Good enough for Gaming ?

[Choaski]

Hi, the girlfriends PC is rather outdated (Everything was bought the day the "BFG" 295 was released) so ya know, old... It can still play games to date up to CS:GO but starts to stuggle and randomly crashes now and then, i belive the GFX is on it's way out.

I did a quick check over and decided with a Mirco ATX OR Mini ITX, that way, if i want to LAN, i can just grab her PC and she can use mine whilst I'm nerding it up.

Here are the three i done, any chances / recommendations are appreciated greatly. I'm unsure on how to copy basket to show prices ECT so there won't be any links to check =[

#1
Options applied to the above product:
- Standard Build Systems - Dispatched within 7 working days
- No Security Software
- OcUK Value AT/ATX "Kettle Plug" 2 Meter Mains Cable
- Gaming Chair Not Selected
- No Headset Option (Zero Cost)
- Speakers Not Selected
- Monitor Not Selected
- Mouse Not Selected
- Keyboard Not Selected
- BitFenix Alchemy Premium Modding LED Strip - Connect Red 30cm
- Networking Not Selected
- Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00614)
- SuperFlower Golden Green HX 650W "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black
- No Second Hard Drive Option (ZERO Cost)
- NO OPTICAL DRIVE INSTALLED
- Asus Xonar DGX 5.1 PCI-Express Sound Card with built in Headphone Amp
- Kingston HyperX 3K SSD 120GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Drive (SH103S3/120G)
- MSI GeForce GTX 970 Gaming Edition 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
- Kingston HyperX 8GB (2x4GB) PC3-17100C11 2133MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black/Red (HX21C11BRK2/8-OC)
- Corsair Hydro H80i High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler (CW-9060008-WW)
- Asus TUF Z97 Gryphon Armor Edition Intel Z97 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard
- Xigmatek Aquila Micro-ATX Case - White Window
- No Overclocking Options (Zero Cost)
- Intel Core i5-4690K 3.50GHz (Devil's Canyon) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail



#2
Options applied to the above product:
- Standard Build Systems - Dispatched within 7 working days
- No Security Software
- OcUK Value AT/ATX "Kettle Plug" 2 Meter Mains Cable
- Gaming Chair Not Selected
- No Headset Option (Zero Cost)
- Speakers Not Selected
- Monitor Not Selected
- Mouse Not Selected
- Keyboard Not Selected
- Case Mods Not Selected
- Networking Not Selected
- No Operating System
- SuperFlower Golden Green HX 650W "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black
- Kingston HyperX 3K SSD 120GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Drive (SH103S3/120G)
- No Second Hard Drive Option (ZERO Cost)
- Asus GeForce GTX 970 DirectCU II OC Strix 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
- Kingston HyperX 8GB (2x4GB) PC3-17100C11 2133MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black/Red (HX21C11BRK2/8-OC)
- Alpenföhn Panorama CPU Cooler
- Gigabyte Z97N-Gaming 5 Intel Z97 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Mini ITX Motherboard
- Intel Core i3-4360 3.70GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail
- BitFenix Prodigy Mini-ITX Cube Case - Aqua Blue


#3
Options applied to the above product:
- No Security Software
- OcUK Value AT/ATX "Kettle Plug" 2 Meter Mains Cable
- Gaming Chair Not Selected
- Creative Fatal1ty HS-800 Gaming Headset
- Speakers Not Selected
- Monitor Not Selected
- Mouse Not Selected
- Keyboard Not Selected
- Networking Not Selected
- No Operating System
- SuperFlower Golden Green HX 550W "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black
- OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM
- No Second Hard Drive Option (ZERO Cost)
- Seagate SSHD ST1000LM014 1TB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - (ST1000LM014) OEM (PS4 Upgrade kit +FREE USB)
- Kingston HyperX 16GB (2x8GB) PC3-14900C10 1866MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black/Red (HX18C10BRK2/16-OC)
- Asus H81M-PLUS Intel H81 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard
- Raijintek Pallas 140mm Low Profile CPU Cooler
- Intel Core i5-4590 3.30GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail
- BitFenix Prodigy M MATX Cube Case - Midnight Black
- Standard Build Systems - Dispatched within 7 working days

 

[Choaski]

Don't have a budget in mind, whilst i don't want to go overbored, i don't mind spending out at the same time. I guess an example would be, i have dodged the 980's as it's needless power. Having extra power is fine but no need to make a machine for an enthusiest. Just a Girl who can play games on med/high settings comfortablly.

 

[Choaski]

What resolution and games do you play?

Give me an approximate budget or how much are those systems above? also I see some have OS added and some dont?

I can obtain windows much cheaper from work than anywhere else. Didn't mean to include them in the builds above. Currently, she has a old monitor, pile of poop but i'd upgrade similar to my BenQ XL2420Z 24" TRUE 144Hz 3D Vision 2.0 Widescreen LED Monitor - Black/Red /w Flicker FREE Technology which OC dosn't seem to sell anymore.

From top down the prices are ~£1200 / £900 / £700 odd


EDIT: Games would include CS:GO / TF2 / Killing Floor 2 / GTA V

 

[Choaski]

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte Z97MX Gaming 5 - Devil's Canyon i5 4690K CPU & Micro ATX Motherboard Bundle **£10 Saving** £301.94
1 x **B Grade** OcUK GeForce GTX 970 "NVIDIA 970 Cooler Edition" 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £239.99
1 x Crucial BX100 250GB SSD SATA 6Gbps 7mm Solid State Drive (CT250BX100SSD1) £79.99
1 x BitFenix Colossus M Micro ATX - Black £64.99
1 x Seasonic S12II 520W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £52.99
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan RED 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLRED38G2400HC11CDC01) £44.99
1 x Raijintek Aidos Direct Contact CPU Cooler £14.99
Total : £814.88 (includes shipping : £12.50).



i was playing a round and came up with this.

A GTX970 is spot on for a 1080P res monitor.

You can of course swap it out for a new one such as the KFA2 black edition at £267.


----------------------------

Or without overclocking,

YOUR BASKET
1 x KFA2 GeForce GTX 970 OC Silent "Infin8 Black Edition" 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **WorldWide Exclusive** £269.99
1 x Intel Core i5-4460 3.20GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £154.99
1 x Crucial BX100 250GB SSD SATA 6Gbps 7mm Solid State Drive (CT250BX100SSD1) £79.99
1 x Gigabyte H97M-HD3 Intel H97 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £67.99
1 x BitFenix Prodigy M MATX Cube Case - Red £54.95
1 x Seasonic S12II 520W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £52.99
1 x TeamGroup Elite Black 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TPKD38G1600HC11DC01) £41.99
1 x Raijintek Aidos Direct Contact CPU Cooler - Black £14.99
Total : £737.88 (includes shipping : ).

Only problem i see with these are the cases xD / That's the only thing i would really change, up the RAM as well, pref 8GB ~ 2000Mhz (For the future proofing)

As far as overclocking, i wouldn't do it and there are no options to get OC to do it for me so looks like im paying ~ 800 in 2 months odd . Thanks for the advice.

 

[Choaski]

As far as fans go, the basic rule is to try to have more airflow blowing into the case than exhausting so that you maintain a positive pressure enclosure. This will make dust ingress to be less likely.

Interesting, i didn't know that. Mainly because im stuck in old times with old hardware (770GTX x2 myself) and currently the GF has a BFG 295 (The good old days of trying every driver on new game release haha!).

Some great information, thank you very much. Just gotta get the relaxing Holiday out the way now to get a purchse in / There are no overclocking options, on request have the OC ladies and gents been known to OC for the normal fee at all?