Budget Monitor for First Gaming PC!

That is an interesting way to look at it...

Maybe self builds are still the best option.

Sorry to bother, but relating to the first build you posted, could I swap out the R9 280X for a GTX 770 without any compatibility issues? I would probably go for a slightly bigger and more expensive case, but that would be a full build and all for just a tiny bit over budget...
 
Yes, you could opt for a GTX 770 instead of the R9 280X - would work fine with no compatibility issues.

However, there is a couple of things I would suggest changing about that otherwise very good build:
- Swap the PSU for the 550W version so that you will have enough headroom for future upgrades
- Swap the motherboard for one like this for good overclocking and CF/SLI
 
MvDRelentless00 said:
That is an interesting way to look at it...

Maybe self builds are still the best option.
Click to expand...

graphics card on a today only special...
YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI Radeon R9 280X Gaming Edition OC 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £199.99
1 x Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £169.99
1 x iiyama Prolite XU2390 23" Widescreen Slim Bezel LED Multimedia Monitor - Black £129.95
1 x Gigabyte Z87-HD3 Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £82.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00614) £74.99
1 x Toshiba SSD HDTS212EZSTA 9.5mm 128GB Solid State Hard Drive - Retail £65.99
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan ORANGE 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLAD38G2400HC11CDC01) £53.99
1 x SuperFlower Amazon 550W "80 Plus Bronze" Power Supply £49.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £43.99
1 x Zalman Z3-Plus Midi-Tower - White £39.95
1 x CM Storm Devastator Gaming Bundle - USB Keyboard & Mouse £29.99
1 x Raijintek Themis Direct Contact CPU Cooler £19.99
1 x Pioneer 24x Internal DVR-221LBK DVD Rewriter - OEM £16.99
Total : £995.29 (includes shipping : £13.75).



sub 1k build (taking advantage of "today only" offer)
using the cheaper gpu, also increased the psu to 550w for more overclocking headroom (power-wise)

MvDRelentless00 said:
Sorry to bother, but relating to the first build you posted, could I swap out the R9 280X for a GTX 770 without any compatibility issues? I would probably go for a slightly bigger and more expensive case, but that would be a full build and all for just a tiny bit over budget...
Click to expand...

comparison between 770 and the 280x http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1041?vs=1037
basically they trade blows at stock speeds.
(on average) once overclocked, the 280x pulls away
 
Haha, thanks for the words of support! I think you might have given me the confidence to go ahead with a self build. It is something I always wanted to do to be honest, I just couldn't quite make the leap on my own.

I have watched a couple of build guides and as you say, a little bit of care for the components as well as making sure you are grounded seems like all you need.

Ok, going back to the 280X vs. GTX770... I have seen a number of reviews that are saying the 770 performs better, even though it is only a 2Gb card. There is about a £50 price difference, so I am leaning toward the 280X now. The performance discrepancies are minor, and you guys seem to like the AMD card enough...
 
The R9 280X and the GTX 770 are on the same performance level - some games favour the Nvidia architecture, others favour AMD. However, on balance they perform about the same (especially when you factor in games like titanfall which eat up VRAM and games that use AMD mantle) and any real-world performance difference between the two would be unnoticeable..

Plus, if you are buying now that MSI R9 280X for £199.99 is a fantastic deal and a heck of a lot cheaper than a GTX 770.
 
cmndr_andi said:
The R9 280X and the GTX 770 are on the same performance level - some games favour the Nvidia architecture, others favour AMD. However, on balance they perform about the same (especially when you factor in games like titanfall which eat up VRAM and games that use AMD mantle) and any real-world performance difference between the two would be unnoticeable..

Plus, if you are buying now that MSI R9 280X for £199.99 is a fantastic deal and a heck of a lot cheaper than a GTX 770.
Click to expand...

what he said
 
Yeah that current deal puts it £100 cheaper than the 770. Ok, I think I will go ahead with this build. Factoring in a new case and a slightly more expensive monitor it puts it at sub£1100, which is fine.

I can't thank you guys enough, I am sure as I get into this I will learn more about it all, but for the moment having some knowledgeable people lend a hand is really helpful.

I will get the components ordered today I think, thanks so much for your time!
 
Happy to help :)

Just a couple of little things I would suggest adding before you buy it:

- An 8pin ATX12V extension cable, as the standard cable used on PSUs is very short and will need to be trailed over the motherboard in most larger cases.
- Some good thermal material like MX-2, much better than stock paste and can be used many times.
- Thermal paste remover, really useful for cleaning your CPU and heatsink of paste - can be used many times.
 
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Ok, those are things that I would have likely overlooked which could have been embarrassing.

For the thermal paste, should I go for the MX2 or MX4? And what weight do I need for a full build? Will 4g be enough? The thermal paste remover link you sent links to the same place as the MX-2, is there a specific remover that will be best?
 
MX-4 and MX-2 perform very similarly - I would suggest just going for the cheapest which is MX-2 it seems. 4g is actually loads, that will probably allow you to mount 20 CPUs :)

Apologies for the bad link, fixed now - here is the thermal paste remover.

I think you will really like that ASUS IPS monitor.
 
I've been eyeing up that monitor but heard mixed things and can't seem to find any real reviews on it, let us know how it is.
 
Guys just a quick one.

I have swapped the case for the BitFenix Colossus and I am looking at a different monitor.


I just wanted to check compatibility. I am sure I will have no issues with the new case, it is massive, but everything should still work right, shouldn't it? Everything else is in the basket and ready to go pretty much.
 
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Why do I need to remove it? Becasue it isn't on Overclockers? None of the monitors on Overclockers in the price range I am looking at are getting very good reviews...

Also I don't mind what it looks like, its unusual, but not bad.
 
Besides, the monitor is irrelevant really (although some reviews of that one make me doubt its design...) I just want to know if swapping cases is going to have compatibility issues with the rest of the build.
 
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