeved black/red/black £5.99
1 x BitFenix 8-Pin PCIe Extension 45cm - sleeved black/red/black £5.95
1 x BitFenix Alchemy 8-Pin EPS12V Extension 45cm - sleeved black/red/black £4.99

 
Great build from Danny, you could if you wanted a 290 or even stretch to a 290x by changing the case, and going for air cooling rather than the h105 closed loop, adding the ~100 quid saving onto the GPU
 
YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte Radeon R9 290 OC WindForce 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (GV-R929OC-4GD) £369.95
1 x Intel Core i7-4770K 3.50GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £245.99
1 x Samsung 250GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE250BW) £139.99
1 x Antec High Current Gamer 850W Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (0-761345-06225-1) £125.99
1 x Gigabyte G1.Sniper Z87 Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £119.99
1 x Avexir Venom Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17200C9 2133MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U21330904G-2CIG) - Green Light £79.99
1 x BitFenix Ronin Tower Case - Black £69.95
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD £59.99
1 x Alpenföhn K2 Mount Doom CPU Cooler £49.99
1 x LiteOn IHAS124-14 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £14.99
Total : £1,290.91 (includes shipping : £11.75).

 
lee32uk said:
YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte Radeon R9 290 OC WindForce 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (GV-R929OC-4GD) £369.95
1 x Intel Core i7-4770K 3.50GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £245.99
1 x Samsung 250GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE250BW) £139.99
1 x Antec High Current Gamer 850W Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (0-761345-06225-1) £125.99
1 x Gigabyte G1.Sniper Z87 Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £119.99
1 x Avexir Venom Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17200C9 2133MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U21330904G-2CIG) - Green Light £79.99
1 x BitFenix Ronin Tower Case - Black £69.95
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD £59.99
1 x Alpenföhn K2 Mount Doom CPU Cooler £49.99
1 x LiteOn IHAS124-14 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £14.99
Total : £1,290.91 (includes shipping : £11.75).

Click to expand...

Would throw off the colour scheme a bit but the msi gaming edition 290 is meant to be better(and also £20 cheaper if buying before 9/10am Wednesday), also not sure but may need 1kw for xfire.
 
if it comes down to an i5 and a better GPU or i7 and worse GPU, take i5 100% of the time, if you're primarily playing games, the gpu is the most important component

edit: yes, even for BF4 etc, there is no way in general (99% of the time) an overclocked i5 is going to be the bottleneck when you're running with a singular 290!
 
Last edited:
Tohrazer said:
if it comes down to an i5 and a better GPU or i7 and worse GPU, take i5 100% of the time, if you're primarily playing games, the gpu is the most important component
Click to expand...

Well as lee showed he can have his cake and eat it(I.e he can have both) at this budget.
Also as he'll be going xfire/sli in the future a i7 will be better.
 
fowler002 said:
Well as lee showed he can have his cake and eat it(I.e he can have both) at this budget.
Also as he'll be going xfire/sli in the future a i7 will be better.
Click to expand...

in that case my comment doesn't apply, so im not entirely sure what your point is :p it was more in response to the 280x build suggestion (which for me personally, really doesn't make sense for a £1300 rig built for gaming)
 
Tohrazer said:
in that case my comment doesn't apply, so im not entirely sure what your point is :p it was more in response to the 280x build suggestion (which for me personally, really doesn't make sense for a £1300 rig built for gaming)
Click to expand...

Well it depends what your priorities I suppose, do you prefer looks over performance in which case a more expensive case(pun intended :p) and a 280x otherwise a cheaper case and 290.
 
I did do a spec :p

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte Radeon R9 290 OC WindForce 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (GV-R929OC-4GD) £369.95
1 x Intel Core i7-4770K 3.50GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - OEM £239.99
1 x Corsair Hydro H100i High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler (CW-9060009-WW) £99.95
1 x Gigabyte Z87M-D3H Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £95.99
1 x Corsair Obsidian 350D Windowed Micro ATX Case - Black (CC-9011029-WW) £94.99
1 x Corsair Vengeance Pro Blue 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-14900C9 1866MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (CMY8GX3M2A1866C9B) £85.99
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE120BW) £79.99
1 x Corsair Vengeance Pro Silver 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-14900C9 1866MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (CMY8GX3M2A1866C9) £73.99
1 x SuperFlower Golden Green HX 650W "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black £73.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD £59.99
1 x Corsair SP120 Quiet Series High Pressure Low Noise - Dual Pack (CO-9050006-WW) £25.99
1 x Samsung SE-S208DB/TSBS External Slimline 8x DVD-RW (TV Connect) - Black £21.98
1 x Corsair AF120 Quiet Edition Low Noise High Airflow - Dual Pack (CO-9050002-WW) £19.99
1 x BitFenix Alchemy Premium Modding LED Strip - Connect White 30cm £16.79
1 x Corsair AF120 Quiet Edition Low Noise High Airflow - Single Pack (CO-9050001-WW) £13.99
1 x BitFenix Alchemy 24pin ATX extension 30cm - Blue £8.99
2 x BitFenix SATA Cable 30cm - sleeved blue/black £8.99 (£17.98)
1 x BitFenix Alchemy 8pin PCI-E extension 45cm - Blue £6.98
1 x BitFenix Alchemy 6pin PCI-E extension 45cm - Blue £6.49
1 x BitFenix Alchemy 8pin EPS extension 45cm - Blue £5.99
2 x BitFenix Alchemy Molex to 3pin x3 Fan adaptor 7V 20cm - Blue £4.99 (£9.98)
Total : £1,451.40 (includes shipping : £17.85).

 
Last edited:
Ethermaster said:
I did do a spec :p

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte Radeon R9 290 OC WindForce 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (GV-R929OC-4GD) £369.95
1 x Intel Core i7-4770K 3.50GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - OEM £239.99
1 x Corsair Hydro H100i High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler (CW-9060009-WW) £99.95
1 x Corsair Obsidian 350D Windowed Micro ATX Case - Black (CC-9011029-WW) £94.99
1 x Corsair Vengeance Pro Blue 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-14900C9 1866MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (CMY8GX3M2A1866C9B) £85.99
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE120BW) £79.99
1 x Corsair Vengeance Pro Silver 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-14900C9 1866MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (CMY8GX3M2A1866C9) £73.99
1 x SuperFlower Golden Green HX 650W "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black £73.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD £59.99
1 x Corsair SP120 Quiet Series High Pressure Low Noise - Dual Pack (CO-9050006-WW) £25.99
1 x Samsung SE-S208DB/TSBS External Slimline 8x DVD-RW (TV Connect) - Black £21.98
1 x Corsair AF120 Quiet Edition Low Noise High Airflow - Dual Pack (CO-9050002-WW) £19.99
1 x BitFenix Alchemy Premium Modding LED Strip - Connect White 30cm £16.79
1 x Corsair AF120 Quiet Edition Low Noise High Airflow - Single Pack (CO-9050001-WW) £13.99
1 x BitFenix Alchemy 24pin ATX extension 30cm - Blue £8.99
2 x BitFenix SATA Cable 30cm - sleeved blue/black £8.99 (£17.98)
1 x BitFenix Alchemy 8pin PCI-E extension 45cm - Blue £6.98
1 x BitFenix Alchemy 6pin PCI-E extension 45cm - Blue £6.49
1 x BitFenix Alchemy 8pin EPS extension 45cm - Blue £5.99
2 x BitFenix Alchemy Molex to 3pin x3 Fan adaptor 7V 20cm - Blue £4.99 (£9.98)
Total : £1,355.41 (includes shipping : £17.85).

Click to expand...

I'm sorry to say this ether but you forgot the motherboard:p
 
Tohrazer said:
it was more in response to the 280x build suggestion (which for me personally, really doesn't make sense for a £1300 rig built for gaming)
Click to expand...

The reasoning behind it (and I don't mind if anyone disagrees at all) is because he'll be going XFire. Now, if he adds a second 290 he'd then be paying over a £100 more than he would for a second 280X. Wouldn't 2 x 280X be more than enough for all his gaming needs for a few years to come? I can't imagine that it wouldn't, personally. :)
 
Heres my input:
YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI Radeon R9 290 Gaming Edition 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £347.99
1 x Intel Core i7-4770K 3.50GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £245.99
1 x Samsung 250GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE250BW) £139.99
1 x Antec High Current Gamer 850W Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (0-761345-06225-1) £125.99
1 x MSI Z87-G45 Gaming Series Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £124.99
1 x Corsair Hydro H110 280mm High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler (CW-9060014-WW) £94.99
1 x NZXT H440 Mid Tower Case - Black £94.99
1 x Avexir Core Red Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U16000904G-2CIR) £59.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD £59.99
1 x Samsung SE-S208DB/TSBS External Slimline 8x DVD-RW (TV Connect) - Black £21.98
Total : £1,338.31 (includes shipping : £17.85).

 
Last edited:
ExtremeIC3cream said:
I'm sorry to say this ether but you forgot the motherboard:p
Click to expand...

I did wonder how he kept the price reasonable and only just over budget :)

ExtremeIC3cream said:
Heres my input:
YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte Radeon R9 290 OC WindForce 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (GV-R929OC-4GD) £369.95
1 x Intel Core i7-4770K 3.50GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £245.99
1 x Samsung 250GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE250BW) £139.99
1 x Antec High Current Gamer 850W Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (0-761345-06225-1) £125.99
1 x MSI Z87-G45 Gaming Series Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £124.99
1 x Corsair Hydro H110 280mm High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler (CW-9060014-WW) £94.99
1 x NZXT H440 Mid Tower Case - Black £94.99
1 x Avexir Core Red Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U16000904G-2CIR) £59.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD £59.99
1 x Samsung SE-S208DB/TSBS External Slimline 8x DVD-RW (TV Connect) - Black £21.98
Total : £1,360.27 (includes shipping : £17.85).

Click to expand...

The msi gaming edition cheaper and in colour scheme.
 
Last edited:
My turn... mines all white and green... pretty sweet build and a nice green lit mouse and keyboard to go with it. Did blow the budget slightly though!

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI Radeon R9 290 Gaming Edition 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £347.99
1 x Intel Core i7-4770K 3.50GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - OEM £239.99
1 x Gigabyte G1.Sniper Z87 Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £119.99
1 x Ducky DK-9087 Shine 3 TKL Mechanical Keyboard Black Cherry MX Switch - Green LED BackLight £109.99
1 x NZXT Hale Power 90+ 650W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £99.95
1 x NZXT H440 Mid Tower Case - White £94.99
1 x Silverstone Tundra Series TD02 Liquid CPU Cooler £89.99
1 x Avexir Venom Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17200C9 2133MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U21330904G-2CIG) - Green Light £79.99
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE120BW) £79.99
1 x Razer DeathAdder 2013 6400 DPI Essential Ergonomic Gaming Mouse £64.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD £59.99
Total : £1,410.77 (includes shipping : £19.10).

 
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