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spud959

spud959

spud959

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11 Nov 2015
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67
Hey all, new to the forum and I'm in the market for a new computer as currently I run a Intel core Duo E7200 @ 2.53Ghz with a Geforce 8800 GT. Top stuff.

The fact Quake Live has now gone on Steam is the catalyst for the change really as my comp doesn't reach the minimum spec, so the perfect excuse to upgrade. In reality I've no real experience/knowledge of a good system but I certainly don't need an all singing and dancing bit of kit. I'm quite happy with a "decent" upgrade that will last me a good few years at a sensible cost.

So I've done some googling and decided on a i5-4690k processor and a Nvidia GTX750 video card. (only through reviews I've read). Sadly that's were it all ends for me. I've no clue on any of the other components. In fact I'm not really sure how there can be loads of different manufacturers using the same components.

This is were I'm hoping you guys/girls can point me in the right direction so I just go and buy stuff. So if I can give you a run down...

The case just needs to be black with an on off button, nothing fancy. I'd like more than 2 usb sockets at the front and a few at the back.

Cooling just some fans I guess, no water if possible

The graphics card must have more than 1 outlet port. 1 for the monitor (which I hope to upgrade to a 27" 144hz job) and 1 to go to my TV (HDMI). This is so I can watch the motogp through the computer.

I have decent speakers (Klipsche 2.1) so do I need a soundcard?

Hard drives + memory dunno? Lots of it?

DVD reader/writer (does anyone still use these?)

I'd like to look at my photos on my comp so something that will run quite fast.

Probably need lots of power, also if I buy a smart TV for downstairs not sure if I need to go through the computer for the bike racing. If so will I need a wifi for it?

Erm, and anything else?

So that's it. Hopefully that'll be enough info for some recommendations if anyone could spare some time.

cheers Spud.
 
first thing we need to know is.. whats you're budget?

you have a good choice of cpu though. the i5 4690k will do anything you require with the sounds of things.

as for the dvd drive. that's a personal thing. I like having mine but there are a few folk out there that can live without them.

heres a good motherboard and cpu bundle.
gigabyte z97x sli and i5 4690k bundle £266.98 ( this is what I use and have no complaints )
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/giga...-4690k-bundle-12-pounds-saving-bu-006-gi.html

do you need windows? what hardrive do you want? would you want an ssd for youre system drive?
 
Well it is always worth stating your budget.

It may also be worth giving us a comlplete list of your current PC build and operating system, and whether it is 32bit or 64bit.

Depending on your budget and expectations, there is no reason why you could not upgrade some core components of your current system, and maybe even overclock, just to get a little more out of it as you save for other items. I was playing Crysis 3, Bioshock Infinite, PlanetSide 2, WoT, Minecraft, Battlefield 3 as some examples on an old E8500 dual core with a slight overclock , 4gb of DDR2 and eventually an HD7950.
Another old LGA 775 system I had was a full ATX Gigabyte with a Q9550 and 8gb of DDR2, and it also was getting built up into an NZXT S340 case with RGB lighting, a Cooler Master Nepton 240m cooler, with a new PSU and another HD7950, SSD was a Samsung Evo.

You can easily upgrade your case, PSU, graphics card, CPU cooler and add an SSD to your old 775 system before deciding on your CPU motherboard and memory. All depends on how much you want to limit your spending to.

If your thinking of 1440 gaming in the near future I would recommend the AMD R9 380, the 750 is a great little card, but it really is more budget build orientated for 1080p or lower on a single monitor, and it's the 2gb 750ti you would want, but it can't touch the 380.

Below is an example only, but shows the sort of things someone may upgrade and build up into a system. I love the S340 case with RGB lights, but do not think Skylake offers enough over Z97 considering the cost.

You could even go cheaper with an i3 and basic motherboard if not taking gaming too serious, and save money on the GPU by getting the 2gb card.

My basket at Overclockers UK:

Total: £914.56
(includes shipping: £14.70)
​


​
 
So my 1st mistake was that I seem to have typed GTX750. Not sure where that came from was meant to type GTX970. bit of a difference.:D

So the base is a i5-4690k with Nvidia GTX970. Going for Nvidia for the G-sync thing and hopefully built around these 2 will give me a bit of future proofing.

Right then so the recommendation is Z97x Devils canyon which is the motherboard and cpu. Which GTX970 will fit this? I'm not brand proud so basically the best value for money will do.

I'll try to answer the questions in order,

Budget is a tricky one. I do spend a lot of time on the comp but generally playing quake and reading forums. I've never bought a game since "Return to castle wolfenstien" (which was awesome :))
So I'm not going to go mad. Would £700 to £800 be reasonable or would I need more? After seeing sastusbulbas's list it does seem to add up quickly.

Yes I need windows, I'm running vista and want to upgrade.

As for a hard drive solid state would be nice but not essential. I'm not concerned about noise as I have it in the old man cave.

Probably do need a dvd reader/writer but faster than the one I've got. (which isn't hard).

It'a a 32bit but I'm not keen on the idea of upgrading this computer. It's getting old now and when it comes to overclocking I haven't a clue. I don't mind 2nd had parts though.

Looking at the list I'd rather spend more on memory and stuff than water cooling and LED lights.

Also why do I see hard drives and solid state drives in the same list?

Cheers Spud.
 
Hi Spud

yip im the same as your self the LED lighting does nothing for me. I do have a water cooler but being honest.. it wont be staying much longer im going back to an air cooler.
personally I think the 250gb ssd would be overkill for youre self. if you put in a 120gb ssd for youre system it will boot up in about 10 to 15 seconds then stick in a standard hard drive as a storage device or as I also do I install my games on my second drive to save space on my ssd

the spec of my system is as follows.
Phanteks Enthoo Pro M
i5 4690K @ 4.5Ghz
Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SLI ( purchased in the bundle I linked to above )
Gainward GTX 970 Phantom ( purchased 2nd hand )
16Gb corsair vengeance 1600Mhz @ 1866Mhz ( bought new )
Samsung 120gb ssd system ( 2nd hand )
Seagate 2tb storage ( bought new)
Lg bluray drive, writer ( 2nd hand )
corsair cx750m ( bought new )
corsair H80i ( 2nd hand but was sealed )

as you can see theres a mixture of parts there.. as for a 2nd 970 unless youre getting it for a really good price buy it new as 2nd hand ones are only about £30 cheaper at least new you have the full warranty
psu buy new dont take a chance
cpu again buy new dont take the chance its been hammered. again the above bundle is a good deal.
 
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if youre not over clocking a good air cooler will do the job nicely youll get the evo 212 for about £40 and will be more than capable to cool it and will be much better than the standard cooler that comes.
 
Ok so the run down so far.......

-NZXT Source 340 Midi-Tower - CASE
-gigabyte z97x sli and i5 4690k bundle -CPU +MOTHERBOARD
-16Gb corsair vengeance 1600Mhz @ 1866Mhz - RAM
-Samsung 120gb ssd system - Don't know Why I need this, but I do.
- Seagate 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - HARDDRIVE
SuperFlower Leadex GOLD 550W Fully Modular '80 Plus Gold' Power Supply -POWER SUPPLY
-Cooling Fan - TBA
-Windows 10 -OS
- MSI
GeForce GTX 970 Gaming Edition 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card OR Gigabyte
GeForce GTX 970 G1 Gaming 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card

which is best?

So I think that's it. Would this be a good mix to get? Is it all compatable with each other?
Do I not need a sound card anymore?
Where do the USB ports come from?
 
the sound card is a personal thing. the onboard sound is good on the board.
the usb ports on the tower will plug into the usb headers on the motherboard.
its a good choice in case. this was one that was on my top 5 cases the only reason I went for the Phanteks Enthoo Pro M was it had the option of fitting a disc drive granted just a one but at least it still gave me that option.

if you find you need a disc drive at a later date you could always buy an external one
 
I'll go for the same case as you for that reason. As it happens you reminded me I already have an external reader/writer. Forgot all about it. :rolleyes:

Is 550w enough for the graphics card etc, also if I'm playing music will that use the onboard sound?

Looks like I'm getting close to a system. :D
 
its a good quality psu your going for so as long as you don't plan to go x-fire with a second card the 550watt will be fine.

get yourself a good quality speakers and the onboard sound will be fine unless you want something extra special.

as for the same case as me you wont regret it if you do go for it. its a good case at a good price and has the option of the internal disc drive plus it still has good airflow.

where abouts are you out of interest?
 
I won't be adding anything extra I shouldn't think. I hope this will be OK for a few years yet.

I've got some Klipsche 2.1 THX speakers which are a good sound so won't be replacing them.

I'm in Ormskirk in the North West.

I need an operating system and windows 10 is the favourite but should I go for the professional?
I know for sure I want microsoft office as well.

Thanks for the help so far,

Spud.
 
spud959 said:
I won't be adding anything extra I shouldn't think. I hope this will be OK for a few years yet.

I've got some Klipsche 2.1 THX speakers which are a good sound so won't be replacing them.

I'm in Ormskirk in the North West.

I need an operating system and windows 10 is the favourite but should I go for the professional?
I know for sure I want microsoft office as well.

Thanks for the help so far,

Spud.
Click to expand...

you'll be fine with the on board sound card.

If you have no intentions on adding any extra parts the 550watt psu will do you just fine.

Im still running good old Windows 7 64 bit ultimate Ive upgraded to 10 but then went back to 7 for the moment.
 
So it looks like I've got it pretty much nailed down, however black friday is approaching are there retailers with bargains to be had. Does overclockers do discounts then?
 
So I got this little lot. Thanks for all the advice. Unfortunately not all of it was from OCUK as this forum has been great but on some items they just weren't competitive.



Now all I need to do is try and put it all together. Got a Dell S2716DG winging its way to me as well. It could all end in tears.
 
Hurrah I've finally got around to building the thing and my monitor has arrived so I'm now at the point of switching it on and it bursting into a ball of flames or more likely nothing will happen because it's not expecting to do anything.

So as it's stands it's ready for the 1st turn on but what exactly do I do then? Nothing is installed so I assume it will (like me) be sitting there dumb.

Is there an order to do things?

Cheers Spud.
 
Well I finally managed it. All up and running, thanks for the advice all. Can't seem to wake the thing up after it goes to sleep whatever I do with the power settings but overall I'm happy. Especially as I can now shoot people in the face on Rainbow 6 in 1440p. :D
 
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