£1k Gaming Build - advice please

hughtrimble · 18 Dec 2014 at 13:34

Afternoon all,

This is a build for a family member, who would like to keep it below 1k. There are no requirements regarding silent operation or space, and he will not be overclocking, hence my choice of a non 'k' variant processor and no need for LEDs or colour coordination. The games involved are things like Rome 2 Total War, DayZ and Arma 3, and he's not a graphics perfection chaser (as is implied by the relatively low budget).

Essentially everything needs to be bought, excluding a screen. I realise some of the options are out of stock currently, but c'est la vie.

Any suggestions or recommendations would be lovely, as would any guidance as to whether it is all compatible.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Zotac GeForce GTX 970 Gaming Edition 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (ZT-90101-10P) £259.99
1 x Intel Core i5-4690 3.50GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £169.99
1 x Samsung 250GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE250BW) £104.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Beast 8GB (2x4GB) PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (HX324C11T3K2/8) £79.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00614) £77.99
1 x MSI Z97-G43 Intel Z97 (Socket 1150) ATX Motherboard £69.95
1 x CM Storm Quickfire TK Mechanical Keyboard - Red Switch £69.95
1 x SuperFlower Golden Green HX 550W "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black £59.99
1 x Razer DeathAdder 2013 6400 DPI Essential Ergonomic Gaming Mouse £47.99
1 x Raijintek Agos Midi Tower - White £39.95
1 x Raijintek Themis Black Heatpipe CPU Cooler PWM - 120mm £19.99
1 x LG 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM GH24NSC0.AUAA10B £13.99
Total : £1,029.76 (includes shipping : £12.50).

stulid · 18 Dec 2014 at 13:35

Hi,

Try and get a K series CPU.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Zotac GeForce GTX 970 Gaming Edition 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (ZT-90101-10P) £259.99
1 x Intel Core i5-4690K 3.50GHz (Devil's Canyon) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £185.99
1 x Gigabyte Z97X-SLI Intel Z97 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £92.99
1 x SK Hynix 256GB SSD SH910A SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Drive (HFS256G32MNB-2201A) £84.98
1 x Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00614) £77.99
1 x CM Storm Quickfire TK Mechanical Keyboard - Red Switch £69.95
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan RED 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLRED38G2400HC11CDC01) £65.99
1 x SuperFlower Golden Green HX 550W "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black £59.99
1 x Ozone Neon Laser Gaming Mouse - Red £39.95
1 x Raijintek Agos Midi Tower - White £39.95
1 x Raijintek Themis Black Heatpipe CPU Cooler PWM - 120mm £19.99
1 x Asus 24x DVD±RW DRW-24F1ST SATA ReWriter - Black (Retail) £13.99
Total : £1,033.16 (includes shipping : £17.85).

Get £22.50 cashback with the "K" and board - http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18637856

A R9 290 will also save money and still make a great gaming PC,

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI Radeon R9 290X Lightning Edition 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £239.99
1 x MSI Radeon R9 290 Gaming Edition 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £227.99
Total : £477.58 (includes shipping : £8.00).

The MSI in particular is special and it is a 290X.

hughtrimble · 18 Dec 2014 at 13:42

stulid said:
Hi,

Try and get a K series CPU.

Hi Stulid,

Thank you for the new basket of goodies. He's not interested in overclocking, thus would rather save the few quid on a non-K variant.

Also, he won't bother with cash back due to the hoops you need to jump through and the time that takes (he'd rather let them keep the £25 and he gets to keep the time).

Thank you again

EDIT: That GPU does look rather good for the price. Thank you for the heads up

stulid · 18 Dec 2014 at 13:43

Fair enough.

I added some alternative cards that will save £££ and one is actually faster.

Did he need a HDD?

hughtrimble · 18 Dec 2014 at 13:46

stulid said:
Fair enough.

I added some alternative cards that will save £££ and one is actually faster.

Did he need a HDD?

Thank you for those GPUs.

I've stuck in an SSD as I think 250GB will suffice for gaming. I imagine he can take over his old HDD which is likely stuffed full with pictures. Are there likely to be any compatibility issues with a 5yr old HDD and this new machine? It was a retail gaming machine from somewhere like Curry's/PC World.

stulid · 18 Dec 2014 at 13:46

As long as its SATA and not IDE it should be ok.

hughtrimble · 18 Dec 2014 at 13:47

stulid said:
As long as its SATA and not IDE it should be ok.

Cheers I'll find out when I get to dismantle it!

Thank you again for your help

Audigex · 18 Dec 2014 at 14:12

IMO there's very little reason to use an air cooler nowadays - closed loop water coolers are quieter both due to needing lower fan speed, and being able to remove one fan entirely since they double up as an exhaust.

They're more effective at cooling the CPU and also keep ambient temperatures in the case down due to the fact they immediately expel the CPU heat: overall this is better for your other components, plus keeps the noise down.

And while I'm picking over small things does he really need a DVD drive? Even assuming you can't steal one from his old build, they seem pointless: mine has been unplugged for a couple of years now, and my home server and two other PC's in my house don't have one at all. Unless he watches actual DVDs on his PC, he can use a USB thumb drive for virtually anything else. That extra £15 can pay for a water cooler

hughtrimble · 18 Dec 2014 at 14:16

Audigex said:
IMO there's very little reason to use an air cooler nowadays - closed loop water coolers are quieter both due to needing lower fan speed, and being able to remove one fan entirely since they double up as an exhaust.

They're more effective at cooling the CPU and also keep ambient temperatures in the case down due to the fact they immediately expel the CPU heat: overall this is better for your other components, plus keeps the noise down.

I use a Corsair H100i on mine, but that is for the purposes of overclocking and noise reduction. He's not fussed by noise and is not interested in overclocking.

Are there any closed loop CPU coolers that are within budget that you can think of? It would be nice to incorporate if possible.

EDIT: I was thinking the same about the DVD drive! I don't have one on mine as all mine are DLC, however his games such as Rome are on DVD, so it's needed. Salvage is indeed an option though.

stulid · 18 Dec 2014 at 14:20

Cheapest AIO is £40 and thats pre-order, next instock is £45.

I dont think one is needed.

I just made it cheaper,

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI Radeon R9 290X Lightning Edition 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £239.99
1 x Intel Core i5-4670 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £164.99
1 x SK Hynix 256GB SSD SH910A SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Drive (HFS256G32MNB-2201A) £84.98
1 x Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00614) £77.99
1 x MSI H97 PC Mate Intel H97 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £67.99
1 x SuperFlower Golden Green HX 550W "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black £59.99
1 x Avexir Core Blue Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U16001104G-2CW) - Blue Light £59.99
1 x Antec GX300 Combat Ready Windowed Midi Tower Gaming Case £44.99
1 x CM Storm Devastator Gaming Bundle - USB Keyboard & Mouse £29.99
1 x Raijintek Themis Black Heatpipe CPU Cooler PWM - 120mm £19.99
Total : £865.88 (includes shipping : £12.50).

Blue apart from the gfx card.

Audigex · 18 Dec 2014 at 14:29

If he's not bothered by noise or overclocking an air cooler will do fine: most people are happy to reduce noise, though, and for the sake of £10 or £20 on a £1000 build, reducing the heat in the case is never a bad thing

With the DVD drive, I'd definitely look at stealing the one from his current rig: but he could rip his games to ISO files and store them on his HDD, then just mount them in a virtual DVD drive: if nothing else, it's faster and means you can leave the disks in their boxes. I do this for most of my CD based games nowadays, although 99% of mine are downloaded nowadays.

McGraw · 18 Dec 2014 at 14:48

Get a K please. All those games are heavily cpu dependant and if he changes his mind he has the option.

Running an XMP profile for ram is overclocking.

lee32uk · 18 Dec 2014 at 15:29

Audigex said:
IMO there's very little reason to use an air cooler nowadays - closed loop water coolers are quieter both due to needing lower fan speed, and being able to remove one fan entirely since they double up as an exhaust.

They're more effective at cooling the CPU and also keep ambient temperatures in the case down due to the fact they immediately expel the CPU heat: overall this is better for your other components, plus keeps the noise down.

And while I'm picking over small things does he really need a DVD drive? Even assuming you can't steal one from his old build, they seem pointless: mine has been unplugged for a couple of years now, and my home server and two other PC's in my house don't have one at all. Unless he watches actual DVDs on his PC, he can use a USB thumb drive for virtually anything else. That extra £15 can pay for a water cooler

A good air cooler (Noctua, BeQuiet etc) will be quieter than any AIO as you have the added noise from the pump with a sealed water cooler. My BeQuiet Dark Rock 2 fan spins at about 700 RPM and is very quiet even when Gaming. That is with an i5 3570K.

As the op is running a non 'k' cpu then a £20 cooler will be more than enough. A locked i5 doesn't need a water cooler.

Doomedspeed · 18 Dec 2014 at 15:40

lee32uk said:
A good air cooler (Noctua, BeQuiet etc) will be quieter than any AIO as you have the added noise from the pump with a sealed water cooler. My BeQuiet Dark Rock 2 fan spins at about 700 RPM and is very quiet even when Gaming. That is with an i5 3570K.

As the op is running a non 'k' cpu then a £20 cooler will be more than enough. A locked i5 doesn't need a water cooler.

You could even run a locked i5 on stock (it would be noisy-ish, but you could).

For the extra £20, id be looking at the K series. When i first got my PC iwasn't in Overclocking (never thought i would be) but the more i read and sawabout it the more i wanted to try it, so i was glad a had a capable chip (2500k).

hughtrimble · 18 Dec 2014 at 16:29

Thank you all for taking the time to give advice and suggestions - I really do appreciate it.

I can guarantee he won't overclock - he has no interest whatsoever in computers, how they work or why they do what they do; his only concern is that the games run smoothly and at a relatively decent graphics level.

The Raijintek cooler was just an option, and I'll ask further as to what he'd prefer in terms of reducing the overall temperature of the internals. I'd actually forgotten that CPUs come with stock coolers!

Thank you again for all your help.

McGraw · 18 Dec 2014 at 16:43

hughtrimble said:
Thank you all for taking the time to give advice and suggestions - I really do appreciate it.

I can guarantee he won't overclock - he has no interest whatsoever in computers, how they work or why they do what they do; his only concern is that the games run smoothly and at a relatively decent graphics level.

The Raijintek cooler was just an option, and I'll ask further as to what he'd prefer in terms of reducing the overall temperature of the internals. I'd actually forgotten that CPUs come with stock coolers!

Thank you again for all your help.

He might start caring when his game performance isn't what he was expecting despite not having ultra graphics settings.

For a tiny % of the budget he has the choice in the future of overclocking instead of upgrading.

My dad's 5 year old i5 is about to be overclocked. We weren't going to go for an overclockable motherboard but I was convinced on here.

Now he can get around an extra ghz free for arma.

If he buys locked stuff he can't change his mind...just make sure he makes his decision on the facts, not on his current mindset of not being interested in computers.

Audigex · 18 Dec 2014 at 17:00

McGraw raises a valid point: an extra £20 now on overclockable components can get you an extra year of life before it needs an upgrade, even if you don't overclock until the machine starts to feel slow