Newbie looking for a good (was £1k) Now £2k! Gaming PC
- Thread starter Rjhsteel
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Pretty sure we can't recommend other retailers/builders as per forum rules though if you're looking for something to stand the test of time and is somewhat budget friendly I'd recommend speccing out one via overclockers or elsewhere using the custom part-chooser tools that many offer - Ideally you'd like to go for the intel i7 series chips, either the skylake or kaby lake series (6700/7700) both in the region of £200-250 with a respectable ATX motherboard (for the skylake series you can use either Z170-boards or Z270 boards) Ideally an ATX version - Kabylake does perform better on Z270 boards and will also not be so much of a bother to setup or incur extra setup-costs. you could step this down to the i5 6500/i5 7500 if you can't afford the i7 series, all of these will require an aftermarket CPU cooler as they do not come with a stock one due to the thermal/cooling demands. (this will be an option via the shop you choose to build with)
Another good option would be an AMD Ryzen 5 1500X with appropriate AM4 ATX motherboard (AMD is usually a little bit cheaper in terms of price) this CPU also comes with the stock cooler, perfectly adequate for everyday use providing it is not overclocked and in a PC case with good airflow.
RAM wise anything in the region of 8Gb DDR4 2133Mhz or more is fine for a starting block, 16Gb is recommended however for demanding games, typically speaking either 2x4Gb kits, meaning two sticks of 4Gb RAM or for 16Gb two sticks of 8Gb RAM - this way it will run in what's called dual channel mode (working in sync with each other) and makes a small but noticeable difference in system speed when loading games/programs.
Graphics card wise + budget friendly you'd be looking at either the nvidia GTX 1060 6Gb model or (as of right now) either the AMD RX 570 4Gb model or the RX 580 Model (budget permitting) - there is the newer variants launched by AMD but those are selling like hot-cakes right now and it is probably best just to wait them out until mid-2018 as more efficient models usually release later.
You'd be needing some sort of SSD windows boot drive and/or M.2 variant (M.2 drives are much quicker than an SSD but also much pricier, they attach straight to the motherboard as opposed to via cables, they do however require a motherboard with an M.2 port and is somewhat more difficult to setup) + you'll need a standard mechanical drive of atleast 1Tb for games.
Don't worry so much about DVD drives, that standard is dying out, opt instead for a good sized ATX case with good airflow + fans, ideally a few 120mm or 140mm fans in the front for intake, one at the back for exhaust and if possible one/two at the top too - this will balance out airflow and make it less of a dust magnet.
Power supply wise, ideally 650W or 750W and check it is 80+ bronze efficiency at the very very minimum. dont cheap out on that too much as it's just not worth it, a cheap PSU can cause all sorts of nasty stuff to happen.
As for monitors, there's a good few deals for some right now ranging from 24" to 27" - if possible grab a 144Hz monitor as this will allow for higher in-game frames per second too (144Hz being the limit at which the monitor refreshes/loads frames)
Keyboard/mouse are usually picked up cheap enough in combo packs, I wouldn't worry too much about them right now being that your son is still fairly young it's probably best to just buy a membrane based keyboard and not an expensive mechanical one though this is up to you
Another good option would be an AMD Ryzen 5 1500X with appropriate AM4 ATX motherboard (AMD is usually a little bit cheaper in terms of price) this CPU also comes with the stock cooler, perfectly adequate for everyday use providing it is not overclocked and in a PC case with good airflow.
RAM wise anything in the region of 8Gb DDR4 2133Mhz or more is fine for a starting block, 16Gb is recommended however for demanding games, typically speaking either 2x4Gb kits, meaning two sticks of 4Gb RAM or for 16Gb two sticks of 8Gb RAM - this way it will run in what's called dual channel mode (working in sync with each other) and makes a small but noticeable difference in system speed when loading games/programs.
Graphics card wise + budget friendly you'd be looking at either the nvidia GTX 1060 6Gb model or (as of right now) either the AMD RX 570 4Gb model or the RX 580 Model (budget permitting) - there is the newer variants launched by AMD but those are selling like hot-cakes right now and it is probably best just to wait them out until mid-2018 as more efficient models usually release later.
You'd be needing some sort of SSD windows boot drive and/or M.2 variant (M.2 drives are much quicker than an SSD but also much pricier, they attach straight to the motherboard as opposed to via cables, they do however require a motherboard with an M.2 port and is somewhat more difficult to setup) + you'll need a standard mechanical drive of atleast 1Tb for games.
Don't worry so much about DVD drives, that standard is dying out, opt instead for a good sized ATX case with good airflow + fans, ideally a few 120mm or 140mm fans in the front for intake, one at the back for exhaust and if possible one/two at the top too - this will balance out airflow and make it less of a dust magnet.
Power supply wise, ideally 650W or 750W and check it is 80+ bronze efficiency at the very very minimum. dont cheap out on that too much as it's just not worth it, a cheap PSU can cause all sorts of nasty stuff to happen.
As for monitors, there's a good few deals for some right now ranging from 24" to 27" - if possible grab a 144Hz monitor as this will allow for higher in-game frames per second too (144Hz being the limit at which the monitor refreshes/loads frames)
Keyboard/mouse are usually picked up cheap enough in combo packs, I wouldn't worry too much about them right now being that your son is still fairly young it's probably best to just buy a membrane based keyboard and not an expensive mechanical one though this is up to you
* Note you will need to add on approx £80 for OcUK build fee to the total:
Ryzen is the ideal option for this budget £1000 all-in-build and all their CPUs are unlocked and clock very well even on the stock Wraith cooler - which makes the Ryzen 5 1400 a very good value gaming CPU. This will clock comfortably to 3.7GHz on the stock Wraith making it great value for money.
And Ryzen is the bang for buck CPU - and memory speed is key is key so 3000MHz minimum is the minimum to get the best out of the processor.
I've added 16Gb of memory (sweettspot for gaming) as this will last you but this can be bumped down to 8Gb to save more money. I also added an 250Gb SSD as it will add more overall punch the system - it's not essential but and could be dropped - but as OcUK are building it you would benefit from it being setup and running.
You can't afford a GTX 1060 but the GTX 1050ti does an admirable job at 1080p with only a few compromises on settings with bigger games.
You only need a 550W PSU (even up to a GTX 1070) - ideally a quality one but i've had to cut coreners here and get a budget EVGA - but needs must. I would have preferred to put in the Super Flower HX 550W Green - keep this in mind
You cant't afford a 144Hz monitor and it's not essential - this model comes with speakers but recommend he uses headphones.
Chucked in a budget keyboard/mouse - I would shop around for one you like the feel of.
So, you could drop to 8Gb of memory, drop the SSD - you save this money or upgrade other components - a lot to consider:
My basket at Overclockers UK:
Ryzen is the ideal option for this budget £1000 all-in-build and all their CPUs are unlocked and clock very well even on the stock Wraith cooler - which makes the Ryzen 5 1400 a very good value gaming CPU. This will clock comfortably to 3.7GHz on the stock Wraith making it great value for money.
And Ryzen is the bang for buck CPU - and memory speed is key is key so 3000MHz minimum is the minimum to get the best out of the processor.
I've added 16Gb of memory (sweettspot for gaming) as this will last you but this can be bumped down to 8Gb to save more money. I also added an 250Gb SSD as it will add more overall punch the system - it's not essential but and could be dropped - but as OcUK are building it you would benefit from it being setup and running.
You can't afford a GTX 1060 but the GTX 1050ti does an admirable job at 1080p with only a few compromises on settings with bigger games.
You only need a 550W PSU (even up to a GTX 1070) - ideally a quality one but i've had to cut coreners here and get a budget EVGA - but needs must. I would have preferred to put in the Super Flower HX 550W Green - keep this in mind
You cant't afford a 144Hz monitor and it's not essential - this model comes with speakers but recommend he uses headphones.
Chucked in a budget keyboard/mouse - I would shop around for one you like the feel of.
So, you could drop to 8Gb of memory, drop the SSD - you save this money or upgrade other components - a lot to consider:
My basket at Overclockers UK:
- 1 x AMD Ryzen 5 Quad Core 1400 3.40GHz (Socket AM4) Processor - Retail= £158.99
- 1 x Gigabyte GA-AB350M-Gaming 3 AMD B350 (Socket AM4) DDR4 Micro ATX Motherboard= £87.95
- 1 x Team Group Vulcan T-Force 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-24000C16 3000MHz Dual Channel Kit - Grey (TLGD416G30= £119.50
- 1 x Palit GeForce GTX 1050Ti StormX 4096MB PCI-Express GDDR5 Graphics Card= £128.99
- 1 x EVGA 600W 80 Plus Power Supply (100-W1-0600-K3)= £48.95
- 1 x Hynix SL308 250GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (HFS250G32TND-N1A0A)= £79.99
- 1 x Toshiba P300 1TB 7200RPM 64MB Cache High Performance Hard Drive (HDWD110UZSVA)= £38.99
- 1 x AOC E2460SH 24" 1920x1080 TN Widescreen 1ms Gaming LED Monitor - Black= £109.99
- 1 x Aerocool QS-240 Micro-ATX Case - Black= £29.99
- 1 x Logitech Wireless Desktop MK270 Wireless Keyboard and Mouse (920-004523)= £21.95
- 1 x Microsoft Windows 10 32/64-Bit - USB Pen Drive - Retail (KW9-00017)= £104.99
Total: £944.98
(includes shipping: £14.70)
*A build with no SSD but better CPU (again will clock to 3.7GHz with stock) and a better quality PSU for comparison:
My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £915.99
(includes shipping: £14.70)
(includes shipping: £14.70)
*A build with no SSD but better CPU (again will clock to 3.7GHz with stock) and a better quality PSU for comparison:
My basket at Overclockers UK:
- 1 x Gigabyte GA-AB350M-Gaming 3 AMD B350 (Socket AM4) DDR4 Micro ATX Motherboard= £87.95
- 1 x Team Group Vulcan T-Force 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-24000C16 3000MHz Dual Channel Kit - Grey (TLGD416G30= £119.50
- 1 x Palit GeForce GTX 1050Ti StormX 4096MB PCI-Express GDDR5 Graphics Card= £128.99
- 1 x Toshiba P300 1TB 7200RPM 64MB Cache High Performance Hard Drive (HDWD110UZSVA)= £38.99
- 1 x AOC E2460SH 24" 1920x1080 TN Widescreen 1ms Gaming LED Monitor - Black= £109.99
- 1 x Aerocool QS-240 Micro-ATX Case - Black= £29.99
- 1 x Logitech Wireless Desktop MK270 Wireless Keyboard and Mouse (920-004523)= £21.95
- 1 x Microsoft Windows 10 32/64-Bit - USB Pen Drive - Retail (KW9-00017)= £104.99
- 1 x AMD Ryzen 5 Six Core 1600 3.60GHz (Socket AM4) Processor - Retail= £188.99
- 1 x Super Flower Golden Green HX 550W "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black= £69.95
Total: £915.99
(includes shipping: £14.70)
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No, Ryzen is the way forward for your budget.
Even if you had a bigger budget you would have been steered towards a Ryzen 1600/1700 unless you really wanted an INTEL build. Or advised to wait for Coffee lake.
If you look at the second build - i included a Ryzen 1600 - the Ryzen sweetspot for gaming. It has 6 cores and 12 threads a mighty CPU for £188 - have a look at some YouTube videos and it's gaming performance - especially vs i5-7600k (4cores/4threads) .
You may have read that INTEL is faster for gaming (single threaded performance in particular) - which it marginally is overall - but nothing that makes any significant difference in real world terms when considering 'all' games - but the Ryzen CPU has it's out and out moments too. Plus, the AMD socket (AM4) has longevity and will last you ~4 years.
It's a win win with the Ryzen CPU - especially when on a tight budget.
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Soldato
- Joined
- 1 Dec 2015
- Posts
- 18,514
@Rjhsteel as the list above but ditch the palit GTX 1050 Ti for Gigabyte due to 3 year warranty over Palits 2 or other brands like Asus, EVGA etc.
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/giga...ddr5-pci-express-graphics-card-gx-18q-gi.html
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/asus...ddr5-pci-express-graphics-card-gx-40t-as.html
worth copying the list by @Plec and dropping it into Customer Service section to see if they can build it for you for that piece of mind- might pump up by £100 to 200 but worth the cost if you dont want to build and for someone to take care of it all and the start and if it goes wrong.
also change the 3000hz ram to 3200hz , might get away with 8GB of ram to be fair and save some cash- can always add another 8GB in the future - Extra cash saved could beef you up to 2TB HDD or getting an AIO for the CPU
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/cooler-master-masterliquid-lite-120-aio-cpu-cooler-hs-07j-cm.html
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/giga...ddr5-pci-express-graphics-card-gx-18q-gi.html
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/asus...ddr5-pci-express-graphics-card-gx-40t-as.html
worth copying the list by @Plec and dropping it into Customer Service section to see if they can build it for you for that piece of mind- might pump up by £100 to 200 but worth the cost if you dont want to build and for someone to take care of it all and the start and if it goes wrong.
also change the 3000hz ram to 3200hz , might get away with 8GB of ram to be fair and save some cash- can always add another 8GB in the future - Extra cash saved could beef you up to 2TB HDD or getting an AIO for the CPU
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/cooler-master-masterliquid-lite-120-aio-cpu-cooler-hs-07j-cm.html
Agree with the Gigabyte advice if budget permits - you can't beat Gigabyte for customer service and UK RMA (all my personal builds use Gigabyte where possible). **But keep in mind your 'custom building fee' of £80 -£100 if funds are tight.
@orbitalwalsh -- he's on a tight budget as it is - what are you doing adding 3200Mhz memory and an AIO
(You're too used to working with premium builds - you're on add on auto pilot).
He can get 3.7GHz with the stock Wraith cooler with a couple of setting tweaks (he won't miss another ~200Mhz). It's impressive for a stock cooler - you probably haven't given it a second glance; binning them straight away and strapping on your epic 320mm AIO and 6 fans (I need to head over to that thread was looking good when last checked - i have builders dropping windows on my deck at the moment :/).
The added expense of the AIO, personally, would be better put towards to 16Gb for a gaming PC, or a Ryzen 1600 or an SSD if he was thinking it was too much. The 3000MHz sticks will still compliment the Ryzen CPU perfectly well for his needs - the gains are good but he would benefit from the extra 8Gb of memory in some games (swings-and-roundabouts to degree).
The HDD may be factor - a 2Tb drive is only another £20 if you think he'll store a lot of games...
If you can push your budget higher - a GTX 1060 would be a great addition but would require an additional £100 again.
Ideally, if you had the funds your core would be Ryzen 1600, 16Gb memory paired with a GTX 1060 for 1080p gaming. You could game happily at high/ultra and have a CPU that should last you a good 5 years...
@orbitalwalsh -- he's on a tight budget as it is - what are you doing adding 3200Mhz memory and an AIO
(You're too used to working with premium builds - you're on add on auto pilot).He can get 3.7GHz with the stock Wraith cooler with a couple of setting tweaks (he won't miss another ~200Mhz). It's impressive for a stock cooler - you probably haven't given it a second glance; binning them straight away and strapping on your epic 320mm AIO and 6 fans (I need to head over to that thread was looking good when last checked - i have builders dropping windows on my deck at the moment :/).
The added expense of the AIO, personally, would be better put towards to 16Gb for a gaming PC, or a Ryzen 1600 or an SSD if he was thinking it was too much. The 3000MHz sticks will still compliment the Ryzen CPU perfectly well for his needs - the gains are good but he would benefit from the extra 8Gb of memory in some games (swings-and-roundabouts to degree).
The HDD may be factor - a 2Tb drive is only another £20 if you think he'll store a lot of games...
If you can push your budget higher - a GTX 1060 would be a great addition but would require an additional £100 again.
Ideally, if you had the funds your core would be Ryzen 1600, 16Gb memory paired with a GTX 1060 for 1080p gaming. You could game happily at high/ultra and have a CPU that should last you a good 5 years...
Soldato
- Joined
- 1 Dec 2015
- Posts
- 18,514
haha, did have to drop 16gb to 8GB so squeeze the ram and AIO in there
Its a shame you didnt post up a month ago @Gibbo was doing at £999 VR machine with Rift headset included and if i recall- was along the same lines
Wouldn't go included a screen but your son would have loved the VR!
Its a shame you didnt post up a month ago @Gibbo was doing at £999 VR machine with Rift headset included and if i recall- was along the same lines
Wouldn't go included a screen but your son would have loved the VR!
* Note you will need to add on approx £80 for OcUK build fee to the total:
Ryzen is the ideal option for this budget £1000 all-in-build and all their CPUs are unlocked and clock very well even on the stock Wraith cooler - which makes the Ryzen 5 1400 a very good value gaming CPU. This will clock comfortably to 3.7GHz on the stock Wraith making it great value for money.
And Ryzen is the bang for buck CPU - and memory speed is key is key so 3000MHz minimum is the minimum to get the best out of the processor.
I've added 16Gb of memory (sweettspot for gaming) as this will last you but this can be bumped down to 8Gb to save more money. I also added an 250Gb SSD as it will add more overall punch the system - it's not essential but and could be dropped - but as OcUK are building it you would benefit from it being setup and running.
You can't afford a GTX 1060 but the GTX 1050ti does an admirable job at 1080p with only a few compromises on settings with bigger games.
You only need a 550W PSU (even up to a GTX 1070) - ideally a quality one but i've had to cut coreners here and get a budget EVGA - but needs must. I would have preferred to put in the Super Flower HX 550W Green - keep this in mind
You cant't afford a 144Hz monitor and it's not essential - this model comes with speakers but recommend he uses headphones.
Chucked in a budget keyboard/mouse - I would shop around for one you like the feel of.
So, you could drop to 8Gb of memory, drop the SSD - you save this money or upgrade other components - a lot to consider:
My basket at Overclockers UK:
- 1 x AMD Ryzen 5 Quad Core 1400 3.40GHz (Socket AM4) Processor - Retail= £158.99
- 1 x Gigabyte GA-AB350M-Gaming 3 AMD B350 (Socket AM4) DDR4 Micro ATX Motherboard= £87.95
- 1 x Team Group Vulcan T-Force 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-24000C16 3000MHz Dual Channel Kit - Grey (TLGD416G30= £119.50
- 1 x Palit GeForce GTX 1050Ti StormX 4096MB PCI-Express GDDR5 Graphics Card= £128.99
- 1 x EVGA 600W 80 Plus Power Supply (100-W1-0600-K3)= £48.95
- 1 x Hynix SL308 250GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (HFS250G32TND-N1A0A)= £79.99
- 1 x Toshiba P300 1TB 7200RPM 64MB Cache High Performance Hard Drive (HDWD110UZSVA)= £38.99
- 1 x AOC E2460SH 24" 1920x1080 TN Widescreen 1ms Gaming LED Monitor - Black= £109.99
- 1 x Aerocool QS-240 Micro-ATX Case - Black= £29.99
- 1 x Logitech Wireless Desktop MK270 Wireless Keyboard and Mouse (920-004523)= £21.95
- 1 x Microsoft Windows 10 32/64-Bit - USB Pen Drive - Retail (KW9-00017)= £104.99
Total: £944.98
(includes shipping: £14.70)
*A build with no SSD but better CPU (again will clock to 3.7GHz with stock) and a better quality PSU for comparison:
My basket at Overclockers UK:
- 1 x Gigabyte GA-AB350M-Gaming 3 AMD B350 (Socket AM4) DDR4 Micro ATX Motherboard= £87.95
- 1 x Team Group Vulcan T-Force 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-24000C16 3000MHz Dual Channel Kit - Grey (TLGD416G30= £119.50
- 1 x Palit GeForce GTX 1050Ti StormX 4096MB PCI-Express GDDR5 Graphics Card= £128.99
- 1 x Toshiba P300 1TB 7200RPM 64MB Cache High Performance Hard Drive (HDWD110UZSVA)= £38.99
- 1 x AOC E2460SH 24" 1920x1080 TN Widescreen 1ms Gaming LED Monitor - Black= £109.99
- 1 x Aerocool QS-240 Micro-ATX Case - Black= £29.99
- 1 x Logitech Wireless Desktop MK270 Wireless Keyboard and Mouse (920-004523)= £21.95
- 1 x Microsoft Windows 10 32/64-Bit - USB Pen Drive - Retail (KW9-00017)= £104.99
- 1 x AMD Ryzen 5 Six Core 1600 3.60GHz (Socket AM4) Processor - Retail= £188.99
- 1 x Super Flower Golden Green HX 550W "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black= £69.95
Total: £915.99
(includes shipping: £14.70)
Do I need a soundcard?
And a fan for the processor?
No, onboard sound (motherboard) will suffice.
Whether through headphones or speakers or both.
Which build are you going for?
But either Ryzen CPU - in the builds I specced - will come supplied with a Wraith cooler. It's a great cooler and will be able to accommodate a moderate clock easily on either flavoured Ryzen.
I did two variants - 1400 and 1600 which one are you considering?
A lot more for high quality 4K gaming - ideally you would get a 1080ti but you could get away with a GTX 1080 - lowest price GTX 1080:
My basket at Overclockers UK:
- 1 x Inno3D GeForce GTX 1080 HerculeZ Twin X2 8192MB GDDR5X PCI-Express Graphics Card (N1080-1SDN-P6DN)= £469.99
Are you considering using a TV as a monitor?
You would be better off getting a GTX 1060 and playing at high/ULTRA at 1080p if you want to stay close to budget using a monitor.
Yes a lot more - when you factor in a GTX 1080 and a 4k monitor.
Personally, if you were going to bump your budget up a bit i would put it towards a Ryzen 1600 CPU, GTX 1060 and a better quality 1080p monitor. Or, just the GTX 1060...
How much extra are have you got to play with?