New Gaming Desktop Review

Fantana

Bronze Level Poster
I ordered a new gaming desktop from PC Specialist in March. Being a big fan of RPG games and the arrival of the Witcher 3 I wanted something that could handle current and upcoming titles for the next 2 years relatively comfortably.

Specs:

Processor (CPU): Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Processor i7-4790k (4.0GHz) 8MB Cache
Case: CORSAIR CARBIDE SERIES™ AIR 540 GAMING CASE
Motherboard: Gigabyte Z97X Gaming 3: ATX, LG1150, USB 3.0, SATA 6GBs, XFIRE/SLI
Memory (RAM): 16GB KINGSTON HYPER-X BEAST DUAL-DDR3 2133MHz X.M.P (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card: Palit Jetstream GTX 980

1st Hard Disk: 240GB KINGSTON HYPERX 3K SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 555MB/sR | 510MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk: 3TB WD CAVIAR GREEN WD30EZRX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE

Power Supply: CORSAIR 1000W RM SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Processor Cooling: Corsair H100i Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste: ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND

Wireless/Wired: DUAL-BAND WIRELESS 802.11N 450Mbps PCI-E CARD

3 Year Silver Warranty
Total Order Price £1,732.00


I ordered an LG 23" MP75HM IPS Monitor from Ebay for £110
I also got a second GPU, a Gigabyte Windforce GTX 980 from Gumtree for £340 brand new, which I thought was hell of a bargain.
I play more with a controller so just got standard Logitech durable keyboard and mouse.
In the near future I may invest in a 4K monitor, but for now I'm more than satisfied with 1080p.

Pics:

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I was very satisfied with PC Specialist's service. I had the PC within 2 weeks, and when I was setting up SLI myself they were happy to advise over the phone.
I've played GTA V, The Witcher 3, Wolfenstein New Order, Alien Isolation, etc all at max settings and steady 60fps, so very pleased with the PC.

My specs are definitely overkill for 1080p, but like I said the second GPU price was too good to refuse. I've managed to overclock and set the Palit 980 to match the Windforce's speed and it runs stable with no voltage increase. I think that's a general feature of the GTX 980's being good for overclocking. Luckily both my cards have an ASIC quality of over 70% which is apparently a good indicator for overclocking potential.

Overall my PC Specialist experience has been great, their pricing is fair compared to other custom build sites, customer service is good and I look forward to upgrading with them in the future.
 
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Tysuro

Gold Level Poster
Is that how much it cost for everything you got or just the pc from PCS? btw great review PCS is a great company.
 

SlimCini

KC and the Sunshine BANNED
Big balls to buy something like a 980 on Gumtree. Did you pick it up in person and inspect it before handing over the cash?
 

Fantana

Bronze Level Poster
Big balls to buy something like a 980 on Gumtree. Did you pick it up in person and inspect it before handing over the cash?

Yeah I picked it up in person, face to face. I shop online a lot and can generally sniff out anything that seems suspicious. But the seller clearly stated it was brand new, still in original packaging, and it was. I did inspect thoroughly and seller had the receipt of purchase from Amazon too, and reason for selling was "unwanted present". Also I did negotiate it down to 340.
 
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