£400(ish) Console Killer Spec Advise

I still vote for the G3258... If it isn't enough (which it is, it makes a fine light gaming chip) then at least it can be overclocked for free...
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I know nothing about OCing and its dual core, although i do accept its cheaper.
 
achu said:
I can get the R8 380 for £140
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I assume that's the 4GB one, otherwise it is a serious compromise and you may as well drop to a lower 2GB Card e.g. 370 for example,



achu said:
so I'm down to £425 with an i5. Meaning i wouldnt have to compromise on CPU, or VRAM which seems better than dropping to an i3?
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The i5 you have chosen 4460 is already a compromise though - it has 4 slower cores (3.2Ghz) and basically no turbo option (3.4Ghz) (e.g. when running 1 or 2 threaded apps e.g. older games)

The 4590 would be a better option for £9 more - 3.3Ghz stock, 3.7Ghz turbo.
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-534-IN&groupid=701&catid=6&subcat=567


achu said:
Can you suggest a better PSU? I know little about them.
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Anything that is 80+ Bronze or better (e.g. silver/gold/platinum etc). The components are better quality, which means efficiency is better, meaning less heat generated, less power wasted and in theory better reliability.

EVGA do one for £36.66 ex vat
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-005-EA&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=2390

but you said you would prefer modular - £54.16 ex vat
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-023-EA&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=2390
 
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I assume that's the 4GB one, otherwise it is a serious compromise and you may as well drop to a lower 2GB Card e.g. 370 for example,
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Correct. the 4GB version.

I see, so anything thats 80+ bronze. Thanks for the advice.
I think I should have enough information here to move forward. Thank you.
 
The biggest issue that hasn't been mentioned, is that you haven't said what you intend to be playing (or even what types of game).

We assume that by "Console Killer" you mean 1080P@60fps, but other than that nothing else has been specified.

Depending on the game it can make a difference between the CPU choice (Or potentially even a lesser GPU).

Just as an example:
World of Tanks is poorly multi-threaded, and therefore you are better off with a high clock speed CPU (e.g. high end I3 or Overclocked Pentium G3258)

Older games such as TF2, DOTA2 etc are also equally fine with I3s.

Certain games are now appearing that won't run without having at least 4 logical cores (i.e. I3 or better), I think Far Cry 4 was one example.
 
The biggest issue that hasn't been mentioned, is that you haven't said what you intend to be playing (or even what types of game).
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I mentioned further up the thread ^
Pretty much most games, skyrim, dragon age inquisition, current gen things to some degree
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to expand: Im not particularly bothered about running 60fps in every game, just so long as i can run current and 1 year+ releases to a reasonable standard on high.
 
 
Nice little basket there Threepwood.
-20% = £368. However I would get the 4GB version of that card. And still can't decide if I should bump up to an i5!?
 
achu said:
I mentioned further up the thread ^
to expand: Im not particularly bothered about running 60fps in every game, just so long as i can run current and 1 year+ releases to a reasonable standard on high.
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Sorry missed that - but sounds like an I3 would be fine - higher clock speed but still 4 Threads.

Threepwood's build looks about as good as you can get.
 
Sorry missed that - but sounds like an I3 would be fine - higher clock speed but still 4 Threads.

Threepwood's build looks about as good as you can get.
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Thanks Armageus, would you mind expanding on what made you change your mind from an i5 to i3, just, id like to understand the reasoning :)
 
achu said:
Thanks Armageus, would you mind expanding on what made you change your mind from an i5 to i3, just, id like to understand the reasoning :)
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Because if you weren't going to stump up more money for an I5 with a higher clock speed/turbo, then you may as well save some money.

RPGs (you mentioned playing Skyrim/Dragon age) seem to still favour clock speed to a certain extent (rather than cores).

Games will still run well on I3's as it is likely the most common processor sold (i.e. outside of enthusiast circles), even the games that use more than 2 cores, only lightly use the 3rd and 4th cores.

Until 4+ Physical cores becomes the norm, I doubt you have much to worry about.

Even if an I3 does bottleneck you in some highly threaded games, it is much better than the alternative of scrimping on the GPU and getting a faster CPU, where the GPU would limit you in most games.
 
Because if you weren't going to stump up more money for an I5 with a higher clock speed/turbo, then you may as well save some money.

RPGs (you mentioned playing Skyrim/Dragon age) seem to still favour clock speed to a certain extent (rather than cores).

Games will still run well on I3's as it is likely the most common processor sold (i.e. outside of enthusiast circles), even the games that use more than 2 cores, only lightly use the 3rd and 4th cores.

Until 4+ Physical cores becomes the norm, I doubt you have much to worry about.

Even if an I3 does bottleneck you in some highly threaded games, it is much better than the alternative of scrimping on the GPU and getting a faster CPU, where the GPU would limit you in most games.
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This is really interesting, thanks for your insight. On saving on the processor i could go for a:
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-209-MS

if you think it would perform better than the 4GB 380? In benchmarks the 780 appears to do better, but is obviously 3Gb instead of 4
 
achu said:
Nice little basket there Threepwood.
-20% = £368.
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Pedant mode, but to take the VAT off you need to divide by 1.2 (or multiply by 83.33%). £460.50 inc VAT is £383.75 ex VAT.

At that price the 780 is a nice upgrade, and 3 GB memory will be fine for 1080p. By the way, that's a "GPU" not a "processor". The processor aka CPU is the Intel chip in this case.
 
achu said:
This is really interesting, thanks for your insight. On saving on the processor i could go for a:
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=gx-209-ms

if you think it would perform better than the 4gb 380? in benchmarks the 780 appears to do better, but is obviously 3gb instead of 4
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not sure it will fit your case as that 780 is 266mm long,

your case lists the following:
"vga length limitation:
255mm (inner chassis)
285mm (outer chassis)"
and also mentions
" a dual expansion slot vga with the length up to 260mm"


personally i would stick with the r9 380 - it is good enough for 1080p, and amd seem to support their older cards with drivers for longer (rather than nvidia who have in the past released drivers that lower performance on previous generation cards)

the powercolor r9 380 mentioned before is 208mm long.

references:
http://www.msi.com/product/vga/n780-tf-3gd5oc.html#hero-specification
http://www.thermaltakeusa.com/products-model_Specification.aspx?id=C_00002373
http://powercolor.com/global/products_features.asp?id=586#Specification
 
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Pedant mode, but to take the VAT off you need to divide by 1.2 (or multiply by 83.33%). £460.50 inc VAT is £383.75 ex VAT.

At that price the 780 is a nice upgrade, and 3 GB memory will be fine for 1080p. By the way, that's a "GPU" not a "processor". The processor aka CPU is the Intel chip in this case.
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Thanks for the reply. I just meant if I was saving money by getting an i3 I could then afford the 780 over the 380. It seems nice and cheap for a 780 I thought!

For motherboards would a h97 or a h81 suffice (not that I know the difference) Although I would quite like something with decent onboard sound.

Not sure it will fit your case as that 780 is 266mm long,
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I was wondering about this. The case has a hole cut out the front so longer video cards can fit through up to 285mm. So I hoped that it would fit ok.

Thermaltake states that the Core V1 supports dual slot graphics cards up to 285mm (11.2") in length. This is made possible by a large slot cut into the frame of the chassis that allows the graphics card to pass through the frame into the area behind the front fascia.
1407605319l3lSKNoIUH_4_32.jpg

More Images:http://www.hardocp.com/article/2014/08/15/thermaltake_core_v1_miniitx_case_review/4#.Vh-UM5R4dvs
Although Im unsure of what dual expansion slot VGA means?
 
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achu said:
For motherboards would a h97 or a h81 suffice (not that I know the difference) Although I would quite like something with decent onboard sound.
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No real world difference (only PCI-E 2.0 on h81, PCI-E 3.0 on all other chipsets) particularly on an ITX board (as there is no space for the extra DIMM slots, PCI-E Slots, SATA ports, USB ports that the higher chipsets can provide).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGA_1150 - lists the differences between chipsets

All onboard sound on ITX boards will be via a Realtec codec - not much difference between models to be honest. Only on larger boards do you normally get options for different sound solutions.



achu said:
I was wondering about this. The case has a hole cut out the front so longer video cards can fit through up to 285mm.
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Having seen the picture, makes more sense and should fit (although why their own page says up to 260mm in the body text makes no sense)

achu said:
Although Im unsure of what dual expansion slot VGA means?
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Just means can fit a double width card (Which everything except low end cards are)



Personally I'd stick with the R9 380, but that is from personal experience and preferring AMD cards. Others will prefer the Nvidia Card - don't think there is a right or wrong answer.
 
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Thanks for all your help Armageus, and everyone else. I probably have enough info here to start building.
Although I might end up back here when i inevitably get stuck!
Cheers
 
achu said:
Out of curiosity, If i was to go skylake and get a H110 would that slow me down over a H170?
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H110 would still be fine for what you need - higher end chipsets are either for overclocking (Z170), or just support more features/ports (which an ITX board normally doesnt have room for)
 
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