Need advice for a gaming pc - 850 budget -

[Jordyshaw]

hey all, just in need of some spec's and advice for a gaming pc around 850 or below budget. looking at purchasing one in the new year. something that could run well the new simcity, battlefield etc.

thanks for the help!

 

[keynes]

Case
COOLERMASTER HAF 912 PLUS MID TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD FX-4170 Quad Core CPU (4.20GHz/4MB CACHE/AM3+)
Motherboard
ASUS® M5A99X EVO R2.0(DDR3, USB3.0, 6Gb/s,CrossFireX/SLI Win 8 Ready!)
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz, X.M.P (2 x 4GB KIT)
Graphics Card
2GB AMD RADEON™ HD7870 - DVI,HDMI,2 mDP - DX® 11, Eyefinity 4 Capable
Free Item
FREE FARCRY3 & 20% OFF MEDAL OF HONOUR with AMD 7770/7850/7870 GPUs!
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
500GB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD5003AZEX, 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 ENTHUSIAST SERIES™ TX650 V2-80 PLUS® BRONZE (£69)
Processor Cooling
SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE AMD CPU COOLER (£19)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 8 CHANNEL (7.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs
USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 8 Standard Edition 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)
Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
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 10 to 12 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £770.00 including VAT and delivery.

Unique URL to re-configure: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/quotes/amd-bulldozer-top-spec-pc/Qt9spEQqno/

If you want to spend close to £850 you could get an intel spec with a better gpu.

Case
COOLERMASTER HAF 912 PLUS MID TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-3570 (3.4GHz) 6MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® P8H77-M: M-ATX, DDR3, USB 3.0, SATA 6.0Gb/s, CrossFireX™
Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 4GB)
Graphics Card
2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 660 Ti - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
500GB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD5003AZEX, 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 ENTHUSIAST SERIES™ TX650 V2-80 PLUS® BRONZE (£69)
Processor Cooling
SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE INTEL CPU COOLER (£19)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 8 CHANNEL (7.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs
USB Options
4 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 8 Standard Edition 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)
Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
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 10 to 12 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £849.00 including VAT and delivery.

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

 

[Jordyshaw]

is there a significant difference between AMD and Intel? I do like the Intel build better but was thinking a 1TB memory and a different case. also would you recommend the geForce over 660 over the AMD 7870? thanks a lot for your help!

 

[keynes]

is there a significant difference between AMD and Intel? I do like the Intel build better but was thinking a 1TB memory and a different case. also would you recommend the geForce over 660 over the AMD 7870? thanks a lot for your help!

The GTX 660 ti is better than the HD 7870 in BF 3, I'd go with the best gpu you can afford within your budget.
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2012/09/13/nvidia-geforce-gtx-660-2gb-review/5
The i5 will perform better in more cpu intensive applications and a few games that are more processor bound but for BF 3 the FX-4170 or the i5-3570 should offer similar performance.

 

[Jordyshaw]

okay dude, thanks a lot with your help! I will save the Intel build you made. cheers again

 

[Jordyshaw]

Case
COOLERMASTER ELITE 430 BLACK CASE

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-3570 (3.4GHz) 6MB Cache

Motherboard
ASUS® P8H77-M: M-ATX, DDR3, USB 3.0, SATA 6.0Gb/s, CrossFireX™

Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 4GB)

Graphics Card
2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 660 Ti - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready

Memory - 1st Hard Disk
1TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD1002FAEX, 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
450W Quiet 80 PLUS Dual Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan

Processor Cooling
SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE INTEL CPU COOLER (£19)

Sound Card
ONBOARD 8 CHANNEL (7.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)

Network Facilities
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs

USB Options
4 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD

Operating System
Genuine Windows 8 Standard Edition 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)

Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)

Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL

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 10 to 12 working days

What are your thoughts on this build? I think its pretty much the exact same as the second one you suggested, just a different power supply and memory.

 

[keynes]

Nice spec

 

[Karnor00]

Your proposed spec looks fine - only thing to bear in mind is that you probably won't have enough power to add a second GPU in the future if you were considering doing that. That said, I've always been fairly dubious about the benefits of doing this - by the time you get around to doing it, technology advances so fast that it may well be much cheaper to simply buy a whole new GPU.

 

[Jordyshaw]

Your proposed spec looks fine - only thing to bear in mind is that you probably won't have enough power to add a second GPU in the future if you were considering doing that. That said, I've always been fairly dubious about the benefits of doing this - by the time you get around to doing it, technology advances so fast that it may well be much cheaper to simply buy a whole new GPU.

thanks for your input! I see what you mean, I did actually think about that. but I think id rather replace a gpu then use a second one.

 

[Blackdog]

I recently bought a pc and one thing i underlooked in my research was the case. I'd recommend youtubing a couple of the cases offered. (The haf 912 in Keynes Spec & the coolermaster 430 in your spec some good unboxings/reviews are on there) It may not be as important as your gpu or processor but its a massive contributor to your "gaming experience," not least because you dont want a bland old case staring at your for hours at the time.

 

[Blackdog]

Heres an example of the 430

[video=youtube;FzlCW2df0w0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzlCW2df0w0[/video]

*Edit*

Its interesting that the top comment on this review reads "I got a CM Haf 912 for 12$ more with more fans, more space, more dust filters, and more cable management ability. Did I mention it is only 12$ more!?!
Earnest Bunbury 2 months ago"

 

[Jordyshaw]

I recently bought a pc and one thing i underlooked in my research was the case. I'd recommend youtubing a couple of the cases offered. (The haf 912 in Keynes Spec & the coolermaster 430 in your spec some good unboxings/reviews are on there) It may not be as important as your gpu or processor but its a massive contributor to your "gaming experience," not least because you dont want a bland old case staring at your for hours at the time.

hey! yeah thats something ive not thought about properly myself, I want something that looks decent of course but with enough inside space to, I will look them up on youtube also, thanks a lot! what was your spec? just out of curiosity

 

[Blackdog]

The haf 912 is a solid solid case and one that means you'll have no cooling problems with down the line if you're adding another graphics card or whatever. I wanted a gaming pc for as close as i could get to £1000, it actually just arrived today Im going to do a photo thread later in the week but for now the spec is as follows.

(Note i've shown my first order and then the changes after i took some of Keynes' advice.)

Case COOLERMASTER ELITE 430 BLACK CASE
Change to: InWIN WHITE DRAGON RIDER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU) Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-3570 (3.4GHz) 6MB Cache
Motherboard ASUS® P8Z77-V: PCI-E 3.0 READY, WIFI, SLI, CROSSFIREX
Memory (RAM) 8GB SAMSUNG DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 4GB)
Graphics Card 2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 670 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready
2nd Graphics Card NONE
3rd Graphics Card NONE
Memory - 1st Hard Disk 1TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD1002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
Change to: 120GB INTEL® 330 SERIES SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 500MB/sR | 450MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk NONE
Change to: 1TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD1002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
RAID NONE
SSD CACHE DRIVE NONE
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive 24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
2nd DVD/BLU-RAY Drive NONE
Memory Card Reader INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply CORSAIR 750W ENTHUSIAST SERIES™ TX750 V2-80 PLUS® BRONZE (£86)
Processor Cooling SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE INTEL CPU COOLER (£19)
Extra Case Fans NONE
Fan Controller NONE
Sound Card ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs
USB Options 6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Modem NONE, I WILL BE USING BROADBAND
Floppy Disk Drive NONE
Firewire NONE
TV Card NONE
Operating System Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)
Anti-Virus BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
Monitor NONE
2nd Monitor NONE
DVI-D & HDMI Monitor Cables NONE
Eyefinity / GeForce 3D Vision NONE
Keyboard & Mouse LOGITECH® MK260 WIRELESS KEYBOARD & MOUSE COMBO (£20)
Mouse NONE
Speakers LOGITECH S120 2.0 BLACK SPEAKER SYSTEM (£9)
Webcam NONE
Headsets (VOIP) 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) (£5)
Home Installation NONE
Data Recovery NONE
Delivery STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time Standard Build - Approximately 9 to 11 working days

 

[Blackdog]

And in case you're wondering the white dragon rider case looks like this

 

[Jordyshaw]

sweet spec. and that case is pretty damn badass! what games are you playing? also do you know much about internet speed and gaming? like a minimum or recommended amount. I'm hoping to get my pc in the new year, pretty stoked for it!

 

[Blackdog]

sweet spec. and that case is pretty damn badass! what games are you playing? also do you know much about internet speed and gaming? like a minimum or recommended amount. I'm hoping to get my pc in the new year, pretty stoked for it!

Nice man, well you have plenty of time to do your research, and as i say youtube/google is your friend. I watched youtube videos on my gpu,cpu, mouse (logitech g400) & keyboard (x4 sidewinder) and felt a lot better about commiting that amount of money after doing so. At 850 you're beginning to approach ultra fast fps gaming, so its worth putting the time in, keep posting your build when you make changes etc.

As far as internet speed goes, i got a pair of homeplugs from maplin for forty quid that means i don't have to contend with wireless issues, that's worth doing, even for laptop users. There are lots of diagnostic programs on google that will guage your networks capabilites - heck bbc has one here if you're in the UK http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/diagnostics.) I am not super tech savvy however so hopefully somebody else can chime in about pings etc.

 

[Jordyshaw]

Nice man, well you have plenty of time to do your research, and as i say youtube/google is your friend. I watched youtube videos on my gpu,cpu, mouse (logitech g400) & keyboard (x4 sidewinder) and felt a lot better about commiting that amount of money after doing so. At 850 you're beginning to approach ultra fast fps gaming, so its worth putting the time in, keep posting your build when you make changes etc.

As far as internet speed goes, i got a pair of homeplugs from maplin for forty quid that means i don't have to contend with wireless issues, that's worth doing, even for laptop users. There are lots of diagnostic programs on google that will guage your networks capabilites - heck bbc has one here if you're in the UK http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/diagnostics.) I am not super tech savvy however so hopefully somebody else can chime in about pings etc.

yeah I am putting in a lot of time in making sure I know what I'm doing and researching and stuff, and your guys help just makes it so much better aswell! I heard about these plugs I will have to look into them too, I'm not to sure about using just a wireless connection from my hub.

 

[Blackdog]

If your router is beside your pc then you can just use a network cable to avoid wireless, otherwise homeplugs are a good bet.

 

[Jordyshaw]

its not next to my pc. but im thinking of it being moved into my room where my new pc will go. so I could work it that way I guess.