1000£gaming pc

Rodi87 · 20 Oct 2014 at 17:23

Hello Guys,
I've been searching for a gaming desktop at around 1000£ lately. Thing is, I'm a complete amateur, and I don't know whether I should get on of those pre-built systems, or perhaps try to build up one myself, or maybe get someone to do it for me. There's tons of websites out there offering games machines at various prices but I don't want to end up being ripped off and regret it afterwards. Could anyone tell me how prices vary when you're purchasing a gaming pc for 1000£ instead of putting together one from scratches, and where is the best place to buy a gaming pc. Thanks a lot

Doomedspeed · 20 Oct 2014 at 19:38

Obvoiusly, look at OCUK's pre built systems.

Do you need a monitor, OS and k&m?

If so, you're looking at a 4690k system, maybe with a 280X/ GTX 770 GPU.

The issue with a lot of prebuild sellers is they use rubbish motherboards and PSUs which (at best) limit your upgradibily or (at worst) cause major issues.

OCUK do use quality products so you don't risk that problem.

Rodi87 · 20 Oct 2014 at 20:04

The plan is only to spend 1k on the box, and another 500-600 £ on other things, so in overall 1600 £on all. I've already checked out OCUK's as well as' a competitor' and the latter seems to have more affordable prices going by various forums. I've got a vague idea about all this stuff, all I want to know is how much money I'll be able to save if I get a pc on my own accord , if it's only a matter of 100£ then I won't probably bother as you get a warranty on pre-built pcs and it might spare you a lot of trouble in the future.

moon · 20 Oct 2014 at 20:35

You can't direct to competitors on the forum, edit the name out and just state "a competitor"

Doomedspeed · 20 Oct 2014 at 22:17

Im not a biased person (but)...

I understand OCUKs prebuild are more expensive but there is a reason.. Unlike a lot (if not all) of their competition all their systems are built to order by hand at their shop. A lot of competitor PCs are bought in from other companies.

By doing this OCUK confirms that all the components are workibg (they stress test overclocked systems for 8hours) before its delivered. You are also positive your not going to get a rubbish PSU which can happen with other systems.
If I were to buy a pretty build it would be from here as the quality is great and the price is not bad.. They know what gamers want.

Building yourself isn't much cheaper but you get more say over the speed/size/colour and cost of the tower. As well as what manufactures of GPU's/PSUs..

For £1000 you should be able to get a 4670k with a GTX970/780.

Fallen god · 20 Oct 2014 at 23:14

Personally I would go down the build it yourself route. Its really not to complex, the system OCUK will build will be a lot better, there pros and make it extremely tide and neat. But you have a lot of fun doing it yourself and I feel the experience is awesome.

moon · 20 Oct 2014 at 23:24

Fallen god said:
Personally I would go down the build it yourself route. Its really not to complex, the system OCUK will build will be a lot better, there pros and make it extremely tide and neat. But you have a lot of fun doing it yourself and I feel the experience is awesome.

Also helps trouble shooting if something goes wrong!

Don't want to RMA a pre-built PC on warranty because of a loose connection/ minor fix

Rodi87 · 21 Oct 2014 at 00:21

I see, you've got a point here, most of the reviews I've come across about OCUK were positive, so I'm aware that I'd pay for an excellent service. However, I still haven't got the answer to my question, it might be hard to estimate, but roughly, if I were to spend that 1k for one of their pre-builts, how much would I overpaid?.Im not quite into that stuff, therefore experience, and enjoyment are irrelevant in this instance, in fact, all that matters is money, I'd like to get the best stuff for the money I can afford, without paying tons fora a sheer service.

DaleTheWhale · 21 Oct 2014 at 00:27

Rodi87 said:
I see, you've got a point here, most of the reviews I've come across about OCUK were positive, so I'm aware that I'd pay for an excellent service. However, I still haven't got the answer to my question, it might be hard to estimate, but roughly, if I were to spend that 1k for one of their pre-builts, how much would I overpaid?.

Depends how you look at over paying, you'll probably overpay by 60-120, but the parts will be picked for you, meaning for a similar price you could get a better or more recommended part compared to OCUK's offering.

Lot of testing/reviews are based from everyone on this forum, which is why we suggest building yourself as most of us have the first hand experience with most of the parts, we're like a massive team of testers and advice which OCUK can't do themselves (too big a job!).

Doomedspeed · 21 Oct 2014 at 08:18

Rodi87 said:
I see, you've got a point here, most of the reviews I've come across about OCUK were positive, so I'm aware that I'd pay for an excellent service. However, I still haven't got the answer to my question, it might be hard to estimate, but roughly, if I were to spend that 1k for one of their pre-builts, how much would I overpaid?.Im not quite into that stuff, therefore experience, and enjoyment are irrelevant in this instance, in fact, all that matters is money, I'd like to get the best stuff for the money I can afford, without paying tons fora a sheer service.

It depends.

Lets look at it this way:

pre-built:

YOUR BASKET
1 x "Titan Tanto DC" Intel Core i5 4690K @ 4.2GHz Overclocked Nvidia GeForce Gaming PC £283
1 x No Sound Card Upgrade £0
1 x GALAX GeForce GTX 970 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (97NPH6DT6XTZ) £254.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £39.95
1 x Samsung 250GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE250BW) £101.95
1 x TeamGroup Elite Black 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TPKD38G1600HC11DC01) £53.99
1 x Intel Core i5-4690K 3.50GHz (Devil's Canyon) Socket LGA1150 Processor - OEM £169.99
1 x BitFenix Ronin Tower Case - Black £69.95
1 x No Security Software £0
1 x No Operating System £0
1 x 24 MONTH WARRANTY - COLLECT & RETURN £0.01
1 x Standard Build Systems - Dispatched within 7 working days £0
Total : £988.82 (includes shipping : £12.50).

So, same components, just not built..(the GPU is Out of stock though, using a GPU £15 cheaper than the rest of the line up):

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte Z97X-SLI - Devils Canyon Core i5 4690K Bundle **£14 Saving** £258.58
1 x GALAX GeForce GTX 970 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (97NPH6DT6XTZ) £254.99
1 x Samsung 250GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE250BW) £101.95
1 x BitFenix Ronin Tower Case - Black £69.95
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan RED 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17100C11 2133MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLRED38G2133HC11ADC01) £65.99
1 x SuperFlower Golden Green HX 550W "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black £53.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £39.95
1 x Prolimatech 81 CPU Cooler - 120mm £34.99
1 x LG GH24NSB0 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £13.99
Total : £909.37 (includes shipping : £12.50).

So quite a small difference and considering if you were ordering today the 'build yourself' option would be £10-£15 more due to the GPU, the pre-build is very good value.

Feel free to compare it yourself to other websites, just ensure you look for quality components.

Rodi87 · 21 Oct 2014 at 10:14

Thanks, but in the pre-built option not all components are visible.I mean, how do I know what quality cooler,power supply etc. they use, if there's no description .

stulid · 21 Oct 2014 at 10:14

System Specification

- Case: NZXT Phantom 530 Gaming Case - Red
- Power Supply: Super Flower 550W Gold PSU
- CPU: Up to Intel Core i7 4770K Quad Core Haswell Processor overclocked to 4.2GHz
- Motherboard: Gigabyte Z97X-SLI (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard
- Cooler: Prolimatech CPU Cooler
- RAM: up to 16GB (2x4GB) DDR3 2133MHz Dual Channel Kit
- Hard Drive: Primary and Secondary SSD & HDD Options Available
- Graphics Card: Nvidia GeForce GTX Graphics Card
- Sound: High Definition 7.1 Onboard Sound Card

Listed on the system page.

So this PSU - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-003-SF

Probably this cooler - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-039-PL&groupid=701&catid=2330&subcat=2349

For extra clarification you can ask customer services.

Rodi87 · 21 Oct 2014 at 15:19

What do you think about this build ?, is it a better deal ?.

-Intel Core i7 4790K 4GHz Socket 1150 8MB L3 Cache Retail Boxed Processor-249.99
-MSI Z97 GAMING 5 Socket 1150 VGA DVI HDMI DisplayPort 8-channel audio ATX Motherboard-112.00
-Palit GTX 970 JetStream 4GB GDDR5 Dual-link DVI-I mini-HDMI Three mini-DisplayPort PCI-E Graphics Card-279.99
-Corsair 8GB DDR3 1600Mhz Vengeance Memory-71,00
-Seagate 1TB Barracuda Internal Hard Drive - OEM-49.99
-Crucial 240GB M500 SSD 79.96
-Samsung SH-224DB 24X Internal DVD Writer with SATA - OEM-11.99
-Thermaltake Smart M 650W Semi Modular 80+ Bronze Power Supply-77.98
-Corsair Carbide 500R Black Case 104.00

stulid · 21 Oct 2014 at 18:33

Is that pre built or DIY?

Doomedspeed · 21 Oct 2014 at 18:38

Rodi87 said:
Thanks, but in the pre-built option not all components are visible.I mean, how do I know what quality cooler,power supply etc. they use, if there's no description .

I researched that for you and used them in my spec below. They are all good quality.

Rodi87 said:
What do you think about this build ?, is it a better deal ?.

-Intel Core i7 4790K 4GHz Socket 1150 8MB L3 Cache Retail Boxed Processor-249.99
-MSI Z97 GAMING 5 Socket 1150 VGA DVI HDMI DisplayPort 8-channel audio ATX Motherboard-112.00
-Palit GTX 970 JetStream 4GB GDDR5 Dual-link DVI-I mini-HDMI Three mini-DisplayPort PCI-E Graphics Card-279.99
-Corsair 8GB DDR3 1600Mhz Vengeance Memory-71,00
-Seagate 1TB Barracuda Internal Hard Drive - OEM-49.99
-Crucial 240GB M500 SSD 79.96
-Samsung SH-224DB 24X Internal DVD Writer with SATA - OEM-11.99
-Thermaltake Smart M 650W Semi Modular 80+ Bronze Power Supply-77.98
-Corsair Carbide 500R Black Case 104.00

Is this building yourself? Or prebuilt?

Firstly its more expensive by around £150-£200.. (I thought you were money conscious).

There's no CPU cooler, no point of having a K series CPU if you can OC it.

The PSU isn't great and its pretty expensive compared to the better superflower and EVGA units.

Heard a few niggles about palit GPUs, seem to be a basic brand.

Why the 500R there are much better cases around now for less

Rodi87 · 21 Oct 2014 at 19:13

I had a friend put it together for me, he said that for better cooling I can get an addititional cooler especially for the CPU, but only after I've assembled every part,cause he doesn't know if it fits in.Yeah the case is an expensive one, though I like the looks of it.It goes around 1k-1,1k, this much I can afford .

Fallen god · 21 Oct 2014 at 19:31

I would go with something like this, included a much better case, rock solid PSU that can handle 2x 970GTX with ease in the future, and all round better balanced build. Also includes a cooler.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte Z97X-Gaming 7 - Devils Canyon Core i7 4790K CPU & Motherboard Bundle **£43 Saving** £347.99
1 x EVGA GeForce GTX 970 ACX 2.0 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (04G-P4-2972-KR) £275.99
1 x Phanteks Enthoo Pro Mid Tower Enthusiast Case with Window £89.99
1 x EVGA SuperNova G2 750W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £85.99
1 x Crucial MX100 256GB SATA 2.5” 7mm SSD + 9.5mm Adapter (CT256MX100SSD1) £79.99
1 x Antec Kúhler H2O 1250 Liquid CPU Cooler £76.99
1 x TeamGroup Xtreem LV 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-21300C11 2666MHz Dual Channel Kit (TXD38G2666HC11CDC01) £65.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £39.95
1 x Samsung SE-S208DB/TSBS External Slimline 8x DVD-RW (TV Connect) - Black £21.98
Total : £1,094.46 (includes shipping : £8.00).

Doomedspeed · 21 Oct 2014 at 20:06

Rodi87 said:
I had a friend put it together for me, he said that for better cooling I can get an addititional cooler especially for the CPU, but only after I've assembled every part,cause he doesn't know if it fits in.Yeah the case is an expensive one, though I like the looks of it.It goes around 1k-1,1k, this much I can afford .

Its not great, he should know what cooler would fit or not, we know these things.

Theres even a better cooling case in the corsair range for less money, the 450D.

Im still in the camp of 'do you need an i7?' If you're just gaming, then no you don't.

Rodi87 · 21 Oct 2014 at 20:24

Well, He built my brother's desktop, and he seems to be satisfied with it.Unfortunately, because I'm uncapable of sorthing this out by myself, I'm turning for help to the people that have more experience in this field, so it's not for me to judge whether he knows how to do it,or he doesn't.I will ask somebody else to verify that, and will carry on until I've got my dreamed pc.I want it mostly for gaming,browsing and working with Excel, though for that I've got a buisness laptop, so that leaves only sheer gaming

Rodi87 · 21 Oct 2014 at 20:29

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte Z97X-Gaming 7 - Devils Canyon Core i7 4790K CPU & Motherboard Bundle **£43 Saving** £347.99
1 x EVGA GeForce GTX 970 ACX 2.0 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (04G-P4-2972-KR) £275.99
1 x Phanteks Enthoo Pro Mid Tower Enthusiast Case with Window £89.99
1 x EVGA SuperNova G2 750W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £85.99
1 x Crucial MX100 256GB SATA 2.5” 7mm SSD + 9.5mm Adapter (CT256MX100SSD1) £79.99
1 x Antec Kúhler H2O 1250 Liquid CPU Cooler £76.99
1 x TeamGroup Xtreem LV 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-21300C11 2666MHz Dual Channel Kit (TXD38G2666HC11CDC01) £65.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £39.95
1 x Samsung SE-S208DB/TSBS External Slimline 8x DVD-RW (TV Connect) - Black £21.98
Total : £1,094.46 (includes shipping : £8.00).

Well then, If i don't need that powerful CPU for extreme gaming, then this cooler is not necessary either,isn't it?.Instead I can get a better graphics card maybe ?.