Gaming PC to smash the consoles - Feedback Needed!

[MSHB]

Hi All,

This is my first post in these forums so first of all hello! :tt2:

This is the build i'm going for:

Case - ZALMAN T4 BLACK MICRO-ATX CASE

Processor (CPU) - Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-4570 (3.2GHz) 6MB Cache

Motherboard - Gigabyte Z87M-D3H: Micro-ATX, LG1150, USB 3.0, SATA 6GBs

Memory (RAM) - 8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz, X.M.P (2 x 4GB KIT)

Graphics Card - 2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 760 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready

Memory - 1st Hard Disk - 240GB KINGSTON V300 SSD, SATA 6 Gb (450MB/R, 450MB/W)

2nd Hard Disk - 2TB 3.5" SATA-III 6GB/s HDD 7200RPM 64MB CACHE

1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive - 8x BLU-RAY ROM DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW

Power Supply - CORSAIR 650W CS SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET (£69)

Processor Cooling - INTEL STANDARD CPU COOLER

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 - WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps PCI-E CARD (£16)

USB Options - MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 4 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS

Power Cable - 1 x 2 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)

Operating System - Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence (£79)

Office Software - NO OFFICE SOFTWARE

Anti-Virus - NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE

Warranty - 3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)


Price: £960.00 including VAT and delivery.


All feedback is wanted and welcomed i am a complete newbie when it comes to PC gaming!

 

[mantadog]

The 760 is somewhere equivalent to the current consoles. Not sure on the exact numbers, it should be faster but not smashing them quite.

For a roughly 1k budget consider this.

Case
PCS MAELSTROM T900 BLACK GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-4670 (3.4GHz) 6MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® Z87M-PLUS: m-ATX, USB3.0, SATA 6.0, XFIRE
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
3GB AMD RADEON™ R9 280X - DVI, HDMI, DP - DX® 11, Eyefinity 4 Capable
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
240GB INTEL® 520 SERIES SSD (upto 550MB/sR | 520MB/sW) (Special Offer)
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
Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply
CORSAIR 550W VS SERIES™ VS-550 POWER SUPPLY
Processor Cooling
Super Quiet 22dBA Triple Copper Heatpipe Intel CPU Cooler (£19)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs
USB Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 4 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Power Cable
1 x 2 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365
Anti-Virus
NORTON ANTI-VIRUS 2014 - 1 Year Licence for 1 PC (£10) *SPECIAL*
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 9 to 11 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £1,002.00 including VAT and delivery.

Unique URL to re-configure: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/quotes/intel-home-office-pc/hgpnENO3Aq

You could do a couple of things to enable the addition of a 2TB caviar black, or you could just ditch the idea of having a caviar black as the SSD is fairly large. Depends what kind of money you have to spend, im guessing around 1k.

 

[MSHB]

Thanks for the reply mantadog.
Sorry to be a pain but I have a few questions.

1. Whats the reason for choosing the i5-4670 over the i5-4570?

2. I was told that two sticks of RAM are better than a large single stick, is this true?

3. What is better a GTX 770 or R9 280X? (As ive been told that NVIDIA GPU's are more reliable/better)

Regarding the SSD, I am now thinking of a 120GB SSD for the OS and other vital programs plus a few games and then a 1TB HDD for all other games.

 

[DeadEyeDuk]

*Reads thread title...ponders level of sarcasm for response...decides on high level*

 

[keynes]

Thanks for the reply mantadog.
Sorry to be a pain but I have a few questions.

1. Whats the reason for choosing the i5-4670 over the i5-4570?

2. I was told that two sticks of RAM are better than a large single stick, is this true?

3. What is better a GTX 770 or R9 280X? (As ive been told that NVIDIA GPU's are more reliable/better)

Regarding the SSD, I am now thinking of a 120GB SSD for the OS and other vital programs plus a few games and then a 1TB HDD for all other games.

1- slightly higher clock speed
2- no noticeable difference
3- either is good. The gtx 770 requires a modular PSU so its may end up being more expensive.
120gb for the OS and 1tb for games would be good. You won't be able to store many games in the SSD and from experience it doesn't make a difference with loading times compare to a caviar black.
You could also consider the Vanquish 230x in the review section:
Case
CORSAIR 230T COMPACT GAMING CASE - BLUE LED
Overclocked CPU
Overclocked Intel® Core™i5-4670k Quad Core (3.40GHz @ max 4.20GHz)
Motherboard
ASUS® Z87-A: ATX, USB3.0, SATA6GB/S, SLi, XFIRE
Memory (RAM)
16GB KINGSTON HYPERX BEAST DUAL-DDR3 2400MHz X.M.P (2 x 8GB KIT)
Graphics Card
3GB AMD RADEON™ R9 280X - DVI, HDMI, DP - DX® 11, Eyefinity 4 Capable
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
120GB KINGSTON HYPERX 3K SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 555MB/sR | 510MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk
1TB 3.5" SATA-III 6GB/s HDD 7200RPM 32MB CACHE
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W CS SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET (£69)
Processor Cooling
CoolerMaster Seidon 120M High Performance CPU Cooler (£39)
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND (£9)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs
USB Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 4 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Power Cable
1 x 2 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Operating System
Genuine Windows 8.1 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365
Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 9 to 11 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £999.00 including VAT and delivery.

 

[mantadog]

The reason I have a the intel 520 series 240gb ssd is its currently on offer at a great price. well worth it IMO.

The CPU selected just has a slightly faster clock speed, not a disaster if you go for the lower one.

No real difference if you go with dual sticks or 1 larger. Theoretically yes ( a couple of per cent MAYBE) but in the real world you will never know.

The AMD gpu will be fine. many people sing the praises of Nvida over AMD but its not such a big deal. they are both excellent cards.

 

[Spuff]

The 760 is somewhere equivalent to the current consoles. Not sure on the exact numbers, it should be faster but not smashing them quite.

My 760 Superclocked ACX (which is further overclocked comfortably beyond 770 specs) leaves the PS3 firmly in the annals of history. I'm currently playing Skyrim very smoothly on Ultra settings (I played it for over 500 hours on PS3) and the gorgeous wow factor is keeping me going (along with the mods). It is, having played several graphically rich games, also superior to any of the next/new-gen console game footage I have seen.
I don't know what the vanilla 760 is like.

 

[Boozad]

The Xbone's GPU is roughly equivalent to an HD7790 while the PS4 is roughly equivalent to an HD7850. Either will be put in the shade with a 770.

 

[keynes]

My 760 Superclocked ACX (which is further overclocked comfortably beyond 770 specs)

do you mean the GTX 760 ACX outperforms the gtx 770?

 

[Spuff]

do you mean the GTX 760 ACX outperforms the gtx 770?

I should say I meant it outperforms it on clock speeds.
I read a review of the 770 in which they (modestly) overclocked it and the overclocked figures they ended up with were less than what I have my 760 at.
Other specs may be different. The better than basic versions of the 770 are probably altogether better.
I've never seen a 770 in action.

I could be misreading all this.

 

[keynes]

I should say I meant it outperforms it on clock speeds.
I read a review of the 770 in which they overclocked it and the figures they ended up with were less than what I have my 760 at.
The better than basic versions of the 770 may go faster than that.

Higher clock speed doesn't always mean higher performance gaming wise.

 

[MSHB]

How about the above configuration? Its much cheaper and I get better CPU and GPU!!

Edit: £862 inc. Tax and delivery

Thoughts please?

 

[keynes]

High end gpu and a £29 case which is not going to offer good cooling compare to others. The motherboard is a micro board with less expansion slots and for a gaming rig I would consider the triple copper heatpipe CPU cooler.

 

[Cadwah]

I think this meets all your requirements:

Case
COOLERMASTER HAF 912 PLUS MID TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-4670 (3.4GHz) 6MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® Z87M-PLUS: m-ATX, USB3.0, SATA 6.0, XFIRE
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz, X.M.P (2 x 4GB KIT)
Graphics Card
2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 770 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
240GB INTEL® 520 SERIES SSD (upto 550MB/sR | 520MB/sW) (Special Offer)
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
Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W CS SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET (£69)
Processor Cooling
Super Quiet 22dBA Triple Copper Heatpipe Intel CPU Cooler (£19)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs
USB Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 4 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Power Cable
1 x 2 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 9 to 11 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £1,010.00 including VAT and delivery.

Unique URL to re-configure: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/quotes/intel-home-office-pc/4DA0EwTk_v/

 

[MSHB]

Cool thanks guys for all your feedback. I know that sufficient cooling is a must for a gaming rig so i think i have the final order ready to go. Can you take a look at the below pic for the specs.



This comes in at £982 total.

Any further opinions on any of the components i've selected? Also i was wondering if the fans stated in the description of the PCS Maelstrom T900 Case come with the case? As it states it comes with:

1 x rear 120mm case fan
1 x front 120mm case fan
1 x top 120mm case fan
1 x side 220mm LED case fan

Thanks.

 

[mantadog]

The spec cadwah posted is better, well worth the extra £30. The 240GB SSD and better 2nd HDD is well worth that £30 IMO.

Yes the t900 comes with those fans as standard

 

[keynes]

Cool thanks guys for all your feedback. I know that sufficient cooling is a must for a gaming rig so i think i have the final order ready to go. Can you take a look at the below pic for the specs.

View attachment 4675

This comes in at £982 total.

Any further opinions on any of the components i've selected? Also i was wondering if the fans stated in the description of the PCS Maelstrom T900 Case come with the case? As it states it comes with:


Thanks.

You have a motherboard that supports SLI but not a suitable PSU. An unbranded HDD that is not as good as the caviar black and an SSD that is not as good as the intel 520 SSD. As Mantadog mentioned Cadwah's spec is more balanced