Gaming Computer For Son

Sven69

Sven69

Sven69

Associate
Joined
13 Feb 2011
Posts
88
Location
Woodsetts
Hi All, Long time since I've posted on here.

My Son has now decided he wants a Gaming PC for Christmas, been looking at Gaming PC's and I'm now confused, I've not built a PC for over 3 years but my Z77X-D3H & I5-3570 are still going strong.

1. Should I be looking at AMD or something like Intel I5,
2. GFX Card Nvidia or Radeon.

AMD route, this at https://www.overclockers.co.uk/ocuk-tech-labs-amd-apu-micro-atx-gaming-pc-configurator-fs-011-tl.html

Intel route, https://www.overclockers.co.uk/titan-khukuri-intel-core-i5-6400-ddr4-skylake-quad-core-gaming-pc-fs-144-og.html

Got a budget of £650 - £700 max, & I need Windows as well. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Sven
 
I'm more than comfortable building the PC, I have built 3 or 4 over the past 15 years. Did a quick costing and cant really beat the price by much on those two listed.

What I'm not sure is whats best to go for spec wise these days. Technology seems to move so fast PC wise. I only really build or upgrade my PC's when they are pretty much obsolete or have ground to a halt.

What I did want was for my son to unwrap the PC Christmas Day, Plug it in and away he goes. Plus the warranty is a bonus.

p.s. don't need a Monitor or keyboard
 
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i dont know about the cpu, but its an i5 so should be pretty good and i dont know what that exact motherboard is like, but i have the M-Plus version with an i3 4160 and works really well..

oh and ive altered your bundles to what would make the best of your budget with the available options..

My basket at Overclockers UK:
  • 1 x OcUK Tech Labs AMD APU Micro ATX Gaming PC Configurator = £682.88
    • Case:BitFenix Pandora Micro-ATX Case w/ Icon Programmable Display - Silver Windowed
    • Motherboard:Gigabyte GA-F2A68HM-HD2 AMD A68 Chipset (Socket FM2+) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard
    • Processor:AMD Kaveri A10-7870K 12 Compute Core APU w/ Radeon R7 Graphics (4 CPU + 8 GPU Compute Cores) - Reta
    • Memory:TeamGroup Vulcan RED 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-17100C11 2133MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLRED316G2133HC11ADC01
    • CPU Cooler:Unwanted
    • Solid State Drive:Unwanted
    • Mechanical Hard Drive:Seagate 1TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache HDD - OEM (ST1000DM003)
    • Optical Drive **Please Check Chassis Support**:Unwanted
    • Graphics Card:Sapphire Radeon R7 370 Dual-X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (11240-06-20G)
    • Power Supply:SuperFlower Golden Green HX 550W "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black
    • Sound / Network Card:Unwanted
    • USB Network Adapter:Unwanted
    • Case Lighting:Unwanted
    • Operating System:Microsoft Windows 10 64-Bit DVD - OEM (MS-KW9-00139)
    • Security Software:Unwanted
    • Keyboard:Unwanted
    • Mouse:Unwanted
    • Monitor:Unwanted
    • Gaming Headset:Unwanted
    • Speakers:Unwanted
    • Gaming Chair:Unwanted

Total: £696.98
(includes shipping: £14.10)
​


​

My basket at Overclockers UK:
  • 1 x "Titan Khukuri" Intel Core i5-6400 DDR4 Skylake Quad Core Gaming PC = £699.02
    • Case:NZXT Source 340 Midi-Tower Case- Black Window
    • CPU:Intel Core i5-6400 2.70GHz (Skylake) Socket LGA1151 Processor - Retail
    • Memory:Kingston Fury Black 8GB (2x4GB) DDR4 PC4-19200C15 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (HX424C15FBK2/8)
    • Primary Solid State Drive / Hard Drive:Seagate 1TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache HDD - OEM (ST1000DM003)
    • Secondary Solid State Drive / Hard Drive:Unwanted
    • Storage Mechanical Hard Drive:Unwanted
    • Graphics Card:MSI GeForce GTX 950 OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
    • Sound Card:Unwanted
    • WIFI:Unwanted
    • Optical Drive:Unwanted
    • Lighting:Unwanted
    • 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)

Total: £713.12
(includes shipping: £14.10)
​


​


while the gtx 750 non ti is very good in my opinion as i own one, with your budget i wouldnt buy it(my budget was 200 less) ;)
 
My basket at Overclockers UK:

Total: £663.03
(includes shipping: £17.22)
​


​

Left a bit of room in the max budget to cover a build/warranty fee, if you're lucky - sometimes OcUK quotes minimal build fees (they vary depending on system).

This one has a 550W PSU to handle more powerful GPUs in future. Slightly faster processor than the i5-6400 (even taking into account the latter's newer Skylake tech that is roughly 5-10% better per clock than Haswell) and most importantly - a better GPU (I'd recommend 2GB minimum + then look at other specs as not all 2GB cards are good for gaming). Also, an SSD is a better (faster) base to build on. Could add more storage as and when he needs, without having to mess with reinstalling the OS if you get a mech drive now and then add an SSD in future. Just plug in and go.

Can also fit an R9 380 4GB in with a micro-ATX board and cheaper case:


My basket at Overclockers UK:

Total: £653.21
(includes shipping: £12.30)
​


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Or an equivalent Nvidia 960 4GB if green team preferred:


My basket at Overclockers UK:


​
 
Cheers Danny, liking the look of that one as well. Case wise how much room is there for expansion & would the GFX cards you listed be a tight fit?

Self build isn't a problem as I work shifts so could do it on my days off, just really being lazy, also could do it with my son as a bit of Father son bonding or what ever they call it now :D

Spec wise, any real difference between the Radeon & Nvidia. Always been a Nvidia fan myself. My GTX 560 is still going strong after nearly 3 years & seems to handle most things thrown at it
 
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As per Danny, just changed the case & dropped Radeon card, would this be Ok, wont be overclocking it anything comparable with the GFX card 750Ti or just stick with what weve got so far?

My basket at Overclockers UK:

Total: £683.13
(includes shipping: £17.22)
​


​

Any recommendations
Sven
 
Sven69 said:
Cheers Danny, liking the look of that one as well. Case wise how much room is there for expansion & would the GFX cards you listed be a tight fit?
Click to expand...

Think you like the NZXT Source more but to answer your question - the very longest GPUs would fit in either of the cases I specced earlier. Some GPUs exceed dual-slot height though, so those you'd want to watch out for in the case of the Phanteks Evolv ITX.

As for expansion, see my tweaked spec at the bottom with Z97 motherboard with more SATA ports and four DIMM slots so you can add more RAM later if needed.



Sven69 said:
Self build isn't a problem as I work shifts so could do it on my days off, just really being lazy, also could do it with my son as a bit of Father son bonding or what ever they call it now :D
Click to expand...

See, that's like getting three presents - the parts, the fun of building it with good old dad, and then the actual built PC. :D


Sven69 said:
Spec wise, any real difference between the Radeon & Nvidia. Always been a Nvidia fan myself. My GTX 560 is still going strong after nearly 3 years & seems to handle most things thrown at it
Click to expand...

It depends on the game more than anything. At that price-point, AMD may have the slight edge in performance/Nvidia on driver support (usually quicker to support) and some features (Shadowplay for example). All debatable though. So close it really doesn't matter, imo, unless you're putting together a build for one specific game above all others.

AMD does have the advantage in that budget motherboards like the one below can handle AMD CrossFire whereas they can't do Nvidia SLI. But you'd want a more powerful PSU anyway for two cards.


My basket at Overclockers UK:

Total: £702.11
(includes shipping: £13.20)
​


​

The i5-4590 doesn't really need an aftermarket cooler so any cheap one will do for looks/more silence than the stock one, or just stick with stock.

The blue on the underside of the GPU won't be seen once fitted so went with an orangey theme to match the motherboard choice.
 
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Sons 12, he's not too bothered about chavved up cases. I chose that one as a middle of the road case that looks ok and for ease of build.
 
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