New build advice.

Bam79 · 11 Jan 2015 at 20:40

Looking to build a system for games like Starcraft 2, Warcraft 3 and such like.

Don't really need to run on really high res and Im not sure on a budget to be honest just want it running smoothly.

I believe these games rely mainly on the cpus single thread but again not played the game in a while.

stulid · 11 Jan 2015 at 20:41

Hi again.

What parts do you need?

What resolution monitor etc?

If you just need a tower then this is optimal,

YOUR BASKET
1 x Sapphire Radeon R9 280 Dual-X 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £155.99
1 x Avexir Gold Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17200C11 2133MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U21331104G-2CEY) - Yellow/Gold Light £65.99
1 x Gigabyte Z97P-D3 Intel Z97 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £61.99
1 x Intel Pentium K Anniversary G3258 Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £57.59
1 x Antec TruePower Classic 550w '80 Plus Gold' Power Supply £55.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 1TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £44.99
1 x Xigmatek Mach Midi-Tower Black £19.99
1 x Raijintek Aidos Direct Contact CPU Cooler - Black £14.99
Total : £491.62 (includes shipping : £11.75).

The gfx card comes with a golden ticket for free games.

You can overclock this CPU, the Z97 board will also take any other i5/i7 1150 CPU.

Bam79 · 11 Jan 2015 at 21:13

I would need everything to be honest and cheap as possible but smooth running gameplay. Just starcraft 2 and games like

Would also be getting a new monitor like the following AOC E2470SWHE 23.6".

stulid · 11 Jan 2015 at 21:14

YOUR BASKET
1 x Sapphire Radeon R9 280 Dual-X 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £155.99
1 x AOC E2460SH 24" Widescreen 1ms Gaming LED Monitor - Black £113.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00614) £77.99
1 x Avexir Gold Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17200C11 2133MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U21331104G-2CEY) - Yellow/Gold Light £65.99
1 x Gigabyte Z97P-D3 Intel Z97 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £61.99
1 x Intel Pentium K Anniversary G3258 Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £57.59
1 x Antec TruePower Classic 550w '80 Plus Gold' Power Supply £55.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 1TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £44.99
1 x CM Storm Devastator Gaming Bundle - USB Keyboard & Mouse £29.99
1 x Xigmatek Mach Midi-Tower Black £19.99
Total : £700.99 (includes shipping : £13.75).

• 1ms gaming monitor (reduces ghosting).
• Gaming mouse (important) and keyboard.

Do you think you could just use a 128GB SSD and fit the OS and two games on and add a HDD later?

YOUR BASKET
1 x SK Hynix 128GB SSD SH910A SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Drive (HFS128G32MNB-2201A) £49.99
Total : £53.90 (includes shipping : £3.26).

Boomstick777 · 11 Jan 2015 at 21:19

We got a Zotac Zbox EN760 a few days ago (http://www.zotac.com/products/mini-...uct/zbox-e-series/detail/zbox-en760-plus.html). Intel i5, (2/4 core) GTX 860M, (750Ti) 8GB DDR3, 1TB HDD. It's performance is insane, it would cost about the same to build a desktop PC with similar parts so if you want a small form factor that can game and use only about 65w at full load, go with the Zotac, you won't be disappointed it's a lil beast ! The build quailty is fantastic and during normal desktop use it's literally silent, gentle breeze during gaming. Can't recommend this thing enough lol.

Bam79 · 11 Jan 2015 at 21:52

I didn't think Starcraft 2 and similar would need a higher spec system :confused:

A SSD sounds good but I do have win 7 and 8 already

Would I really need a Graphics card?

stulid · 11 Jan 2015 at 21:55

You will need a GPU.

I was looking at this - http://www.pcgameshardware.de/scree...lords_of_Draenor_GPU_Benchmark_1080p-pcgh.png

Maybe you could use a AMD APU.

YOUR BASKET
1 x AOC E2460SH 24" Widescreen 1ms Gaming LED Monitor - Black £113.99
1 x AMD Kaveri 7700K 10 Compute Core APU w/ Radeon R7 Graphics (4 CPU + 6 GPU Compute Cores) - Retail £109.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00614) £77.99
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan RED 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLRED38G2400HC11CDC01) £65.99
1 x SK Hynix 128GB SSD SH910A SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Drive (HFS128G32MNB-2201A) £49.99
1 x Gigabyte F2A88XM-DS2 AMD A88X (Socket FM2+) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £41.99
1 x SuperFlower Golden Green HX 350W "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black £41.99
1 x CM Storm Devastator Gaming Bundle - USB Keyboard & Mouse £29.99
1 x Xigmatek Mach Midi-Tower Black £19.99
Total : £566.90 (includes shipping : £12.50).

Bam79 · 11 Jan 2015 at 23:01

That looks good and as I have the OS I can save £78

I will be getting my system at the end of the month.

Thanks for the input.

stulid · 11 Jan 2015 at 23:03

Well prices and offers change weekly_daily so always check back before you order.

You can also later on drop in a discrete GFX card or add a R7 250 and Crossfire it up with the APU.

Boomstick777 · 12 Jan 2015 at 20:52

stulid said:
You will need a GPU.

I was looking at this - http://www.pcgameshardware.de/scree...lords_of_Draenor_GPU_Benchmark_1080p-pcgh.png

Maybe you could use a AMD APU.

YOUR BASKET
1 x aoc e2460sh 24" widescreen 1ms gaming led monitor - black £113.99
1 x amd kaveri 7700k 10 compute core apu w/ radeon r7 graphics (4 cpu + 6 gpu compute cores) - retail £109.99
1 x microsoft windows 8.1 64-bit dvd - oem (wn7-00614) £77.99
1 x teamgroup vulcan red 8gb (2x4gb) ddr3 pc3-19200c11 2400mhz dual channel kit (tlred38g2400hc11cdc01) £65.99
1 x sk hynix 128gb ssd sh910a sata 6gb/s solid state drive (hfs128g32mnb-2201a) £49.99
1 x gigabyte f2a88xm-ds2 amd a88x (socket fm2+) ddr3 micro atx motherboard £41.99
1 x superflower golden green hx 350w "80 plus gold" power supply - black £41.99
1 x cm storm devastator gaming bundle - usb keyboard & mouse £29.99
1 x xigmatek mach midi-tower black £19.99
total : £566.90 (includes shipping : £12.50).

bam79 said:
that looks good and as i have the os i can save £78

i will be getting my system at the end of the month.

thanks for the input.

for similar money you can get a faster pre built system that uses less power and performs better. just add your own os. comes with a 3 year warranty and is small form factor. current apu's just aren't worth it.

get one of these, you won't be disappointed.

gtx 860m 2gb(750ti 2gb)
intel core i5 4200u (2/4 core/thread cpu, 1.6 ghz > 2.6 ghz turbo)
8gb ddr3l
1tb hard drive
hdmi: dual link dvi:
4xusb 3.0
wifi
lan
bluetooth
digital optical output

zotac zbox en760 plus review: don’t be fooled by its size, this box has graphics horsepower

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2455...ts-size-this-box-has-graphics-horsepower.html