Please help me pick over these 3 gaming rigs

[dt97583]

Hey Guys,

I'm looking to spend less than a grand on a gaming machine but I'm struggling with these 3. Is the Vortex i7 and Titan 8700i Pulse worth £275.2 / £201.98 more than the Vortex i5? I'd be looking to keep the machine for quite some time and I'll upgrade the parts as and when required. Don't envisage anything like photoshop which makes me wonder if the i7 is required?

If I got the Vortex i5 I wonder if they could exchange the 60GB SSD for a 120GB? I also see the i5 doesn't have a wifi card, again I wonder if they'd tweak it for me and put one in? I'd imagine this'd up the price by around ~£60. Similar questions for the i7 and the missing wifi card and small SSD.

All suggestions welcome of course!

I'm looking to mainly play FPS games. Suggestions on screens and keyboards are also welcome

In regards to building it myself - I'm not completely against it and would consider it if there was a big price difference but equally I don't mind paying a tiny bit more for it to be pre-built.

Thank you!


YOUR BASKET
1 x "Vortex i5" Intel Core i5 3450 3.10GHz DDR3 Quad Core Gaming PC £638.39
1 x Microsoft Windows 8 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00403) £79.99
1 x Opt Out of FREE AV Software £0.01
1 x 24 MONTH WARRANTY - COLLECT & RETURN £0.01
1 x Standard Build Systems - Approximately 5-7 working days £0
Total : £737.00 (includes shipping : £15.50).




YOUR BASKET
1 x "Titan 8700i Pulse" Intel Core i5 3570K 3.40GHz @ 4.40GHz DDR3 Ivybridge Gaming PC £480.4
1 x Microsoft Windows 8 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00403) £79.99
1 x Asus PCE-N15 300Mbps 802.11B/G/N Wireless PCI-E Network Adapter £29.99
1 x No Sound Card Upgrade £0
1 x Opt Out of FREE AV Software £0.01
1 x Standard Build Systems - Approximately 5-7 working days £0
1 x Intel 330 Series 120GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive - Retail £89.99
1 x Sapphire HD 7950 3072MB PCI-Express Graphics Card (11196-00-20G) with FREE FARCRY3, Hitman Absolution, Sleeping Dogs & 20% off MOH Warfighter PC Games £239.99
1 x 24 MONTH WARRANTY - COLLECT & RETURN £0.01
Total : £938.98 (includes shipping : £15.50).




YOUR BASKET
1 x "Vortex i7" Intel Core i7 3770 3.40GHz DDR3 Quad Core Gaming PC £913.58
1 x 24 MONTH WARRANTY - COLLECT & RETURN £0.01
1 x Standard Build Systems - Approximately 5-7 working days £0
1 x Microsoft Windows 8 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00403) £79.99
1 x Opt Out of FREE AV Software £0.01
Total : £1,012.20 (includes shipping : £15.50).

 

[dt97583]

Building your own could save you quite a bit of money, and I'm sure someone will spec you a nice build, especially when you have a few requests of parts you want specifically. Just a little head's up.

Ah okay! I don't really know to be honest. Definitely an i5, not sure if I'll see any gain with an i7 for purely FPS purposes.

Graphics cards wise - I'm getting the impression the current crop of AMD cards perform better and are priced lower than the NVIDIA cards - a check on AnandTech suggests the 7950 would give 47.7 frames per second vs 38.8 for the NVIDIA at 1920x1200.

8GB RAM sounds enough for now - easily upgradeable I suppose in future years.

Mobo - no ideas about

SSD - I like the idea of booting off an SSD so I suppose a 120GB is a minimum. I have a couple of external drives but they're only USB 2.0.

PSU - no idea again - I get the impresison most systems are spec'd with 600W.

Case - no idea - it probably won't be looked at very much

DVDRW is required but Bluray is not.

Sound card - not sure it's required - I don't have a 7.1 system - just a couple of Creative Gigaworks T40 Series II Speakers.

Screen - I suppose a 23" is a minimum - not sure again though

Keyboard - no idea

So quite a few no clues - would welcome advice

 

[dt97583]

Thanks IncognitoX!

Would it be worth spending a bit more for an i5 ivy bridge CPU?

Are the selection of parts on your list markedly better than the prebuilt ones? Out of curiosity how much could I expect overclockers to charge for building this particular configuration?

What's all the components you need, you need OS, keyboard, Mouse? The works basically? You got any reusable parts, or peripherals, maximum of 1k budget or lower the better?

I have a mouse, speakers and a very aging laptop. So the works really. 1000 - 1150 I'd say, upper limit including the screen and keyboard.

 

[dt97583]

It would depend if you want to push your budget past £1000.

You can definitely create one for under £1000 but I've just selected a balanced spec for you to max the budget.

I'd be keen for the latest generation of CPU - at least this way I won't feel like a need to update as soon as Haswell is out. Would it be worth getting it overclocked?

Are the parts you listed noticeably better than Titan 8700i Pulse machine?

Any ideas how much I could expect overclockers to charge for building your config?

 

[dt97583]

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte ATi Radeon HD 7950 Windforce 3X 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with FREE FARCRY3, Hitman Absolution, Sleeping Dogs & 20% off MOH Warfighter PC Games £239.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - OEM £179.99
1 x BenQ GL2450 24" Widescreen LED Monitor - Black £129.95
1 x OCZ Vertex 2E 120GB 2.5" SATA-II Solid State Hard Drive (OCZSSD2-2VTXE120G) £81.98
1 x PC Power & Cooling Silencer Mk III Series 600W '80 Plus Bronze' Modular Power Supply - White £69.98
1 x ASRock H77 Pro4-M Intel H77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £67.99
1 x Toshiba (7K1000.D) 500GB SATA 6GB/s 32MB Cache - OEM (DT01ACA050) £42.98
1 x Xigmatek Dark Knight SD-1283 Night Hawk Edition CPU Cooler (Socket LGA 2011/1366/1156/1155/775 and AMD FM1/AM3/AM2+/AM2) £34.99
1 x TeamGroup Elite 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TED38GM1600HC11DC01) £29.99
1 x BitFenix Merc Beta Gaming Case - Black £29.99
1 x Samsung SH-S222BB/RSMS 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black/Silver/Biege) - Retail £19.99
2 x Noiseblocker BlackSilent Pro Fan PLPS - 120mm PWM £11.99 (£23.98)
1 x Gigabyte KM6150 Keyboard and Mouse Set £9.98
Total : £984.71 (includes shipping : £19.10).




i5 Ivy and cheaper keyboard and mouse.
Added 2 case fans incase more cooling is needed.

No need for mouse but a decent keyboard would be required.

 

[dt97583]

1. Overclocking is also a personal preference it should perform great on stock.

Okay thanks.

2. The only thing to add to my spec compared with the Titan is wireless compatibly. Could be a simple USB nano adaptor. The spec posted includes a 24" monitor aswell.

So would you say both machines have similar performing parts? If you were to say yours was better than I'd reconsider building it myself you see.

3. Maybe contact OCuk customer services and ask whether they would consider building a custom machine for you.

Thanks - I will once I'm decided

 

[dt97583]

but there isnt much difference between that spec and the pre-built
its not any faster or any quieter

Oh. Confused now! Which rig would you pick then?

and with the build costs

Do you have any ball park figure ideas? I can build it myself if there's a massive difference here.

 

[dt97583]

Extra questions for you, what network do you have at home? (G/N/N+)

G

 

[dt97583]

The pre-build:
Louder Drive
No Monitor
No Keyboard
Slower SSD
N wireless card when you only have G Network. (£30)

This spec:
Full System
Wireless Adaptor
Quieter OD
Quicker SSD
Keyboard and Monitor

Appreciate your time

Theoretically is it worth waiting until the January sales on overclockers or do they not really dip in price much?

 

[dt97583]

I keep editing the post because I've missed things aha

I am unsure how much the prices change during the sales

Thanks.

Are case fans required? Everything else looks to be there to me!

 

[dt97583]

id be surprised if it was under £100 to build one, easy the price of that monitor

Crikey. That's around the mark of me thinking it is now worth me putting in the time and effort myself.

unless you enjoy building or you have something specific you really want in the pc, ie an enthusiast most likely you wont notice the difference

Apart from the £100!

it looks like you know a little already as you custom with ssd and 7950, both nice adds

Yep done a bit of research plus work in IT so it'd be shameful if I don't know something! I just haven't ever built a machine before but I appreciate there's a sticky thread on the forum and videos aplenty so I'm not particularly phased - more being bothered - which at £100 I am!

it depends what games you play tho, a speedy dual core with ssd and gfx might be just as fast and save a couple hundred

Well the steam sale has been kind to me - picked up Crysis collection, Fear 3, Rage and Max Payne 3. Plus there's something about having a quad core phone and a dual core desktop which doesn't quite cut it I don't think

 

[dt97583]

I'd advise one fan either on the front top or bottom as an intake, as big as possible.

Confused - does your spec come with this?

 

[dt97583]

well there is that
if you are able to build yourself maybe you can afford put a bigger ssd in or something, would help a lot with steam

steam eats up space faster than anything, and honestly once you have a nice ssd a hdd, even a fast one doesnt cut it anymore, even more so than if its dual or quad, tho quad should last you longer

if it was my build id go big ssd even if i have to cut down on other stuff
i only use hdd for backup and movies things like that now, cant use one for games no more ><

£30 more I suppose for a Intel 330 Series 180GB
By the time I come to buy I suppose prices will have changed though!

 

[dt97583]

Use the SSD for a boot drive and partial storage then a 500gb HD for everything else.

Sorry David, I took the fans out but add a good 120mm and its still under £1000

Yeah I thought this would be the best approach too - create a partition for the OS and programs and one for Steam.

 

[dt97583]

Sorry David, I took the fans out but add a good 120mm and its still under £1000

Appreciate all your help - I may repost just before I pull the trigger to see if there's anything you'd change but I'm way more on track than I ever was.

 

[dt97583]

The pre-build:
Louder Drive
No Monitor
No Keyboard
Slower SSD
N wireless card when you only have G Network. (£30)

This spec:
Full System
Wireless Adaptor (N but compatible with G, Good range, cheap) £12
Quieter samsung Optical Drive
Quicker SSD
Keyboard and Monitor
After-Market CPU cooler (Performs better)

IncognitoX - I've read elsewhere that the Titan computer has a better cooler, and it's got a better SSD. Couple this with a a guaranteed overclock and I'm starting to think this may be the better choice.

Spec'ing it out it comes to about £60 more for the above and pre-built... But I've spotted Windows 8 isn't on the spec so after adding this they're both the same pretty much price wise but one is pre-built with a better cooler / SSD?

YOUR BASKET
1 x "Titan 8700i Pulse" Intel Core i5 3570K 3.40GHz @ 4.40GHz DDR3 Ivybridge Gaming PC £480.4
1 x 24 MONTH WARRANTY - COLLECT & RETURN £0.01
1 x Sapphire HD 7950 3072MB PCI-Express Graphics Card (11196-00-20G) with FREE FARCRY3, Hitman Absolution, Sleeping Dogs & 20% off MOH Warfighter PC Games £239.99
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TD120BW) £79.99
1 x Standard Build Systems - Approximately 5-7 working days £0
1 x Opt Out of FREE AV Software £0.01
1 x No Sound Card Upgrade £0
1 x Networking Not Selected £0
1 x Microsoft Windows 8 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00403) £79.99
1 x Samsung S24B300BS 24" Widescreen LED Monitor - Glossy Black £119.99
1 x TT eSports Challenger Gamers Keyboard £29.99
1 x Edimax EW-7811UN 150Mbps High-Gain Wireless-N USB Micro Adapter £11.98
Total : £1,063.34 (includes shipping : £17.50).

 

[dt97583]

I must have missed the included after market cooler on the Titan my bad!

If your not confident building then probably would be best to get the pre-build then

Apologies for my errors!

If you are a student you can get a copy of Windows 8 under the student software program "Dreamspark".

It's not that I'm not confident - it's more that that Titan overall looks to have been components and all in comes out the same price except it's pre-built.

Happy to be corrected or suggested better components than the Titan which require building.

I'm not a student by the way so full price for me!