New build help (and advice) <£1200

Eeekster

Eeekster

Eeekster

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Hi :)

My old Dell XPS17 (2010) laptop is finally on its last legs and in desperate need of being replaced (and upgraded).

I have a budget of up to £1200 (would rather spend less, but..) and will need everything other than keyboard, mouse and OS (Win 10).

I would like a 24" screen (probably nothing much bigger) and other than general use (films, surfing etc) use it for gaming:

Eve Online - three clients
Witcher 3 (doesn't play on the poor laptop..)
Dragon Age series (and similar types of games)
Elite Dangerous (runs on a calculator anyway)
Total War: Warhammer 2 (would be nice to see this in better quality)

Would probably try out some newer fps games if I had a capable system.

I will probably build it myself (its been almost 10 years since I last built a PC) so any pointers for related resources would be much appreciated.

Also, any advice on timing? - Happy to buy some parts now and wait a month or so if that seems sensible (new products - old product price cuts etc).

Finally, thanks for any help in advance - let me know if anything need clarification.
 
My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £1,117.13 (includes shipping: £15.30)​
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Hey, thanks for this! Looks good to me :)

I've done a little research based on your spec, first question, if I may - I see that the RX580 Red Devil is £10 more than the Dragon, and the Gold Red Devil an extra £10 on top of that - for the sake of £10 or £20 would it be worth getting either of the other 2 cards instead?
 
@Eeekster sorry for the late reply, you didn't quote or "@" me, so didn't get a notification lol :P

IMO, for "midrange cards" such as the 580, even £300 is pushing it - these should be closer to £250 than £300.
the 580 8gb is still ~£50 too expensive due to the crypto craze slowly settling...
But, I've recommended it over the 1060 6gb (its equivalent nvidia counterpart) - as pairing the 580 with a freesync monitor is cheaper than pairing the 1060 with a gsync monitor

Above £300, might as well put in a bit more money to get a 1070 (which is about 40% faster than either a 580/1060)

freesync/gsync = adaptive sync...this is a short explanation on how it works, courtesy of nvidia:
 
build above is solid, if as he mentioned, going for gtx 1070 with high Hz monitor without G-sync to keep in costs

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £1,209.93 (includes shipping: £14.10)
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intel version - just edges out on Pure gaming over ryzen 1600- though will lose a bit of edge was more games like BF1 that like thread counts come into play

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £1,229.92 (includes shipping: £14.10)​
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orbitalwalsh said:
Click to expand...

hmm...dunno man, at those prices for B360 is very close to Z370 prices...
better to get a Z370 and fast ram for better FPS/mins...
don't think it's wise to pay more than £60-70 for B360 seeing it really is a deadend platform (even more so than the Z370)
 
@tamzzy Thanks again! That was a useful video (as were a few others on same subject: freesync/gsync) - it is probably worth my while waiting a week or two to see if there are any price changes off the back of new AMD chips

@orbitalwalsh Hey, thanks for the alternative builds :) I can see the added power of the 1070 would be great, but without gsync (damnably expensive for me) I am not sure the added Hz alone would outweigh the freesync advantages of the first build? (I like fps games, but much prefer the idea of greater image quality and stability from the AMD/Freesync combo for the types of games I play most often)

I'll assume that the RX580 would be a little hard pressed to run at 144Hz to take advantage of the MSI monitor (also freesync)?
 
Eeekster said:
it is probably worth my while waiting a week or two to see if there are any price changes off the back of new AMD chips
Click to expand...
maybe, maybe not, looks like the ryzen 2xxx prices are going to slot in above their 1xxx equivalents, so any price reductions appear to be marginal.
there's no b450 boards yet, so b350 boards are unlikely to drop much (if at all) in price - as they are still compatible with 2xxx processors

Eeekster said:
I can see the added power of the 1070 would be great, but without gsync (damnably expensive for me) I am not sure the added Hz alone would outweigh the freesync advantages of the first build? (I like fps games, but much prefer the idea of greater image quality and stability from the AMD/Freesync combo for the types of games I play most often)
Click to expand...
if i were to choose, i'd still go with a better gpu without an adaptive sync monitor than settle for a weaker gpu/monitor adaptive sync combo...
(just imo...others please feel free to disagree)
case in point, i'm using a 1080ti with a 1440p freesync panel (incompatible) - but maybe because I'm using a top of the range graphics card, so the difference is less noticeable

Eeekster said:
RX580 would be a little hard pressed to run at 144Hz
Click to expand...
cpu + gpu probably - rather than just gpu alone. for newest AAA titles, you'll be looking at ~80-100 fps at medium settings
(hence why i think a 1080p 75hz freesync panel is probably the best compromise IMO)

if you haven't already guessed...many ways to skin a cat :p
 
@tamzzy true, but when z390 and can say z490 since someone spilled the beans of it roadmap, makes the x470/z370 hard to swallow haha :D

but yeah see your point, and highlights how much intel messed up with the z370 chipset and vendors dropped the ball with quick tweaks

lot of people drive 144hz monitors that aren't synced mainly due to the cost of going g-sync ,why im guessing theirs a market for them
 
@tamzzy @orbitalwalsh Thanks again, I think I may be swaying towards spending a little more :eek:

The 1600 seems to have jumped up to £154, so changed it to the 2600, also changed to the 1070 and added a different monitor (not sure about my choice but don't particularly like curved screens). Grateful for any views on the below:

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £1,306.53 (includes shipping: £14.70)​
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If you're now going for the 2xxx ryzen, advice is to wait and see. Just FYI that 1gen boards cannot take advantage of the boost V2 feature of the 2xxx ryzen. So might be better off just getting a x470 board
 
B450 boards will take a little bit, AMD getting a little bit smarter .
X470 it you want to take full advantage of ryzen+ and 3600hz but will cost ... And then extra for 2nd gen. Least you've got options though . Still expect amd/reseller to sell a good amount of 1600/b350 combos for a little while

Msi MSI panel does look nice but haven't used one personally
 
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@tamzzy @orbitalwalsh Hiya, had a little re-jig and have come up with the following, are there any obvious problems? The MB is on pre-order and I really dont have much of a clue with Monitors, so still some time before I actually order - but only a week or two as the laptop really is randomly falling over at the moment :)

I could make the odd saving, e.g. dropping the SSD down to 240gb which could save up to £80 (which drops the overall price or could be spent to upgrade some other part)

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £1,327.93 (includes shipping: £14.10)
​
 
Eeekster said:
@tamzzy @orbitalwalsh Hiya, had a little re-jig and have come up with the following, are there any obvious problems? The MB is on pre-order and I really dont have much of a clue with Monitors, so still some time before I actually order - but only a week or two as the laptop really is randomly falling over at the moment :)

I could make the odd saving, e.g. dropping the SSD down to 240gb which could save up to £80 (which drops the overall price or could be spent to upgrade some other part)

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £1,327.93 (includes shipping: £14.10)
​
Click to expand...

beastly and also

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/team...gbps-3d-nand-solid-state-drive-hd-005-tg.html

saves £40

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/toshiba-1tb-p300-performance-hard-drive-hdwd110uzsva-hd-044-ts.html

another £5

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/aoc-...z-1ms-gaming-led-monitor-black-mo-024-ao.html

£30 on top

which would allow you to move up to gtx 1070ti or save the cash ?

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/inno...ddr5-pci-express-graphics-card-gx-06x-in.html

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/giga...ddr5-pci-express-graphics-card-gx-19m-gi.html
 
basically nearly as what @orbitalwalsh suggested, with the exception of the ram.
ryzen 2 likes faster ram. hence going with 3600 ram rather than 3200 ram.
also 75hz ips panel for better colours. of course if you want a faster TN panel (trade off colour and viewing angles for faster fps) then the aoc panel in @orbitalwalsh 's post isn't a bad shout

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £1,352.09 (includes shipping: £15.30)​
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^^^spot on @tamzzy , if @Eeekster you know what your doing with ram overclocking .
Can pick up 8 Packs 3200hz version to save ...£8 ....

Kit can overclock to 4000hz on Intel platforms, will be able to do 3600hz but timings won't be as tight and you'll be doing it manually :/

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/team...3200mhz-dual-channel-kit-black-my-08l-tg.html

Personally bit of a mission on amd so easier with 3600 kit but if you do need to save pennies....

Ryzen 2600 has pretty much brought it up to Intel i5 8400/500 standard and both systems are equal in price :)
My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £1,311.52 (includes shipping: £14.70)
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I'd by happy with either !!!!! Though amd is drools !
Finally choice in the market ... Well miners took away Vega that was sweet with 1440p freesync screens ..
 
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@tamzzy Thanks again!

I realised I don't have a wifi card, so changed the MB:

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £1,362.05 (includes shipping: £15.30)



Then I noticed the Gaming 5 states it supports 3200 ddr4, not 3600 - would this be an issue?

Should I also get some thermal paste?

Always more questions... sorry :) - but almost there now.

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