£2K budget, new gaming PC. Help me spec before 4pm cutoff?

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Is this just a gaming pc ? Are you going to do anything else on it i.e Video Editing/Rendering etc ?

I would go with the 960 EVO over the SM951. It has slightly less capacity (500GB vs 512GB) but it has faster read/write speeds and an extra 1 years warranty.

Do you need such an expensive board ? If you are going to drop £300 on a board then I would go X99 instead.

Some of those big air coolers can block off the top pcie slot. Not sure what the R1 Ultimate is like for that, but I would try and find out first.
If you do go with it then you would need a different case as it is too big for the Inwin 303. Max height stated is 160mm and the R1 is 168mm. It would fit in the 400C and Define S that you linked.

If you don't plan to SLI then you only really need a 550W psu.

Mainly, yes. That said, I do use Fusion 360 which is a CAD program and I would presume be CPU / RAM heavy.

I would like at vids at a point but my wife's iMac is probably better suited anyways.

Thanks for the advice on the storage, that is what I was looking for. I saw the 256G one but its like 90% of the price and similar speed to the 512GB one, but didnt see the 960 EVO.

Expensive board, no, I would like something that works, is reliable (ive had bad issues with Asus before and stopped buying their stuff, but these boards get good reviews). So happy to look at alternatives.

550W only? I suppose today's systems are more effecient. Seems like less about clock speed and more about efficiency with today's CPUs?
 
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Here is a little example on RAM vs CPU, bare in mind this is taking in to account very minimal speeds and not accounting for things like multiple cores or hyperthreading:

CPU Speed (clock cycle) = 1 GHz (i.e. 1000,000,000 Hz)
Time per clock cycle = 1 / 1000,000,000 sec = 1 nano-sec (ns)
RAM write cycle = 3 ns (approx. 300 MHz bus)
Therefore, for each CPU write access cycle, the CPU must wait (or hang-around, doing no useful work) for 3 clock cycles; it has 3 "wait" times.

Ive just re read this. Are we saying therefore that the faster the RAM, the less time the CPU needs to wait? Would that not mean that 4000 MHz ram would show vast improvements over say 2133 MHz ram or does it simply not work like that?
 
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Is this just a gaming pc ? Are you going to do anything else on it i.e Video Editing/Rendering etc ?

I would go with the 960 EVO over the SM951. It has slightly less capacity (500GB vs 512GB) but it has faster read/write speeds and an extra 1 years warranty.

Do you need such an expensive board ? If you are going to drop £300 on a board then I would go X99 instead.

Some of those big air coolers can block off the top pcie slot. Not sure what the R1 Ultimate is like for that, but I would try and find out first.
If you do go with it then you would need a different case as it is too big for the Inwin 303. Max height stated is 160mm and the R1 is 168mm. It would fit in the 400C and Define S that you linked.

If you don't plan to SLI then you only really need a 550W psu.

The Fusion 360 rendering is actually cloud based however you can do local rendering and it does 'sap' resources when rendering 'non rendered' models.
 
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How about a 6 core i7 5820K build ? There is the newer i7 6800K, but it is currently an extra £30 for the retail version.

Still has 64GB Ram and a 750W psu. The Corsair RMi is a very quiet unit, and it has the same 10 year warranty.

Fractal cases are nice and quiet, and I went with a water cooler from BeQuiet. This way you have no worries about blocking any pcie slots or ram etc.


My basket at Overclockers UK:

Total: £2,018.01
(includes shipping: £14.10)


 
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My current PC runs Xeon X5660, just looked up the specs, that's 6 core and its a dual processor machine. Been spoilt for 'grunt' despite a lack of sheer clockspeed.
 
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My basket at Overclockers UK:

Total: £2,099.55
(includes shipping: £14.70)




This bundle includes a i7 6850K.

RAM on just 4 sticks.



But if you select a i7 6800K from the option list its way under £2K,

My basket at Overclockers UK:

Total: £1,919.55
(includes shipping: £14.70)





Then add something else to take it back over £2K, A Gigabyte Gaming G1 GTX180 takes it to £2100
 
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Seems a complete waste of money going for RGB fans when you have red ram and red highlights on the motherboard lol! That 1070 has orange on it as well. Sorry, this is driving my OCD crazy. :eek:

I thought OP had settled on the Cryorig R1 anyway. That should be quieter than any AIO.

The airflow in the P400 case is not the best. The Enthoo Pro M might be a better choice, but it does have the 5.25" bay, which if unused doesn't look so great. Or there's the S340 Elite. Either will keep components cooler than the P400. At the very least you'd want to go with the glass version... if nothing else it won't scratch as easily, plus it looks better. The Fractal is OK... it's a decent case, but I just can't abide acrylic side panels personally.
 
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Ken

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If the main use is gaming potentially at 4K like you say, I would definitely prioritise the GPU. You can easily fit in a 7700K and a 1080 on a 2k budget if you're willing to make cut backs on other components.
 
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If the main use is gaming potentially at 4K like you say, I would definitely prioritise the GPU. You can easily fit in a 7700K and a 1080 on a 2k budget if you're willing to make cut backs on other components.

Thanks - where would you cut?
 
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Thanks - where would you cut?

Assuming THIS is your build so far, I would absolutely bin the extra 32GB of RAM. Totally unncessary. Even 32GB is overkill in most situations, but given you can get a set of that for £200, you'll easily come in under £2K with that alone... and that's not even a compromise given how pointless 64GB would be. If it makes you feel better, just get a x2 16GB kit and you can always expand at a later date if necessary, but I don't see that you would need to. A 650W PSU would also be ample (saves £25 if you go for 650W G2), and you don't need to spend £300 on a mobo. If you got the Asus ROG Strix Z270E at £200 you wouldn't really be missing out on much. I've just saved you £355. :cool:
 
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Assuming THIS is your build so far, I would absolutely bin the extra 32GB of RAM. Totally unncessary. Even 32GB is overkill in most situations, but given you can get a set of that for £200, you'll easily come in under £2K with that alone... and that's not even a compromise given how pointless 64GB would be. If it makes you feel better, just get a x2 16GB kit and you can always expand at a later date if necessary, but I don't see that you would need to. A 650W PSU would also be ample (saves £25 if you go for 650W G2), and you don't need to spend £300 on a mobo. If you got the Asus ROG Strix Z270E at £200 you wouldn't really be missing out on much. I've just saved you £355. :cool:

Thanks. I 'need' to achieve £2000 on the invoice amount as I can then claim the VAT back (Flat Rate VAT). If its a pence under £2000, I 'lose' the VAT claim. So technically a £2000 PC will cost me £1600 whereas a £1999.99 one will still cost me £1999.99.
 
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Thanks. I 'need' to achieve £2000 on the invoice amount as I can then claim the VAT back (Flat Rate VAT). If its a pence under £2000, I 'lose' the VAT claim. So technically a £2000 PC will cost me £1600 whereas a £1999.99 one will still cost me £1999.99.

Well I'd still bin the extra RAM. Here's a suggestion...


Total: £2,108.86
(includes shipping: £0.00)
 

Ken

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With Legend's recommendations too, I'll probably be looking at something like this. Personally would go for a Noctua heatsink myself but you asked for watercooled so an AIO will be the only choice as custom is more expensive of course....

My basket at Overclockers UK:

Total: £1,955.58
(includes shipping: £14.70)

With the remaining allowance you can buy some storage or put it towards your monitor or buy a more expensive case. Main thing is you've got a 1080 for your 2k
 
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Thanks all. It doesnt need to be watercooled. I had assumed initially that it would be quieter but since it is not and the air units are also well considered, happy with either and not fussy on make as such.
 
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