Very casual gaming PC & questions.

[WhyMoyes]

AMD Kaveri 7850K 12 Compute Core APU w/ Radeon R7 Graphics (4 CPU + 8 GPU Compute Cores) - Retail £119.99
(£99.99)
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02733) £84.95
(£70.79)
Asus A88XM-PLUS AMD A88X (Socket FM2+) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £56.99
(£47.49)
Kingston HyperX Predator 8GB (2x4GB) PC3-17066C11 2133MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (HX321C11T2K2/8) £56.99
(£47.49)
Kingston 120GB SSDNow V300 Drive SATA 6Gb/s 3 2.5" (7mm height) Solid State Hard Drive - (SV300S37A/120G) £49.99
(£41.66)
Corsair Builder Series CX 500W V2 '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020047-UK) £48.95
(£40.79)
Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache WD10EZEX - OEM ** Single Platter ** HDD £46.99
(£39.16)
Zalman Z3 Plus Midi-Tower - Black
(£33.29)
Raijintek Themis Direct Contact CPU Cooler £19.99
(£16.66)
Samsung SH-118BB/BEBE SATA 18x DVD-ROM (Black) - OEM £13.99
(£11.66)
Arctic Cooling MX-4 Thermal Compound (4g)

No idea how to do your basket either.

So it is for my current steam library which is not that heavy apart from PS2/EVE online but i always knock my games down to lowest settings because framerate>graphics.

I know that a CPU with a discreet GPU is better but i can save money on an APU and put it into different areas so for example the case/fan/memory/PSU i will keep if i ever do upgrade the CPU/mobo and GPU in the future.

Also not gaming that much now and newer games i have no intrest in so im not playing the latest AAA titles.

Q1 - I used the system conf but i find i can make a better bundle from getting the parts seperately, would OCUK still put it together for me and how would i go about this and what is the extra cost?

Q2 - Would the warranty still be with OCUK or the parts manufacturers?

Q3 - Is the build solid/compatible?

Thanks for answers/help

 

[stulid]

Hi,

Best to ask customer services about a price for a custom build for you and the warranty.


YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD Kaveri 7700K 10 Compute Core APU w/ Radeon R7 Graphics (4 CPU + 6 GPU Compute Cores) - Retail £99.95
1 x Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00614) £77.99
1 x Antec TruePower Classic 550w '80 Plus Gold' Power Supply £55.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Savage Red 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (HX324C11SRK2/8) £46.99
1 x SK Hynix 128GB SSD SH910A SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Drive (HFS128G32MNB-2201A) £44.99
1 x Toshiba (7K1000.D) 1TB SATA 6GB/s 32MB Cache - OEM (DT01ACA100) HDD £41.99
1 x Gigabyte F2A88XM-DS2 AMD A88X (Socket FM2+) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £40.99
1 x Antec VSP5000 Silenced Tower Case - Black £39.95
1 x Pioneer 24x Internal DVR-221LBK DVD Rewriter - OEM £14.99
1 x Raijintek Aidos Direct Contact CPU Cooler - Black £14.99
Total : £500.23 (includes shipping : £17.85).




A few changes,

Seasonic made PSU, better SSD, faster RAM.

 

[cheesyboy]

For any sort of gaming, I would go for a discrete GPU. A £65 250x coupled with a FX4300 and a Gigabyte 970a-DS3P would cost about £20 more but would be miles better at gaming. CPU side is pretty much equal with the 7850k (FX-4300 is a little better for gaming), and the GPU side is a long way ahead

Benchmark below. Note the 7770 (which is the same as a R7 250x) graphics score compared with the integrated graphics score of the 7850k;

more benchmarks, including games, in the link;
http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/t...-vs-intel-iris-pro-hybrid-cf-included.196944/

 

[tamzzy]

if you are not averse to going b-grade, this is my 2p.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Asus H81M-K Intel Core i5 DIY Micro ATX Motherboard, CPU & RAM Bundle £228.97
1 x Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00614) £77.99
1 x Crucial BX100 250GB SSD SATA 6Gbps 7mm Solid State Drive (CT250BX100SSD1) £76.99
1 x **B Grade** KFA2 GeForce GTX 660TI EX OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £59.99
1 x Antec VPF450 450W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £40.99
1 x Zalman T1 Plus Mini-Tower USB 3.0 - Black £19.99
1 x Pioneer 24x Internal DVR-221LBK DVD Rewriter - OEM £14.99
1 x Arctic F12 TC Case Fan - 120mm £3
Total : £537.01 (includes shipping : £11.75).



core i5 build + b-grade gtx 660ti
this will run absolute rings around any APU build despite costing only a wee bit more
i've not added in a secondary hard drive due to budget constraints, but there's a 256gb ssd included. imo that's the minimum-size ssd anyone should be aiming if they want an ssd

 

[WhyMoyes]

Hi,

Best to ask customer services about a price for a custom build for you and the warranty.


YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD Kaveri 7700K 10 Compute Core APU w/ Radeon R7 Graphics (4 CPU + 6 GPU Compute Cores) - Retail £99.95
1 x Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00614) £77.99
1 x Antec TruePower Classic 550w '80 Plus Gold' Power Supply £55.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Savage Red 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (HX324C11SRK2/8) £46.99
1 x SK Hynix 128GB SSD SH910A SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Drive (HFS128G32MNB-2201A) £44.99
1 x Toshiba (7K1000.D) 1TB SATA 6GB/s 32MB Cache - OEM (DT01ACA100) HDD £41.99
1 x Gigabyte F2A88XM-DS2 AMD A88X (Socket FM2+) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £40.99
1 x Antec VSP5000 Silenced Tower Case - Black £39.95
1 x Pioneer 24x Internal DVR-221LBK DVD Rewriter - OEM £14.99
1 x Raijintek Aidos Direct Contact CPU Cooler - Black £14.99
Total : £500.23 (includes shipping : £17.85).




A few changes,

Seasonic made PSU, better SSD, faster RAM.

Cheers

The RAM i let at 2133 since it is what the CPU/mobo supports and any faster doesn't add that much of an improvement overall.

SSD wise really i should knock it down to 60gb or even 30, i plan on using it for the OS and maybe the odd game that i may play a lot but even then i may leave it on the HDD.

PSU - wouldn't 500w cut it? It doesn't seem that power intensive.

For any sort of gaming, I would go for a discrete GPU. A £65 250x coupled with a FX4300 and a Gigabyte 970a-DS3P would cost about £20 more but would be miles better at gaming. CPU side is pretty much equal with the 7850k (FX-4300 is a little better for gaming), and the GPU side is a long way ahead

Benchmark below. Note the 7770 (which is the same as a R7 250x) graphics score compared with the integrated graphics score of the 7850k;

more benchmarks, including games, in the link;
http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/t...-vs-intel-iris-pro-hybrid-cf-included.196944/

I have gone back and forth with myself with this, should i go for an APU or should i go for CPU and discrete GPU. Right now i am not PC gaming as much and possibly i may even do it less but i need something that can safety run what games i log on now and again. Also budget wise plays into it, i am looking around the £500 mark but also because i do plan to build my own PC in the future so what i have now such as the case/OS/SSD/HDD/RAM/PSU etc i can then just change the CPU/mobo and get a GPU if any games do intrest me in the future, what games i have now will run on an AMD APU fine.

if you are not averse to going b-grade, this is my 2p.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Asus H81M-K Intel Core i5 DIY Micro ATX Motherboard, CPU & RAM Bundle £228.97
1 x Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00614) £77.99
1 x Crucial BX100 250GB SSD SATA 6Gbps 7mm Solid State Drive (CT250BX100SSD1) £76.99
1 x **B Grade** KFA2 GeForce GTX 660TI EX OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £59.99
1 x Antec VPF450 450W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £40.99
1 x Zalman T1 Plus Mini-Tower USB 3.0 - Black £19.99
1 x Pioneer 24x Internal DVR-221LBK DVD Rewriter - OEM £14.99
1 x Arctic F12 TC Case Fan - 120mm £3
Total : £537.01 (includes shipping : £11.75).



core i5 build + b-grade gtx 660ti
this will run absolute rings around any APU build despite costing only a wee bit more
i've not added in a secondary hard drive due to budget constraints, but there's a 256gb ssd included. imo that's the minimum-size ssd anyone should be aiming if they want an ssd

B Grade? Is that second hand? I can't say i have looked at it tbh, i'm not sure.

Also how do you do Your Basket all in order with yellow prices?

Thanks

 

[tamzzy]

I have gone back and forth with myself with this, should i go for an APU or should i go for CPU and discrete GPU. Right now i am not PC gaming as much and possibly i may even do it less but i need something that can safety run what games i log on now and again. Also budget wise plays into it, i am looking around the £500 mark but also because i do plan to build my own PC in the future so what i have now such as the case/OS/SSD/HDD/RAM/PSU etc i can then just change the CPU/mobo and get a GPU if any games do intrest me in the future, what games i have now will run on an AMD APU fine.

or get a proper rig (like the one i suggested) and don't worry about upgrading in the (near) future? ;p

B Grade? Is that second hand? I can't say i have looked at it tbh, i'm not sure.

OCUK description of b-grade items:
"Below is the original description for this product, any reference to warranty is to be ignored. Warranty for this item is 90 days as with all B Grade items.
B Grade items may have been used, have damaged packaging, missing accessories or a combination of these.
Some items may have scuff marks or slight scratches but should otherwise be an operable product."

the 660ti would cost approx £110-120 new (price pro-rated to current available graphics cards based on performance), so a 40-50% discount for a b-grade item i would consider a pretty decent trade-off.

of course it depends on how much you value warranty

 

[WhyMoyes]

or get a proper rig (like the one i suggested) and don't worry about upgrading in the (near) future? ;p

OCUK description of b-grade items:
"Below is the original description for this product, any reference to warranty is to be ignored. Warranty for this item is 90 days as with all B Grade items.
B Grade items may have been used, have damaged packaging, missing accessories or a combination of these.
Some items may have scuff marks or slight scratches but should otherwise be an operable product."

the 660ti would cost approx £110-120 new (price pro-rated to current available graphics cards based on performance), so a 40-50% discount for a b-grade item i would consider a pretty decent trade-off.

of course it depends on how much you value warranty

I find it a waste if i got a decent gaming PC and didn't use it to its full potential, sure it is there but any money saved means i could upgrade in the near future anyways. It is as short as it is long, either get it now or wait.

I value warranty

 

[tamzzy]

sure it is there but any money saved means i could upgrade in the near future anyways

i agree, except in this case (cpmparing the 3 specs) the price differential is marginal.

I value warranty

all new:
YOUR BASKET
1 x Asus H81M-K Intel Core i5 DIY Micro ATX Motherboard, CPU & RAM Bundle £228.97
1 x Sapphire Radeon R7 260X OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (11222-06-20G) £89.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00614) £77.99
1 x Seagate SSHD 7200RPM 3.5" 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DX001) SSHD Hybrid Drive £62.99
1 x Antec VPF450 450W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £40.99
1 x Zalman T1 Plus Mini-Tower USB 3.0 - Black £19.99
1 x Pioneer 24x Internal DVR-221LBK DVD Rewriter - OEM £14.99
1 x Arctic F12 TC Case Fan - 120mm £3
Total : £553.01 (includes shipping : £11.75).



b grade 660ti -> 260x
250gb ssd -> 1tb hybrid drive

 

[WhyMoyes]

i agree, except in this case (cpmparing the 3 specs) the price differential is marginal.



all new:
YOUR BASKET
1 x Asus H81M-K Intel Core i5 DIY Micro ATX Motherboard, CPU & RAM Bundle £228.97
1 x Sapphire Radeon R7 260X OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (11222-06-20G) £89.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00614) £77.99
1 x Seagate SSHD 7200RPM 3.5" 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DX001) SSHD Hybrid Drive £62.99
1 x Antec VPF450 450W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £40.99
1 x Zalman T1 Plus Mini-Tower USB 3.0 - Black £19.99
1 x Pioneer 24x Internal DVR-221LBK DVD Rewriter - OEM £14.99
1 x Arctic F12 TC Case Fan - 120mm £3
Total : £553.01 (includes shipping : £11.75).



b grade 660ti -> 260x
250gb ssd -> 1tb hybrid drive

So basically what you are saying is spend a bit more and you get more with it also being future proof for a bit. While Intel is a more expensive it does seem that you have to get an i5 since 4 cores is minimum these days but also a discrete GPU which adds more on and i could drop down to AMD for the CPU but i have read that Intel is in better shape for future compared to AMD.

Why a hybrid drive? It has a small section for SSD but is it enough for an OS and any future patches?

Everything has gone back up into the air now.

 

[tamzzy]

well, yes but not quite.

if my calculations are correct, the spec that you posted is £550 (with shipping)
stulid's spec is £500

depending on which spec you choose to compare with, you're:
(a) not really spending more money, you're getting better value for money
(b) spending slightly more, for something that'll perform better or last longer (technology-wise rather than product failure - that's down to luck lol)

the only downside to the i5 build is that it's non-overclockable, but even so, it doesn't need to be overclocked to run rings around an overclocked AMD APU build, and as above, you don't save much going down an APU build

hybrid drives are a ssd+hdd combo - except that the ssd is invisible to the user - the firmware in the hybrid drive determines which files get used the most and writes it to the ssd cache (8gb of it)
as someone who has used them before, it gives the best of both worlds (anecdotally i would say around 70% of the benefits of a ssd)

 

[stulid]

SSHD are useless (and yes I have had them), no replacement for a true SSD.

Spend more on the better quality PSU and a better case that has more room in it for upgrades, more fans fitted as standard and a better overall construction.

 

[WhyMoyes]

well, yes but not quite.

if my calculations are correct, the spec that you posted is £550 (with shipping)
stulid's spec is £500

depending on which spec you choose to compare with, you're:
(a) not really spending more money, you're getting better value for money
(b) spending slightly more, for something that'll perform better or last longer (technology-wise rather than product failure - that's down to luck lol)

the only downside to the i5 build is that it's non-overclockable, but even so, it doesn't need to be overclocked to run rings around an overclocked AMD APU build, and as above, you don't save much going down an APU build

hybrid drives are a ssd+hdd combo - except that the ssd is invisible to the user - the firmware in the hybrid drive determines which files get used the most and writes it to the ssd cache (8gb of it)
as someone who has used them before, it gives the best of both worlds (anecdotally i would say around 70% of the benefits of a ssd)

TBH i'm not looking at overclocking at all but even so the i5 runs rings around all the AMD APU and FX series mostly.

I totally understand the point of spending a bit more for future proof than say getting an APU and possibly finding out that in 2-3 years i need to upgrade which i could have done now with an i5 for example and would'nt be in that position in the future because overall the package is better.

SSHD are useless (and yes I have had them), no replacement for a true SSD.

Spend more on the better quality PSU and a better case that has more room in it for upgrades, more fans fitted as standard and a better overall construction.

So really it is best to get an SSD and HDD.

The Z3 plus case seems pretty good, i think i comes with 5 fans as standard which should be enough since im not even overclocking, it also is ATX sie i think too. I thought it would be fine really but what would you recommend?

 

[stulid]

Yes I strongly reckon a proper SSD and/or HDD is better.

The Zalman Z3 is ok, a bit old now mind you.

 

[WhyMoyes]

Intel Core i5-4460 3.20GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £154.99
(£129.16)
MSI Radeon R9 270 Gaming Edition OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £129.95
(£108.29)
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02733) £84.95
(£70.79)
Asrock H97 Pro4 Intel H97 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £67.99
(£56.66)
SuperFlower Golden Green HX 550W "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black £59.99
(£49.99)
Kingston HyperX Predator 8GB (2x4GB) PC3-17066C11 2133MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (HX321C11T2K2/8) £56.99
(£47.49)
Kingston 120GB SSDNow V300 Drive SATA 6Gb/s 3 2.5" (7mm height) Solid State Hard Drive - (SV300S37A/120G) £49.99
(£41.66) £49.99
(£41.66)
Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache WD10EZEX - OEM ** Single Platter ** HDD £46.99
(£39.16)
Zalman Z9 Plus Tower Case with Fan Controller - Black £44.99
(£37.49)
Raijintek Themis Direct Contact CPU Cooler £19.99
(£16.66)
Samsung SH-118BB/BEBE SATA 18x DVD-ROM (Black) - OEM £13.99(£11.66)
Arctic Cooling MX-4 Thermal Compound (4g)
(£7.49) £8.99


So basically i have dropped the APU and AMD in general for a more solid longer lasting build.

Since the CPU memory type is 1333-1600 i'm not sure if i should go with faster memory if the CPU doesn't support it even if the mobo does.

SSD for the OS but i could drop that down to 60/30GB.

PSU no idea tbh and GPU looks good.

Any thoughts?

 

[stulid]

Looks wrong.

DVD ROM so you cant burn disks.

Slow GFX card for the money.

Slow SSD which isnt as good as its numbers suggest, go see the Anandtech article about bait+switch.

Motherboard that costs more than a Z97 one.


----------------------------------------------------------

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-4460 3.20GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £154.99
1 x **B Grade** Gigabyte Radeon R9 280X Rev2.0 WindForce 3X OC 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with Battlefie (GX-122-GI) £89.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00614) £77.99
1 x Gigabyte Z97P-D3 Intel Z97 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £62.99
1 x Antec TruePower Classic 550w '80 Plus Gold' Power Supply £55.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Savage Red 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (HX324C11SRK2/8) £46.99
1 x SK Hynix 128GB SSD SH910A SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Drive (HFS128G32MNB-2201A) £44.99
1 x Toshiba (7K1000.D) 1TB SATA 6GB/s 32MB Cache - OEM (DT01ACA100) HDD £41.99
1 x Antec VSP5000 Silenced Tower Case - Black £39.95
1 x Pioneer 24x Internal DVR-221LBK DVD Rewriter - OEM £14.99
Total : £645.85 (includes shipping : £12.50).

 

[ClubFoot]

Get a K processor.

The 4670k and 4690k are only a few £ more and you can OC most of them to 4.5 GHz and beyond.

 

[WhyMoyes]

Looks wrong.

DVD ROM so you cant burn disks.

Slow GFX card for the money.

Slow SSD which isnt as good as its numbers suggest, go see the Anandtech article about bait+switch.

Motherboard that costs more than a Z97 one.


----------------------------------------------------------

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-4460 3.20GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £154.99
1 x **B Grade** Gigabyte Radeon R9 280X Rev2.0 WindForce 3X OC 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with Battlefie (GX-122-GI) £89.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00614) £77.99
1 x Gigabyte Z97P-D3 Intel Z97 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £62.99
1 x Antec TruePower Classic 550w '80 Plus Gold' Power Supply £55.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Savage Red 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (HX324C11SRK2/8) £46.99
1 x SK Hynix 128GB SSD SH910A SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Drive (HFS128G32MNB-2201A) £44.99
1 x Toshiba (7K1000.D) 1TB SATA 6GB/s 32MB Cache - OEM (DT01ACA100) HDD £41.99
1 x Antec VSP5000 Silenced Tower Case - Black £39.95
1 x Pioneer 24x Internal DVR-221LBK DVD Rewriter - OEM £14.99
Total : £645.85 (includes shipping : £12.50).

I value warranty so i prob wouldn't bother with B series.

SSD i just want for the OS.

As for the Z97 that is for OC right? I don't plan on OC the CPU but generally it is better than a H97 mobo?

Why a different case?

Get a K processor.

The 4670k and 4690k are only a few £ more and you can OC most of them to 4.5 GHz and beyond.

I don't plan on OC, also i don't know how to either but i do know that even if you do not OC you can always learn and do it later on to extend your PC life if you need to.


Cheers for the answers.

 

[stulid]

Z97 is better than H97, it just happens to also support overclocking, but hey, if you want to waste your money, go for it.

The SSD numbers are better, its also cheaper, but again, buy the V300 if you want it.

the case is a newer design, its a recent release and has plenty of space inside, quiet and there is a forum rep to help if you have issues.

 

[ClubFoot]

I don't plan on OC, also i don't know how to either but i do know that even if you do not OC you can always learn and do it later on to extend your PC life

You just go into the BIOS and tweak a few numbers -- thousands of guides out there and on this forum. I'm just recommending it because you are paying the same price for less when the CPU is the most integral part of a system.

OC'ing doesn't degrade the life of the CPU that much (only if you run ridiculously high vcore). By overclocking you will in a way extend its life by keeping it up to speed with the latest processors down the line PLUS no one keeps the same system over 4-5 years anyway

 

[WhyMoyes]

Z97 is better than H97, it just happens to also support overclocking, but hey, if you want to waste your money, go for it.

The SSD numbers are better, its also cheaper, but again, buy the V300 if you want it.

the case is a newer design, its a recent release and has plenty of space inside, quiet and there is a forum rep to help if you have issues.

Okay.

You just go into the BIOS and tweak a few numbers -- thousands of guides out there and on this forum. I'm just recommending it because you are paying the same price for less when the CPU is the most integral part of a system.

OC'ing doesn't degrade the life of the CPU that much (only if you run ridiculously high vcore). By overclocking you will in a way extend its life by keeping it up to speed with the latest processors down the line PLUS no one keeps the same system over 4-5 years anyway

Okay, frankly i can OC later down the line if it needs to keep anyways and i don't have to do it now.