Which one should I go for?

atomjack

atomjack

atomjack

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16 Mar 2016
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4
Hi all,

I'm looking for a budget gaming PC. I'll only be doing 1080p max, I rarely play the latest titles, and I have a limited budget, so I'm sticking to the low end. Looking forward, I want to allow some upgradeability in the future, so that's arguing for a low-end Skylake platform rather than a legacy Haswell.

I've ended up with two options from Overclockers: details below. I'd like to keep the total budget below £900 if possible, including build costs etc. The PC will be used for some software development as well, hence a decent sized SSD and 16GB of memory are needed. I don't mind overclocking a bit, but I'm not into (and don't have the budget for) squeezing every last MHz out of the system.

OcUK Kinetic Z1 - Gaming PC - £848.84*
============================================

Case Aerocool Aero 800 Midi Tower Gaming Case - Black
Motherboard MSI Z170A PC Mate (probably)
Processor Intel Core i5-6600K 3.9GHz (Skylake) Socket LGA1151 Processor - Retail
Memory Team Group Elite 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-19200C16 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (TPKD416GM2400HC16D
Graphics Card Gigabyte GeForce GTX 960 OC 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (GV-N960OC-4GD)
Operating System Microsoft Windows 10 64-Bit DVD - OEM (MS-KW9-00139)
CPU Cooler Alpenföhn Brocken ECO CPU Cooler - 120 mm
Primary Solid State Drive / Hard Drive Samsung 500GB 850 EVO SSD 2.5" SATA 6Gbps 32 Layer 3D V-NAND Solid State Drive (MZ-75E500B/EU)

OcUK Tech Labs Skylake Z170 Midi Tower Gaming PC - £913.91
========================================
Case Cooler Master K280 Midi Tower Case - Black (RC-K280-KKN1)
Motherboard Asus Z170-P Intel Z170 (Socket 1151) DDR4 ATX Motherboard
Processor Intel Core i5-6600K 3.9GHz (Skylake) Socket LGA1151 Processor - OEM
Memory Team Group Elite 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-19200C16 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (TPKD416GM2400HC16D
Graphics Card Asus GeForce GTX 960 TURBO OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
Operating System Microsoft Windows 10 64-Bit DVD - OEM (MS-KW9-00139)
CPU Cooler Akasa AK-CC4009EP01 Venom Pico Compact CPU Cooler
Solid State Drive 1 Samsung 500GB 850 EVO SSD 2.5" SATA 6Gbps 32 Layer 3D V-NAND Solid State Drive (MZ-75E500B/EU)
Power Supply Super Flower Golden Green HX 550W "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black

Both systems have an i5-6600K, 16GB of memory, a 500GB SSD and a GTX960. The Kinetic Z1 has (I think) a nicer case, more memory on the GPU, but (probably) a worse power supply (it's just listed as "80+ bronze") and motherboard: neither the PSU or the motherboard is changable (they are part of the Z1 package). It's also 50 quid cheaper.

So, which one is the better deal, or is there an even better configuration that I've missed?
 
the case is nothing other than looks so get what you like..
if i was dumping £920 on to a pc now i would want a better GPU than GTX 960

if your gaming at 1080 this bundle is perfect..
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/8pac...locked-quad-core-gaming-bundle-bu-050-as.html

My basket at Overclockers UK:

Total: £819.86
(includes shipping: £0.00)
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i also know from experience that the i3 6100 is upto 1080 gaming we ease, at stock speeds with a 390 is maxed out fallout 4 and call of duty
 
Last edited:
Few thoughts:

1) Reduce the RAM to 8GB
2) If you're not planning to overclock, go for a non-K CPu

You can then use the savings made and choose a 970/380/380x
 
P4Clock said:
no new system now should have 8gb, 16gb is the new standard.
Click to expand...

Sorry but I disagree! I can see that it would be useful in his scenario with development but 8GB is still more than adequate. Considering he's looking at a 'budget', it would be more suitable to go for 8GB.
 
snips86x said:
Sorry but I disagree! I can see that it would be useful in his scenario with development but 8GB is still more than adequate. Considering he's looking at a 'budget', it would be more suitable to go for 8GB.
Click to expand...

he is want to pay NEW titles, 90% request 16gb is a minimum now days. dont start on the back foot for the sake of £15
 
Thanks for the advice so far. I'm afraid the 16gb isn't optional as the software I work on requires that much, so there's no cost savings to be had there. I could reduce the bill by going for a smaller SSD, but the dev environment I use will eat most of a 250gb one leaving no room on it for games, which would have to sit on an auxiliary HDD (which I already have).

Is moving up to a 970 or 390 worth it? I was under the impression that you only needed these if you wanted to go above 1080p.
 
atomjack said:
Is moving up to a 970 or 390 worth it? I was under the impression that you only needed these if you wanted to go above 1080p.
Click to expand...

dont get a 970 at that price point right now the 390 is king.

going from a 960 to a 390 would be a big jump and would let you run games maxed at 1080p and would last you a few years before you need to start dropping setting. the 960 would struggle to give you a steady 60FPS in games right now and would need setting turning down. in newer game the 960 is struggling to give you good setting and FPS.

390 is a good strong gaming GPU
960 is a run on the mill GPU that can do gaming on mid setting.
 
Ok, thanks for the advice. Thanks also for pointing out the i5 6400 bundle - I hadn't known that you could overclock the non-k processors. That makes it significantly easier to get the features I want in the budget I have!
 
atomjack said:
Ok, thanks for the advice. Thanks also for pointing out the i5 6400 bundle - I hadn't known that you could overclock the non-k processors. That makes it significantly easier to get the features I want in the budget I have!
Click to expand...

When you buy that nonk bundle make sure you read the thread first. You don't want to update the bios otherwise the overclocking features for that processor get locked and can no longer overclock.
 
Ooh, good point. I've done some reading up, and it sounds like this bundle won't be suitable for me. The BCLK overclock BIOSes disable power management, and (more importantly from my point of view) also disable AVX. Some of the (non-gaming) software I use utilises AVX, so that's a big minus.

OTOH, I think I might be able to borrow a HD-7970, so that eases the pressure on the budget. I can use that and put the savings into an i5-6600K.
 
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