Performance and Gaming PC under £1000

[rosmac526]

Hey all.

I'm just looking at what I can get for my money here, and after playing around I've come to a halt with these specs. Any advice/changes/etc? I have a limited budget of £1000 inc. VAT and delivery, and do not need an OS as I already have a Windows 7 64-bit disc which I have not yet used.

Case
PCS MAELSTROM T900 BLACK GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7-2600k Quad Core (3.40GHz, 8MB Cache) + HD Graphics
Motherboard
ASUS® P8Z68-V LX: USB 3.0, SATA 6GBs, ATI®CrossFireX
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz, X.M.P (2 x 4GB KIT)
Graphics Card
2GB AMD RADEON™ HD6970 - 2 DVI,HDMI,2 mDP - DX® 11, Eyefinity 4 Capable
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
500GB SEAGATE Barracuda SATA-III 6Gb/s HDD, 32MB Cache (7200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W ENTHUSIAST SERIES™ TX650 V2-80 PLUS® BRONZE (£72)
Processor Cooling
INTEL SOCKET LGA1155 STANDARD CPU COOLER
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps PCI CARD (£16)
USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Operating System
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
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 8 to 10 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £942.00 including VAT and delivery.

 

[Corfate]

I'd recommend this:


Case
PCS MAELSTROM T900 BLACK GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7-2600 Quad Core (3.40GHz, 8MB Cache) + HD Graphics Great CPU, should handle everything you throw at it
Motherboard
ASUS® P8Z68-V/GEN3: PCI-E 3.0 READY, SLI, CROSSFIREX
Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 4GB)
Graphics Card
1.25GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 570 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready Great GPU, should run games on high
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
1TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD1002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm) Good drive, fast boot times and file loading
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 (£72) Reliable PSU
Processor Cooling
SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE INTEL CPU COOLER (£19) Good cooling for such a low price
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps PCI CARD (£16) I'd recommend homeplugs, but this should be alright
USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Operating System
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED
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) essential
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 8 to 10 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £1,024.00 including VAT and delivery.

Configure Here: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/computers/intel-sandy-bridge-pc/

£24 over, but worth it.

 

[tom_gr7]

corfate's spec is spot on.

you could lower the motherboard to save a few quid. You wouldn't lose any performance in any way.

also is the 2tb caviar black not the same price as the 1tb at the moment? check lol.

 

[rosmac526]

Hmm, a tiny bit over-budget. The price drop with the 570 over the 6970 seemed a bit odd but looking at some benchmarks for the 570 and the 6970, they're practically the same. The 570 plays Battlefield 3 better at ultra settings, so that's promising. And you'd choose the Samsung RAM sticks over Kingston? Is there a particular reason for this performance wise, or is it just a small saving with equal performance? I am looking to render HD videos with Vegas as well, so I assumed a bigger and faster RAM would be more appropriate.

I'll certainly take this into consideration. Now I just need to find that extra £24.

Edit: Tom, the 2TB is more than the 1TB by around £20, but the 2TB Caviar Green costs as much as the 1TB Caviar Black. What do you reckon?

 

[Music Guy123]

Looks solid, I would recommend getting the limited edition 560 as I think (although am not certain) that it is faster than the 570. Eitherway, looks like a great spec - enjoy it! Also, tom, unless someone edited, I don't think anyone mentioned the price of the hdds although it is more than likely that Corfate edited it out!

 

[Music Guy123]

Hmm, a tiny bit over-budget. The price drop with the 570 over the 6970 seemed a bit odd but looking at some benchmarks for the 570 and the 6970, they're practically the same. The 570 plays Battlefield 3 better at ultra settings, so that's promising. And you'd choose the Samsung RAM sticks over Kingston? Is there a particular reason for this performance wise, or is it just a small saving with equal performance? I am looking to render HD videos with Vegas as well, so I assumed a bigger and faster RAM would be more appropriate.

I'll certainly take this into consideration. Now I just need to find that extra £24.

Edit: Tom, the 2TB is more than the 1TB by around £20, but the 2TB Caviar Green costs as much as the 1TB Caviar Black. What do you reckon?

1TB caviar black all the way. You may aswell go for the faster RAM, it is only £3 more. Have a look at the limited edition 560 though, may be worth a shot!

 

[rosmac526]

Looks solid, I would recommend getting the limited edition 560 as I think (although am not certain) that it is faster than the 570. Eitherway, looks like a great spec - enjoy it! Also, tom, unless someone edited, I don't think anyone mentioned the price of the hdds although it is more than likely that Corfate edited it out!

I checked out a benchmark of the two and performance-wise, again they are quite similar. However, the 448 edition is cheaper, taking the cost below that dreaded £1000 limit.

So, new specs:

Case
PCS MAELSTROM T900 BLACK GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7-2600 Quad Core (3.40GHz, 8MB Cache) + HD Graphics
Motherboard
ASUS® P8Z68-V/GEN3: PCI-E 3.0 READY, SLI, CROSSFIREX
Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 4GB)
Graphics Card
1.25GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 560 Ti 448 CORE (Ltd Edition Superfast Card)
Free Item
FREE Battlefield 3 with Nvidia GeForce GTX 560 Ti 448 CORE!
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
CORSAIR 650W ENTHUSIAST SERIES™ TX650 V2-80 PLUS® BRONZE (£72)
Processor Cooling
SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE INTEL CPU COOLER (£19)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps PCI CARD (£16)
USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)

Price: £991.00 including VAT and delivery.

OOH! And I get BF3 for free with the Limited Edition GPU? Heheh, verrrrry tempting.

 

[Corfate]

I read that they have some new 1TB Caviar Blacks coming in, so the price was lowered accordingly. Think they're like £40ish now? With the Motherboard, i forgot to change it from the last spec i made up But i really do suggest the spec i made up for £24 more

Also, i picked the RAM because for £3 more, you may as well get the Kingston, but it would make no noticeable difference if you stayed with the Samsung.

 

[rosmac526]

Just one other question:

I've settled on every detail of the PC except for the GPU, which I knew was going to be the toughest choice. The GTX 570 has better benchmarks and proven performance than the 560 Ti 448, but is £40 more expensive. To be honest, reading up on the 560 Ti 448, it appears to be a product designed to use faulty chipsets from the GTX 570, which is a seriously big deterrent for me. The 560 Ti 448 is also louder, and has a higher operating temperature than the 570 under load, by almost 10 degrees. The fact it's essentially a gap-filler is a disappointment, and over the time I will use the PC, I feel that the extra £40 won't be much of a problem at all.

However, I would also love to know why people turn a blind eye to the Radeon 6970? Sure, it's more expensive, louder and has higher operating temperatures, but in terms of its performance, it's proven to dish out higher FPS ratings than other cards that are available. The 50 decibel sound output is rather high, yes, but the power draw compared to the 570 and 560 Ti 448 is lower under load and idle speeds.

Any thoughts on the matter?

 

[Corfate]

I wouldn't sayt people turn a blind eye to the 6970, people take into consideration all the things you stated and make a decision. More often than not, it's not to get that card. If you can stretch the extra £40, go for it I would if i had the money

 

[rosmac526]

Perhaps I worded it a bit harshly, but it does seem that many people suggest NVIDIA over Radeon. I don't know if there's a particular reason for this or not, but you can trust that I'll look into it. At the end of the day, £40 is nothing when the build costs £1000 anyway.

I appreciate the help; luckily I don't have to make up my mind until February, so with any luck the prices may even drop a little before then.

 

[Corfate]

Im pretty sure the 7xxx series of AMD cards is coming out feb time, so they may be worth looking into when they come out.

Don't get me wrong, AMD is great. My rig has an AMD CPU and GPU, just NVIDIA are usually the choice when people are looking at expensive builds, due to them having higher benchmarks usually

 

[rosmac526]

Ahh fair enough. I'll look into the 7XXX series closer to release and see if they're worth investing in for performance/pound. My first actual GPU (not those integrated deals) was an NVIDIA and I recall nothing but excellence, even if it was 7 years ago with a whopping 256MB memory

Thanks again for the advice. For final examination, here are the set specs and current price, remembering that the GPU is subject to sudden and unpredictable change:

Case
PCS MAELSTROM T900 BLACK GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7-2600 Quad Core (3.40GHz, 8MB Cache) + HD Graphics
Motherboard
ASUS® P8Z68-V LX: USB 3.0, SATA 6GBs, ATI®CrossFireX
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz, X.M.P (2 x 4GB KIT)
Graphics Card
1.25GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 570 - 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
CORSAIR 650W ENTHUSIAST SERIES™ TX650 V2-80 PLUS® BRONZE (£72)
Processor Cooling
SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE INTEL CPU COOLER (£19)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps PCI CARD (£16)
USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Operating System
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED
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 8 to 10 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £971.00 including VAT and delivery.

 

[Music Guy123]

The AMD 7xxx cards just remind me of their bulldozer series. They have just beefed the things up meaning I think 377w for their 7970 or something ridiculous. Yes it does mean they are a little more powerfulthan the 580 but I would probably still get a 580. The reason people choose nvidia is generally because they have netter driver support, better with temp and the gpus are very well built. If you are waiting for feb them it is unlikley the limited edition card will still be around. So go with the 570 for now until we see new releases. Ivy bridge is coming soon and you may be able to get that in feb or so. I also think nvidia's 6xx series aren't that far of.

 

[Corfate]

It's worth waiting till Feb imo. Many people (including myself) think that the general GPU price will fall due to the release of the new card, so it's worth the wait. Even if there is no price drop, what have you got to lose?