Spec me a Gaming PC

Prestonian

Prestonian

Prestonian

Associate
Joined
23 Mar 2012
Posts
416
Hello,

this request to spec a PC is on behalf of a family member who wishes to become a PC gamer after playing on my own.

The games to be played are FPS like BF3 and ARMA3 and hopefully with his budget a rig could be built that will play these demanding games smoothly.

Keyboard and mouse are not needed.

Operating system not needed as his employer has a scheme in which staff get one PerPerson, for pennies.

He also doesn't want a tacky, neon lit, go faster striped case.

Budget is £700 ish, either side of 700 is fine if it improves the build.

He's not a tyre kicker, this will more than likely lead to a purchase from here.

Thanks
 
YOUR BASKET
1 x **B Grade** Gigabyte ATi Radeon HD 7950 Windforce 3X 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with FREE Sleeping Dogs PC Game £199.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - OEM £187.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £89.99
1 x Toshiba (7K1000.D) 1TB SATA 6GB/s 32MB Cache - OEM (DT01ACA100) HDD £59.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 500w Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020059-UK) £54.98
1 x Zalman Z9 USB 3.0 Midi Tower Case - Black £54.98
1 x Corsair Vengeance Low Profile 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CML8GX3M2A1600C9) £41.99
1 x Cooler Master Hyper 612S CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £32.99
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
Total : £754.90 (includes shipping : £12.50).

 
 
M-ITX Build for something a bit different.

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI HD 7950 Twin Frozr III Boost Edition 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with Crysis 3 & Bioshock PC Games £224.99
1 x Intel Core i3-3220 3.30GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £92.99
1 x Western Digital Caviar Green 2TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (WD20EZRX) HDD £73.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 600w Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020060-UK) £62.99
1 x BitFenix Prodigy Mini-ITX Cube Case - Midnight Black £62.99
1 x Adata Premier Pro SP900 64GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (ASP900S3-64GM-C) £59.99
1 x ASRock H61M-ITX Intel H61 (Socket 1155) DDR3 M-ITX Motherboard £58.99
1 x Corsair Vengeance Low Profile 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CML8GX3M2A1600C9) £41.99
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
Total : £695.90 (includes shipping : FREE).

 
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Thanks guys. Quick question....the inclusion of those big coolers for overclocking suggest to me that the chip will come already overclocked, is that the case? Or will we need to get someone to overclock it at our end?
 
Prestonian said:
Thanks guys. Quick question....the inclusion of those big coolers for overclocking suggest to me that the chip will come already overclocked, is that the case? Or will we need to get someone to overclock it at our end?
Click to expand...
The CPU doesn't come already overclocked, it comes at stock speed and you have to overclock it yourself to gain more performances
 
YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte ATi Radeon HD 7950 Windforce 3X 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) - OEM £187.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £89.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD £69.98
1 x BitFenix Shinobi USB3.0 Gaming Windowed Case - Black £59.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 500w Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020059-UK) £54.98
1 x Corsair Vengeance Low Profile 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CML8GX3M2A1600C9) £41.99
1 x Cooler Master Hyper 612S CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £32.99
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
Total : £794.89 (includes shipping : FREE).



Over budget but worth it. Case is a personal preference. I like the Z9 U3, awesome value but it does have LED fans which it sounds like he doesnt want. I've used the windowed Shinobi as it has two fans pre-installed, the regular Shinobi has one. The corsair 300R is another option but thats a little more money.

The GPU comes with a 3 year UK based warranty and you do get games free with the card (B Grade is a shorter warranty and no games). If they are games he would buy then it's better to put that cash into components no?

Mobo also has the same 3 year warranty. I used the 2TB HDD as it's the same price as the 1TB version currently and only £10 more than the toshiba which has half the cache and capacity. Only thing that is really missing is an SSD which could be added much later, the 2TB would be great for storage then.

Hope this helps, look forward to seeing what he settles on
 
Thanks for your input guys. I reckon he'd be fine with a moderate sized SSD and HDD, as storage can be added later as and when he needs it.

That's some spec that is, especially if it gets overclocked. I'll let him decide on the case; I'd recommend a Cool master Silencio as they're pretty and quiet, plus the had a HDD dock at the front.

Cheers again all.
 
Sorry for the bump but it's getting to the time to order the gear. I have got one concern though, and that is...that 7950 card recommended is a big beefy thing, will a 550w psu run it comfortably?
 
my opinion, dont go near overclocking

you only need to overclock if/ when you get to a point that your system is starting to struggle. And in reality by then you will be looking to upgrade anyway.

ALSO there are often some very good deals in the members market. some of them are near new at a knock down price ( some people MUST have the latest hardware)
 
Slight problem...we've already sourced a case called a Silencio 550 which comes with a 550w psu.

The rest of the spec will be the i5 3570k CPU

The z77 MB

& the low profile 8gb ram

The lad wants a SSD and a HDD for storage.

He was wrong about OS for next to nowt, it's Windows Office that he gets cheap, so we'll need an OS but he's unsure on W7 or W8. Will there be a problem running old games like BF2 on Windows 8?

Then, it's just a case of a DVD rw drive.

So, we see the 7950 is on the Today Only at £200 so obviously with the 550w PSU I just wanted to double check it'd manage it ok.

P.S what time does the Today Only prices remain till?
 
Bolerus said:
my opinion, dont go near overclocking

you only need to overclock if/ when you get to a point that your system is starting to struggle. And in reality by then you will be looking to upgrade anyway.

ALSO there are often some very good deals in the members market. some of them are near new at a knock down price ( some people MUST have the latest hardware)
Click to expand...

What is the Members Market?
 
Doomedspeed said:
The specs above don't come with the chip overclocked. The overclocking setting live on the motherboard..

It will be done by yourself..

Or you can buy an overclocked bundle (such as): http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BU-122-OE&groupid=43&catid=2512&subcat=2518
Click to expand...

This would be a good investment if there is consideration for SLI/xFire.

Incrauze said:
Go for the 600W PSU for few pounds more,

YOUR BASKET
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 600w Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020060-UK) £62.99
Total : £72.89 (includes shipping : £8.25).

Click to expand...

You'd be better off with a XFX, BeQuiet or Silverstone over the Corsair, not as reliable. People on here will tell you the same.

Prestonian said:
Slight problem...we've already sourced a case called a Silencio 550 which comes with a 550w psu.

The rest of the spec will be the i5 3570k CPU

The z77 MB

& the low profile 8gb ram

The lad wants a SSD and a HDD for storage.

He was wrong about OS for next to nowt, it's Windows Office that he gets cheap, so we'll need an OS but he's unsure on W7 or W8. Will there be a problem running old games like BF2 on Windows 8?

Then, it's just a case of a DVD rw drive.

So, we see the 7950 is on the Today Only at £200 so obviously with the 550w PSU I just wanted to double check it'd manage it ok.

P.S what time does the Today Only prices remain till?
Click to expand...

If you already have a copy of XP or Vista, you can buy an upgrade to Win7/8 for less than £50. Depending on the make and mode of the PSU,a 550 will be fine for a single card. SLI/xFire will need 750+.

Todays prices will last for today. :D

Prestonian said:
What is the Members Market?
Click to expand...

The members market is only available to users who have 1k posts and have been regisetered for 180 days.
 
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