Beginner building a gaming PC

harker · 5 Feb 2015 at 20:24

Hi there, I am a recent new member to this forum, I am looking for a little help in building my first gaming computer i have a MacBook Pro which I use at the moment but I know that it isn't suitable for gaming so I have decided to build my own instead of buying a pre built one, I mainly would like to use it for rpg games such as world of Warcraft but would also like to get rid of my Xbox and get into to playing games on the pc as well I do use steam and have a few games on there also which my MacBook cannot handle I would like to be able to play games in full graphics but it's not really essential so, I have already bought the case it does include a 750w power supply but I have been told that usually power supply's included with cases are not very good I also have had a look around at some parts, I am thinking of building it over the next few weeks installing and buying each part weekly. I was wondering if these parts would be compatible and would work together, bare in mind I am a beginner I was wondering if someone could tell me if I they would be compatible or if I could substitute parts for other parts you could recommend where I could save money I have a budget of around £400 not including the case, mouse, keyboard or monitor. Here are the parts I have found so far do I need any other parts? I would prefer to run windows 7 on the pc as well if someone could recommend parts or even a setup I could chuck into my case for what I need that would give me both great performance at a good price I know that a budget of £400 is quite low but I could also invest in second hard parts to save costs any help would be appreciated, I am really good at buying parts that don't fit, here are the parts I have been looking at so far:

Nvidia gtx 750
i5 4690k
Kingston hyper x beat 2x 8gb
Msi z97 gaming 5
Seagate 2tb hardrive

And here are my case specification and details:

Specifications
Available Colour: Black
Dimension (L / W / H) 435 x 196 x 420 mm
Side Windows Included
Weight (Gross) Net Weight: 3.6 kg
Motherboards Micro-ATX & ATX
Rear Expansion Slots: 7
Power Supply: 750W ATX (Included)
Mains power cable not included

Drive Bay Support:
5.25" Drive Bay 2 (Exposed)
2.5'' / 3.5" Drive Bay 3.5'' x 1 (Exposed)
3.5'' x 3 (Internal) & 2.5" x 0 or
3.5'' x 2 (Internal) & 2.5'' x 1 (Internal)

Front I/O Panel:
1 x USB 3.0
2 x USB 2.0
1 x HD Audio

Cooling Support:
Front: 120mm x 1 (Optional)
Rear: 120mm x 1 (Black Fan Included)

Power Supply Info:
Power Supply Included: 750W PSU
Compatibility: ATX
Wattage: 750 Watts
Dual Rail 12V
AC Input 230Vac
Active PFC
Fan Type: 120mm Silent Red Fan

Cables Included:
1 x 24 Pin Main ATX
1 x CPU 8-Pin 12V
4 x SATA Power
1 x 6-Pin PCI Express
3 x 4 Pin Molex power
1 x Floppy Drive

stulid · 5 Feb 2015 at 20:32

Can you name the case+PSU? The PSU should have a label on it.

You r list of parts go together and should fit in the case, but it all depends on if you have a decent quality PSU.

You may also want to get a lower grade CPU to afford a stronger GFX card.

harker · 5 Feb 2015 at 20:36

Hello,I haven't yet received the case I bought it from competitor which I am now regretting because I have been told most from eBay are junk but on the listing it says brand is storm and psu max output is 750w, thanks,

Simon.

stulid · 5 Feb 2015 at 20:38

harker said:
Hello,I haven't yet received the case I bought it from .... which I am now regretting because I have been told most from eBay are junk but on the listing it says brand is storm and psu max output is 750w, thanks,

Simon.

Does not sound good at all, if the PSU is a low budget weak PSU then it is going to be unsuitable for the job and also not to be trusted in terms of longevity, ripple on the voltages and incapable of outputting its rated power.

I would return it.

harker · 5 Feb 2015 at 20:40

Thank you for the advice I think I will return it do you know of any cases you could recommend which would be good for me? Thanks

stulid · 5 Feb 2015 at 20:43

Here are two £400 builds.

YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD Piledriver FX-6 Six Core 6300 Black Edition 3.50GHz (Socket AM3+) Processor - Retail £83.99
1 x **B Grade** MSI GeForce GTX 750 OC 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (N (GX-247-MS) £59.99
1 x Antec TruePower Classic 550w '80 Plus Gold' Power Supply £55.99
1 x Gigabyte 970A-DS3P AMD 970A (Socket AM3+) DDR3 Motherboard £52.99
1 x Avexir Core Blue Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U16001104G-2CW) - Blue Light £49.99
1 x Toshiba (7K1000.D) 1TB SATA 6GB/s 32MB Cache - OEM (DT01ACA100) HDD £39.95
1 x Xigmatek Mach Midi-Tower Black £24.95
1 x Raijintek Themis Black Heatpipe CPU Cooler PWM - 120mm £19.99
Total : £397.44 (includes shipping : £8.00).

YOUR BASKET
1 x SK Hynix 256GB SSD SH910A SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Drive (HFS256G32MNB-2201A) £84.98
1 x Gigabyte Z97P-D3 Intel Z97 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £62.99
1 x **B Grade** MSI GeForce GTX 750 OC 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (N (GX-247-MS) £59.99
1 x Intel Pentium K Anniversary G3258 Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £59.99
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan GOLD 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17100C11 2133MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLYED38G2133HC11ADC01) £52.99
1 x SuperFlower Golden Green HX 350W "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black £36.95
1 x Xigmatek Mach Midi-Tower Black £24.95
1 x Raijintek Themis Black Heatpipe CPU Cooler PWM - 120mm £19.99
Total : £412.43 (includes shipping : £8.00).

There are a lot of cases in stock if you would like to spend more money on a better quality one.

The GTX750 consumes very little power hence the 350W PSU used in the 2nd spec, a Gold rated quality PSU with a long warranty and good internals.

harker · 5 Feb 2015 at 20:49

Thanks very much for these setups I appreciate that would these be able to handle games well such as dayz and battlefield 4? I wouldn't expect it too for £400 how much would I be looking at spending for playing most games on high graphics? Thanks again

stulid · 5 Feb 2015 at 20:52

What resolution do you game at?

They wont play most games on high settings at 1080P (depends on the game), the GTX750 is just not strong enough and basically you need to spend more on a stronger card (£150 gets a R9 280/295).

harker · 5 Feb 2015 at 20:55

I would like to play in 1080p, Is there a setup you could reccomend that would handle battlefield 4 and dayz on high setting for say £500-£600? I could probably up my budget

stulid · 5 Feb 2015 at 21:00

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI AMD Radeon R9 285 Gaming Edition 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £149.99
1 x SK Hynix 256GB SSD SH910A SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Drive (HFS256G32MNB-2201A) £84.98
1 x AMD Piledriver FX-6 Six Core 6300 Black Edition 3.50GHz (Socket AM3+) Processor - Retail £83.99
1 x Antec TruePower Classic 550w '80 Plus Gold' Power Supply £55.99
1 x Gigabyte 970A-DS3P AMD 970A (Socket AM3+) DDR3 Motherboard £52.99
1 x Avexir Core Red Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U16001104G-2CIR) - Red Light £49.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 1TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £44.99
1 x Raijintek Agos Midi Tower - Black £39.95
1 x Raijintek Themis Black Heatpipe CPU Cooler PWM - 120mm £19.99
Total : £592.46 (includes shipping : £8.00).

YOUR BASKET
1 x Powercolor Radeon R9 290 PCS+ OC 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £199.99
1 x SK Hynix 256GB SSD SH910A SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Drive (HFS256G32MNB-2201A) £84.98
1 x AMD Piledriver FX-6 Six Core 6300 Black Edition 3.50GHz (Socket AM3+) Processor - Retail £83.99
1 x Antec TruePower Classic 550w '80 Plus Gold' Power Supply £55.99
1 x Gigabyte 970A-DS3P AMD 970A (Socket AM3+) DDR3 Motherboard £52.99
1 x Avexir Core Red Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U16001104G-2CIR) - Red Light £49.99
1 x Raijintek Agos Midi Tower - Black £39.95
1 x Raijintek Themis Black Heatpipe CPU Cooler PWM - 120mm £19.99
Total : £597.48 (includes shipping : £8.00).

YOUR BASKET
1 x Asus H81M-K Intel Core i5 DIY Micro ATX Motherboard, CPU & RAM Bundle £231.97
1 x Powercolor Radeon R9 290 PCS+ OC 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £199.99
1 x Antec TruePower Classic 550w '80 Plus Gold' Power Supply £55.99
1 x Avexir Core Red Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U16001104G-2CIR) - Red Light £49.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 1TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £44.99
1 x Raijintek Agos Midi Tower - Black £39.95
Total : £632.48 (includes shipping : £8.00).

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI Radeon R9 280X Gaming Edition OC 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £175.99
1 x AMD Athlon X4 860K Black Edition 3.70GHz (Socket FM2) Kaveri Quad Core Processor (AD860KXBJABOX) £67.99
1 x Antec TruePower Classic 550w '80 Plus Gold' Power Supply £55.99
1 x Avexir Core Red Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U16001104G-2CIR) - Red Light £49.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 1TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £44.99
1 x Gigabyte F2A88XM-DS2 AMD A88X (Socket FM2+) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £43.99
1 x Raijintek Agos Midi Tower - Black £39.95
Total : £488.50 (includes shipping : £8.00).

harker · 5 Feb 2015 at 22:29

Thank you for providing me with these setups do you have any idea if the 3rd one you reccommended would fit into a bitfenix prodigy mini itx case? Thanks

stulid · 5 Feb 2015 at 22:34

harker said:
Thank you for providing me with these setups do you have any idea if the 3rd one you reccommended would fit into a bitfenix prodigy mini itx case? Thanks

It wont as it is an mATX sized board.

The Prodigy is also available in mATX form.

harker · 5 Feb 2015 at 22:37

Ah I see I will go with the matX case then is this just the bigger version? Thanks

stulid · 5 Feb 2015 at 22:42

Its the same outside, just laid out differently inside.

harker · 5 Feb 2015 at 22:44

The parts you have listed is all I will need? Along with an operating system mouse keyboard and monitor? Which would put reccomend windows 7 or 8 I have been told 8 is better than 7 for gaming but has some problems playing certain games? Thanks

Danny75 · 6 Feb 2015 at 07:18

You'll need a means of installing the OS, either though a DVD drive (internal or external) or USB stick (read up on the latter if so). If you'll be using the BitFenix Prodigy M-ATX, then I'd advise against a "permanent" internal DVD drive because it will partly block the space just above the video card and won't help with cooling. However, they are cheaper than an external and you can always remove it after using it.

Doesn't matter much if you go for 7 or 8 at this point, as 10 will be out soon and owners of both 7 and 8 will be able to upgrade for free. Flip a coin.

Just get the 64-bit version of either.

You'll need to cater for three fans (CPU cooler, and 2 x 120mm case fans). And the H81M-K only has one CPU_FAN and one CHASSIS_FAN header. Run the CPU cooler from the CPU_FAN header on the motherboard. And for the two case fans you'll need something like this connected to a PSU 4-pin molex:

YOUR BASKET
1 x BitFenix Alchemy Molex to 3pin x3 Fan adaptor 12V 20cm - Black £4.99
1 x Akasa AK-CB001 Single PSU 4-pin Molex to 4 Fans (AK-CB001) £2.99

Either will do. If you get the cheaper Akasa, make sure to run the two case fans from the two 12v connectors and not the 5v. Those case fans are very quiet and don't push much air, even on 12v. At 5v you might as well not have them running.

Don't give yourself a headache trying to figure out where to connect the case's USB 3.0 lead, as the H81M-K doesn't have mid-board USB 3.0. Leave that cable disconnected and just use the USBs at the back on the motherboard's I/O panel.

I think that covers it. Wait for Stu or others to confirm. I've built with the mini-ITX version of the case but not the M-ATX.

Should be a great little rig for the money.

harker · 6 Feb 2015 at 12:43

Thankyou for the reply so it is possible to install an internal hardrive and then remove it easily? I would like to be able to keep the pc running cool will it make it overheat or crash installing an internal? Which operating system do you use and will you be changing to 10? Thank you for supplying me with the extra parts i will need i will add them to my shopping list, yeah i think it will be a challenge for me building this machine but i believe i can do it from using forums and research, is it really that hard to put together a computer? thanks,

Simon.

Danny75 · 6 Feb 2015 at 13:33

harker said:
Thankyou for the reply so it is possible to install an internal hardrive and then remove it easily?

Yes, very easy. If you're going to remove it right after installing the OS, no need to even bother screwing it in.

harker said:
I would like to be able to keep the pc running cool will it make it overheat or crash installing an internal?

I can't tell you if it will overheat or crash. All I can tell you is that with an internal drive blocking the intake of one or two of the three fans on that R9 290 (which is a powerful and hot-running card), it's highly unlikely that it will run as cool as it would otherwise (when GPU is on load). The case is small too, so every little will help when it comes to cooling.

If you think you'll be using DVD a lot, then invest in an external drive.

harker said:
Which operating system do you use and will you be changing to 10?

I'm using 7. I'll be changing to 10 sometime during the first year of it's official release so I can get it free. After that you'll have to pay for it.

harker said:
Thank you for supplying me with the extra parts i will need i will add them to my shopping list, yeah i think it will be a challenge for me building this machine but i believe i can do it from using forums and research, is it really that hard to put together a computer? thanks,

Simon.

You're welcome. No, not that hard. All you need is what you've got already - belief (plus research and patience). Then all the obstacles you come across, if any, will tumble. Take it nice and slow, double, triple check. Read the manuals, especially the motherboard one. Don't get mad if a part arrives faulty - it happens. It can be a frustrating experience if you go into it expecting everything to work and something doesn't. But also very rewarding when it works, either first time or after sorting issues out. If all that sounds fair to you, then you're ready to have a crack at it.

harker · 6 Feb 2015 at 13:58

Thank you for all the help and tips, i will take it steady and take my time hope all goes well! i have bought the bitfenix m mtx case i also bought the side panel window do you know if it will fit on the m mtx because it says it fit the micro atx but nothing about it fitting the m mtx but i am assuming it will because the cases are exactly the same size do you know anything about this? thanks again,
Simon.

Telecaster · 6 Feb 2015 at 14:02

Have you bought the mITX or mATX version of the prodigy? All the above suggested builds have been mATX so won't fit in an ITX case.