Looking to have a new PC built for gaming

Stimo

Stimo

Stimo

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Joined
10 Feb 2015
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20
Afternoon all

I am looking to have a new PC built for gaming. I'm willing to pay around £1500 maximum.

I currently have an i7 870 @ 2.93GHz and 8GB RAM.

My main reason for wanting to have a better spec PC is that I play a lot of Modded Minecraft which is extremely resource heavy. At the moment the game will freeze up now and again and then kick me off my own server. When looking at what the cause could be I notice that JAVA is at around 3,500 on memory (80%). I'm assuming this is the problem.

When watching other people on Youtube playing the pack I play, the pack runs flawlessly. So I've come to the conclusion my PC isn't good enough!

I already have a GTX 980 graphics card so a build without one would be ideal, although a setup to include a second 980 wouldn't be frowned upon either..

I would prefer for it to be pre-built as my knowledge of PC parts isn't very good at all.

I would also like an SSD in the machine.

Any help would be appreciated as this is driving me mad!
Thanks.
 
A PC isnt that hard to build nowadays and would save you a bit of money too so you can actually buy better components.
Someone will come up with a shopping list for you before long and really the people on here are more interested in building there own.
Basically if you want a PC look at the OCUK website. If you want to build your own you will more likely get more assistance from your post.
 
varkanoid said:
A PC isnt that hard to build nowadays and would save you a bit of money too so you can actually buy better components.
Someone will come up with a shopping list for you before long and really the people on here are more interested in building there own.
Basically if you want a PC look at the OCUK website. If you want to build your own you will more likely get more assistance from your post.
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I'm willing to take any advice to be honest.. If the best bet is to build it myself then I'm willing to try it out.. I would just have no idea what to buy so I would need help with that.
 
Giggz said:
Have you looked at the ones OCUK build if your wanting it already built up then just slot your 980 in for sli?
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Yes I have looked at these but I am also seeking advise on whats best for me etc.

I am interested in seeing what people recommend for a custom build PC that I could do myself now also.
 
Stimo, could the vast difference in performance simply and mostly be down to them having the game on SSD and textures load faster etc? In which case, it might not be a bad idea to just add an SSD first, stick Windows and the game on it and see how it goes?

The i7 you have was launched in 2009 and clock speed isn't very high but it's still a quad core with eight threads. It might be the old tech just doesn't cut it but I would try an SSD first.

What speed is your RAM rated at and what speed is it running at? Can use CPU-Z to find out, for example.

Just mentioning the above as it would be a pity if you didn't need a whole new build just yet, and could wait for Skylake or other platforms.

Would also have to see whether modern SSDs would be fine with your older motherboard.

As for SLI, what monitor (res/refresh rate) are you using?
 
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Hi Danny,

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and its a LG 27' twin monitor setup, not too sure of the res/refresh.
 
RAM is running at 1298Mhz. If it's rated for 1333MHz, okay. But if it's a 1600MHz kit then tune it up inside the BIOS. XMP if available, or select 1600 frequency if available.

Finding out the monitors' res/refresh is vital towards establishing why present performance isn't ideal and whether you'll see much gain from SLI. Right-click on an empty part of your desktop, and click Nvidia Control Panel and then Display - Change Resolution. There you should see what res and refresh they are running at.
 
The manufacturer's code would be ideal but CPU-Z doesn't usually show that. What it does sometimes show, in the SPD section (beside Memory, and you may need to use the dropdown to select a slot that is in use) is the Max Bandwidth figure. Does it say 666 or 800?

Thanks for the monitor info pic. I don't think a single 980 would be struggling at that res/refresh. Besides, you're probably only gaming on one screen and using the other just to view other stuff? Don't know, maybe someone else can say differently. As of now, none of the new info changes my suggestion to try an SSD first. And after that, it's more the CPU that would need upgrading than GPU, I feel.
 
Cool. And that's 1333 RAM then. I'd buy the biggest SSD you need/can afford, maybe a Samsung 850 EVO (at least 250GB or more depending on how many games you may have on it). Modern SSDs should be backwards compatible with older type SATA motherboards (not IDE), but check with the vendor first, in case any compatibility issues arise and you need to send it back for a refund/replacement. In the Mainboard section of CPU-Z it will tell you the board make and model.

If you still fancy a whole new rig, just say so, by the way. Just trying to save you some dough right now if possible.
 
Danny75 said:
Cool. And that's 1333 RAM then. I'd buy the biggest SSD you need/can afford, maybe a Samsung 850 EVO (at least 250GB or more depending on how many games you may have on it). Modern SSDs should be backwards compatible with older type SATA motherboards (not IDE), but check with the vendor first, in case any compatibility issues arise and you need to send it back for a refund/replacement. In the Mainboard section of CPU-Z it will tell you the board make and model.

If you still fancy a whole new rig, just say so, by the way. Just trying to save you some dough right now if possible.
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All I want is for my Modded Minecraft to stop freezing up haha. When it does it I just think.. heck let me browse the web while this comes back.. but it won't let me load webpages while its in this state.. So annoying, I'm will to try this SSD option :)
 
:)

Can also try the Crucial scanner test here, for SSD compatibility with your system: https://uk.crucial.com/

It'll suggest Crucial drives but if they are modern then you'll know other modern ones will work too.

Sounds like you could do with more RAM as well, if usage is being maxed while you game and browse web. But hold out on that for now, as you don't know if your next system will take DDR3 or DDR4 yet.
 
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Yes, those are relatively new. So you should be good to go with any modern unit. If you need a Sata data cable for it, stick one in your basket too if the SSD doesn't bring it.
 
Stimo said:
OK well appreciate the help mate, thank you.
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You're welcome, bro. An SSD will make your system feel a lot snappier so will be a nice addition even if it turns out it doesn't help Minecraft mod performance much. Do post back with results and then we can see about a new CPU/mobo/16GB RAM or full build, if needed.
 
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