PC Recommendation - £900

[Rhoxy]

EDIT - Updates below.

Apologies for the second thread, however I've decided to up the budget a little.

PC will be used purely for gaming, mostly steam games such as Day-Z, Rust, CSGO as well as a few upcoming games and hopefully will be able to play the majority of these on good if not best graphics.

It will be kept and upgraded for years to come, meaning a suitable case to allow this is preferred.

Budget is £900.

Thanks.

 

[Rhoxy]

do you need an operating system too?

I'm not 100% sure at the moment so I have left it out of the budget, so no.

 

[Rhoxy]

Thanks for all the inputs. I have looked at each and come up with this spec. I have also decided to purchase the monitor outside of OC.

Any other inputs you have are also appreciated, or any tweaks to my spec below.

I have added both a wireless PCI and a USB since I do not know which to go for and which would be better for me to use. It would be great if someone could direct me towards the better choice.

Do you think this will be suitable for what I mentioned in the OP?

Thanks.


YOUR BASKET
1 x Asus Radeon R9 280X DirectCUII TOP 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £239.99
1 x Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £169.99
1 x Gigabyte Z87-HD3 Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £82.99
1 x BitFenix Ronin Tower Case - Black £69.95
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE120BW) £67.99
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan ORANGE 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLAD38G2400HC11CDC01) £55.99
1 x SuperFlower Golden Green HX 550W "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black £55.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £43.99
1 x Raijintek Themis Direct Contact CPU Cooler £19.99
1 x TP-Link 300Mbps Wireless N PCI Express Adapter (TL-WN881ND) £16.99
1 x LiteOn IHAS124-14 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £14.99
1 x TP-Link 300Mbps Wireless-N USB Adapter (TL-WN821N) £12.98
Total : £861.44 (includes shipping : £8.00).

 

[Rhoxy]

That's a nice spec

As for the wireless question that is up to you, with the USB adapter you can take it with you and use it anywhere so on another computer as well. PCI will be inside the case so you won't be able to use it with another machine without having to open the case etc. However due to the antennas it probably offers better performance than USB but it probably won't be noticeable

I think i'll purchase both and decide when they arrive and maybe give them both a test.

This is my first PC build so just to makesure, is there anything else I may need? Other than peripherals.

Thanks.

 

[Rhoxy]

Something like this tends to be useful:

YOUR BASKET
1 x BitFenix Alchemy Molex to 3pin x3 Fan adaptor 12V 20cm - Black £4.99




You'll have 3 case fans to power (plus the CPU cooler). That means using a total of four fan headers on the mobo, and ensuing cable clutter. Using an adaptor like the one above allows for powering direct from PSU and helps keep things tidy in front, especially as your case has a window.

Cooling Front: 2 x 120mm (1 included)
- Cooling Rear: 1 x 120mm (included)
- Cooling Top: 2 x 120mm (optional) or 2 x 140mm (optional)

I noticed with the case that there are also some optional fans. If I wanted to purchase the second front, plus the two for the top would I need another adaptor?

There are also Powerline Networking Adapters, which give the best wireless performance (because they're not really wireless...), if you have power sockets handy where your router is and also where your PC will be. They are more expensive than the other two types though.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?catid=1604&groupid=46&sortby=priceAsc

I did read up on these too and watched a few videos and they do seem a lot better. Is it as simple as an ethernet from PC to first adaptor, and then the same but from the router to the second adaptor?

Thanks.

 

[Rhoxy]

That's basically it. And pair them by clicking their respective buttons, as the guide describes. Nice little vid here showing how easy it is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RT1XS7HaUE

I've gone with these. Thanks for the recommendation.

 

[Rhoxy]

I know you are trying to keep costs down but another option instead of adapters is a fan controller

YOUR BASKET
1 x BitFenix Recon Internet-Connected Fan Controller (Black) £23.99
Total : £27.90 (includes shipping : £3.26).

It would only go a little over the budget so it should be okay.

Using a controller, would it make it a lot easier to connect them up if I were to purchase the extra fans? Also, the case comes with 2 120mm included, do you think they will be the same as the ones below?

2 x BitFenix Spectre PRO 140mm Fan - All Black £12.98 (£25.96)
1 x BitFenix Spectre Plain BLACK 120mm Fan £5.99





I'm thinking about adding some blue BitFenix LED's too, since my keyboard is black with blue backlights. Which out of the three sizes (20cm, 30cm, 50cm) do you think would be suitable?

 

[Rhoxy]

I've been thinking about upgrading a little from the recommended graphics card below.

1 x Asus Radeon R9 280X DirectCUII TOP 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £239.99



I have been looking at the ones below.

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI Radeon R9 290 Gaming Edition 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £335.99
1 x Sapphire Radeon R9 290 Tri-X 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (11227-03-40G) £329.99
1 x Asus GeForce GTX 670 Mini 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £299.99




Asus Nvidia GeForce 2GB GTX 670 DirectCU II which OC do not sell other than the mini.

Which one do you think is the best out of the ones above, or if anyone has any other recommendations at the same/similar prices that would be great.

 

[Rhoxy]

Do not waste your money on the 670. If you going to spend circa £300, then go for the 290.
In regards to extra fans, get your system up and running first. If, for some reason you have any heat issues, then look at adding or replacing fans. And if you do decide on installing a couple of more fans, if the mobo does'nt have enough fan headers, then just get a fan splitter. Something like this.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Akasa PWM fan splitter (AK-CBFA04-15) £2.99
Total : £5.96 (includes shipping : £2.48).

From taking note of this, here is my basket ready to purchase. As well as LED's maybe being added once decided what size I need.

Peripherals, Monitor, OS and powerline adaptors will be purchased outside of OC possibly.

Is there anything I'm missing or may need?

Thanks.


YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI Radeon R9 290 Gaming Edition 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £335.99
1 x Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £169.99
1 x Gigabyte Z87-HD3 Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £82.99
1 x BitFenix Ronin Tower Case - Black £69.95
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE120BW) £67.99
1 x SuperFlower Golden Green HX 650W "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black £67.99
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan ORANGE 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLAD38G2400HC11CDC01) £55.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £43.99
1 x Raijintek Themis Direct Contact CPU Cooler £19.99
1 x LiteOn IHAS124-14 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £14.99
Total : £939.47 (includes shipping : £8.00).




Is the MSI a better choice over the Sapphire?

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI Radeon R9 290 Gaming Edition 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £335.99
1 x Sapphire Radeon R9 290 Tri-X 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (11227-03-40G) £329.99

 

[Rhoxy]

Yes, there have been some reports, but considering the amount of cards MSI sell, these seem pretty isolated cases.

@ OP, you could drop a note in Customer Services and ask OCUK if they have had any reports of leaks from their stocks. But I think if they had, they would have said something.

I've sent them a webnote about it.

I'm at a dead end choosing between the two since they both have great reviews. I'm pretty much ready to purchase once I have decided between the two.

Also, does anyone know how much OCuk charge to pre-build a PC?

 

[Rhoxy]

Need a monitor to complete my spec and go ahead with purchasing.

Currently, I have a few shortlisted (below) but can't decide which is the better to go for.

As well as the ones below, if anyone has any other recommendations (preferably 24"+) for a similar price please let me know.

Thanks.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Dell UltraSharp U2412M 24" Widescreen LED Monitor - Midnight Grey £239.99
1 x Asus VN247H 24"Widescreen Super Narrow Bezel LED Monitor - Black £149.99
1 x IIyama Prolite E2473HS 24" Widescreen LED Monitor - Black £129.95




As well as this 27" AOC I2757FH http://www.engadget.com/products/aoc/i2757fh/

 

[Rhoxy]

** edited **

no, i would get a monitor new

Decided that I want this build to last me a few years before I begin upgrading so I went with an AOC Q2770PQU. It sold out from OC a few minutes after I decided upon it so had to buy from elsewhere for a little extra

Thanks for the help though. Just got everything ordered, looking forward to building now.

 

[Rhoxy]

Everything came and it's all together, however my Corsair K70 keyboard is receiving no power to it at all. I have installed the Gigabyte mobo drivers.

Has anyone had this before or is it a faulty product?

Thanks.