First computer build. Help please.

Mvickers

Mvickers

Mvickers

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25 May 2014
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I have decided to move over to PC platform rather than console and after 2 weeks of reading up (and raiding this site) I think I'm ready to make a move!

Looking for a gaming PC, budget roughly 700, although i can be persuaded to put in more if given a good reason. Going to be a attempting a small overclock too and take it from there. Keeping in mind I didn't know the difference between a PSU and GPU a couple of weeks ago please bare with me :D! Here's what I've come up with so far:

1x Intel Core i5-4690K 3.50GHz (Devil's Canyon) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail
1x Gigabyte Z97-HD3 Intel Z97 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard
1x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE120BW)
1x TeamGroup Vulcan ORANGE 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLAD38G2400HC11CDC01)
1x SuperFlower Golden Green HX 550W "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black
1x Corsair Carbide 200R Compact ATX Case - Black (CC-9011023-WW)
1x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD
1x Raijintek Themis Direct Contact CPU Cooler

Total so far: £560.93

Help I need/Questions I have:

1. Are all these components compatible?
2. I need help finding a graphics card around £200 :confused:
3. Is 550W for a PSU enough for this set up?
4. Would you change any of the components or are there areas I could save money to improve others?

Any help would be greatly appreciated as I'm sure you all know a great deal more than me.
Thanks!
 
Welcome,

There is very little about that I'd change, but there are a few points.

This is what I'd go for:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-4690K 3.50GHz (Devil's Canyon) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £189.95
1 x Gigabyte Radeon R9 280 WindForce 3X OC 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £169.99
1 x Gigabyte Z97P-D3 Intel Z97 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £68.99
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE120BW) £63.98
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan ORANGE 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLAD38G2400HC11CDC01) £55.99
1 x SuperFlower Golden Green HX 550W "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black £49.99
1 x Corsair Carbide 200R Compact ATX Case - Black (CC-9011023-WW) £44.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £39.98
1 x Raijintek Themis Direct Contact CPU Cooler £19.99
1 x LG GH24NSB0 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £13.99
Total : £732.85 (includes shipping : £12.50).



The R9 280 is more than enough for 1080p, the price on that is stunning too.

Changed the Motherboard for a cheaper one, with similar specs.

That's about it. :)

550w is more than enough, rig will only pull about 300w max.
 
YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-4690K 3.50GHz (Devil's Canyon) Socket LGA1150 Processor - OEM £169.99
1 x **B Grade** Gigabyte Radeon R9 280X Rev2.0 WindForce 3X OC 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with Battlefie (GX-122-GI) £169.99
1 x Crucial MX100 256GB SATA 2.5” 7mm SSD + 9.5mm Adapter (CT256MX100SSD1) £79.99
1 x Gigabyte Z97P-D3 Intel Z97 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £68.99
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan ORANGE 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLAD38G2400HC11CDC01) £55.99
1 x Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache WD10EZEX - OEM ** Single Platter ** HDD £43.99
1 x NZXT Hale Power 90+ 550W '80 Plus Gold' Power Supply £43.99
1 x BitFenix Neos ATX Tower Black/Black £29.99
1 x Raijintek Themis Direct Contact CPU Cooler £19.99
1 x LiteOn IHAS124-14 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £11.99
1 x OcUK Tech Labs Zaward OEM 120mm Golf Ball Fan £2.59
Total : £712.50 (includes shipping : £12.50).





here's an alternative build for just a hair's margin above budget (most of it due to delivery costs lol)
latest i5k processor, specced the oem version to keep down costs
nice bang-for-buck heatsink as the oem doesn't come with one and also, you can overclock straight away
went with a b-grade 280x because it is a gigabyte - they have a uk based rma service that runs via serial number so after the 90 days warranty with ocuk is up, the remainder can be done via gigabyte themselves (ie no loss to yourself and you get a cheap graphics card in return. win-win)
256gb ssd. 128gb is far too small these days, and not worth it anymore (pay 60 for a 128gb ssd or pay 80 for a 256gb...my point exactly)
went for a wd blue hdd - slightly more expensive, but wd are more reliable than seagate
good quality 550w gold rated psu (same internals as the superflower golden green AND cheaper too! win.)
good quality budget case (case only comes with 1 fan, so added an extra)
 
Was just about to order the first spec and you've threw me there aha. Thanks for the input. Gona take that PSU and I like the case too. Do you think I need the extra memory SSD if i'm only sticking my OS on there?

Not sure about buying a B-grade, probably don't have a valid reason why I just would like it all brand new, but i'll keep an open mind and have a look into it!
 
the whole purpose of a ssd is to speed things up lol. you'd want not only your os in there, but also your most frequently used apps too. say a 30gb os install, in a 128gb ssd, that would leave you with ~80ish gb free space (ie, not much space for anything more than 2-3 apps/games).
and cost-per-gb wise, a 256gb is so much cheaper in that respect its insanity to get a 128gb ssd when you can afford a 256gb drive

re: b grade gpu - its up to you, ocuk are showing 10+ at the moment in stock, so i guess most of them are cosmetic (eg damaged boxes) rather than anything more serious. but of course you can get a lemon, but that's why there's 90 days warranty with ocuk (and the rest with gigabyte uk as mentioned above)
 
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Agree completely with tamzzy regarding the ssd, i find my 250gb fills up fast with os plus design software on. No room for my games. Though im looking to get more as they are the nuts!
 
Fair enough! I would only be having a couple of games installed at a time though you see. Even so, you've twisted my arm :). Thanks for the help. Going to put my order through tonight. Sucking it up and going for the B grade too me thinks
 
Mvickers said:
Fair enough! I would only be having a couple of games installed at a time though you see. Even so, you've twisted my arm :). Thanks for the help. Going to put my order through tonight. Sucking it up and going for the B grade too me thinks
Click to expand...

The MX100 is a steal at that price. You are getting a 256GB SSD for the price of a 128GB.
 
Aha I'll be back in a month asking where I can find a cheap 500gb drive then!

Due to me never building a computer before- just wondering- would it be easy for me to tell if the GPU is faulty/not as it should be etc?
 
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