New gaming build for around £800?

bobboberts

bobboberts

bobboberts

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Hi folks

After 6 years of relatively-faithful service, I have decided it is time to look to go for a new build. My current system is as follows:

Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache
OcUK GeForce 8800 GTX 768MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express)
Corsair XMS2 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 PC2-6400C5 TwinX Dual Channel
Intel Pentium Dual-Core E2200 "LGA775 Core 2" 2.20GHz (800FSB)
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-Bit
Tuniq Tower 120-LFB CPU Cooler
Pioneer DVR-212DBK 18x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer ReWriter
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio 7.1 Sound Card
Antec 900 Nine Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case - Black
Corsair HX 620W ATX Modular SLI Compliant Power Supply
Abit IP35-E (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
Western Digital Caviar Blue 250GB SATA-II 16MB Cache
Click to expand...

Is anything worth saving? My initial thinking would be case/PSU/DVD drive/sound card, but then again maybe a 6-year old PSU isn't worth risking in something new, and perhaps there are better sound cards out there that will output 5.1 (the X-Fi never did on Vista over optical due to a never-fixed driver issue).

Anyway, ideally I'd like to keep thinks to around £800, but can stretch a bit further if needed. It will be used for 1080p gaming, no higher resolution than that and if we are going for a wishlist, then I'd like it to be relatively quiet and run low temps.

Considering that build up above was about the last time I looked into anything PC-wise, I'm well and truly out of the loop, so all suggestions welcome!
 
Funny, I just did a build a couple days ago, first one since 2006, so maybe a little longer than you? It cam in just over £800 so similar budget.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i7-4770K 3.50GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £239.99
1 x NZXT Phantom 530 Full Tower Gaming Case - Black £104.99
1 x EVGA SuperNova NEX 650W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £95.99
1 x Pioneer BDR-208EBK 15x BluRay RW / 16x DVD±RW 128GB - Retail £85.99
1 x Gigabyte Z87-HD3 Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £82.99
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE120BW) £79.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Predator 8GB (2x4GB) PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (KHX24C11T2K2/8X) £71.99
1 x Corsair Hydro H60 V2 High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler £59.99
Total : £836.92 (includes shipping : £12.50).




Now, with that said, some changes will need made.

So, I don't know if there is really any need for an i7 for a gaming machine? So you COULD go i5 and save some money there. You can keep the case, so that's another £100 saved too. There are some changes made here, and I would keep the HDD, case & DVD. I think the onboard sound would be good enough for now.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Powercolor Radeon R9 270X DEVIL 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £169.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £169.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77X-UD3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £136.99
1 x Corsair Hydro H100i High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler (CW-9060009-WW) £99.95
1 x Corsair RM Series RM 750 '80+ Gold' 750W Power Supply (CP-9020055-UK) £89.99
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE120BW) £79.99
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan RED 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLD38G2400HC11CDC01) £65.99
Total : £822.49 (includes shipping : £8.00).

 
Any reason why you specced this with old ivy?
Haswell prices are similar so why go for old tech.
And at this price you can get a gpu from better manufacturer.
Gigabyte makes r9 270x for 162£ with Battlefield 4 included.
No need to go for 750w psu as well, it's an overkill here.
550w is more than enough.
Same for the h100. I would put a good air cooler there, would save some good 50£ on that.
 
I was meaning to spec it with a Haswell, and MB compatible, but had a blonde moment.

The GPU comes with BF4, but 3 other games too, plus a controller, if that interests you at all? But £8 for 3 games aint bad.

Fair point about the PSU right enough, but why stress it too much? He's looking for quiet and cool, so lower fan speeds?

And as he is wanting cool, hence the h100. Should keep it all pretty cool.

The budget is there for these little upgrades that'll help keep the rig cooler and quieter surely?
 
I'll post my choice when I get back home in the morning.
And about psu, I had an overclocked i7 3770k and sli x 2 gtx660ti and still room for more, without stressing the psu.
Thats why there is no reason for 750w.
 
Last edited:
 
YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - OEM £161.99
1 x MSI Radeon R9 270X HAWK OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £155.99
1 x Gigabyte G1.Sniper Z87 Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £109.99
1 x SuperFlower Golden Green HX 650W "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black £79.99
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE120BW) £79.99
1 x Avexir Venom Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U16000904G-2CIG) - Green Light £71.99
1 x BitFenix Ronin Tower Case - Black £69.95
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £43.99
1 x Raijintek EreBoss High Performance CPU Cooler £29.99
Total : £813.47 (includes shipping : £8.00).




I would go with that, G1 comes with a great sound card, GPU should be enough for 1080p, but if you could add a bit to get a 770GTX which costs £230 that would be ideal.
 
I can up the budget to £9-950 (which I'll need to do I guess as I need an OS too, though won't need mouse/KB). Is it worth going for an R280? I've seen that card recommended a lot.

And I wasn't planning to necessarily go for SSD and instead have a bigger SATA instead.

Also, I've seen this MB comes with a free cooler: Gigabyte Z87X-UD4H Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard with *FREE COOLERMASTER SEIDON 120V COOLER for £7 more. Is that worth going for?
 
Keep your HDD so you don't have to buy another one, giving you the option of an SSD:

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI Radeon R9 280X Gaming Edition OC 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £245.99
1 x Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £167.99
1 x MSI Z87-G43 Gaming Series Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £92.99
1 x SuperFlower Leadex GOLD 650W Fully Modular "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black £89.99
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan RED 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLD38G2400HC11CDC01) £65.99
1 x Toshiba SSD HG5D Series THNSNH 7mm 60GB Solid State Hard Drive - (THNSNH060GCST) £64.99
1 x NZXT Source 210 Elite Midi Tower Case - Black £39.95
1 x Deepcool GAMMAXX 300 CPU-Cooler - 120mm £16.99
Total : £799.87 (includes shipping : £12.50).



Few pointers xm2man
- i7 - totally not needed for gaming & running single cards, 4670k will be more than adequate
- CPU Cooler - CLC/IAO not required, you can get a nice air cooler which is just as good for 1/2 the price
- PSU - 750 is overkill for single card setup, I would also stay away from the CS/CM series, they tend to be poor quality since changing the vendor
- Your final spec - you have given a 4770k (4th gen) and a z77 board (3rd gen) this wouldn't work, they are totally incompatible!

*Update*

Since you have updated your budget, I have gone micro ATX

- Smart case
- OS included
- Moterboard will give you nice overclocking potential

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI Radeon R9 280X Gaming Edition OC 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £245.99
1 x Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £167.99
1 x MSI Z87M Gaming Series Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £119.99
1 x SuperFlower Leadex GOLD 650W Fully Modular "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black £89.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00614) £74.99
1 x Aero Cool Dead Silence Gaming Red Mini Tower Windowed £72.95
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan RED 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLD38G2400HC11CDC01) £65.99
1 x Toshiba SSD HG5D Series THNSNH 7mm 60GB Solid State Hard Drive - (THNSNH060GCST) £64.99
1 x Deepcool GAMMAXX 300 CPU-Cooler - 120mm £16.99
Total : £934.86 (includes shipping : £12.50).

 
Last edited:
This is all very useful stuff, thanks (and keep it coming!)

Is there anything fundamentally wrong with my current case that would make getting a new one a necessity?
 
If you want to keep you case, and your hard drive I would go with this, awesome price for a 290, got a greenish theme, motherboard has great built in sound.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte Radeon R9 290 OC WindForce 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (GV-R929OC-4GD) £329.99
1 x Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - OEM £161.99
1 x Gigabyte G1.Sniper Z87 Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £109.99
1 x Corsair Hydro H105 Extreme Performance Liquid CPU Cooler (CW-9060016-WW ) £93.95
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE120BW) £79.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00614) £74.99
1 x Avexir Venom Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U16000904G-2CIG) - Green Light £71.99
Total : £932.48 (includes shipping : £8.00).

 
Well I don't need to be totally cutting-edge in the GPU department, so I think for the moment an R290 might be more than I need. Also, I'm not sure a liquid cooler will fit in my Antec case (it has a 240mm fan in the roof)?

The more I look at stuff, the more confused I get! The most current PC game I have is Bioshock Infinite. What would do that game justice at 1080p/60?
 
6 years old.

I'm caught in two minds here; part of me wants to go for a full upgrade, part of me wants to perhaps go for a modest upgrade that allows me the possibility to buy a newer GPU down the line.

To perhaps ground this query a bit better, other than Bioshock Infinite, the most demanding PC title I have is probably Napoleon: Total War, where battles can be a slideshow at medium settings currently. Mind you, I'm not sure where I could reduce stuff to make an incremental upgrade (other than losing the SSD).
 
You can reuse your case, maybe get some new fans if the current ones are to noisy. You could also use the HX620 and save £50.

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI Radeon R9 280X Gaming Edition OC 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £245.99
1 x Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £167.99
1 x Gigabyte Z87-HD3 Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £82.99
1 x Kingston 120GB SSDNow V300 Drive SATA 6Gb/s 3 2.5" (7mm height) Solid State Hard Drive - (SV300S37A/120G) £59.99
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan ORANGE 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLAD38G2400HC11CDC01) £55.99
1 x SuperFlower Amazon 550W "80 Plus Bronze" Power Supply £49.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £43.99
1 x Deepcool GAMMAXX S40 CPU-Cooler - 120mm £19.99
Total : £736.52 (includes shipping : £8.00).

 
bobboberts said:
Is it wise to use a 6-year old PSU though?
Click to expand...

It does have a Seasonic OEM.
I would seriously doubt the Psu has ever been at full load or stressed, looking at you current build. You could d/load and run HWMonitor, it`s not a 100% accurate, but will give you some idea if it is still within it`s voltage tolerances.
 
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