£750 Build

nine_tails

nine_tails

nine_tails

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Joined
7 Mar 2015
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London
Hi,

Finally after release of Skylake , i have decided to replace my ageing 5 year old laptop. I only have a keyboard and would need all other components.

I don't do these often , but would love to be able to play some latest games, do some Photoshop and video editing.

I also tend to do a lot of development work , C++/Python (but nothing that requires any overkill mathematical computations).

I have no inclination towards Skylake or the older generations, I am not really big on overclocking but would happy to consider.
I am not in a great rush (can hold out of another month if that affects the pricing of the older gen - which if you guys think might suit me better). Ideally would like it to last another 3-4 years.

Cheers!
 
Last edited:
YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte GeForce GTX 960 OC 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (GV-N960OC-4GD) £169.99
1 x Asus VX229H 22" Widescreen AH-IPS LED Multimedia Monitor - Black £129.95
1 x Intel Core i3-4170 3.70GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £104.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 10 32/64-Bit - USB Pen Drive - Retail (KW9-00017) £85.99
1 x Samsung 250GB 850 EVO SSD 2.5" SATA 6Gbps 32 Layer 3D V-NAND Solid State Drive (MZ-75E250B/EU) £85.99
1 x Asus H81M-PLUS Intel H81 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £41.99
1 x TeamGroup Elite Black 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TPKD38G1600HC11DC01) £38.99
1 x EVGA 500W 80 Plus Bronze Power Supply (100-B1-0500-KR) £38.99
1 x Cougar MX200 Midi-Tower Gaming Case - Black £18.95
1 x Sennheiser PC 3 Chat VIOP Headset £15.95
1 x Cougar 200M Optical Gaming Mouse - Black £11.99
Total : £758.76 (includes shipping : £12.50 Ex.VAT).



Here's a spec to kick things off.

Recommend IPS monitor for Photoshop. Spend extra for 23" or 24" if preferred.

Cheap Sennheisers but still Sennheisers (if you go for that - open Playback devices and Properties for the driver, and drag volume up there and also tick Loudness Equalization for a nice audio boost).

No mechanical storage, difficult to fit without decreasing the SSD size which i wouldn't do unless I had no other choice. Wondering if you can salvage the laptop drive to use for extra storage in your new build.
 
Thanks Danny! Rude awakening , but i was really hoping at least a gen 5 cpu. I have decided to stretch the budget and up it to ~1000.

Build 1

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte Z170XP-SLI - Intel Core i5 6600K Bundle **£20 Saving** £303.97
1 x Gigabyte GeForce GTX 960 OC 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (GV-N960OC-4GD) £161.99
1 x AOC I2369VM 23" Widescreen LED IPS Monitor - Black/Silver £129.95
1 x Microsoft Windows 10 32/64-Bit - USB Pen Drive - Retail (KW9-00017) £85.99
1 x Samsung 250GB 850 EVO SSD 2.5" SATA 6Gbps 32 Layer 3D V-NAND Solid State Drive (MZ-75E250B/EU) £79.99
1 x Corsair Vengeance LPX 8GB (2x4GB) DDR4 PC4-24000C15 3000MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (CMK8GX4M2B3000C15) £59.99
1 x Creative Inspire T10 2.0 Speaker System (51MF1600AA001) £31.99
1 x Cougar MX200 Midi-Tower Gaming Case - Black £23.99
1 x Cougar 200M Optical Gaming Mouse - Black £11.99
Total : £889.85 (includes shipping : Ex.VAT).




Can some one please comment? Missing a PSU.

Build 2 :

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte Z97X-SLI - Devils Canyon Core i5 4690K Bundle **£12 Saving** £277.98
1 x Gigabyte GeForce GTX 960 OC 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (GV-N960OC-4GD) £161.99
1 x AOC I2369VM 23" Widescreen LED IPS Monitor - Black/Silver £129.95
1 x Microsoft Windows 10 32/64-Bit - USB Pen Drive - Retail (KW9-00017) £85.99
1 x Samsung 250GB 850 EVO SSD 2.5" SATA 6Gbps 32 Layer 3D V-NAND Solid State Drive (MZ-75E250B/EU) £79.99
1 x SuperFlower Golden Green HX 550W "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black £59.99
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan RED 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLRED38G2400HC11CDC01) £41.99
1 x Creative Inspire T10 2.0 Speaker System (51MF1600AA001) £31.99
1 x Cougar MX200 Midi-Tower Gaming Case - Black £23.99
1 x Raijintek Aidos Direct Contact CPU Cooler £14.99
1 x Cougar 200M Optical Gaming Mouse - Black £11.99
Total : £920.83 (includes shipping : Ex.VAT).



Really a one time buy, i am not a massive upgrader so this will stay for a long time.

Cheers!
 
Last edited:
Okay. Since you're going to spend more, I'd suggest getting a better case (even though you're not a massive upgrader, it will help with video card upgrade, cooling etc) and video card.

The speakers you could leave for another time as they are an easy upgrade and you'll at least have basic sound/voice with headset?


YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte Z170XP-SLI - Intel Core i5 6600K Bundle **£20 Saving** £303.97
1 x Powercolor Radeon R9 390 8192MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (AXR9 390 8GBD5-PPDHE) £239.99
1 x AOC I2369VM 23" Widescreen LED IPS Monitor - Black/Silver £129.95
1 x Microsoft Windows 10 32/64-Bit - USB Pen Drive - Retail (KW9-00017) £85.99
1 x Samsung 250GB 850 EVO SSD 2.5" SATA 6Gbps 32 Layer 3D V-NAND Solid State Drive (MZ-75E250B/EU) £79.99
1 x EVGA Supernova G2 650W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £74.99
1 x Corsair Vengeance LPX 8GB (2x4GB) DDR4 PC4-24000C15 3000MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (CMK8GX4M2B3000C15) £59.99
1 x Phanteks Enthoo Pro M Midi Tower Case with Window - Black £59.99
1 x Sennheiser PC 3 Chat VIOP Headset £15.95
1 x Cougar 200M Optical Gaming Mouse - Black £11.99
Total : £1,062.79 (includes shipping : Ex.VAT).




Good 650W PSU like that will see you through several video card upgrades up to 980Ti performance.

You will need a CPU cooler as the Skylake-K's don't bring even a basic one. Want one that will make the total £1,100 or can that be exceeded for a higher quality air cooler/liquid cooler? You said you're not that big on overclocking and there are several very decent coolers for £30-40 so there's no need to splash more on one unless you fancy it.


X99:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte X99-SLI - Intel Core i7 5820K Six Core CPU & Motherboard Bundle ***£50 Saving*** £429.98
1 x Powercolor Radeon R9 390 8192MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (AXR9 390 8GBD5-PPDHE) £239.99
1 x AOC I2369VM 23" Widescreen LED IPS Monitor - Black/Silver £129.95
1 x Kingston Fury Black 16GB (4x4GB) DDR4 PC4-19200C15 2400MHz Quad Channel Kit - Black (HX424C15FBK4/16) £99.95
1 x Microsoft Windows 10 32/64-Bit - USB Pen Drive - Retail (KW9-00017) £85.99
1 x Samsung 250GB 850 EVO SSD 2.5" SATA 6Gbps 32 Layer 3D V-NAND Solid State Drive (MZ-75E250B/EU) £79.99
1 x EVGA Supernova G2 650W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £74.99
1 x Phanteks Enthoo Pro M Midi Tower Case with Window - Black £59.99
1 x Sennheiser PC 3 Chat VIOP Headset £15.95
1 x Cougar 200M Optical Gaming Mouse - Black £11.99
Total : £1,228.76 (includes shipping : Ex.VAT).



Also need to add a cooler.

In either spec, if you're happier with Nvidia, can swap that R9 390 for a £250-275 GTX 970.

Gaming-wise the CPU should be fine for years. Photo and video editing will just take a little longer without the extra cores/threads of i7's (and the 16GB of RAM). Is it worth it to go X99? Up to you.
 
Last edited:
Reaaaaaaaaaaaaaally tempted by X99. Just about 120~ more than what i can afford at the moment. I'll sleep on that tonight. Regarding coolers, are they dependent on the CPU as well? i.e is a 6600K cooler different from 5820K cooler?

Thanks for your help mate!
 
All those specs will need a cooler adding to them.

Socket 1151 is a different fitting than socket 2011, but still the same as 1150/56
 
Bart_Hunt said:
I wonder why you guys are stuck with that Senheiser headphones.
They are the most basic model.
And these are much better:

Creative HS-800
Click to expand...

I spec those Creatives a lot. Specced the cheaper Senns because of budget (and because I'm happy with my cheap-ish pair of Senns [PC 360] for time being).

By all means stretch for better ones if you can, OP. Otherwise, I'd go with cheap as chips for now until you can buy even better ones down the road, personally.
 
You won't find much better than HS-800 until you get to 100ish.
I've had 2 pairs of those in last 7 years.
They are solid, have great sound, detachable mic, long cable, very comfy for long gaming sessions.
Best headphones in lower price tier.
 
Thanks for all your help guys. Pulling the trigger on this on Saturday. Just making sure i dont need anything else ? Cabling etc will be included i hope? Any specific tools necessary , I do have a generic set i picked up from B&Q , will post a pic when i get back home.

I decided to go with a set of speakers instead of a headset to start.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte Z170XP-SLI - Intel Core i5 6600K Bundle **£20 Saving** £303.97
1 x Powercolor Radeon R9 390 8192MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (AXR9 390 8GBD5-PPDHE) £239.99
1 x AOC I2369VM 23" Widescreen LED IPS Monitor - Black/Silver £129.95
1 x Microsoft Windows 10 32/64-Bit - USB Pen Drive - Retail (KW9-00017) £85.99
1 x Samsung 250GB 850 EVO SSD 2.5" SATA 6Gbps 32 Layer 3D V-NAND Solid State Drive (MZ-75E250B/EU) £79.99
1 x EVGA Supernova G2 650W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £74.99
1 x Corsair Vengeance LPX 8GB (2x4GB) DDR4 PC4-24000C15 3000MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (CMK8GX4M2B3000C15) £59.99
1 x Phanteks Enthoo Pro M Midi Tower Case with Window - Black £59.99
1 x Alpenföhn Matterhorn White CPU Cooler £39.95
1 x Creative Inspire T10 2.0 Speaker System (51MF1600AA001) £31.99
1 x Samsung SH-224FB/RSMS 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - Retail M Disc Compatible £19.99
1 x Cougar 200M Optical Gaming Mouse - Black £11.99
Total : £1,138.78 (includes shipping : Ex.VAT).




Cheers!
 
Last edited:
Your order consisted of the following items:
DPD Next Day Parcel Before 12 (Mon-Fri) Shipping: £31.50
Total inc Vat: £1167.58

Pulled.... Strangely the amount went from 1150 to 1167 :/
 
nine_tails said:
Your order consisted of the following items:
DPD Next Day Parcel Before 12 (Mon-Fri) Shipping: £31.50
Total inc Vat: £1167.58

Pulled.... Strangely the amount went from 1150 to 1167 :/
Click to expand...

Try opening a thread in Customer Services to inquire about that, or phone them.

Good luck with the build, by the way. You shouldn't need more than a basic screwdriver, if at all.
 
No. GPU manufacturers often overcompensate for the amount of rubbish PSUs on the market so increase their "minimum" a good bit. You've a good 650w so nothing to worry about.
 
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