Gaming PC advice

LemonAttacks

LemonAttacks

LemonAttacks

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Joined
14 Jun 2016
Posts
8
Hello guys/gals

I'm in the process of investing in a first gaming PC. I've put some specs together below and was hoping that somebody could advise me on any glaring mistakes or unnecessary choices with regards to the motherboard/cooler/SSD etc.

Is a Skylake build the best choice for a pure gaming PC. Or should be looking at other options?

My budget is just over £2000.

Thankyou very much in advance.



My basket at Overclockers UK:
  • 1 x AOC G2460PG 24" 1920x1080 TN G-Sync 144Hz 1ms Gaming Widescreen LED Monitor - Gunmetal= £289.99
  • 1 x OcUK Tech Labs Skylake Z170 Pro Gaming PC Configurator = £1,862.81
    • Processor:Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz (Skylake) Socket LGA1151 Processor - OEM
    • CPU Cooler:be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 3 CPU Cooler
    • Motherboard:Gigabyte GA-Z170X-Gaming 7 Intel Z170 (Socket 1151) DDR4 ATX Motherboard
    • 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)
    • Solid State Drive 2:Unwanted
    • Mechanical Hard Drive 1:Seagate SSHD 7200RPM 3.5" 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DX001) SSHD Hybrid Drive
    • Mechanical Hard Drive 2:Unwanted
    • Optical Drive **Please Check Chassis Support**:Unwanted
    • Graphics Card:Asus GeForce GTX 1080 DirectCU III Strix Gaming Aura RGB 8192MB GDDR5X PCI-Express Graphics Card
    • Power Supply:Super Flower Leadex GOLD 850W Fully Modular "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black
    • Sound Card:Unwanted
    • Networking:Unwanted
    • Operating System:Unwanted
    • Security Software:Unwanted
    • Keyboard:Unwanted
    • Mouse:Unwanted
    • Monitor:Unwanted
    • Gaming Headset:Unwanted
    • Speakers:Unwanted
    • Memory:Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-24000C15 3000MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (CMK16GX4M2B30
    • Build Time:Standard Build Systems - Dispatched within 7 working days
    • Case Lighting:Unwanted
    • Case:Phanteks Enthoo Evolv ATX Mid Tower Case - Gun Metal
    • Gaming Chair:Unwanted
    • Graphics Card 2 (SLI/Crossfire):Unwanted

Total: £2,175.90
(includes shipping: £23.10)
​
 
Hi

You can ask ocuk to build you a system from your own spec. Just a case of posting the basket in the customer service pre-sales section at the top of the forum.

https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/forumdisplay.php?f=117


Swapped the monitor to a 1440p G-Sync.

A 750W psu is big enough for SLI.

No need for a SSHD. Stick with an SSD and HDD combo.



My basket at Overclockers UK:

Total: £1,968.78
(includes shipping: £0.00)
​


​



Or a better IPS Monitor with a GTX 1070:


My basket at Overclockers UK:

Total: £1,032.28
(includes shipping: £12.30)
​


​


You could also look at dropping down to an i5 6600K if you are purely gaming (No video editing/rendering/game streaming etc) and then keep the GTX 1080 and better monitor.


My basket at Overclockers UK:

Total: £304.48
(includes shipping: £10.50)
​


​
 
Last edited:
LemonAttacks said:
Thanks for the advice.
So would I have to ask ocuk to build it through the forum link you provided?. Or would they build it if I used the skylake configurator option on the website?.
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/ocuk-tech-labs-skylake-z170-pro-gaming-pc-configurator-fs-004-tl.html

EDIT:

I see what you mean now. Most of your suggestions are not available on the website custom builder
Click to expand...

Yeah you don't get all the options with the configurator as there are just too many differents parts for them to list in it, so you would still need to contact them if you wanted to make some changes.
 
given you are going for a 1080, I would recommend at least 1440p resolution, It can even provide smooth performance at 4k. If you want higher refresh rate- go 1440p 100-144hz.

Skylake does seem the best option for gaming oriented PC's especially if you want 100+ fps (sometimes favors high ipc and clock speed) The only other options would be haswell and haswell-e (I would suggest these if you can get good deals)

More of a personal opinion but steer clear of sshd and seagate. I would recomend a WD black drive if you need mass storage.

The above post is good, I would add that you can find some decent reductions on monitors in the clearance section (Slight risk of getting unsatisfactory product in my experience though)
 
lee32uk said:
Seagate drives are fine, but if you only need a 1TB hard drive then I would stick with the WD Blue. The WD Black drives can be a bit noisy.

That monitor seems to have shot up in price from when I specced it. Maybe it was on offer.
Click to expand...

Yeah, the WD black drives are "performance" hard drives so it is understandable that they would get a bit loud when they spin up but depends weather acoustics or performance are a priority.

The failure rate of sea-gate drives are considerably higher, based on pretty expansive research. But I can agree with WD caviar blue being a solid choice
 
LemonAttacks said:
Thanks for the advice on the hard drives. I'm gonna go with a WD for the large storage. :)

I also like the look of this monitor

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/acer...descreen-led-monitor-black-red-mo-108-ac.html
Click to expand...

I can tell that you are trying to keep the cost down a bit, that monitor has nice specs but I expect it will likely be fairly cheaply built (cost cut on stand, outputs etc)
Also unless you are planning to go ultra-competitive then VA/IPS would be my go-to panel for colour reproduction and veiwing angles (and deep blacks usually with VA panels)

My final suggestion if you want to keep costs down and get a high-quality monitor would be wait for the RX480 release and get a freesync monitor (generally well priced compared to g-sync) you can then save for amd vega whenever it is released. Really just another option (sorry if I have made your decisions harder)

It's a shame, there were loads of really good monitors in the clearance section but they seem to have sold out.
 
LemonAttacks said:
I'm in the process of investing in a first gaming PC. I've put some specs together below and was hoping that somebody could advise me on any glaring mistakes or unnecessary choices with regards to the motherboard/cooler/SSD etc.
Click to expand...

Your spec includes a M.2 drive and a SSD and a HDD. Why not just go for a 512 MB or 1 TB M.2 or SSD drive?

An 850W PSU is overkill unless you're going to have two GPUs. You can use a 450W PSU.

You might also consider a 21:9 (3440x1440) monitor.

Do you need a Windows license?

Try this:

My basket at Overclockers UK:

Total: £2,014.70
(includes shipping: £20.82)
​


​

Upgrade to a GTX 1080 for an extra £160.

You'll need a better heatsink, but I leave that for more knowledgeable posters.
 
Benjamham said:
I can tell that you are trying to keep the cost down a bit, that monitor has nice specs but I expect it will likely be fairly cheaply built (cost cut on stand, outputs etc)
Also unless you are planning to go ultra-competitive then VA/IPS would be my go-to panel for colour reproduction and veiwing angles (and deep blacks usually with VA panels)

My final suggestion if you want to keep costs down and get a high-quality monitor would be wait for the RX480 release and get a freesync monitor (generally well priced compared to g-sync) you can then save for amd vega whenever it is released. Really just another option (sorry if I have made your decisions harder)

It's a shame, there were loads of really good monitors in the clearance section but they seem to have sold out.
Click to expand...

I swear that the monitor i linked has gone up in price twice since i first looked at it :D
But yeah the monitor choice is the headscratcher at the moment.
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/dell...reen-led-monitor-midnight-grey-mo-084-de.html
This DELL has similar specs with lots of good reviews
 
If you plan to keep the system for some time I would go with a 4K monitor and 6 core CPU. Using a GTX1080 with a 1920x1080 TN monitor is a big no no.

Wasabi Mango UHD420
 
jigger said:
If you plan to keep the system for some time I would go with a 4K monitor and 6 core CPU. Using a GTX1080 with a 1920x1080 TN monitor is a big no no.

Wasabi Mango UHD420
Click to expand...

This would work out quite well, you will be able to chose to play games at 1440 or 4k. If you want 60+fps then it isn't the best option at the moment. As for TN it can be okay, but is definately more budget oriented, Investing in a good monitor is wise because it will enhance your experience and wont cost you loads over time as you wont need to upgrade it (unless monitor's keep improving exponentially as they have been recently)

As for 6 cores (5820k, 6800k, etc.), they don't perform as well as the 6700k in games currently, even with DX12 becoming more prevalent, it may be a long time before you see the benefit of getting a 6core cpu. If you can somehow wangle in a 5820k then it could provide more consistant performance for longer. But the value more likely lies more with the i5's and i7's for now.

I am running a 5820k at the moment and even though it is awesome, the only reason I had it was because it was cheaper that a 6700k at the time (was used too). Things have changed somewhat now so it is a really tough call, but either platform should provide enough performance to see you well into the future (giving you will stay with single card config)
 
jigger said:
If you plan to keep the system for some time I would go with a 4K monitor and 6 core CPU. Using a GTX1080 with a 1920x1080 TN monitor is a big no no.

Wasabi Mango UHD420
Click to expand...

You would need 2 x GTX 1080's though for 4K. Also games won't make use of a 6 core cpu. An i5 is good enough if it is just for gaming.
 
I play a lot of shooters so I think that games running smoothly with over 60 FPS is more important to me. I've never really considered 4k but if it requires 2x 1080's then it's out of the question :D
I'm starting to wonder if a 1070 would be a more sensible option and then get a better monitor as was suggested earlier in the thread.
 
lee32uk said:
You would need 2 x GTX 1080's though for 4K. Also games won't make use of a 6 core cpu. An i5 is good enough if it is just for gaming.
Click to expand...

Not really. You could run 21:9 or run 4K at lower settings. Also plenty of games are using 6 cores or more.

If you are upgrading now it makes sense to buy a monitor that will last at least a couple of upgrades.
 
Last edited:
jigger said:
Not really. You could run 21:9 or run 4K at lower settings. Also plenty of games are using 6 cores or more.

If you are upgrading now it makes sense to buy a monitor that will last at least a couple of upgrades.
Click to expand...

Why would you buy a 4K monitor if you can't play at max settings ? I would want to be able to play at max settings if I was dropping 2K on a pc.

Also where are these games that are using 6 or more cores ?
 
Because resolution is IQ. If I was spending £2200 on a gaming PC I would want two things. It to last a while and offer the highest quality IQ possible.
 
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