Buying first gaming PC

Mostly the steel thickness. At 0.5mm it's highly likely that the case will feel too flimsy. Personally I don't go below 0.7mm.

And the restriction to M-atx and Itx motherboards would mean any future upgrades you'd be limited to specific motherboards.

Don't get me wrong, it'll do the job.

But if I was dropping £850 on something, i'd also want it to look good and be resilient.
 
CorrodedTemplar said:
Mostly the steel thickness. At 0.5mm it's highly likely that the case will feel too flimsy. Personally I don't go below 0.7mm.

And the restriction to M-atx and Itx motherboards would mean any future upgrades you'd be limited to specific motherboards.

Don't get me wrong, it'll do the job.

But if I was dropping £850 on something, i'd also want it to look good and be resilient.
Click to expand...

Ok thank you. I'll look into a new case for this build and all future builds.
 
Please, for the love of god, don't listen to anyone who tells you to not buy SSD. Do get decent 250gb or bigger SSD (Samsung Evo 840 or 850 for example).

Also, whoever mentioned matx case - make sure your PSU, mobo and GPU can actually fit into it. I'll probably get normal size or bigger case unless space is a problem for you. Quality 500w+ psu will be enough for single card i5 setup so can save money there.
 
PhoenixUK said:
Please, for the love of god, don't listen to anyone who tells you to not buy SSD. Do get decent 250gb or bigger SSD (Samsung Evo 840 or 850 for example).

Also, whoever mentioned matx case - make sure your PSU, mobo and GPU can actually fit into it. I'll probably get normal size or bigger case unless space is a problem for you. Quality 500w+ psu will be enough for single card i5 setup so can save money there.
Click to expand...

Could you give me an example of what you think is a good build?
 
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£720.92 + CASE

I'm not up to date on cases - please keep in mind the following when buying one - how are the drives mounted (screwless mounting is nice)? Ventilation ? Size? CABLE MANAGEMENT (important - routes for cables around back etc), how is the PSU mounted? Any hot swap bays?

*GPU can be swapped for 380, either should be fine. Shame he doesn't have access to members market as could possibly grab one for around ¬100 2nd hand.

*PSU - I personally like modular PSUs for the tidyness and better airflow but feel free to grab a cheaper non-modular model (£20ish savingg).

*Normal HDD of choice if needed for storage - or maybe just get bigger SSD instead if you're planning to hoard lots of movies on it.

------

Looking at some early overwatch benchmarks, it could actually be ran on a 950 (¬40 cheaper) on almost maxed settings (ultra) at 1080p and this is the most demanding game of the three you've mentioned. It's also not optimized yet and surely will get patched to run better once it gets released.
 
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Yeah it'll play that game on very high now, but what about games in a years time? Or two years time?

OP doesn't have to listen to me in the slightest, and he can take anyone's advice he chooses. But £720+case compared to £840 case included with an upgraded cpu and a drastically better GPU?

OP, I would suggest you stick to your earlier list IMO

Case Aerocool Qs-180 Micro-ATX Chassis - Black
Processor Intel Core i5-6600 3.30GHz (Skylake) Socket LGA1151 Processor - Retail
Memory Kingston HyperX Fury Black 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-14900C10 1866MHz Dual Channel Kit (HX318C10FBK2/16)
Graphics Card Asus GeForce GTX 970 TURBO OC 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
Primary Solid State Drive / Hard Drive Samsung 250GB 850 EVO SSD 2.5" SATA 6Gbps 32 Layer 3D V-NAND Solid State Drive (MZ-75E250B/EU)
Storage Mechanical Hard Drive Seagate 1TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache HDD - OEM (ST1000DM003)
Optical Drive **Not Compatible with Kolink Victory Case** Not wanted
WIFI Not wanted
Operating System Microsoft Windows 10 64-Bit DVD - OEM (MS-KW9-00139)
Security Software ESET Smart Security - Trial Key
Build Time Standard Build Systems - Dispatched within 7 working days
Warranty OcUK Standard System Warranty - 3 Year (24 Month C&R + 12 Month Labour)

price is £842.14 (including shipping)
 
Oh well, I could go on about how 6600 is no different from 6400 apart from TDP and both will OC to same speeds as 6600k on that cooling as well as buying matx motherboard with 0 features and lack of slots or support of new tech is a bad move but there isn't much point.


Had more of a play myself and even though I'd probably never buy all brand new PC as 2nd hand parts are much better value (thank you members ocUK members market), however, if for any reason I'd have to spend about that much money on a brand new build ***I would*** do this:




Case Phanteks Enthoo Pro M Midi Tower Case with Window - Black

Motherboard Gigabyte GA-Z170X-Gaming 3 Intel Z170 (Socket 1151) DDR4 ATX Motherboard

Processor Intel Core i5-6600K 3.9GHz (Skylake) Socket LGA1151 Processor - Retail

Memory Corsair Vengeance LPX 8GB (2x4GB) DDR4 PC4-19200C14 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit - Red (CMK8GX4M2A2400C1

CPU Cooler OcUK Tech Labs 120mm Extreme CPU Liquid Cooling Upgrade Bundle

M.2 Solid State Drive **For Operating System If Selected** Samsung SM951 256GB M.2 PCI-e Gen3 8Gbps x 4 AHCI Solid State Drive (MZHPV256HDGL-00000)

Solid State Drive 1 Samsung 250GB 850 EVO SSD 2.5" SATA 6Gbps 32 Layer 3D V-NAND Solid State Drive (MZ-75E250B/EU)

Graphics Card MSI Radeon R9 380 Gaming 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card

Power Supply Corsair CS550M 550W Semi-Modular 80+ GOLD Certified Power Supply (CP-9020076-UK)

Operating System Microsoft Windows 10 64-Bit DVD - OEM (MS-KW9-00139)

--- this comes up at 1005£ so a bit over budget but we get following:

*Decent case for not much with good cable management and airflow.
*Colour matched parts - because we want it to look great (remember, this is MY build ;-) ).
*Good motherboard with a lot of features, newest tech support (ssd caching, m2 slots, great OC features, good cooling).
*Good quality modular PSU - because we hate messy cables
*Superfast M2 SSD - because I can, and I want one, NOW (also, we hate loading screens).
*Superfast SSD - because we have to store our pron somewhere, and we like it to load fast...
*Good memory in a nice colour - because we want it to match the rest.
*Nice CPU cooler because the other one I wanted was out of stock.
*GPU that matches the colour scheme of the rest of items - because the cheaper one was out of stock.



TLDR:
Get good case, motherboard, SSD and don't splash on a GPU you wont' be using for the next 1.5-2years, upgrade then if necessary. Also, make sure YOU like it, it should be fun to build your own PC.


------
PS. Where is stulid when you need him to clear things up ;-).
 
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Wow guys thank you so much for these replies. I think that both of you pose very good points. I'm sorry I haven't replied sooner, I've just been super busy.

Let me make a few things more clear about myself and my usage.

Firstly, I only really said that was my budget as at the time I thought you had to spend that much to get a really decent up to date gaming computer.

I would be more than happy to buy second hand. In fact I was looking at Ebay only this morning.

I'm not a competitive gamer, I just want to have a good time playing with my friends and run the games I like at a decent level, however, I do want it to stand the test of time as in my mind I'd rather spend a bit more now and have it last than have to spend twice as much upgrading this computer a year or so down the line.

I don't really want to spend that much, honest the most I really want to spend is £650-£700, I am however, prepared to spend more if I can justify it.
 
It's a shame you're new to the forums as otherwise you'll have access to 'Members Market' which is a place here where we trade with each other and you can grab some bargains.

Ebay might be a bit tricky - make sure you buy from trusted sellers if you decide to get anything. I would actually avoid this unless you know what you're doing and how to test different parts to make sure they don't have any issues.

I'd stick with a cheaper and upgradeable build rather than splashing all the money now - it really is more efficient in the long run, especially GPU wise.

Out of curiosity what is the current PC that you're using? Maybe we can salvage something out of it:).

------------------------------------------

Also, there is this option if you're on a budget:

Case Raijintek Aeneas mATX Cube Case - Black Windowed

CPU AMD Kaveri A10-7870K 12 Compute Core APU w/ Radeon R7 Graphics (4 CPU + 8 GPU Compute Cores) - Reta

Memory Kingston HyperX Savage Red 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (HX324C11SRK2/8)

Primary Solid State Drive / Hard Drive Samsung 250GB 850 EVO SSD 2.5" SATA 6Gbps 32 Layer 3D V-NAND Solid State Drive (MZ-75E250B/EU)

Graphics Card Not wanted - Onboard Graphics **AMD APU Processors Only**

Operating System Microsoft Windows 10 64-Bit DVD - OEM (MS-KW9-00139)


It hasn't got a GPU but it will play league of legends, starcraft, counter strike, any older games and any new games on low/medium/high depending on game.

Overwatch still isn't out until June - which in PC world is a very long time. By the time it comes out, you can try it out on this PC on low/medium settings - see if you like it and if you do, get an extra GPU later. There are new GPU technologies coming out around that time so it could be a wise move - even if they turn out to be nothing spectacular, the prices will drop massively anyway (maybe by then you'll have access to members market for some 2nd hand bargains once everyone starts buying new tech).

I've also only picked 250gb SSD and no mechanical drive - after all, you should be able to easily put a reasonable number of games on that (how many games can someone play at the same time right?) and if you ever need extra storage you can always get it later (again, get a 2nd hand bargain).
 
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PhoenixUK said:
It's a shame you're new to the forums as otherwise you'll have access to 'Members Market' which is a place here where we trade with each other and you can grab some bargains.

Ebay might be a bit tricky - make sure you buy from trusted sellers if you decide to get anything. I would actually avoid this unless you know what you're doing and how to test different parts to make sure they don't have any issues.

I'd stick with a cheaper and upgradeable build rather than splashing all the money now - it really is more efficient in the long run, especially GPU wise.

Out of curiosity what is the current PC that you're using? Maybe we can salvage something out of it:).

------------------------------------------

Also, there is this option if you're on a budget:

Case Raijintek Aeneas mATX Cube Case - Black Windowed

CPU AMD Kaveri A10-7870K 12 Compute Core APU w/ Radeon R7 Graphics (4 CPU + 8 GPU Compute Cores) - Reta

Memory Kingston HyperX Savage Red 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (HX324C11SRK2/8)

Primary Solid State Drive / Hard Drive Samsung 250GB 850 EVO SSD 2.5" SATA 6Gbps 32 Layer 3D V-NAND Solid State Drive (MZ-75E250B/EU)

Graphics Card Not wanted - Onboard Graphics **AMD APU Processors Only**

Operating System Microsoft Windows 10 64-Bit DVD - OEM (MS-KW9-00139)


It hasn't got a GPU but it will play league of legends, starcraft, counter strike, any older games and any new games on low/medium/high depending on game.

Overwatch still isn't out until June - which in PC world is a very long time. By the time it comes out, you can try it out on this PC on low/medium settings - see if you like it and if you do, get an extra GPU later. There are new GPU technologies coming out around that time so it could be a wise move - even if they turn out to be nothing spectacular, the prices will drop massively anyway (maybe by then you'll have access to members market for some 2nd hand bargains once everyone starts buying new tech).

I've also only picked 250gb SSD and no mechanical drive - after all, you should be able to easily put a reasonable number of games on that (how many games can someone play at the same time right?) and if you ever need extra storage you can always get it later (again, get a 2nd hand bargain).
Click to expand...

What do I have to do to become part of the 'members market'?

I've used Ebay a lot for other things but never for computing therefore, as I'm relatively new to the whole thing I'll avoid Ebay.

Unfortunately right now I'm using a 2011 iMac.

I've heard mixed things about the -----> CPU AMD Kaveri A10-7870K 12 Compute Core APU w/ Radeon R7 Graphics (4 CPU + 8 GPU Compute Cores) - Reta <----- Is it any good? How does it compare with the i5 stuff?

Memory Kingston HyperX Savage Red 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (HX324C11SRK2/8) This is my go to, however, one question why 8GB and not 16GB?

As for this Primary Solid State Drive / Hard Drive Samsung 250GB 850 EVO SSD 2.5" SATA 6Gbps 32 Layer 3D V-NAND Solid State Drive (MZ-75E250B/EU) Would you always go 250GB over 12GB?
 
faceman123 said:
Anyone suggesting amd for a gaming build at any price point should be banned lol. Op go Intel
Click to expand...

Do you mean that overclockers should close the business then, for selling gaming PCs based on AMD builds? Clearly they don't have a clue and all of those benchmarks showing barely 5-10% difference in most games lie.
Everyone should should spend £2000 on a PC like you did, to play games that will play exactly the same on a machine for less than half of the price :-).
If you have nothing reasonable to contribute then please keep it to yourself.

I've posted earlier explaining the differences and another option of cheaper i5 build (still couldn't come under £750 though) as well as couple more things but it's gone off somewhere.

Whatever the OP decides to go for, I'd definitely suggest investing in a better motherboard, PSU and case rather than CPU/GPU from which the first one can easily be overclocked (and most games nowadays aren't that much CPU hungry, anything around the performance of 3-4th gen i5 will run any game fine unless you play on stupid resolution) and second one loses more value per day than a mid range brand new car and becomes obsolete every 8 months anyway.

@DellBoy121
Where are you based?
 
PhoenixUK said:
Do you mean that overclockers should close the business then, for selling gaming PCs based on AMD builds? Clearly they don't have a clue and all of those benchmarks showing barely 5-10% difference in most games lie.
Everyone should should spend £2000 on a PC like you did, to play games that will play exactly the same on a machine for less than half of the price :-).
If you have nothing reasonable to contribute then please keep it to yourself.

I've posted earlier explaining the differences and another option of cheaper i5 build (still couldn't come under £750 though) as well as couple more things but it's gone off somewhere.

Whatever the OP decides to go for, I'd definitely suggest investing in a better motherboard, PSU and case rather than CPU/GPU from which the first one can easily be overclocked (and most games nowadays aren't that much CPU hungry, anything around the performance of 3-4th gen i5 will run any game fine unless you play on stupid resolution) and second one loses more value per day than a mid range brand new car and becomes obsolete every 8 months anyway.

@DellBoy121
Where are you based?
Click to expand...

I live in Reading but spend a lot of time in Cambridgeshire and Liverpool.
 
With an AMD I can get what I think is a good build for like £600-£650. With the i5 I'm looking at £750-£800. Considering I was going to just upgrade my iMac to the new one which costs between £750 and £1000 I wouldn't mind spending that on a new PC. However, while I wouldn't mind doing it, I'd only want to if I can justify it. Because like I said I'm not a pro gamer and realistically I'm only going to be spending at a few hours a day playing games.
 
That's the point. If you can spend the extra cash then that's great, but if you're on a tight budget then alternative options are there to use. Sometimes it's worth squeezing extra but sometimes it isn't.

Some of the best gaming PCs I've built were with cheap components - the well known, AMD64 3200+, E2200 (in the age of 3x price E6700 at the time), the famous unlockable 550BE which clocked to 4.5ghz and unlocked to quad core for £50 before they became popular. All of those CPUs were around £70 and took everything you could throw at them. I've never spent myself (although have built for others) more than £150 on a GPU and could play all games just fine.

If a £300 console can play games, why a £600 PC equipped with better hardware can't?
Some people just have bigger wallet than brains :-).

Ofcourse, if you want a fancy 4k monitor or a multi monitor setup and want to play all those newest shooters on maxed eyecandy then you might need to spend a bit extra but for the casual gamer or someone who plays RTS/Mobas or the occasional arcade shooter (overwatch/tf) then you'll find that a £600-700 build is all you'll need.

And as far as knowing that mid/higher end i5/i7s are great - looking from experience, it looks like skylake is very far from a good buy being hardly 15% quicker than 4years older ivybridge architecture, with virtually 0 real world noticeable performance gains in gaming. A lot of money for essentially performance of a 4 year old tech.

I have to say I'm kind of disappointed with intel over the last few years, they didn't really bring anything interesting out other than heat problems, errors and get people to change motherboards every 2 years.

--------------------
If you decide to get something, give us a shout once you're ready or give ocUK a call and someone will help you find the best deals around. If you ever pass through Cambridge - I've got a spare 500GB hdd and some quality thermal grease lying around that you can have for a price of good pint of ale.
 
PhoenixUK said:
That's the point. If you can spend the extra cash then that's great, but if you're on a tight budget then alternative options are there to use. Sometimes it's worth squeezing extra but sometimes it isn't.

Some of the best gaming PCs I've built were with cheap components - the well known, AMD64 3200+, E2200 (in the age of 3x price E6700 at the time), the famous unlockable 550BE which clocked to 4.5ghz and unlocked to quad core for £50 before they became popular. All of those CPUs were around £70 and took everything you could throw at them. I've never spent myself (although have built for others) more than £150 on a GPU and could play all games just fine.

If a £300 console can play games, why a £600 PC equipped with better hardware can't?
Some people just have bigger wallet than brains :-).

Ofcourse, if you want a fancy 4k monitor or a multi monitor setup and want to play all those newest shooters on maxed eyecandy then you might need to spend a bit extra but for the casual gamer or someone who plays RTS/Mobas or the occasional arcade shooter (overwatch/tf) then you'll find that a £600-700 build is all you'll need.

And as far as knowing that mid/higher end i5/i7s are great - looking from experience, it looks like skylake is very far from a good buy being hardly 15% quicker than 4years older ivybridge architecture, with virtually 0 real world noticeable performance gains in gaming. A lot of money for essentially performance of a 4 year old tech.

I have to say I'm kind of disappointed with intel over the last few years, they didn't really bring anything interesting out other than heat problems, errors and get people to change motherboards every 2 years.

--------------------
If you decide to get something, give us a shout once you're ready or give ocUK a call and someone will help you find the best deals around. If you ever pass through Cambridge - I've got a spare 500GB hdd and some quality thermal grease lying around that you can have for a price of good pint of ale.
Click to expand...

I've got family in Cambridgeshire so I visit Cambridge a lot throughout the year. In fact I was born there, only moved for uni and work.

Ok so this is the cheap side of a build, let me know what you think. Remember I'm new to this whole thing so any feedback is much appreciated.

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/ocuk...3-gaming-pc-fs-151-og.html#t=a+b8c4d@e5f0i0j6

Case Corsair Carbide Series 88R Micro-ATX Case - Black (CC-9011086-WW)
Processor AMD Kaveri A10-7870K 12 Compute Core APU w/ Radeon R7 Graphics (4 CPU + 8 GPU Compute Cores) - Reta
Memory Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-14900C10 1866MHz Dual Channel Kit (HX318C10FBK2/8)
Graphics Card Sapphire Radeon R9 Nitro 380X 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with Backplate (11250-01-20G)
Primary Solid State Drive / Hard Drive Samsung 250GB 850 EVO SSD 2.5" SATA 6Gbps 32 Layer 3D V-NAND Solid State Drive (MZ-75E250B/EU)
Storage Mechanical Hard Drive Seagate 1TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache HDD - OEM (ST1000DM003)
Optical Drive **Not Compatible with Kolink Victory Case** Not wanted
WIFI Not wanted
Operating System Microsoft Windows 10 64-Bit DVD - OEM (MS-KW9-00139)
Security Software Not wanted
Build Time Standard Build Systems - Dispatched within 7 working days
Warranty OcUK Standard System Warranty - 3 Year (24 Month C&R + 12 Month Labour)

£687.02 (including shipping)
 
Or what about this build?

Case Corsair Carbide Series 88R Micro-ATX Case - Black (CC-9011086-WW)
Processor AMD Piledriver FX-6 Six Core 6350 Black Edition 3.90GHz (Socket AM3+) Processor - Retail
Memory Ballistix Sport 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (BLS2CP4G3D1609DS1S00CEU)
Primary Solid State Drive / Hard Drive Samsung 250GB 850 EVO SSD 2.5" SATA 6Gbps 32 Layer 3D V-NAND Solid State Drive (MZ-75E250B/EU)
Secondary Mechanical Hard Drive Seagate 1TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache HDD - OEM (ST1000DM003)
Graphics Card Sapphire Radeon R9 Nitro 380X 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with Backplate (11250-01-20G)
Optical Drive Not wanted
Sound Card / WIFI Not wanted
LED Fan Colour Not wanted
Operating System Microsoft Windows 10 64-Bit DVD - OEM (MS-KW9-00139)
Security Software Not wanted
Build Time Standard Build Systems - Dispatched within 7 working days
Warranty OcUK Standard System Warranty - 3 Year (24 Month C&R + 12 Month Labour)

£678.98 (including shipping)
 
kenny_st said:
I would also say build your own,I had never built a computer before and was going to go prebuilt,the guys on here persuaded me to build it myself.it took me 2 days and a good read of all the manuals and boom I built my own,and really happy I did as if anything goes wrong etc I know where to start and you get a good understanding what's what's in there,
Click to expand...

+1 for this. I hadn't built a PC in 8 years and built my rig just before Xmas. So easy nowadays. You'll save a good chunk too, and it's fun!
 
They look alright although I would really consider MidiTower case. With micro atx (mini sized motherboards only) you're really limiting yourself badly with the choice of your components.

Also, as mentioned regarding the GPU, I'd probably just leave it out at start because from what I can see, the games that you mainly play can be played without any problems on the integrated Kaveri APU. Another reason for this is that there are new GPUs coming out around summer. I wouldn't pay £200 for that GPU, it doesn't look like a good value right now.

I'll have a look tonight and see what I can come up with if you were to self build and maybe it will work out better.

When were you planning to place the order? There are 'weekend only' deals on ocUK every week so it's possible that something comes up at a great price.
 
PhoenixUK said:
They look alright although I would really consider MidiTower case. With micro atx (mini sized motherboards only) you're really limiting yourself badly with the choice of your components.

Also, as mentioned regarding the GPU, I'd probably just leave it out at start because from what I can see, the games that you mainly play can be played without any problems on the integrated Kaveri APU. Another reason for this is that there are new GPUs coming out around summer. I wouldn't pay £200 for that GPU, it doesn't look like a good value right now.

I'll have a look tonight and see what I can come up with if you were to self build and maybe it will work out better.

When were you planning to place the order? There are 'weekend only' deals on ocUK every week so it's possible that something comes up at a great price.
Click to expand...

I've been toying with buying for a while now. I will probably be looking to place the order around late Jan/early Feb. I could hold off buying till the summer to see what comes out as overwatch doesn't come out till then anyway. If I can save a large chunk of cash I'd rather self build it (never done it before but I think I could learn).
 
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