Advice on a £1,000 gaming build if possible please

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HI all,

First off apologies for yet another 'new build thread'.

This will be my first time constructing a PC so any advice would be appreciated on change of parts etc. Budget is in the £800 to £1,000 range and no monitor/OS required for purchase now.

Thanks in advance!

2en7r40.png
 
With regards to the video cards, since the new duel GPUS are coming out now and are looking quite good, ATI has just released their 6990 and I am sure nvidia will follow VERY shortly, in the next couple of months, perhaps maybe hold off and save up a bit more and add one of the Duel GPU cards to your set up? It will certainly add way more performance to your system, however your current basket looks really good : ) Don't byte my head off anyone for suggesting waiting out for the Duel cards, I am just mentioning it as its something I would do, of course its all personal choice!

Just my 2 cents/pence
 
You have a OEM cpu - this means it has no cooler, so you will need to buy an aftermarket one. This Gelid Tranquillo is a good bet.

That HDD is very overpriced, a 1TB Seagate Barracuda is both faster and cheaper - for more storage space!

Corsair Vengeance is a very good model, but due to the height of the heatsinks you'll struggle to get them under most coolers! I would swap them for some GeIL Value Plus 1600MHz stuff, not only cheaper but they perform just as well!

While Coolermaster do make decent PSUs you can get a lot better for your money. For example, this Antec TruePower, while more expensive is better, and has more cables etc :p

The rest of your build is absolutely spot on!
 
So, to clarify, I'd get something along the lines of this:

Gainward GeForce GTX 570 1280MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
(£233.32) £279.98

Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - OEM
(£141.66) £169.99

Asus P8P67 PRO Intel P67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - (Sandybridge) ** B3 REVISION **
(£124.99) £149.99

Coolermaster HAF 932 Case - Black
(£91.66) £109.99

Antec TruePower New Modular 750W Power Supply - With FREE 3D Mark 2011 Advance
(£74.99) £89.99

Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM 1yr Warranty (ST31000528AS)
(£31.66) £37.99

Akasa AK-CCX-4002HP Venom CPU Cooler (Socket LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366/AM2/AM3)
(£30.82) £36.98

GeIL 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz VALUE PLUS Dual Channel (GVP34GB1600C9DC)
(£29.99) £35.99

Samsung SH-S223C/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM
(£9.99) £11.99

Sub Total : £769.08
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £14.75
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £156.77
Total : £940.60

- Kept the case, as assuming you really like it :p
- Save you £20, and its got an expensive after market cooler that will let you overclock to around 4.8GHz easily.
- Fastest mechanical HDD, and its 1TB! :eek::D
- More capable, more reliable, more efficient PSU.
 
Any reason you recommended the Tranquillo but then the Venom in your next post Cookeh? I bought the Tranquillo (without any recommendations) but it hardly ever seems to get recommended and worried I've made a mistake buying it.

Sorry for hi-jacking the thread OP.
 
heres my build. gives you 2 graphics cards for epic crossfireness (along with a motherboard that does crossfire properly @ x8, x8)

im really not sure how good the power supply is thats bundled with the case, but if you go for the seperate case, it leaves you £110 for a power supply

*edit*
changed the internal HDD (clicked the wrong one first time)

Your basket
Product Name Qty Price Line Total
XFX ATI Radeon 6950 XXX 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £203.99
(£169.99) £407.98
(£339.98)
Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £185.99
(£154.99) £185.99
(£154.99)
Asus P8P67 PRO Intel P67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - (Sandybridge) ** B3 REVISION ** £149.99
(£124.99) £149.99
(£124.99)
Coolermaster HAF 912 Plus Case & GX 750w Power Supply Bundle £101.98
(£84.98) £101.98
(£84.98)
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM 1yr Warranty (ST31000528AS) £37.99
(£31.66) £37.99
(£31.66)
OCZ Platinum 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Ultra Low Voltage Dual Channel Kit (OCZ3P1600C9ELV4GK) £34.99
(£29.16) £34.99
(£29.16)
Samsung SH-S223C/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £11.99
(£9.99) £11.99
(£9.99)
Sub Total : £775.75
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £10.00
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £157.15
Total : £942.90



and with a little switch around to the case you have in your original build that i didnt notice, i can get the price to a hair over the £1000 mark
 
Last edited:
Any reason you recommended the Tranquillo but then the Venom in your next post Cookeh? I bought the Tranquillo (without any recommendations) but it hardly ever seems to get recommended and worried I've made a mistake buying it.

Sorry for hi-jacking the thread OP.

OP didn't have too much money left, so thought I'd spec something cheaper that would get the job done :p

In my build I went with the Venom because it was already in my basket ;):D

Gelid Tranquillo is an awesome cooler Maj, and a bargain at its price. Keeps an overclocked Sandy i7 below 50degrees at full load (can get exact figures if you want, its in CPC and highly recommended).

Reaper, not sure about case and PSU bundle, the GX series aren't great and have a lot of ripple - not something you want at all, but even less so when you have a high power system with cards in CF!

Will a 912 Plus actually take two HD6950s? I've no idea :confused:

Also, the HD6950s you've specced are the 1024mb versions - so can't be flashed to HD6970s ;). That said, two in CF will still pretty well destroy a GTX570.
 
Take Cookeh's build, take out the 570 stick in a Asus 480 and add a SSD

£1000 and no SSD makes me cringe

kd

Fair point that, but SSD + Gaming = Meh....

Was trying to stick to OPs build as much as possible.

I don't think its constructive to just come in and 'hand' someone a spec - I think it more beneficial you provide constructive crticism etc and let them form own ideas and knowledge :p

But yeah, GTX480 + SSD would be nice in a £1k build.
 
OP didn't have too much money left, so thought I'd spec something cheaper that would get the job done :p

In my build I went with the Venom because it was already in my basket ;):D

Gelid Tranquillo is an awesome cooler Maj, and a bargain at its price. Keeps an overclocked Sandy i7 below 50degrees at full load (can get exact figures if you want, its in CPC and highly recommended).

Reaper, not sure about case and PSU bundle, the GX series aren't great and have a lot of ripple - not something you want at all, but even less so when you have a high power system with cards in CF!

Will a 912 Plus actually take two HD6950s? I've no idea :confused:

Also, the HD6950s you've specced are the 1024mb versions - so can't be flashed to HD6970s ;). That said, two in CF will still pretty well destroy a GTX570.

wow, theres more wrong with that build than i thought

also, didnt realise they couldnt be flashed. i just went with them because they were on special offer :rolleyes:

just ignore my build, its really not great when you get right down to it
 
Thanks for the advice, fellas - Much appreciated. I'll do a little more research and get back to you. :)

I'm trying to stay away frm asking people just to spec me something. Seems a tad lazy when I should be doing some research myself :D
 
wow, theres more wrong with that build than i thought

also, didnt realise they couldnt be flashed. i just went with them because they were on special offer :rolleyes:

just ignore my build, its really not great when you get right down to it

Nothing is wrong with it.

If you bought the parts and built it, it would run. And be seriously quick.

Just things that could be improved - like there are in my spec (or like there would be should Stulid walk along :rolleyes::D).


Thanks for the advice, fellas - Much appreciated. I'll do a little more research and get back to you. :)

I'm trying to stay away frm asking people just to spec me something. Seems a tad lazy when I should be doing some research myself :D

Pleasure, and good man! :D
 
Fair point that, but SSD + Gaming = Meh....

Was trying to stick to OPs build as much as possible.

I don't think its constructive to just come in and 'hand' someone a spec - I think it more beneficial you provide constructive crticism etc and let them form own ideas and knowledge :p

But yeah, GTX480 + SSD would be nice in a £1k build.

True :)

It is good to advise people on the spec :)

Guess it's not so useful for gaming the SSD, but still 1k needs an SSD xD

kd
 
I think I'll stick with the case and combine with the PSU suggested by Cookeh.

PSU seems to be very much a deal killer in that a poor one can ruin a system. I don;t think that is where I should skimp.

Hving done some research into the SSDs I'm not sure what the advantage would be for a gaming rig. Any comments as I'm a bit of a noob when it come to this?
 
This is £6 pound under your maximum budget :


Product Name Qty Price Line Total
HIS ATI Radeon HD 6950 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £215.99
(£179.99) £431.98
(£359.98)
Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - OEM £169.99
(£141.66) £169.99
(£141.66)
MSI P67A-GD55 Intel P67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - (Sandybridge) £129.98
(£108.32) £129.98
(£108.32)
XFX Pro 850W Core Edition Power Supply £79.99
(£66.66) £79.99
(£66.66)
Coolermaster HAF 912 Plus Case - Black £52.98
(£44.15) £52.98
(£44.15)
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM 1yr Warranty (ST31000528AS) £37.99
(£31.66) £37.99
(£31.66)
Corsair A50 High-Performance CPU Cooler (Socket AM2/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366) £32.99
(£27.49) £32.99
(£27.49)
OCZ Platinum 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 1333MHz Ultra Low Voltage Dual Channel Kit (OCZ3P1333C9ELV4GK) £31.99
(£26.66) £31.99
(£26.66)
Samsung SH-S223C/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £11.99
(£9.99) £11.99
(£9.99)
Sub Total : £816.57
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £12.50
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £165.81
Total : £994.88

You could swap out the dual gpus and get this : http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-143-EA&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1010
Which would then leave you about £100 to get an SSD : http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-007-CR&groupid=701&catid=14&subcat=910
 
While the idea of dual gpu set-up is very good, it doesn't leav much for "cheap" future upgrades as you can't just put another card in :p

For that reason I'd tend toward single gpu.

Sigporsson, the benefit in an SSD is reduced loading times. However for games the only benefit you'll see is that your levels will load milliseconds faster - not worth the £100 or so that could be spent on increased gaming performance.
 
Cheers Chaps - some great help here :)

I'm erring towards a slightly larger case (the 932 probably), the single GPU (for cheaper potential upgrades in the future) and not taking the SSD. Not convinced on the benefits for a mainly gaming rig. Open to being talked round though :p
 
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