First time build gaming pc

JaWalks

JaWalks

JaWalks

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Joined
19 Dec 2011
Posts
439
Hi,

I have decided to build myself a gaming pc as my laptop is outdated and on its last legs. I have never built a pc before so could use a bit of advice.

I have set myself a budget of £900 but this needs to include an OS and monitor. I'm just after a solid system for the money with the option of upgrading in the future.

I have read a few threads and made an attempt of putting something together. This is what it currently looks like:

Asus GeForce GTX 560Ti DirectCU II 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
£169.99
Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - OEM
£161.99
IIyama Prolite E2475HDS 24" Widescreen LED Business Monitor - Black
£149.99
MSI Z68A-G43-G3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard
£94.98
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050)
£79.99
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST500DM002)
£69.98
Cooler Master Silent Pro Modular 500W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply
£29.99
Cooler Master HAF 912 Case - Black Cooler Master HAF 912 Case - Black
£49.98
Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX)
£41.99
Gelid Tranquillo CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/AM2+/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366)
£25.99
OcUK 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM
£17.99

Sub Total : £744.05
Shipping : £11.25
VAT : £151.06
Total : £906.36

Tiny bit over budget but I can live with that.

Any help or pointers before I pull the plug will be really appreciated.
 
I went £8 over with a few small changes to your rig:

YOUR BASKET
1 x OcUK GeForce GTX 560Ti 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £195.95
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - OEM £161.99
1 x OcUK 2436VWA 24" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Black £119.99
1 x Gigabyte Z68XP-UD3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £99.98
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £79.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST500DM002) £69.98
1 x Cooler Master Silent Pro Modular 500W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £49.99
1 x Cooler Master Elite 430 Windowed Case - Black £39.98
1 x Gelid Tranquillo CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/AM2+/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366) £25.99
1 x Corsair Vengeance Low Profile 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CML4GX3M2A1600C9) £23.99
1 x OcUK 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £17.99
Total : £908.75 (includes shipping : £19.10).



The 2GB model of the 560Ti is stupidly quick, and newer games like more than 1GB of VRAM: OcUK BF3 test

The monitor is on pre-order but 24" for £120 is a great deal. Only compromise to get such a great card was the drop to 4GB of RAM, but if you are gaming on then this shouldn't be an issue.
 
Ok thanks for the advice. Is that monitor ok? I know it's cheap but is it not worth paying a bit more for a better one?

Another thing is I read something about the cooler master 430 case not being so great.
 
I have had no issues with my 430, the only thing I did with mine was to add an exhaust fan to the rear of it. If you can stretch an extra £10 to the 912 then that already has one.
If you ask in the customer service forum they should let you know (fingers crossed) the exact make and model of the monitor. If you can get to £950 then there is no harm in going for the Iiyama ProLite & the 912 case. But for the budget you have that system will blow your laptop performance away.
 
Built a system with pretty much the same specs just this month, using that same heatsink and motherboard, OC'd very easily to 4.4ghz with 2500k OEM.

Only niggle i have with the board is you cant manually set the vcore, so mine is at 1.35~v, have this feeling i could squeeze more out with the ability to set it manually but 4.4ghz i cant complain really.

All my gear fit very easily into a CM-690 II lite, highly recommend that case.

as for the getting a Retail processor mentioned above, save the 20 pound as your replacing the stock fan anyway and CPUs are pretty reliable nowadays, you still get a year with the OEM version.
 
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