Spec me a gaming PC please!

AP2K4

AP2K4

AP2K4

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Joined
18 Apr 2004
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77
Location
Bristol
I'm looking into building a gaming PC and as I've never done this before I'm a bit lost.

I would like to spend £1,000 or so and be able to play games on the best settings possible.
 
What do you need for the £1000 ? Do you need just the tower ? Do you need mouse/monitor/keyboard ? operating system ?

Do you have any old parts you could reuse from a previous pc ?
 
YOUR BASKET
1 x Sapphire HD 7970 3072MB PCI-Express Graphics Card (11197-11-40G) with Crysis 3 & Bioshock PC Games £319.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £199.99
1 x Samsung 128GB SSD 840 PRO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7PD128BW) £113.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £89.99
1 x XFX Pro 650W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £69.98
1 x Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache WD10EZEX - OEM ** Single Platter ** HDD £59.99
1 x Zalman Z9 Plus Tower Case with Fan Controller - Black £49.99
1 x GeIL EVO Leggera 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GEL38GB1600C9DC) £35.99
Total : £954.91 (includes shipping : £12.50).





Perhaps something like this, if you intend to go Xfire later get a 750 watt instead.
 
Last edited:
Single card build. I haven't included a case as that is personal preference.

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI HD 7950 Twin Frozr III Boost Edition 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with Crysis 3 & Bioshock PC Games £239.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £199.99
1 x Plextor M5 Pro 128GB Extreme Series Solid State Drive - (PX-128M5P) £99.95
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £89.99
1 x Silverstone Strider Plus 500W Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (SST-ST50F-P) £67.99
1 x Toshiba (7K1000.D) 1TB SATA 6GB/s 32MB Cache - OEM (DT01ACA100) HDD £53.99
1 x GeIL EVO Leggera 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GEL38GB1600C9DC) £35.99
1 x Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £26.99
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
Total : £843.86 (includes shipping : £10.00).




Crossfire capable build


YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI HD 7950 Twin Frozr III Boost Edition 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with Crysis 3 & Bioshock PC Games £239.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £199.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77X-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £112.99
1 x Plextor M5 Pro 128GB Extreme Series Solid State Drive - (PX-128M5P) £99.95
1 x XFX 750W XXX Edition Modular '80 Plus Silver' Power Supply £89.99
1 x Toshiba (7K1000.D) 1TB SATA 6GB/s 32MB Cache - OEM (DT01ACA100) HDD £53.99
1 x GeIL EVO Leggera 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GEL38GB1600C9DC) £35.99
1 x Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £26.99
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
Total : £889.46 (includes shipping : £10.50).




You would also need to add either windows 7/8 64bit operating system if you don't have a copy
 
Last edited:
lee32uk said:
Single card build. I haven't included a case as that is personal preference.

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI HD 7950 Twin Frozr III Boost Edition 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with Crysis 3 & Bioshock PC Games £239.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £199.99
1 x Plextor M5 Pro 128GB Extreme Series Solid State Drive - (PX-128M5P) £99.95
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £89.99
1 x Silverstone Strider Plus 500W Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (SST-ST50F-P) £67.99
1 x Toshiba (7K1000.D) 1TB SATA 6GB/s 32MB Cache - OEM (DT01ACA100) HDD £53.99
1 x GeIL EVO Leggera 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GEL38GB1600C9DC) £35.99
1 x Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £26.99
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
Total : £843.86 (includes shipping : £10.00).




Crossfire capable build


YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI HD 7950 Twin Frozr III Boost Edition 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with Crysis 3 & Bioshock PC Games £239.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £199.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77X-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £112.99
1 x Plextor M5 Pro 128GB Extreme Series Solid State Drive - (PX-128M5P) £99.95
1 x XFX 750W XXX Edition Modular '80 Plus Silver' Power Supply £89.99
1 x Toshiba (7K1000.D) 1TB SATA 6GB/s 32MB Cache - OEM (DT01ACA100) HDD £53.99
1 x GeIL EVO Leggera 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GEL38GB1600C9DC) £35.99
1 x Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £26.99
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
Total : £889.46 (includes shipping : £10.50).




You would also need to add either windows 7/8 64bit operating system if you don't have a copy
Click to expand...

+1
 
YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI HD 7950 Twin Frozr III Boost Edition 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with Crysis 3 & Bioshock PC Games £239.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £199.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77X-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £112.99
1 x Plextor M5 Pro 128GB Extreme Series Solid State Drive - (PX-128M5P) £99.95
1 x XFX 750W XXX Edition Modular '80 Plus Silver' Power Supply £89.99
1 x NZXT Phantom 410 Enthusiast Midi Tower Case - Black £84.98
1 x Alpenföhn K2 Mount Doom CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £59.99
1 x **B Grade** Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 32MB Cache - OEM £45
1 x GeIL EVO Leggera 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GEL38GB1600C9DC) £35.99
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
Total : £1,002.36 (includes shipping : £13.75).

 
I came in under budget

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI HD 7950 Twin Frozr III Boost Edition 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with Crysis 3 & Bioshock PC Games £239.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £199.99
1 x Samsung 250GB SSD 840 SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TD250BW) £135.98
1 x Silverstone Raven 3 Full Tower Windowed Case - Black/Gold (SST-RV03B-W USB 3.0) £104.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £89.99
1 x XFX Pro 650W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £69.98
1 x Toshiba (7K1000.D) 1TB SATA 6GB/s 32MB Cache - OEM (DT01ACA100) HDD £53.99
1 x Patriot Intel Extreme Masters 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (PVI38G160C9K) £39.95
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
Total : £969.55 (includes shipping : £14.75).



It seems the i5 price has went up :O
 
Idleman said:
YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI HD 7950 Twin Frozr III Boost Edition 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with Crysis 3 & Bioshock PC Games £239.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £199.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77X-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £112.99
1 x Plextor M5 Pro 128GB Extreme Series Solid State Drive - (PX-128M5P) £99.95
1 x XFX 750W XXX Edition Modular '80 Plus Silver' Power Supply £89.99
1 x NZXT Phantom 410 Enthusiast Midi Tower Case - Black £84.98
1 x Alpenföhn K2 Mount Doom CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £59.99
1 x **B Grade** Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 32MB Cache - OEM £45
1 x GeIL EVO Leggera 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GEL38GB1600C9DC) £35.99
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
Total : £1,002.36 (includes shipping : £13.75).

Click to expand...

I'd have spec'd something similar (that's no surprise to my buddy Idleman). Case will always be a personal preference

£200 for the i5K is taking the mick to be honest. Going with the OEM i5K would save you cash (£12), you don't need the stock cooler as the K2 is in the basket. OEM has a shorter warranty (and no heatsink supplied) but lets be honest CPU failure is rare.
 
Gibbo3771 said:
Case is personal preference imo, I just picked it because my mate has it and seemed decent for £50.
Click to expand...

It is a personal choice, but I'm just saying for a £1K spec its not the greatest.

Also you say,

Gibbo3771 said:
Perhaps something like this, if you intend to go Xfire later get a 750 watt instead.
Click to expand...

The OP would also want a motherboard that ran the two physical 16X PCI-E slots symmetrically at 8X/8X or greater and not at an inferior 16X/4X.
 
stulid said:
The four builds above are very nice.

Not sure I would want a Zalamn Z9 in my £1K build.
Click to expand...

I would have to agree and I'm a fan of the Z9, is a well spec'd starters case for the price. The U3 is the improved version over the Plus and would have been the better option and to be fair you really want to be using a modular PSU in the case.

I don't want to sound like I'm picking on Gibbo but the spec could be balanced better. The plextor Pro is cheaper and a rival to the 840 Pro, PSU is overkill for a single GPU setup and isn't modular (like most budget cases the Z9 doesnt have much room behind the mobo tray, going modular really helps). Even small savings on these items would go towards getting a "classier" case.
 
stulid said:
The first place I would have looked at for a case for this sort of budget would have been the Antec P280.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-168-AN&groupid=2362&catid=160&subcat=

Click to expand...

If the OP does`nt mind spending a further £25 and he likes the case, fair enough. I only specced the Phantom to fit in the budget, whilst still giving him a decent case. It also helps when you get a bit of feedback from the OP, but he has`nt commented in regards to likes or dislikes, or shown any preferences. Perhaps when he does, we can put together a spec with a case of his liking, but until then they are merely suggestions.
Have to stop writing now, my finger is hurting. :D
 
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