£500-£600 Gaming PC

jUsT2eXy

jUsT2eXy

jUsT2eXy

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Joined
11 Aug 2010
Posts
8
Hey guys.

I'm looking to build my first PC. My current PC, a 2008 Dell Vosto 410 with a Q9460, 8 GB RAM and an nVidia GTX 460 is starting to feel sluggish (even with an SSD!)

Budget: £600 Max (Cheaper the better!) - I know this will be challenging.

Use: Multi-monitor usage (2 x 1080p), occasional light gaming (Americas Army, Battlefield 4, Football Manager 2016) - I would like to play on HIGH settings wherever possible, multitasking (lots of browser tabs & Office Documents open whilst watching something via VLC on second monitor).

Peripherals required None

Operating System required: No OS Required

Must Haves: Intel i5/i7 (Quad core as a minimum... I don't like the idea of an i3 Dual-Core), Nvidia GTX 970+ (unless an ATI card is better bang for buck)

I will be using my hard drives from my current PC so the case will need space for 3 x 3.5" HDD's and an SSD.

I look forward to seeing everyone's suggestions. Thanks :)
 
My basket at Overclockers UK:

Total: £598.20
(includes shipping: £12.30)
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My basket at Overclockers UK:

Total: £605.01
(includes shipping: £18.12)
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Wow. Thanks Stulid! That system looks great.

Quick question... Is the GTX 970/980 (or Nvidia as a whole) better than the ATI 390. I've always been an Intel and Nvidia guy, but at the end of the day I'm looking for best bang-for-buck.. it's just that lots of new games say 'Nvidia optimised etc.'.

Also, is it worth paying extra for the i7 6700k? I want the system to last me for 6-8 years without needing to upgrade just like my current Dell machine.

I've seen a lot on the net in regards to Core i7 6700K vs i5 6600K.

Cheers!
 
A 390 (which is a renamed 290) is generally these days better than a 970 (the 980 is still on average superior) in games that have recently been released, it also has twice the Vram, but the GTX970 isnt exactly a slow card for a 1080P monitor.

Either is going to give you an excellent experience.


The i5 is fine for gaming and besides Intel may release another range of CPUs that maybe compatible with the board with a BIOS update.

If you said you did video/audio editing/CAD work I would have suggested an i7 for sure.
 
Excellent advice. Thank you.

How much more is the Nvidia GTX 980? Is there anything on the list you'd say that I should spend just a little bit more £ on (I know you can say that for everything lol...but may be the most stand out thing.. if there is one)?
 
Just as I thought... the 980 is too expensive for me.

Stulid, can you come up with a final build using all of the above - sorry to be a pain in the ass lol.

I'm still not sure about the Intel Core i5 6600K vs 6500 debate... can you make an executive decision for me please?

I'll go ahead and place an order for your final list. Thank you very much!
 
The 6600K you can overclock (with Z170 board) it also runs at a good bit higher core speed even out of the box.

the cooler is needed as K series Skylakes CPUs dont include one, the others all do.

I think the first one will be fine.
 
Hey Stu. Sorry to bug you again.

I didn't get a chance to order anything due to other commitments. I ordered a £625 laptop yesterday from Dell Outlet (i7 6700HQ, 4K screen, 8GB, GTX 960M etc) but I am going to cancel that as I will only use the laptop Friday-Sunday and can use an older one and just buy a new desktop instead..

To cut a long story short, has anything changed in the last few weeks? Is there anything on the list that you would change?

I keep reading the i5-6500 is the better CPU?

Also, newbie question here... I've never built a PC before. Are all the screws provided with the case/motherboard/power supply etc?

How easy is it to connect things up? For example, on the case, are thee 'markings' that show where to mount the motherboard so all the ports line up at the back etc?

Cheers!:)
 
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The 6500 is faster but also £20 more expensive.

Everything you need is supplied such as power cables with PSU, case has the screws, board has SATA cables.

My basket at Overclockers UK:

Total: £572.12
(includes shipping: £12.30)
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I'm not sure you really need a new PC. A RAM upgrade to 16 GB to cope with all those tabs and a new GPU for the games will work wonders. Where are you seeing the slowdown?
 
Cheers Stu.

In terms of the motherboard, I've been reading that Z170 and H170 are the ones to go for. In terms of my needs, a H170. Doesn't a H110 take away some features when a H170 is only little bit more?

What are your thoughts?
 
Quartz said:
I'm not sure you really need a new PC. A RAM upgrade to 16 GB to cope with all those tabs and a new GPU for the games will work wonders. Where are you seeing the slowdown?
Click to expand...

Hey. I'm suffering from random restarts. Event Viewer suggests this is a hardware fault which I believe to be RAM related. You're right... new RAM may solve the problem but the system just doesn't feel snappy any more.

I really can't describe it... I think in a way I am trying to justify an upgrade. A £600 machine will last at least 5-8 years just like my Dell Vostro. I'll strip the Dell of parts (XFI sound card, SSD and 3 x SATA) and use it as a spare PC.
 
jUsT2eXy said:
Cheers Stu.

In terms of the motherboard, I've been reading that Z170 and H170 are the ones to go for. In terms of my needs, a H170. Doesn't a H110 take away some features when a H170 is only little bit more?

What are your thoughts?
Click to expand...

A Z170 you would combine witha K series CPU to overclock, the H110 is a simpler chipset, but the boards have most things you need such as USB3.0/PIC-E 3.0 and SATAIII
 
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