Gaming PC's

Saw a few people talking about overclocking/computer speeds so I thought I would throw it out there and try get some advice regarding computer components, as they may as well be in Chinese to me  . Basically Ive had this desktop for over 6 years and its on its arse. Looking for a new Desktop but I want one primarilly designed for gaming as Im abit of a geek when it comes to Total war games (If you havent tried them, I highly reccomend if you like RTS games ), however the requirements are pretty steep.

Ive decided to try and build my own PC by buying parts seperatly, due to the fact sites that offer to build you one cost outrageous prices (Talking in eccess of £1000+). At the moment these are the components Ive come up with, however as I said im pretty clueless on the subject of hardware so bare with me:

PCU -   Processor - Intel Core i5-2500K
Motherboard - GA-Z68X-UD4-B3 Intel Z68
Hardrive -   Western Digital WD1002FAEX   
GPU - AMD Radeon HD 6870
PSU - 650 WATT
Memory - 4GB DDR RAM

Altogether that accounts to around £700  But I've not found many decent sites with cheap components. For some reason components in the US cost nearly half of what they do in the UK 

Just wondering does that price sound alright? Or am I getting mugged. Also has anybody got any experience in building PC's? How difficult is it etc? Any advice/Geek insults welcome 

For some reason components in the US cost nearly half of what they do in the UK 

That can tell you how bad the US economy currently is!

I'm way behind the times when it comes to PC components now so can't offer a lot of advice in that respect.
What I will say though is that although it's generally a bit cheaper to build your own, don't instantly dismiss custom build suppliers. They can get hold of the individual parts far cheaper than you with their buying power and bulk orders. Of course they add their own, considerable mark-up to the end price but then all of the work is done for you (you admit you're a novice), the parts used will all be compatible and you'll always have some kind of guarantee.

A couple worth checking out are Meshcomputers (can't remember if it's .com or .co.uk) and Overclockers.co.uk (also pretty good for components).

I'm not exactly a tech-savvy person but my friend bought a gaming laptop by Alienware that cost 1.5k pounds.

Everything at its best.

I'm not exactly a tech-savvy person but my friend bought a gaming laptop by Alienware that cost 1.5k pounds.

Everything at its best.

Alienware tech is beautiful. Very very nice computers. But 1.5k is a lot of money and you could save loads, as Rep says, building your own.

As for components, I'm afraid I'm not up on it all enough to direct you toward the best deals, but have a look at some of these sites for information:

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-05-20-how-to-build-your-own-gaming-pc-article

http://www.buildyourown.org.uk/ < Very useful information, has everything you need to know in order to actually put together your computer.

http://www.custombuildmypc.com/gaming-pcs & http://www.arbico.co.uk/ < Custom built computers already built for you.

http://www.outletpc.com/ < Good outlet store that stocks lots of components

I have to agree 1.5k is too much. Personally, I am not much of a PC/Laptop gamer, though. I prefer consoles. I do play MW2 on some crap resolution with my friends using my good ol' Sony Vaio!

My friend did select the specific and best parts for his Alienware, though. That's why it cost 1.5k!

My mate got his built here,

http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/


 been looking around myself.  My laptop just doesn't cut it any more.

http://www.dell.com/uk/p/alienware-desktops

Where's Res when you need an expert opinion on these things...

Got my laptop for AU$550 and it plays the likes of CoD, Need for Speed, FIFA etc. perfectly fine. It wouldn't be anywhere near as good as that alienware one though.

I suppose the only advice I can really give is to make sure you get dedicated graphics instead of integrated.

Narrowed it down to these components atm

• Processor - Intel Core i5-2500K
• Motherboard - GA-Z68X-UD4-B3 Intel Z68
• HD - Western Digital WD1002FAEX
• GPU - AMD Radeon HD 6870
• RAM - Kingston 4 GB DDR3
• Case + PSU - 750 w

Will set me back just under £700 when buying seperatly. Which isn't too bad considering the prices I've been quoted with the same hardware on custom build sites end up totalling to over £900+

Now I just have to hope their compatible and make sure I don't cock up when putting it together!
Doesn't seem to difficult though judging from sites/videos.

get a sandy lane processor, at minimum these things welly up your performance more than anything else and they are brand new.
try to get a hard drive which includes a double. ie it has a flash type memory usually about 16 gig bolted onto a normal hard drive, your computer will boot up in seconds then.
graphics card very important , direct x 11 type.

also ebuyer is always the cheapest site to order from.

get a sandy lane processor, at minimum these things welly up your performance more than anything else and they are brand new.
try to get a hard drive which includes a double. ie it has a flash type memory usually about 16 gig bolted onto a normal hard drive, your computer will boot up in seconds then.
graphics card very important , direct x 11 type.

also ebuyer is always the cheapest site to order from.

Sandy Bridge. And that's what the i5-2500k is. Sandy Bridge.

Also known as SSDs, or, Solid State Drives. Very expensive.

eBuyer is good, but it's not great. Dabs.com is quite cheap, as is overclockers.co.uk and scan.co.uk.

Narrowed it down to these components atm

• Processor - Intel Core i5-2500K
• Motherboard - GA-Z68X-UD4-B3 Intel Z68
• HD - Western Digital WD1002FAEX
• GPU - AMD Radeon HD 6870
• RAM - Kingston 4 GB DDR3
• Case + PSU - 750 w

Will set me back just under £700 when buying seperatly. Which isn't too bad considering the prices I've been quoted with the same hardware on custom build sites end up totalling to over £900+

Now I just have to hope their compatible and make sure I don't cock up when putting it together!
Doesn't seem to difficult though judging from sites/videos.

6870 is a good card. Excellent choice.

Don't go for Kingston RAM, go with G.Skill or Corsair if you can. You'll find they're a lot cheaper, too. Make sure if you're going with 4GB RAM, you grab 2x 2GB sticks and not 1x 4GB.

Never, EVER, get a case bundled with a PSU. These PSUs will absolutely destroy your motherboard and/or processor in a matter of months. They're cheap sh*t, and will completely F**k you over. If you're going to get a PSU, go with Corsair, Silverstone or Antec. And for the system you're building, you won't need more than 600W.

Also, try and grab a good aftermarket CPU cooler. I'd recommend the Coolermaster Hyper 212+ if you're on a budget. It's £15-20 at most online stores.

If you're not on a budget and are ordering a fairly large sized case, go with the Noctua NH-D14. Huge CPU cooler, but definitely does the job.

And if you're overclocking, don't put your CPU vcore past 1.45v. Dangerous stuff.

Thanks alot Res, good job you mentioned the PSU as I was orginally going to buy one that came with the case, heard a few other people mention they're pretty crap. Ended up buying the Corsair memory (2x2GB) which was cheaper .

Don't think Il attempt overclocking yet, il have to read up on it abit first because Il probably end up destroying something. Can you overclock with any components? Or do you have to buy specific components than enable you to overclock?

Thanks for the replies

 
      Coolermaster CM 690 II Lite, Black, Mid Tower Case (£46.97)     
      Intel Core i7 2600K, 3.4Ghz, Quad Core, 8Mb Cache, Hyperthreading (£199.17) 1 
      Alpenfohn Matterhorn Performance CPU Cooler (£35.98) 1 
      Intel i7 2600K professionally Overclocked by our 3XS engineers to 4.5Ghz (£0.00) 1 
      8GB (2x4GB) Corsair XMS3 DDR3 PC3-12800 (1600), CAS 9 (£54.16) 1 
      1Gb EVGA GTX 460 SSC, 850Mhz GPU 336 Cores, 3900Mhz GDDR5 (£119.46) add £39.01 1 
       600W Corsair CMPSU-600CX (£41.98) 1 
      1TB Samsung Spinpoint F3, 7200rpm, 32MB Cache (£32.98) 1 

      LG GH22NS50 - 22x DVD Writer (£12.48) 12 
 
      Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit - OEM (£58.07) 1 
 

      Standard 3XS System Warranty - 1 Year RTB (£0.00) 1 
 
  Total
£866.69   
Base Price: £160.00
 
Your PC: £722.24
 
VAT: £144.45


I have been looking at this ready made system for a week or two now. Ready overclocked to 4.5ghz. 
 
 

      Coolermaster CM 690 II Lite, Black, Mid Tower Case (£46.97)     
      Intel Core i7 2600K, 3.4Ghz, Quad Core, 8Mb Cache, Hyperthreading (£199.17) 1 
      Alpenfohn Matterhorn Performance CPU Cooler (£35.98) 1 
      Intel i7 2600K professionally Overclocked by our 3XS engineers to 4.5Ghz (£0.00) 1 
      8GB (2x4GB) Corsair XMS3 DDR3 PC3-12800 (1600), CAS 9 (£54.16) 1 
      1Gb EVGA GTX 460 SSC, 850Mhz GPU 336 Cores, 3900Mhz GDDR5 (£119.46) add £39.01 1 
       600W Corsair CMPSU-600CX (£41.98) 1 
      1TB Samsung Spinpoint F3, 7200rpm, 32MB Cache (£32.98) 1 

      LG GH22NS50 - 22x DVD Writer (£12.48) 12 
 
      Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit - OEM (£58.07) 1 
 

      Standard 3XS System Warranty - 1 Year RTB (£0.00) 1 
 
  Total
£866.69   
Base Price: £160.00
 
Your PC: £722.24
 
VAT: £144.45


I have been looking at this ready made system for a week or two now. Ready overclocked to 4.5ghz. 

You don't want a 2600k unless you're video editing or encoding - likewise with 8GB RAM.

The cheaper option would be a 2500k (cheaper by about £80) and 4GB RAM (cheaper by about £40).

You don't want a 2600k unless you're video editing or encoding - likewise with 8GB RAM.

The cheaper option would be a 2500k (cheaper by about £80) and 4GB RAM (cheaper by about £40).

Thanks Reslivo, anything that makes it cheaper is appreciated.

I do a bit of transcoding (maybe 2 or 3 times a week )

About the Ram ..... I do (or would like to do ) mulititasking, would more ram not be better for this? I just thought the more the merrier to be honest.

As you can probably guess I am not really a computer whiz kid. I have been using comps since the 80's, but have only ever bought Dell's up to now..... not exactly great for upgrading but run for ever.(at least they used to!) So it would be my first computer where I will be able to do more than just change the graphics card and add a hard drive. Which is probably why I am hesitating to take the plunge.   

Thanks Reslivo, anything that makes it cheaper is appreciated.

I do a bit of transcoding (maybe 2 or 3 times a week )

About the Ram ..... I do (or would like to do ) mulititasking, would more ram not be better for this? I just thought the more the merrier to be honest.

As you can probably guess I am not really a computer whiz kid. I have been using comps since the 80's, but have only ever bought Dell's up to now..... not exactly great for upgrading but run for ever.(at least they used to!) So it would be my first computer where I will be able to do more than just change the graphics card and add a hard drive. Which is probably why I am hesitating to take the plunge.  

Because I have a 32-bit OS, it only recognises 3.49GB of RAM, even though I have 4GB physically - the point I'm trying to make is that even though the full 4GB isn't recognised for me, I have never gone above 70% usage (to my knowledge, anyway). And we're talking about RAM-heavy Vista here, too.

I do alot of gaming, music editing, photo editing - everything that needs RAM. And I've never had an issue.

If you do transcoding that infrequently, you're best with a 2500k. Are you going to be overclocking at all? If not, you'd be even better off getting the non-k edition (limited overclocking capability compared to it's "k" brother) for about £20 less.

Just saw your prices, by the way. If you can get 8GB of RAM for £55, that's an absolute steal. So F**k it mate, you might aswell go for it.

A company/person is selling beltin pc's on ebay my mate is a pure geek and he said there boss, there is a wide variety of of pc's for sale for all reasonable prices. The name of the seller is fresh_teck uk.

http://myworld.ebay.co.uk/freshtech_uk/

 On that link to check out some of the goods. Some decent ones for under 3.

I know it's not a gaming pc but get on to this:

 http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/AMD-Quad-Core-3-1GHz-PC-System-1tb-Hdd-4gb-DDR3-Rn-/120674161018?pt=UK_Computing_DesktopPCs&hash=item1c18bd917a

Quad core 3.1ghz proccessor and 1tb harddrive 4gb ram for £240.

Finished building it today, was just wiring all the insides up then realised my PSU used Molex connectors instead of PCI-e for my video card, so Im floating on sh*t creek..



Guess I could just buy a Molex to PCI-e adapter for a few quid, but I'm not really happy with this brand of PSU If im honest.

Going to send it back and exchange it for a Corsair PSU I think

Because I have a 32-bit OS, it only recognises 3.49GB of RAM, even though I have 4GB physically - the point I'm trying to make is that even though the full 4GB isn't recognised for me, I have never gone above 70% usage (to my knowledge, anyway). And we're talking about RAM-heavy Vista here, too.

I do alot of gaming, music editing, photo editing - everything that needs RAM. And I've never had an issue.

If you do transcoding that infrequently, you're best with a 2500k. Are you going to be overclocking at all? If not, you'd be even better off getting the non-k edition (limited overclocking capability compared to it's "k" brother) for about £20 less.

Just saw your prices, by the way. If you can get 8GB of RAM for £55, that's an absolute steal. So f**k it mate, you might aswell go for it.

Its already overclocked to 4.5ghz Reslivo.

This would be the alternative taking onboard your suggestions :-

Case  
      Antec 300 Three Hundred, Ultimate Gaming Case (£40.30)    
 CPU  
      Intel Core i5 2500K Unlocked, Sandy Bridge, Quad Core, 3.3GHz, 6MB Cache (£131.15) 1  
CPU Cooler
      Coolermaster Hyper 212 Plus - Performance Cooler (£15.69) 1  
Overclocking
      Intel Core I5 2500K professionally overclocked by our 3XS enginners to 4.5Ghz. (£0.00) 1  
Memory
      4GB (2x2GB) Corsair XMS3 Classic DDR3 1600Mhz 1.5v (£30.40) 1  
NVIDIA Graphics1Gb EVGA GTX 460 SSC, 850Mhz GPU 336 Cores, 3900Mhz GDDR5 (£119.46) 1  
 
 
Power Supply Unit Compare
      600W Corsair CMPSU-600CX (£41.98) 1  
 
System Drives
      1TB Samsung Spinpoint F3, 7200rpm, 32MB Cache (£32.98) 12  
Optical Drive
      Samsung SH-S222AB/BEBE 22x DVD±R, 12x DVD±R, DVD+RW x8/-RW x6, SATA, Black, OEM (£12.22) 12  
Sound Card  
      7.1 On Board Sound (£0.00) 1  
 
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit - OEM (£58.07) 1  
 
 Extended Warranty Compare
      Standard 3XS System Warranty - 1 Year RTB (£0.00) 1  
 
  
Total
£763.72  
Base Price: £154.18
 
Your PC: £636.43
 
VAT: £127.29
  
I stuck an improved graphics card in and added a sound card.
 
      
 
  
  
 

Finished building it today, was just wiring all the insides up then realised my PSU used Molex connectors instead of PCI-e for my video card, so Im floating on sh*t creek..



Guess I could just buy a Molex to PCI-e adapter for a few quid, but I'm not really happy with this brand of PSU If im honest.

Going to send it back and exchange it for a Corsair PSU I think

What PSU do you have, again?