Spec me a (partial) new system

[Cleisthenes]

Hi guys,

So basically...

£400-£500 budget preferably.
Needs cpu, mobo, case, memory, storage, maybe cooler, maybe gpu
Intel is very much prefered
m-atx is also very much prefered

What would you recommend, and what would get me the most performance for the money.

It's only used for gaming. Have a 212 evo cooler already, so may or may not fit.

 

[mickyflinn]

Do you need a gpu because that has a big impact on the overall budget ?

 

[Cleisthenes]

The build is for my friend, he has a GTX 760 at the moment so would preferably like a new one.

I have access to the MM so could potentially get used parts if you'd recommend that?

How does the 760 hold up in comparison to the competition these days? Would it be worth getting a used 780 or something?

 

[BluesFanUK]

Wait for the new Pascal card before making any decision.

 

[mickyflinn]

The 760 is still a decent performer at 1080p and is not to far behind a 960 but even if you get a 780 it all impacts on the budget. An SSD is a must on a new system imo and you should be able to use the 212 evo cooler.

 

[Cleisthenes]

The 760 is still a decent performer at 1080p and is not to far behind a 960 but even if you get a 780 it all impacts on the budget. An SSD is a must on a new system imo and you should be able to use the 212 evo cooler.

He has a 120gb ssd he's using for the os at the moment, so I think a HDD would suffice just for storage purposes.

 

[OJ46]

How about something along these lines? Use current GPU for a while, then think about an upgrade when next generation of cards arrives.

My basket at Overclockers UK:

• 1 x Corsair Carbide Series 88R Micro-ATX Case - Black (CC-9011086-WW)= £42.95
• 1 x Asus Z170M-Plus Intel Z170 (Socket 1151) DDR4 Micro ATX Motherboard= £102.95
• 1 x EVGA Supernova G2 650W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply= £86.99
• 1 x Intel Core i5-6500 3.20GHz (Skylake) Socket LGA1151 Processor - Retail= £175.99
• 1 x Corsair Vengeance LPX 8GB (2x4GB) DDR4 PC4-21300C16 2666MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (CMK8GX4M2A2666= £47.99
• 1 x WD Blue 2TB 5400rpm SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache HDD - OEM (WD20EZRZ)= £60.95

Total: £517.82
(includes shipping: £0.00)
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[Cleisthenes]

Looks good, but a couple of things...

- He only needs 1TB of storage
- How is that mobo rated? Last time he bought an Asrock board which was terrible so doesn't want to make the same mistake again! Is the Z170 the modern equivalent of the Z97 with the 1155 socket?

 

[OJ46]

Z170 is the 1151 Skylake chipset. Not sure about this board as I've never used it personally, but have had numerous Asus boards and am yet to have a single problem (apart from having to update the BIOS for latest one to recognise an M.2 SSD, which took 2 minutes).

Even better if he only needs 1TB, means I've finally specced a build within budget

 

[Cleisthenes]

Haha, thanks.

Would you say that a second hand at today's used prices is a considerable upgrade over the 760?

 

[OJ46]

They'd obviously be better, it's just that extremely awkward balance of price / performance gain. Everybody seems obsessed with the 1080 / 1080 Ti cards atm and they should be launched soon, so I'd be tempted to stick with the 760 until then and hope to pick up a bargain 900 series card when all the money no object builders upgrade