Desktop Computers

joeboo_sl said:

What are you mostly doing with it? Gaming? Photo/video/sound editing? Glorified Facebook machine? Media center?

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Gaming / Glorified facebook machine. I've been using an Asus G73 for the past few years.

I'll let joeboo and the others post a recommended build but this website (while not something I rely on heavily at all) is kind of neat to keep in your bookmarks:Logical Increments - PC Buying Guide

Building completely from scratch, I'd probably do something like this:
PCPartPicker part list/Price breakdown by merchant/Benchmarks

CPU:Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor($225.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard:ASRock Z87 Extreme4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard($134.99 @ Newegg)
Memory:Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory($66.99 @ Microcenter)
Storage:Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk($169.99 @ B&H)
Storage:Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive($59.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card:PNY GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card($314.99 @ Amazon)
Case:Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case($59.99 @ Microcenter)
Power Supply:SeaSonic G 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply($85.99 @ Amazon)
Operating System:Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit)($97.98 @ OutletPC)
Total:$1216.89
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-17 15:22 EST-0500)

A couple notes:

I only went with 1 8GB DIMM on the RAM because I personally value having the extra free slots for later expansion over the very, very minor performance gain of using 2 4GB modules. For gaming, you'd see less than a 1% performance difference with 2 4GB modules compared to 1 8GB module, and it wastes an extra expansion slot for adding more later.

I threw on the 1TB HD just in case you didn't have any HDs you could pull from a previous computer to use for storage. Since you have a good sized SSD on this build for the OS and multiple game installs, your extra drives don't really need to be anything special or overly fast, they're just there for bulk storage of media or old games.

You also don't necessarily need to pay $100 for Windows 8, theres links in this thread a few pages back on how to get legit Win 8 keys for like $10-$20. That could save you some money.

I didn't include any peripherals like keyboards or mice because those are always completely personal preference. Everyone likes different stuff there.

If you have a bigger budget, or need to stick to a smaller one, let me know and I can through out some more ideas.

Hey guys, I tried google for benchmarks etc but that only made my brain hurt so I was hoping you guys could help me out.

I want to build a PC mainly for gaming although some video rendering as well. I don't care what make components are, only that they are going to work their asses off for me and will run games at the top settings for a good while.

I don't get money very often so whatever I build will need to last a very long time. So I'm thinking the biggest beast I can afford at the moment that will have games maxed for a while.

Next week I'll have in the region of ?1500 to spend.
My monitor is a BenQ G2222GDL so 1920x1080 60hz. Although I want to add a second monitor at a later date for multitasking. I'm not sure the rules on 2nd monitors so I'm unsure if having the 1080p one and a higher res one would work, if that's possible I plan to upgrade to a better display and use the BenQ as a secondary.
While I want a single powerful GPU I want to be able to add a second GPU later when games start to task the single too much
Overclocking option would be good.
I have windows 7 pro 64bit already

Please take pity on my hurting brain and outline something ooo pretty, from CPU to HDD to cooling

My current gaming rig is based around a phenom II 955 black ed. so it's not so happy with newer games. It's going to get rehomed so I won't be salvaging anything from it other than my storage HDD and peripherals.
Thanks in advance

I have no idea what the conversion rate is for pounds to dollars, but take my above build, slap an i7 in it instead of an i5, bump it up to 16GB of RAM, and you're set for everything you just asked for (gaming and video rendering). Might need some more HD storage too assuming you don't have drives you can salvage from your current PC

joeboo_sl said:

Building completely from scratch, I'd probably do something like this:
PCPartPicker part list/Price breakdown by merchant/Benchmarks

CPU:Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor($225.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard:ASRock Z87 Extreme4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard($134.99 @ Newegg)
Memory:Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory($66.99 @ Microcenter)
Storage:Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk($169.99 @ B&H)
Storage:Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive($59.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card:PNY GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card($314.99 @ Amazon)
Case:Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case($59.99 @ Microcenter)
Power Supply:SeaSonic G 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply($85.99 @ Amazon)
Operating System:Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit)($97.98 @ OutletPC)
Total:$1216.89
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-17 15:22 EST-0500)

A couple notes:

I only went with 1 8GB DIMM on the RAM because I personally value having the extra free slots for later expansion over the very, very minor performance gain of using 2 4GB modules. For gaming, you'd see less than a 1% performance difference with 2 4GB modules compared to 1 8GB module, and it wastes an extra expansion slot for adding more later.

I threw on the 1TB HD just in case you didn't have any HDs you could pull from a previous computer to use for storage. Since you have a good sized SSD on this build for the OS and multiple game installs, your extra drives don't really need to be anything special or overly fast, they're just there for bulk storage of media or old games.

You also don't necessarily need to pay $100 for Windows 8, theres links in this thread a few pages back on how to get legit Win 8 keys for like $10-$20. That could save you some money.

I didn't include any peripherals like keyboards or mice because those are always completely personal preference. Everyone likes different stuff there.

If you have a bigger budget, or need to stick to a smaller one, let me know and I can through out some more ideas.

Click to expand...

Thanks!, this is a good starting point for me.

Mist_sl said:

This hasn't even been slightly true for a while.

Click to expand...

You will see almost no performance difference in games between a single RAM module and dual-channel (2) modules in gaming performance unless you are using your integrated intel graphics.

Now, doing something like video transcoding or 3D rendering is a whole different beast, it would most definitely make a noticeable difference there, but he made no mention of doing anything of that sort, he just wants a gaming machine and for gaming on a discrete graphics card, the difference is almost non-existant.

I'll take your word for the MMO issue, as I haven't played any in several years so I don't pay a lot of attention to MMOs anymore, but I've never seen any benchmark anywhere that showed more than a 1-2% FPS difference at most in any other type of game (typical Crysis/Battlefield/Skyrim/Dirt benchmarks). I've never seen anything even in the realm of 4% when using a dedicated graphics card. Heck, even using your integrated Intel HD 4000 graphics you're still looking at single-digit differences, like 8-9% tops usually.

joeboo_sl said:

I have no idea what the conversion rate is for pounds to dollars, but take my above build, slap an i7 in it instead of an i5, bump it up to 16GB of RAM, and you're set for everything you just asked for (gaming and video rendering). Might need some more HD storage too assuming you don't have drives you can salvage from your current PC

Click to expand...

Cool, thanks. I'm guessing I'd be better bumping up the PSU since I want the option of another graphics card?
Would I be better grabbing a 780ti instead of the 770, since at the moment I just want the one GPU
I'm a bit lost when it comes to CPUs I have no clue what the best i7 is atm. I was looking at the 4770k I think it was but I'm not sure what the alternatives are.
Sorry for all the questions

i7 4770k is what you want CPU wise

I'm not 100% sold on the 780ti, it's just so damn expensive. I know it would still be within your budget but I've never been a fan of spending $700 on a video card. I've personally done it in the past and regretted it when looking back on the purchase a few years later. Maybe plunk down $500 on a 3GB 780, then 2 years from now when it's a little long in the tooth you can probably add a 2nd one for like $200-$300 more at that point. You'd still be spending ~$700 overall, but those dual 780s will destroy a lone 780ti for the same money, and both a 780 and 780ti are going to be PLENTY powerful enough to do any gaming at 1080p for the next couple years.

Since it's within your budget you could go ahead and bump up to a 512GB Samsung EVO SSD as well, just to make sure you have plenty of room for quite a while. You really don't want to fill a SSD over 50% full if you can help it. The fuller they are, the slower they get.

And yeah, bump up that PSU. I think I saw a 750W Seasonic gold for like $130, that would be a real good value.

Or heck, if you want to spend $700+, just snag 2 4GB 770s right now, that setup will blow the doors off of any single card on the market, for not much more cost(if any) than a 780ti

3GB 780 GTX is a much better deal than the 780ti since they cut the price. Can play almost everything at max @1080 and a lot @1440. I'd recommend it over the 770 if you can swing it. Get the reference blower cooler if you are thinking of going sli 780 in the future or your top card will cook.

joeboo_sl said:

I'm not 100% sold on the 780ti, it's just so damn expensive. I know it would still be within your budget but I've never been a fan of spending $700 on a video card...

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I agree with this, a lot actually. I once WAY overspent on a video card. When I first got it, it was overkill for any games I was playing anyway and by 2 generations, when all that extra power was actually being used, the newest ~mid-range cards were better. I would have saved a decent hunk of money buying a good mid-range card, and then another one 2 years later.

I've said this multiple times before on here, but I really think the sweet spot for video cards at any given time are the cards in the $300-$400 range. Just plan on buying something in that price range every 2 years or so and you'll always be able to play all the newest games on high/ultra settings at whatever the most common current resolution is.

Even if you spend $700 on a video card now, it's not going to last you twice as long as a $300 card, either is going to need to be replaced somewhere in the 1.5 - 2.5 year range. And to add to what Denaut said, your expensive card now is still going to be beat by a $300-$400 mid-range card in a couple years. You can't hardly spend enough money today on a video card that will still be good in 3+ years. The technology just moves forward too fast. You could spend $2000 on SLI Titans today, and they're going to suck in under 4 years for sure, maybe even closer to 3

GTX 780s overclock like mad too. Can easily get to 1.1Ghz core boost clocks and 7Ghz memory on most with reference coolers.

dunno how good it is (do your own research!) but damn, 2560x1600 30" ips for $430 shipped from korea
Perfect Pixel Yamakasi 301 Sparta 30 s IPS 2560x1600 DVI D PC Computer Monitor | eBay

same dude sells 120hz 1440p 27" catleaps but that seems way overpriced at $899. I've got two 27" koreans OC'd to 90hz each running just fine off a single 680, and a 60" lcd attached too. only one displays games though, I don't span monitors, fine for 40-70 fps in bf4 @ 1440p.