Looking at a small, powerful PC

historyofnepal

historyofnepal

historyofnepal

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11 Jun 2015
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I'm putting together the first PC I've had in years and want something small and reasonably quiet. It's going to be for games so I want something that can comfortably handle recent stuff, especially Dark Souls / Dark Souls II, Kerbal Space Program and Witcher 3. I also want something that's going to do a decent job over the next few years.

I've been looking at the Micro ATX machines and put this together:

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/syscon_int.php?prodid=FS-044-OG&recordid=26131168

My budget is ~£1000. Does this look like a reasonable machine?
 
Looks ok to me.

The only thing I would consider changing is the asus motherboard for the MSI board. Just due to the fact of (in my opinion) Asus support seems terrible when i have contacted them, an also the software Ai Suite (used to control fan speeds etc) is rubbish and doesn't work, and they have never fixed it. Do a google search for the AI suite software and you'll see the angry reviews about it.
 
Hi and welcome to the forum.

It's a decent build. Just a few thoughts:

Maybe swap the H81 mobo for a better (Z97) motherboard to go with an i5-4690K. Even though some H81 motherboards are capable of some overclocking, they don't have all the O/C features that Z97 has, or the number of power phases etc. If you do change to a Z97, you can get some faster 2133/2400 RAM for it as well, as long as it doesn't add too much to cost (benefits are minor).

Also, if you cut the RAM down to 8GB the savings would help towards that Z97 mobo for example. And with a Z97 micro-ATX you would have two extra memory slots to add more RAM later on if you really needed.

Do you need a GTX 980 right now? What monitor and resolution/refresh rate are you going to use? I would probably get a 970 and a 500GB SSD instead of a 980 and a 250GB SSD. With games requiring so much room these days, the extra fast storage would be more beneficial than a few extra FPS.

The Phenom Nvidia edition is currently on special offer at the same price as the normal Phenom. If you take a look and prefer it, I don't think OcUK will mind using it in place of the regular one.
 
Thanks for the advice, that's really useful! I've upped the motherboard and dropped the RAM down to 8GB as that will be easy to upgrade in the future. Also got a 500GB SSD in there.

With the 980 is it not worth the extra money? In the past I've felt it's been a good idea to pay extra for the graphics card as it's the thing that changes fastest. Is the 970 going to be good enough for the next couple of years?
 
There seems to be a bug, where the Themis Evo is £65 over the normal Themis. I'd ring up OcUK to see if they can fix that over the phone for you as it's certainly not worth £65 more
 
historyofnepal said:
With the 980 is it not worth the extra money?
Click to expand...

Some will feel it is. Others no. Even though 980 prices are dropping nicely now, it still feels like overpaying too much for the performance gain. So it comes down to - if you need that performance gain and have the money, then the 980 is worth it. If you don't need it, then it's definitely not worth it.



historyofnepal said:
In the past I've felt it's been a good idea to pay extra for the graphics card as it's the thing that changes fastest. Is the 970 going to be good enough for the next couple of years?
Click to expand...

Again, knowing which monitor (res/refresh) you're going to be using would be helpful. For 1080p/60Hz definitely. And even a little higher. The 980 (4GB) is a bit in the twilight zone between 970 (4GB=3.5 fast 0.5 slow) and 980Ti (with 6GB ideal for high res). Because if you needed the faster 0.5GB on the 980 you'd really be wanting more Vram anyway.
 
Interesting. The reviews for the MSI GeForce GTX 970 Gaming Edition look pretty good so I'm considering going with that.

I'm not sure on the monitor yet, what kind of thing would you recommend? I'm not going to get anything massive so probably the 970 is going to be good enough for what I need?

Thanks for the heads up on the Themis Evo, I swapped it out for another fan but I'm guessing they're all much of a muchness anyway.
 
Not sure what your monitor budget is or if you have a preference for IPS/PLS (typically better colours*) or TN/VA (typically faster response time*).

* In a nutshell. There are more differences you can read up on if you like.


YOUR BASKET
1 x AOC G2460PG 24" G-Sync 144Hz 1ms Gaming Widescreen LED Monitor - Gunmetal £299.99
1 x AOC G2460FQ 24" Widescreen 144Hz 1ms Gaming LED Monitor - Gunmetal £179.99
Total : £494.08 (includes shipping : £11.75 Ex.VAT).




But here's two to get started. These offer good value for money and will help get the most out of your 970 (because of the high refresh rate). The more expensive one has Gsync for Nvidia cards which is ideal for really smooth gameplay.


YOUR BASKET
1 x Asus SonicMaster MX239H 23" Widescreen Ultra Slim Bezel LED Monitor - Black with Bang & Olufsen ICEpower Speakers £179.99
1 x Asus VX239H 23" Widescreen Super-Slim Bezel LED Monitor - White £149.99
1 x Asus VX239H 23" Widescreen Super-Slim Bezel LED Monitor - Black £149.99
Total : £501.38 (includes shipping : £17.85 Ex.VAT).




And these three are IPS. I've selected them because I've tried them and was really happy with them (still using the MX239H for myself) and wouldn't hesitate to buy again if I was looking for an IPS screen around that price-point.

But like I said, the previous higher refresh rate monitors will get the most out of the 970. There are other brands with the same features (or even more) as those, just more expensive.
 
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