Gaming PC - £1000-£2000 budget.

[Melissa2807]

Evening all,
I am looking to buy a gaming desktop to upgrade from the HP Envy laptop that I am currently using. I'm just finding that some of the games I play need a bit more power than the laptop can give in order to play on the highest settings (in particular, Dragon Age Inquisition - specs as follows@

Recommended*:
OS: Windows 7 or 8.1 64-bit
CPU: AMD six core CPU @ 3.2 GHz; Intel quad core CPU @ 3.0 GHz
System RAM: 8 GB
Graphics Card: AMD Radeon HD 7870 or R9 270; NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660
Graphics Memory: 2 GB
Hard Drive: 26 GB
DirectX: 11

I've been playing around with builds, but I'm not too sure what goes with what (e.g. how much cooling for certain graphics cards, which power supply etc) but I do know enough that I know it won't work properly if I don't get the right combo! So some advice would be much appreciated.

I'd need a decent monitor, but already have a keyboard and mouse. Any suggestions much appreciated!
Thanks in advance
Mel

 

[keynes]

The price range is quite big and I don't think the game you mentioned is very demanding. You could consider the Minerva spec in the review section for £999.

 

[GeorgeHillier]

This PC would be more than enough, just need to add a monitor:

Case COOLERMASTER CM690 III ADVANCED CASE
Processor (CPU) Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-4590 (3.3GHz) 6MB Cache
Motherboard ASUS® Z97-A: ATX, USB3.0, SATA 6GB/S, SLi, XFIRE For future upgrades such as SLI
Memory (RAM) 8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X FURY DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card 4GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 970 - 1 DVI, 1 mHDMI, 3 mDP - 3D Vision Ready More than enough power, will run any game you want on decent settings
2nd Graphics Card NONE
3rd Graphics Card NONE
1st Hard Disk 250GB Samsung 840 EVO SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (upto 540MB/sR | 520MB/sW) Not needed but fits your budget and will help with load times
2nd Hard Disk 1TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD1003FZEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
3rd Hard Disk NONE
4th Hard Disk NONE
RAID NONE
M.2 SSD Drive NONE
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive 24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
2nd DVD/BLU-RAY Drive NONE
Memory Card Reader NONE
Power Supply CORSAIR 850W RM SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET Once again for future upgrades, can be downgraded if not wanting to upgrade in the future
Processor Cooling INTEL STANDARD CPU COOLER
Extra Case Fans 2 x 12CM Black Case Fan (configured to extract from rear/roof) Better cooling
Fan Controller NONE
Sound Card ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
Wireless Router/HomePlugs NONE
USB Options MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 4 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Modem NONE
Firewire NONE
TV Card NONE
Power Cable 1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Operating System Genuine Windows 8.1 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence
DVD Recovery Media Windows 8.1 (64-bit) DVD with paper sleeve
Office Software NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Monitor NONE
2nd Monitor NONE
3rd Monitor NONE
4th Monitor NONE
DVI-D & HDMI Monitor Cables NONE
Mini Display Cable / GeForce 3D Vision NONE
Keyboard & Mouse NONE
Mouse NONE
Gaming Mouse Pad NONE
NVIDIA SHIELD™ NONE
Speakers NONE
Webcam NONE
Headsets NONE
Surge Protection NONE
Cable Tidy NONE
Printer NONE
External Hard Drive NONE
Warranty 3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Home Installation NONE
Delivery STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time Standard Build - Approximately 6 to 8 working days
Miscellaneous CM Storm Pitch Gaming Headset
Pricing Information
Price (excluding VAT) £900.83
Price £1,081.00
Order Quantity 1
Bulk Discount £0.00
Total Order price (Ex VAT) £900.83
Total Order Price £1,081.00

 

[Melissa2807]

Thank you both - will have a look at both of those for a starting point.
@Keynes - I had hoped this laptop would be able to run DA:I on full settings as it can run Skyrim on ultra, but disappointingly not - it's pretty laggy even on medium settings. Dunno if that's an inefficiency with the game engine, but it is what it is.
@GeorgeHillier thanks in particular for your comments in bold, those are really helpful. Is there anything else like that that I could add/upgrade to make it a bit more 'future proof'? Or would I better off saving a little bit of cash now and upgrading individual bits at a later date if necessary?

Thanks once again

 

[Melissa2807]

Thoughts on this?
Case
COOLERMASTER CM690 III ADVANCED CASE
Free Item
CM Storm Pitch Gaming Headset
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Processor i7-4790k (4.0GHz) 8MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® Z97-A: ATX, USB3.0, SATA 6GB/S, SLi, XFIRE
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X FURY DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
4GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 980 - 1 DVI, 1 mHDMI, 3 mDP - 3D Vision Ready
1st Hard Disk
250GB Samsung 840 EVO SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (upto 540MB/sR | 520MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk
1TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD1003FZEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W RM SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET (£99)
Processor Cooling
Super Quiet 22dBA Triple Copper Heatpipe Intel CPU Cooler (£19)
Extra Case Fans
2 x 12CM Black Case Fan (configured to extract from rear/roof) (£9)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
USB Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 4 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Operating System
Genuine Windows 8.1 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Monitor
IIYAMA E2273HDS 22" LED WIDESCREEN, 2 HDMI/DVI-D 1920x1080 (£92)
Keyboard & Mouse
LOGITECH® MK270 WIRELESS KEYBOARD & MOUSE COMBO (£22)
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Delivery
SATURDAY DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (BEFORE 12 NOON) (£19)
Build Time
FAST TRACK 3 WORKING DAY DISPATCH (£69)
Quantity
1

Price: £1,643.00 including VAT and delivery.

Unique URL to re-configure: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/quotes/intel-haswell-pc/KbESPQspqu/

 

[GeorgeHillier]

Thank you both - will have a look at both of those for a starting point.
@Keynes - I had hoped this laptop would be able to run DA:I on full settings as it can run Skyrim on ultra, but disappointingly not - it's pretty laggy even on medium settings. Dunno if that's an inefficiency with the game engine, but it is what it is.
@GeorgeHillier thanks in particular for your comments in bold, those are really helpful. Is there anything else like that that I could add/upgrade to make it a bit more 'future proof'? Or would I better off saving a little bit of cash now and upgrading individual bits at a later date if necessary?

Thanks once again

Not much else, unless you plan on overclocking?

And now I'm confused, were you looking for a desktop or a laptop?

 

[Melissa2807]

@GeorgeHillier - yes I did want a desktop - my comment above was about my current laptop in response to @Keynes' comment about the game not being too demanding.

Thanks again for your help - I know nothing about overclocking so will leave that kind of thing to the experts!

 

[GeorgeHillier]

@GeorgeHillier - yes I did want a desktop - my comment above was about my current laptop in response to @Keynes' comment about the game not being too demanding.

Thanks again for your help - I know nothing about overclocking so will leave that kind of thing to the experts!

If not overclocking then no need to get the "k" version of the processor, it won't be of any use to you and it costs more.

You'd be fine with an i5 for your intended use, but it's up to you, for gaming the i7 won't give any noticeable difference in performance.

Other than that everything looks good

 

[sasrob34]

go with the best i5 setup and put the extra you saved from getting the i7 on to the graphics card maybe even two seeing you'r budget is 2k.!!!!