Advice Please! Gaming PC & Monitor for 2k

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Hello All. I'd like some help from you kind souls as I love games and have neither the patience for technical detail nor the time to get to know my stuff with all the components out there. Any comments/questions/suggestions greatly appreciated.

As the title suggests I'd like to find a gaming PC & monitor with an upper limit of £2k, including OcUK building, so I suppose the HW might have to cap off at £1800 or so? I really don't know.

I play:

PUBG (and various other FPS games, some competitive)
Elite Dangerous
A whole heap of strategy/colony management games

Other possible factors:

In stock or not far off (if possible), I would like to order this soon.

I would prefer to avoid upgrading for some time.

I guess air cooling is safer than water cooling for the uninitiated?

I don't know about monitors either, I like the idea of a curved one but I suppose I might get better performance for the money without.

Thanks in advance. :) If there's something more I could add please let me know.
 
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Something like this would be a good starting point:

2 motherboards as Tomahawk I was going to spec is out of stock on OCUK. So gone for most recommended by others here more expensive option.

2 CPU coolers same as above really, SCMG-5100 Mugen 5 Rev.B is out of stock so gave another suggestion of similar price. Other one others have recommended.

Case is own personal choice really.

Monitor: not really clued up on latest tec i'd go for something 1440p 144mhz with small as possible response time with an IPS panel. I've added one in which everyone seems to like.

This plus building fee £100 - £200 almost brings you upto your budget. Others may know of way of cheapening it slightly. :D

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £1,848.52 (includes shipping: £14.70)
 
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Soldato
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I've just threw this together, things that can be altered and should be are the case, the cooler and possibly the PSU.

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £1,247.04 (includes shipping: £13.20)



Add which ever monitor you want, and go from there. I've chosen the Nvidia GPU as you play PUBG/Eilte, but to be honest the 5700 XT will be reasonably close.​
 
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Thank you both very much! They're pretty close price wise once you add in the monitor in the 2nd/take out the extra bits from the 1st.

I'm not sure which case would be most suitable for the first - I assume there are at least some factors around the fit? I'd just like it to look cool, so if left to me that will be the only consideration. :)

As for the second, is the Nvidia GPU better for these games then?

I've heard something that gave me pause about AMD over intel, but you've both chosen it - that's a sign? :)

Would anyone else care to critique these or add in anything else? Ideal scenario is some sort of build-off where we get all teh opinionz :D

Once again, really appreciate this. I shan't name the winner (unless you're invested). :)
 
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Thank you both very much! They're pretty close price wise once you add in the monitor in the 2nd/take out the extra bits from the 1st.

I'm not sure which case would be most suitable for the first - I assume there are at least some factors around the fit? I'd just like it to look cool, so if left to me that will be the only consideration. :)

As for the second, is the Nvidia GPU better for these games then?

I've heard something that gave me pause about AMD over intel, but you've both chosen it - that's a sign? :)

Would anyone else care to critique these or add in anything else? Ideal scenario is some sort of build-off where we get all teh opinionz :D

Once again, really appreciate this. I shan't name the winner (unless you're invested). :)

AMD is the best bang for buck at the moment.

Same with the GPU really best performance / price ratio. Most people don't think a 2070s is worth an extra £100 odd for the gains.

Case is personal really some prefer RGB all singing all dancing where as others don't why I didn't suggest one. :D
 
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Ok, so I've got this far:

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £1,904.85 (includes shipping: £28.02)​

Think I need:

CPU cooler
I'd like a larger secondary storage for low priority games/apps, I think.
Monitor is pre order (no lead time I can see), any similar suggestions?
The Nvidia has come down to within £50 of the 5700 XT, could that be swapped in with no fuss?

Almost there! Thanks again guys.
 
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There are nicer cases, lian li, phanteks...those Corsair units are dated in design.

Yeah, tbf can see that, but the main thing for me is cooling/compatibility really. If that's all sound then I don't need the very latest cosmetic, as long as I like it. :)

I've also just found:
Lian-Li Alpha 550X Midi Tower RGB Tempered Glass Case - Black

Stock Code CA-76Q-LL
that seems to be the most popular. I like both but the corsair only has 1 left anyway.

Plumped in:
Seagate 2TB BarraCuda 7200RPM 256MB Cache Internal Hard Drive (ST2000DM008)

Stock Code HD-3A5-SE

For secondary storage. Hope that fits. xD

Anyone have any advice on a CPU cooler?
 
Soldato
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This Seasonic unit is better value for money as it is a Platinum rated unit and has a 12 year warranty.

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £103.49 (includes shipping: £10.50)​


The Cryorig H7 is a decent cooler so you don't really need to spend any more if you don't want to.
If you did want something a bit higher end, then you have ones like this Noctua NH-U12S which now comes in a nicer colour scheme :D There is also the legendary D15 in Black as well but that one is £92.99.


My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £76.69 (includes shipping: £8.70)​
 
Soldato
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Yeah, tbf can see that, but the main thing for me is cooling/compatibility really. If that's all sound then I don't need the very latest cosmetic, as long as I like it. :)

I've also just found:
Lian-Li Alpha 550X Midi Tower RGB Tempered Glass Case - Black

Stock Code CA-76Q-LL
that seems to be the most popular. I like both but the corsair only has 1 left anyway.

Plumped in:
Seagate 2TB BarraCuda 7200RPM 256MB Cache Internal Hard Drive (ST2000DM008)

Stock Code HD-3A5-SE

For secondary storage. Hope that fits. xD

Anyone have any advice on a CPU cooler?

Check out the phanteks evolv x, you won't be disappointed
 
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This Seasonic unit is better value for money as it is a Platinum rated unit and has a 12 year warranty.

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £103.49 (includes shipping: £10.50)


The Cryorig H7 is a decent cooler so you don't really need to spend any more if you don't want to.
If you did want something a bit higher end, then you have ones like this Noctua NH-U12S which now comes in a nicer colour scheme :D There is also the legendary D15 in Black as well but that one is £92.99.


My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £76.69 (includes shipping: £8.70)

Thanks Lee, great stuff! Think this COULD now be a final build:

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £1,946.83 (includes shipping: £28.02)​

I don't expect a critique, but will presales confirm if any of this is overtly wrong? I think the only thing that I've put in myself (and am therefore unsure about) is the Seagate drive being the right one.

I'd love to order this over the weekend, so another monitor might be nice as this one is pre-order. Maybe I'll try on the monitor forum.

Final checks peeps, thanks so much for all the help so far! Any more input always welcome.
 
Soldato
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If you are going with the Noctua D15 then I would go with lower profile ram. The front fan on the D15 only allows for 32mm ram in it's default position. You can move the fan up, but then that increases the overall height.

This Crucial Ram shouldn't have any issues as it is 32mm.

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £78.65 (includes shipping: £8.70)


There doesn't seem to be any other Freesync/Nvidia 1440p monitors in stock. There are a couple of standard Freesync ones like the two below but not sure if they are 'Nvidia certified' or not. Not an issue with an AMD gpu of course, but if you ever wanted to buy an Nvidia gpu on the same monitor then you might not be able to use G-Sync.


My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £914.68 (includes shipping: £14.70)


You could probably find this in stock if you look elsewhere.

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £496.09 (includes shipping: £11.10)
 
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Thanks again. Useful knowledge, I wouldn't know where to see that sort of thing about the RAM/fan. I suppose I could change the fan too but went with your suggestion, i assume the RAM is close.

Did indeed find the monitor elsewhere. Not sure I will upgrade to nvidia, is gsync such a worthy thing?

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £1,461.48 (includes shipping: £14.70)​

Think I'll send this over to presales now, if anyone has more advice now is the time. :D
 
Soldato
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I don't expect a critique, but will presales confirm if any of this is overtly wrong?

You need to ask them or they may rightfully assume you know what you are doing. For example I made an order last week that had two PSUs because I needed a spare for myself in addition to a whole spec for a build, and they didn't say anything about it.
 
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You need to ask them or they may rightfully assume you know what you are doing. For example I made an order last week that had two PSUs because I needed a spare for myself in addition to a whole spec for a build, and they didn't say anything about it.

Nice one, done. :) Thanks!
 
Soldato
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Posts
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manchester,uk
Thanks again. Useful knowledge, I wouldn't know where to see that sort of thing about the RAM/fan. I suppose I could change the fan too but went with your suggestion, i assume the RAM is close.

Did indeed find the monitor elsewhere. Not sure I will upgrade to nvidia, is gsync such a worthy thing?

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £1,461.48 (includes shipping: £14.70)

Think I'll send this over to presales now, if anyone has more advice now is the time. :D

Remember to take the Cryorig H7 out of the list then, so as not to confuse them :D

The reason I mentioned G-Sync was just in case you went with an Nvidia gpu in the future. So it would be handy to have a screen that can cater for both Freesync or G-Sync. That way you are not tied into one or the other like you would be with a pure G-Sync or Freesync monitor. You can use Nvidia on a lot of Freesync monitors but they can have issues such as flickering screens etc. If you get an Nvidia certified Freesync monitor like the LG or Asus TUF one then you are good.
 
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Remember to take the Cryorig H7 out of the list then, so as not to confuse them :D

The reason I mentioned G-Sync was just in case you went with an Nvidia gpu in the future. So it would be handy to have a screen that can cater for both Freesync or G-Sync. That way you are not tied into one or the other like you would be with a pure G-Sync or Freesync monitor. You can use Nvidia on a lot of Freesync monitors but they can have issues such as flickering screens etc. If you get an Nvidia certified Freesync monitor like the LG or Asus TUF one then you are good.

Ah thanks, I thought the other cooling fan was in addition to the cryorig H7. Nice to see I can remove it. Pre sales just said yep that’ll all work ok (with the cryorig still in ).

thanks all!
 
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