gaming pc for £600 possible or not

Samantha1968 said:
ok so say get a system now. change gpu to standard then remove heatsink for watercooling block later. and install full watercooling later.
use a fan heatsink on cpu for now or a standard sealed waterblock and replace later when watercooling being done.


so i should get a case with big window side room for raidators and water system but that have fans in it now.

so what case and system cpu block would you suggest for now taking in fact that it will be replaced when full water cooling is installed later.

also i assume that any radeon or nvidia can be fitted with water blocks.

also what gpu would you suggest until price wars as i have a gt640 and its pushed to run things like total war rome ii on extreme on my 3d hd tv

b grade ?? r9 maybe.
Click to expand...

I do not think you need watercooling, though I do think you need to read up the specifications more when you choose components, and be a bit more realistic with what your expected uses will demand from your future PC.

You want a PC that will play all games on a 1080p monitor, that will do multi tasking, compiling etc, while looking good, yet have great cooling? Stick to AIO's and RGB lights. Less hassle, good looks, easy to service, use a 250gb SSD for main programs and OS, other critical programs etc on a second SSD, music and movies, on a single 2tb drive. Or raid two 2tb drives so your data is protected.

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI Radeon R9 290X LE Gaming Edition 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £249.95
1 x Intel Core i5-4690K 3.50GHz (Devil's Canyon) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £199.99
1 x NZXT KRAKEN X61 280mm AIO Water Cooling Unit £119.99
1 x Crucial MX200 250GB 2.5" SSD SATA 6Gbps 7mm Solid State Drive ( CT250MX200SSD1) £99.98
1 x Gigabyte Z97X-SLI Intel Z97 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £89.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02733) £84.95
1 x SuperFlower Leadex GOLD 650W Fully Modular "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black £74.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD £66.98
1 x NZXT Source 340 Midi-Tower Case - White Window £59.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Savage Red 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (HX324C11SRK2/8) £46.99
1 x Aqua Computer Colour Work USB - Aquabus variant £23.99
1 x Aqua Computer RGB LED Strip IP67 - 25cm £3.95
Total : £1,138.24 (includes shipping : £13.75).



You need more, get a 1000w Platinum Superflower, add a second 290X, or just get a pair of 980's, and add an i7 CPU.

Need more Storage, get two 1TB Samsung Pro 850 SSD, with two WD 6tb Red HDD's in raid.

Need more compilling power, go X99, with 64gb or memory, two Intel DC P3600 2TB PCIe SSD, two 6tb WD Reds, two Nvidia 980ti, and a 1500w Corsair Digital, custom built with 4 480mm Monsta rads in a bespoke Caselabs case.

Or just buy the 8 Pack Supernova, or Ultima Marble, or Infin8 Nebula.

Personally I would just buy a better case and PSU, use them with what I have, then add a new cpu/motherboard/ram and AIO, then add a graphics card, then add RGB lighting.

You running a dual core LGA775 system, one of those with a 7950 was running many of my games fine, and booting as fast with Windows 10 and an SSD as my i7 system does on Windows 7 with a faster ssd.

Maybe let some air out that balloon, take a look around the room, and just build a normal better PC that does a job, if you want circus lights and tubes look at the Raijintek Triton AIO with red dye, and a cheap RGB lighting sollution in whatever case looks the simplest with a big window.

My second PC was a Gigabyte P45 LGA775, it had a Q9550 quad core with 8gb of memory, and was getting my old X650w seasonic, an SSD, two hdds, and an old Twin Frozr 7950, all within an NZXT S360 with a Phobya RGB kit and CoolerMaster Nepton 240M. It was going to be run for another year, but the motherboard got damaged. All cheap and cheerfull, with some futureproofing and a tastefull lighting system controlled by a simple remote.

I have a new motherboard, Gigabyte Z97. I will get a G3258 or i5, as they are simply good enough, and 8gb of memory. Job done for a few years.

The simple fact is, you could just add an SSD to your system and it would improve things, add an LGA compatable AIO for quieter efficient cooling, add a better PSU and single graphics card, put it in a new case, then all you need is an i5/Z97/8gb memory bundle.

Watercooling GPU's. Waste of money unless your talking the latest high end such as the upcomming 390X or 980ti, in multiple set ups in large cases that can provide the headroom for a heavily overclocked system.

Sticking over £100 worth of watercooling on a £250 970 when you could simply buy a better GPU, considering how good some of the newer graphics cards coolers are?
 
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thank you. is there any particular case you would recommend that would give plenty room for a good watercooling system and plenty display area.

looking long term plan ahead as may add additional cooling twin gpu , display uv system ect. might as well get a good case now ready for water cooling system ect. later.
 
I think NZXT and Phanteks, and still the Fractal R5 from £60 to £200 are some of the better cases available right now, regardless of air, AIO, or custom water cooling.

I bought the Phanteks Enthoo Mini XL for that reason, as I want to add to my i7 MicroATX system, but want the freedom of choice. Right now I am air cooled, I can add a second PC in there, or two Monsta Rads 80mm thick in push/pull, I can watercool two GPU and the CPU with 6 hdd's still in there, 2 SDD, and an optic bay, or just air cool all round, or use AIO's.

My other case is an NZXT S340, it can run 2 140mm fans up front, so 240mm to 280mm rad, plus a fan on the roof and rear. That can be air cooled, AIO cooled, or a 280mm radiator with a combined pump/res tube on the inside.

I am more interested in a G3258 system in that S340 than much else right now. In fact, if Intel could release a 4 core variant of that G3258 for twice the price I think the i5 would be pretty much redundant for many. On an average users PC over the course of a year with the average games and applications, what is anyone really using 4 cores for? I would bet your getting more out of a G3258 in that time, whereas an i5 would be idling along waiting for the rare occasion it gets to stretch it's cores.

The only time I see my i7 run hard is when encoding, it only saves a bit of time over what the old LGA775 quad did, hardly the end of the world, with an LGA775 dual core its an extra cup o tea as I wait. Oh the hardship, how can anyone live without 4 cores, 8 threads, and 16gb of memory.

Wasted so much time today with my PC's use because I don't have the most uber fastest benching kit, jeez, if I add that time up, spending a grand or two would probably save so much time in a complete year, I could probably watch an episode of the Simpsons.

As for case lighting, RGB seems the best bang for buck, and RGB controller with a remore can be had for a few quid if you look around, the same as Phobya brand, and only requires a Molex to jack connection.

An RGB strip is a few quid and most cases only need a 25cm/30cm strip above the window in roof, maybe another lower down.

I love the idea of custom water loops, but these days AIO's are all most need, the 240mm, 280mm and 360mm models doing as well as most loops in average users set ups.
Many enthusiasts seem to be less interested in GPU watercooling when it is one or two cards, because new cards are released so often, and if a card fails you may be left with £100 plus of GPU block and backplate you will not use again. Seems a bit pointless on most midrange cards, but usefull for multi GPU set ups that are overvolted/overclocked which you expect to use for a few years.

Hell you can even put an AIO on the CPU, an AIO on the GPU, all in a £60 case.
 
Corsair Carbide 540 High Airflow ATX Cube Case - Black (CC-9011030-WW)
looks good but is designed to hide water cooling system.

is there much room in front half or is there a window for other side that can be obtained to show water cool system


i have always wanted to do modding hence a uv water cooling system. i am on a pc every day as housebound. i really wanted to try watercooling and modding and do further case modding and water cooling on other systems later.



Phanteks Enthoo Primo Full Tower - Black/Orange
looks good and even shows one case with water cooling. twin resivior twin cooling system cpu and twin gpu/sli bridge.

i do want the effect as well as the use. i look at it 18 hours a day.

will get system up and running on fans only to start with. then watercooling and case modding will be added as my hobby.



so out of those two cases which would you pick for water cooling display uv style and also air with led or uv display cooling ?
 
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every time i think i have what i need the b grade graphics cards are no longer available. cant find any r9 or gtx at this time. kind of mucks up the process a bit.

m.2 slot i thought it could take a ssd faster than 6gb/sec but none seem made. also notice a lot have a range instead of a set read / write and that range can be from 100 too 530.
 
jeckulz said:
Waiting for the GPU price wars is a good bet, because it will happen.
Especially after Nvidia drop the Ti version of the 980 and AMD release their 390x

You may find that watercooling can be added later because modern CPU aircoolers and GPU coolers are super capable, great overclocks can be had on air. OCing RAM is pretty much not needed these days.
But in cases where the RAM is over 2ghz, many high end mobos have automatic settings to run the higher speed memory.

PSUs are now available with changable cable sets. These are refered to as 'modular' PSUs, you also have hybrid modular which have SOME removable cables, and non modular with all the cables hard wired into the unit.
If you want off-the-shelf cable sets, but a corsair unit with modular cables.
THey have the biggest choice of colours.

2560x1440 on a 27" monitor is a good pixel density to work with if you like a big screen.
Just remember if you want to SEE 120fps, you with need a 120hz monitor.
If you only want 60fps, you only need a 60hz monitor.

Ive no experience with 3d, but I dont tend to recommend it because it gives some people headaches


I just want to note, youre paying a lot of mind to the LOOKS more than actually getting the thing up and running.
Try to focus more on the function, the form can follow later.
Click to expand...

i notice most nvidia cards expect 122mhz for games.
my 42" 3d hd tv is my main pc use at the moment and plu movies to it. was going to get blu ray on pc and use it as home intertainment as well.
now i think the onboard on most systems will be good enough for what i have at the moment speaker wise.

3d only seems to be on 144mhz screens from what i can see.
except hd tv's

so if i go for 122mhz or need to buy 144 i could use 3 for spli surround playing and use hdtv for 3d games. 42" is wide enough in 3d.

i unfortunatley back to stage one trying to get a graphics card for all this as the b grades have gone.

so what can i do. get TWO lower sli/crossfire cards for now or go and pay full wack for a 290x or gt980
IF LOWER DONT WANT TOO LOW WAITING LONG TIME FOR PRICE WARS STILL NEED SOMETHING GOOD THAT I CAN SELL ON LATER.



advice one last time please. money sitting in bank needing spent. lol
 
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If you wanting to game with a triple monitor setup,your gonna need at least 2 high end cards like 290x/980's your also gonna want an I7 as I5's can bottleneck sli/CF configs sometimes.

You shouldnt be planning a build for high resolution or multiple screen gaming based off what deals you can find in B grade.


You need to set Budget and a goal for you PC.And work from there,you seem to be making choices and expectations on a bit of a whim atm
 
i have a budget of £1500 but cant see that getting me what i need at this time. i would have a certain amount extra each month to do add ons hence questions about mods water cooling.

question is what do i get for now with the one screen 3dhdtv.

280 ?
gftx770?
 
A 280 is a better buy than a 770.

Although if you have £1500 budget,you should be just getting a 290/290x/980
 
i said that wrong i meant is a 970 better than a 280 not 770 type error.

nvidia are twice the price so looking at possible comparisons.

r 290x = 980
r 280 = gtx780 ?

when what is difference between a 290 and 290x i cant see any. i see a 8gb and 4gb versions but no other difference.
 
290x has 10% stream processors,so is about 10% faster overall compared to the 290

980 is around 15-20% faster than a 970.


Rough comparisons


980 Fastest
290/290x= 780/780ti/970
280x
280/285=960 Slowest

The best value card atm the is a 290/290x, 8gb or 4gb model is a judgement call and depends on your resolution and if you have any intention of running multiple Gpu's
 
A normal build in a good case, with some lighting and the ability to watercool later if need be. With some of the spec you would expect to see with a £1500 budget.

Example.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i7-4790K 4.00GHz (Devil's Canyon) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £281.99
1 x MSI Radeon R9 290X LE Gaming Edition 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £249.95
1 x Asus Maximus VII Ranger Intel Z97 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £135.95
1 x Phanteks Enthoo Luxe Full Tower Case - White £129.95
1 x Kingston HyperX Savage Red 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (HX324C11SRK2/16) £95.99
1 x Corsair Hydro H105 240mm Extreme Performance Liquid CPU Cooler (CW-9060016-WW ) £94.99
1 x Crucial MX100 256GB SATA 2.5” 7mm SSD + 9.5mm Adapter (CT256MX100SSD1) £84.98
1 x SuperFlower Leadex GOLD 650W Fully Modular "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black £74.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD £66.98
1 x Samsung SH-118BB/BEBE SATA 18x DVD-ROM (Black) - OEM £13.99
1 x Phanteks Enthoo Luxe Multicolor LED Strip - 1m £13.99
Total : £1,260.25 (includes shipping : £13.75).

 
final choice waiting build quote

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte Z97X-SLI - Devils Canyon Core i5 4690K Bundle **£12 Saving** £277.98
2 x MSI Radeon R9 280 Gaming 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £149.99 (£299.98)
1 x NZXT H440 Midi-Tower - Black / Orange £89.99
1 x Crucial MX100 256GB SATA 2.5” 7mm SSD + 9.5mm Adapter (CT256MX100SSD1) £84.98
1 x Antec TruePower Classic 750w '80 Plus Gold' Power Supply £72.95
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan RED 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLRED38G2400HC11CDC01) £49.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 1TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £42.95
Total : £936.52 (includes shipping : £14.75).





waiting for build quote from overclockers uk. one build with fan o/c cooling other with uv water modding. but this is basic setup that will be used.

using twin r9 280 cards.
 
The MSI R9 280 GPU is really just a refreshed old AMD HD-7950, pretty old hat. I have two 7950 myself but I would choose a single 290/290X over those, except I am waiting for the new AMD release.

In fact the 280 in single card format is now the recommend choice for budget 1080p gaming builds since it's price drop shunted the old 270 off the list.

A pair of 290's will require a 1000w psu but are able to perform well at 4k.

Thing is though, not all games run well or are optimised for crossfire, some prefer SLI, most will prefer a single card.
 
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