Need advice for mid-range PC

[lateralus987]

Sorry i find this quite overwhelming with the amount of options, so any advice would be much appreciated!

Background - bought my previous PC from overclockers. Was very expensive and high end at the time (and overclocked) and lasted me a decent while (must have got it at least 3 years ago), but there have been intermitant issues and now it doesnt boot most of the time (and i've tried to solve the issue with no luck), so looking to get a replacement. Dont need anything high end - these days i mainly play EU4 or Civ6, but i want something that will last a few years. Most importantly, without issues! Long story short i had real overheating issues (random restarts) so turned off overclocking. Then my graphics card (Radeon HD 6950) died so i replaced it with a £50 card off amazon (which is somehow working well enough!).

Current specs: i5-2550k @3.4ghz CPU, 8Gb ram.

I run two monitors, and not really bothered about upgrading them. I plan to move over my 2 hard drives but thats all from my current set-up (will probably want a new hard drive also, around 2TB, maybe a hybrid dependant on cost).

So my questions:

1) Case - there are so many options! Does it really make a difference? I dont want one with annoying bright lights on the front, it will be in my bedroom

2) Intel vs. AMD. No idea - does it really matter?

3) CPU - is the I5 option an upgrade from what i currently have?

4) Memory - what is the difference between the options (they have a higher number not aligned to the Gb size [sorry my knowledge is limited!]) - does it really matter?

5) Graphics card - any recommendations? My previous one had funky copper tubes coming out of it - i just want something simple! But it needs to run two monitors, one with a white and one with a blue cable

Thanks in advance for any help - please let me know if you need any further details.

 

[Oussebon]

I'll offer some answers to a few of your specific points, but to give specific advice it would really help to know a) your budget and b) what monitors you are using specifically?

The monitors will likely have their model numbers on the back or maybe underside somewhere.

1) Case - there are so many options! Does it really make a difference? I dont want one with annoying bright lights on the front, it will be in my bedroom

As well as aesthetics, cases do make a difference to cooling, noise, and features. Note that most cases, even ones with very understated designs, will have some kind of LEDs on them to indicate they're switched on.

2) Intel vs. AMD. No idea - does it really matter?

A bit - the best CPU for you will depend according to your budget and needs. For Civ 6 and gaming in general, the i7 7700k would be a good option.

4) Memory - what is the difference between the options (they have a higher number not aligned to the Gb size [sorry my knowledge is limited!]) - does it really matter?

RAM with a higher frequency is faster (e.g. 32000 MHz RAM is faster than 2133MHz RAM). The price difference is fairly slim and faster RAM can have big returns in some games, so depending on budget I generally recommend getting it.

My previous one had funky copper tubes coming out of it

That's normal, they're heatpipes that play a role in dissipating the heat the GPU generates from gaming. Not all designs have them poking out, but if they're there they do perform a function as well as being a design statement


But as above, it would help to know your budget and specifically what monitors you have.

 

[lateralus987]

Thanks for the reply. No budget constraints - happy to spend a bit extra if it is worth it. Was thinking around £800-1000 but flexible. The monitors i have are one widescreen running at 1920x1080, one square (14 inch?) running at 1280x1024. Fits perfectly on my desk (and they are the same height) and lets me watch a video/read a web page on the second screen while gaming or reading something else on the first screen.

 

[Oussebon]

As long as you have a 1080p one. That's still very appropriate for gaming at this kind of budget.

To be honest, at the ~£800 range you could just stick to what you have and get a new GPU. It's not like an i5 7600 wouldn't be an upgrade over a 2500k, but buying a whole new system basically for that might not be worth it.

I'd aim more for something with an i7 7700k in it, and fast RAM. That should give as future-proof a platform as you're really going to get for this kind of money, catering for your next GPU upgrade or two.


Case
CORSAIR CARBIDE SERIES™ 200R COMPACT GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Processor i7-7700k (4.2GHz) 8MB Cache

FREE Halo Wars 2 with select INTEL® CPUs!
Motherboard
ASUS® PRIME Z270-P: ATX, LG1151, USB 3.0, SATA 6GBs
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
3GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1060 - DVI, HDMI, 3 x DP
1[SUP]st[/SUP] Hard Disk
1TB SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 32MB CACHE
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply
CORSAIR 550W VS SERIES™ VS-550 POWER SUPPLY
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
CoolerMaster Hyper 212X (120mm) Fan CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
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 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
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 7 to 9 working days
Quantity
1

Price £1,093.00 including VAT and delivery

Unique URL to re-configure : https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-z270-pc/qVX8nHecRc/

 

[lateralus987]

Thanks for the reply - you've really helped my thinking in some directions. The thumbnails (super useful - thanks for digging out!) suggest minimal difference between the I5-7.6k and i7-7.7k - would the former be sufficient (or is the latter worth the extra £130)? And is that really an upgrade on what i have now (i dont really understand how the non-Ghz numbers work )?

Memory - got it. bigger is best and minimal price difference so a no brainer.

Graphics card - its in the middle of the pack - i'll take your recomendation (although i dont get why a 4Gb card is above a 3Gb one but has a lower number....these things are confusing )

Hard drive - is it worth spending an extra £30-odd for the hybrid? My current two drives (a 500g SSD and 2TB HDD) are both full, so i plan to use the new one as the base with OS and key games - seems it would be worth the extra cost? And would there be any problems moving the two hard drives over from my old computer?

Thanks again for your help

 

[Oussebon]

The thumbnails weren't to illustrate the difference between an i5 and an i7, but rather than the i7 is a good CPU for Civ 6 both in terms of general FPS and in terms of processing the AI's turns as fast as possible in order to minimise the time you spend sat there watching the AI do stupid things with its units or swarm a city with 12 missionaries.

That's my bad for not explaining what the point of posting them was, so sorry for any confusion there

While the performance of an i5 and an i7 can be quite similar, an i7 can have significant advantages over i5, such as:


Particularly with regards to minimum framerates (the higher the minimum FPS, the less juddery the gaming experience).
There's a Gamers Nexus article that recent rebenched an i5 2500k vs more modern CPUs in multiple games: http://www.gamersnexus.net/guides/2867-intel-i7-2600k-2017-benchmark-vs-7700k-1700-more/page-3

If buying an already expensive Z270 mobo and expensive RAM (RAM prices are up in general at the moment), I wouldn't buy an i5 with it, I'd get an i7 for the increased performance and the additional futureproofing that its hyperthreading may give in future titles.

Graphics card - its in the middle of the pack - i'll take your recomendation (although i dont get why a 4Gb card is above a 3Gb one but has a lower number....these things are confusing )

The 1060 has a lot more cores than the 1050 ti and is clocked higher. Games care more than that than about VRAM. Many games also won't see any kind of meaningful performance hit on cards with less VRAM (the GTX 960 2gb performed very similarly to the 4gb version, the RX 480 4gb's performance is almost identical to the RX 480 8gb in almost all gaming situations).

Hard drive - is it worth spending an extra £30-odd for the hybrid? My current two drives (a 500g SSD and 2TB HDD) are both full, so i plan to use the new one as the base with OS and key games - seems it would be worth the extra cost? And would there be any problems moving the two hard drives over from my old computer?

I would say no, and that it is worth saving the money for more SSD space (or just a larger HDD if you already filled your old 1.5TB's of storage). Going from a 1Tb to a 2TB HDD is £19.

 

[lateralus987]

Thanks again for your help - sorry my computer has been dead the past couple of days so not able to respond. Just a couple of final questions - my thinking here is that if i'm spending >£1000, i dont mind spending a bit more if it is worth it:

Hard drive - my concern is that my current SSD may be knackered (the issue i'm having is about the boot device not being present, so it could be the motherboard or the drive. It seems to work if i take out the battery and power for a while, so i suspect MB), so i want the drive to be my base and as big and fast as possible. I checked out the SSDs and they are super expensive for 1TB+, but the hybrid 2Gb is only an extra £30 from the HDD. Ok i get "up to" is meaningless, but even 2x faster seems worth the money?

Power supply - no idea on this, does 550w make a difference vs. the other options?

Thanks again for all your help - it is much appreciated

 

[Oussebon]

but even 2x faster seems worth the money?

The thing is, for most stuff it's not even close to 2x HDD speed. It's 1x HDD speed because most of it is just an HDD. You're reliant on the SSHD's algorithm caching the files you're about to use, and it needs to learn that. You'd need to do the same thing a few times for it to learn - so it may help loading Windows up, and if you play the same game over and over it may learn that as well. But many other things it will be just like having a regular HDD - nothing more. Personally I'd save those £30 for an extremely fast NVMe SSD.

With an SSD + HDD, Windows, programs and your favourite games (that you install on the SSD) will load faster than on the SSHD anyway. And things that you access very infrequently or that the SSHD can't predict and cache for you (e.g. a game you play occasionally or just general files) will be no faster on the SSHD than they would be on the HDD anyway.

You can buy an SSHD, but you'll end up wanting an SSD anyway (especially if you're already been using one) and when you do get an SSD, your SSHD will basically just be a regular HDD that cost you £30 more.

Power supply - no idea on this, does 550w make a difference vs. the other options?

The 450W one is pretty much the minimum you want. 550W is £9 more and gives you that bit extra headroom.

my thinking here is that if i'm spending >£1000, i dont mind spending a bit more if it is worth it:

With speccing a custom PC you can always spend that extra bit more and it can become an expensive business. You could look at a PM961 SSD under the M.2 menu. And/or a motherboard with more features like the Z270H which has USB 3.1, a bit nicer onboard sound, more USB and sata ports (iirc) and various other bells and whistles.

 

[lateralus987]

OK - food for thought. Let me take this away and think about it, but all my questions are answered.

Thanks again for your clear (and patient!) answers - it has been a massive help.

All the best!