Gaming rig - £650-700 budget - possibly £800 max

flogside

flogside

flogside

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27 Sep 2016
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13
Hi

Looking for some advice/help.....

Not a big gamer but fancy playing some of these new games out, and some slightly older.......GTA V, Watch Dogs 2, Sleeping Dogs, Batman Games etc etc

Main game ill play will be Football Manager 2017 and so on.

I was thinking of the following -

Core i5-6600K - Open to suggestions but want a very fast processor for Football Manager series, something that can breeze through it and other cpu intensive games and software!
16GB RAM - What RAM is best i.e. what frequency is best for games and what make? Corsair, Kingston etc
AMD RX 480 - Want something that can handle the graphics intensive games and look good with high Frame rate. If this card then what make and model of this one? If not then Suggestions welcome on others!!
1TB SSHD - thinking a hybrid gives speed and space!?
*Not sure what Motherboard so would like help and suggestions.
*Not sure what CPU cooler so again, suggestions!! Need to power it well but stay on budget
*Not sure what PSU - thinking a 500w one but not sure of best make to go with - and bronze, silver, gold??
*OS - Not needed!

Any other bits ive missed out too, feel free to mention. Im really open to suggestions and advice so please go ahead! I know a bit about computers etc but nowhere near as much as some on here so happy to take onboard others experience and knowledge.

Happy to buy a pre-built or build it myself, either way doesnt matter. I know my budget of £650 - 700 is really pushing it (nigh impossible for what ive asked) but again, happy to by refurbished or used if needs be and £800 is my absolute max.

Thanks so much in advance for any help given!

Ben
 
Last edited:
Roverno - No no, got Windows 7 so thats fine. I have a 24 inch monitor that is fine for now. Mouse and Keyboard can be bought cheaply so fine with that too thank you!
 
Well this would be my first suggestion (below). If you want to go nearer the 800 maximum i can probably squeeze in a 6600k and z170 board so that you can overclock. you can probably forgo the cpu cooler if you stick with the i5 6500 as you cant overclock on that motherboard either, but for longevity and peace of mind a cooler is nice to have.

For better all round performance an SSD and HDD combo might be beneficial if you are happy to manage your files between the two drives?

My basket at Overclockers UK:

Total: £697.88
(includes shipping: £0.00)
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This build is almost dot on the £800 mark. Don't push to overclocks too crazy with this cpu cooler but it can probably manage 4-4.2ghz.

My basket at Overclockers UK:

Total: £801.88
(includes shipping: £0.00)
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Thanks Roverno for suggestions!!

How do you think either of those setups will do gaming wise??

In regards to the processors, what do you think is the performance gap speed wise??

I no little about overclocking so wouldnt bother unless it came recommended of course!!

Im liking the first setup a lot but also want something future proofed for a few years or that can be upgraded if possible?! Is that graphics card a good choice? I was thinking so but of course its pricey so if any others can do as a good as, or almost as, a job then im interested in ideas!

Thanks so much again for the help!
 
What about something like this:

My basket at Overclockers UK:

Total: £710.80
(includes shipping: £0.00)
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As you aren't necessarily comfortable overclocking the i5 6500 and cheaper H110 motherboard will be fine and saves a decent amount of cash.

I assume your 24" Monitor is 1080P, in which case a 4GB RX470 isn't actually that much slower than a RX480 8GB, but is a decent amount of cash that can be saved.

Spend a bit more on a PSU as the Kolink unit mentioned above isn't the best quality and only has a 2 year warranty (The XFX I have included has a 5 year warranty). Again spend more on a case, as you will get something nicer to build (as well as look at), and more future proofing (e.g. the Phanteks I have included can mount more case fans, and has space for water cooling rads, but is also Wider for larger CPU coolers). A decent PSU and Case will last you many upgrades.

I have included both a 250GB SSD and a 1TB Hard Drive. Whilst a "hybrid" drive sounds good, they are nowhere near as good as a real SSD. 250GB is enough to hold a couple of frequently played games, and the rest of your library can be installed on the HDD.
 
Thanks Armageus, now i like a combo of your suggestions and Roverno's 2nd suggestion lol damn!
Im quite happy to Overclock thinking about it, would just need to read up on it first.

Monitor is 1080p yes. Will the rx 470 stand up to most games on a decent setting?

I think with the £20 difference id rather go with the 6600k i5 processor! Definitely think you are both right in regards to having an SSD and HDD instead of SSHD.

Is there a cheaper and decent motherboard that can overclock well for the 6600K? I like your choices in case and psu, think thats definitely what i would go with. Looks like i could be looking at the £800 mark lol
 
No problem, These are all very capable gaming builds especially at 1080p. The performance gap in terms of fps would be quite small i would think. other applications that are more cpu intensive might see more difference but not much when gaming. The rx480 is an amazing card for the money but being at the top end of what AMD offer its not as good 'bang for buck' as the rx470.

Armageus build is pretty good. By downgrading to the RX 470 you so save a bunch of money that gets you a much better all rounder PC.

Kolink warranty is lower but it is 80plus bronze and OCUK wouldn't stock it if it wasnt good.

I agree that having a better case can be nice, but at the end of the day it isn't defining performance. Its just prettier and easier to build in. (and maybe some dust management which is actually very useful)

If you take the P400 case with the rest of my first build you'd have a cracking machine imo.

If you don't have much data to store or you are good at managing what games you have downloaded then i might even recommend having the 250gb SSD only and get a 1tb drive in the future if you really need it. It will be simple to add in at a later date.
 
cheapest z170 board on ocuk in this build, with the rx470 and a nice case.

As i said above. maybe skip the hdd if you can manage data well.

My basket at Overclockers UK:

Total: £823.79
(includes shipping: £0.00)
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That build looks good, although you could save £40 by swapping to an OEM 6600k and using a 750EVO rather than the 850EVO.

The other main reason for including the Phanteks case, was because it is wider than most of the cheaper £20-£40 cases that I would normally include at this budget. I noticed on a couple of the other cases' reviews that bigger air coolers like the Hyper 212 wouldn't fit as they aren't wide enough.
 
Thanks so much for your help guys, all great suggestions, now got to make some decisions. Going to have a quick look at the pre built machines just incase any of them contain the majority of all this for the same price, otherwise happy to build it all myself!
 
I have had a look over the prebuilts that might come close. These are the two that i have come up with. One is almost 1k though.

My basket at Overclockers UK:
  • 1 x OcUK Tech Labs Skylake Z170 Midi Tower Gaming PC Configurator = £997.81
    • Motherboard:Asus Z170-P Intel Z170 (Socket 1151) DDR4 ATX Motherboard
    • Processor:Intel Core i5-6600K 3.9GHz (Skylake) Socket LGA1151 Processor - OEM
    • Memory:Team Group Elite 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-19200C16 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (TPKD416GM2400HC16D
    • Optical Drive **Please Check Chassis Support**:Unwanted
    • Sound Card:Unwanted
    • Networking:Unwanted
    • Operating System:Microsoft Windows 10 64-Bit DVD - OEM (MS-KW9-00139)
    • Case:Phanteks Eclipse P400 Midi Tower Case - Black Window
    • CPU Cooler:Raijintek Themis Black Heatpipe CPU Cooler PWM - 120mm
    • Power Supply:EVGA 500W 80 Plus Power Supply (100-W1-0500-KR)
    • Build Time:Standard Build Systems - Dispatched within 7 working days
    • Case Lighting:Unwanted
    • Gaming Chair:Unwanted
    • Solid State Drive 1:Samsung 250GB 750 EVO SSD 2.5" SATA 6Gbps Solid State Drive
    • Solid State Drive 2:Unwanted
    • Monitor:Unwanted
    • Speakers:Unwanted
    • M.2 Solid State Drive **For Operating System If Selected**:Unwanted
    • Mechanical Hard Drive 1:Seagate 1TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache HDD - OEM (ST1000DM003)
    • Mechanical Hard Drive 2:Unwanted
    • Keyboard:Unwanted
    • Gaming Headset:Unwanted
    • Mouse:Unwanted
    • Security Software:Unwanted
    • Graphics Card:Sapphire Radeon RX 470 Nitro+ OC 8192MB GDDR5 PCI-Express RGB Graphics Card
  • 1 x OcUK Kinetic Z1 - Intel Z170 Configurable Skylake DDR4 Gaming PC = £850.85
    • Case:In-Win 703 Midi Tower - Black / Red
    • Processor:Intel Core i5-6600K 3.9GHz (Skylake) Socket LGA1151 Processor - Retail
    • Memory:Team Group Elite 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-19200C16 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (TPKD416GM2400HC16D
    • Storage Mechanical Hard Drive:Seagate 1TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache HDD - OEM (ST1000DM003)
    • Optical Drive:Unwanted
    • Operating System:Unwanted
    • CPU Cooler:Raijintek Aidos Direct Contact CPU Cooler - Black
    • Build Time:Standard Build Systems - Dispatched within 7 working days
    • Warranty:OcUK Standard System Warranty - 3 Year (24 Month C&R + 12 Month Labour)
    • WIFI:Unwanted
    • Primary Solid State Drive / Hard Drive:Samsung 250GB 750 EVO SSD 2.5" SATA 6Gbps Solid State Drive
    • Security Software:Unwanted
    • Graphics Card:Sapphire Radeon RX 470 Nitro+ OC 8192MB GDDR5 PCI-Express RGB Graphics Card

Total: £1,871.76
(includes shipping: £23.10)
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Ill be placing an order later for the parts. I did it through your link Roverno as a thanks for the help!!!

Ive ordered Thermal Paste and 1x140mm and 1x120mm fan. Is there anything else i would need on top of that?? Like cables etc?

My basket at Overclockers UK:

Total: £822.75
(includes shipping: £0.00)
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Very kind you thank you. Everything you need should come with it. For cable management after the build it can be good to have a pack of cable ties but that's not essential at all. I'm sure you can find somewhere to get them cheap :)

no difference in quality buying the OEM or retail versions, just the colour of the box really.

Cooler should come with thermal paste but that will work too. I prefer the noctua paste as its non conductive, just in case it gets somewhere bad.

Any reason for the extra fans? I don't think you will need them. If you want them anyway i would personally buy matching fans, but thats just me. If you're buying several to test what works for you then thats a good idea.
 
All ordered. With 2 extra fans (same), the OEM CPU, cable ties and thermal paste as extras. Came to £782!

Thanks to Roverno and Armageus for your help! :D
 
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