PC Gaming

pcspecialist.co.uk

That's where I got mine from. You can choose pre-built gaming PCs (AMD or Intel) and tweak every component to your liking, they might even give you a free game. They will then build, test, and deliver your PC. And as they use DPD Couriers you can track your parcel on the move. Very satisfied with my PC & the whole process that my dad got a new PC from their & received the same brilliant service. You can post your build onto their forums where others give you good advice & what components may work better etc.

Kilroy8 wrote:pcspecialist.co.uk

That's where I got mine from. You can choose pre-built gaming PCs (AMD or Intel) and tweak every component to your liking, they might even give you a free game. They will then build, test, and deliver your PC. And as they use DPD Couriers you can track your parcel on the move. Very satisfied with my PC & the whole process that my dad got a new PC from their & received the same brilliant service. You can post your build onto their forums where others give you good advice & what components may work better etc.

This is the site I have looked at so far I'm just a bit confused which motherboard I should pick.

What about this? I don't know what to choose for the motherboard and the processor cooling.

Case
CORSAIR CARBIDE SERIES™ 300R COMPACT GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-4670 (3.4GHz) 6MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® H81M-E: Micro-ATX, LG1150, USB 3.0, SATA 6GBs
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz, X.M.P (2 x 4GB KIT)
Graphics Card
2GB AMD RADEON™ HD7850 - DVI,HDMI,DP - DX® 11, Eyefinity 3 Capable
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
120GB KINGSTON V300 SSD, SATA 6 Gb (450MB/R, 450MB/W)
2nd Hard Disk
1TB 3.5" SATA-III 6GB/s HDD 7200RPM 32MB CACHE
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 450W VS SERIES™ VS-450 POWER SUPPLY
Processor Cooling
INTEL STANDARD CPU COOLER
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs
USB Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 4 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Power Cable
1 x 2 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Professional 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence (£109)

£755 inc VAT

What sort of budget are you working with and what do you need?
Operating system? Monitor? Keyboard + mouse?

As far as retailers go, PC Specialist and Overclockers would be the two places I would look at for prebuilt systems if you are dead set on not building it yourself.

However it would be cheaper/better value to get the parts yourself and make it (lots of easy to follow guides online , it's like grown up lego) or get a mate to do it for a takeaway and a few beers.

- A H81 motherboard will work fine, but beware of some of it's limitations if you plan to upgrade in the future. 'Only' 2 memory slots (but will you ever use more than 2 modules), no PCI-e 3.0, but 2.0 (although that won't noticably slow the performance), no Raid possibilities (would you use that? ), no overclocking possibility.
- For the GPU, you seem to stick with the Radeon 7850. Is there a reason for this? I'm surprised you can still get one. For a few quid more get the R9 270, which has a better chipset (old 7870 series) and better performance.
- If you plan on ordering via pcspecialist, then the Titan Super quiet CPU cooler is the best choice. If you want/can order any where else, then for this configuration the Gelid Solutions Tranquillo Rev.2 is an excellent choice.
- With a H81 micro-ATX motherboard the Corsair Carbide 300R is a bit large and perhaps overkill. The Fractal Design Core 1000 is then a better choice (and cheaper.. ) Maybe an extra casefan for a little extra airflow.

Choices choices.... hahaha. I went through this whole process myself when putting together my Game PC.   I went for ordering parts at various shops and put the whole thing together myself, which was a lot of fun.

If you would be willing to build it yourself (or get a mate to help who can) then it's about £75 cheaper than buying a pre-built system. You can pick exactly what parts you want to use and don't get stuck with whatever parts they have laying around. For example, you can swap out the Sapphire graphics card below for a Gigabyte one and get BF4 free for an extra £5.
I've used OCUK (www.overclockers.co.uk) as I have had great service from them and their forums are really helpful.

Here's a rough parts list for around the price you had specified before:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Sapphire Radeon R9 270X Vapor-X OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Card  £155.99
1 x Intel Core i5-4570 3.20GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail  £149.99
1 x MSI H87-G43 Intel H87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard  £79.99
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE120BW)  £79.99
1 x Toshiba 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6GB/s 32MB Cache - OEM (DT01ACA200) HDD  £68.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02733)  £67.99
1 x Avexir Core Blue Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit  £55.99
1 x SuperFlower Golden Green HX 450W "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black  £53.99
1 x Corsair Carbide 200R Compact ATX Case - Black (CC-9011023-WW)  £47.99
1 x OcUK 20x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM  £16.99
Total : £787.50 (includes shipping : £8.00).

Thanks everyone for the help. To give you an idea, my budget is about £800. I want to be able to run things like iRacing, rFactor 2 and Raceroom racing experience etc. I would be willing to build it myself it's just I wouldn't want to mess it up when building it.

I should really put my specs on here and have your guys help out.

What if I swap the intel processor for an AMD? They're cheaper aren't they?

iRacing only uses 2 cores (or so I've read). 1 for the cars and 1 for all the other stuff like sounds, environment etc.
Intel are far better per core for the same speed so while AMD may benefit heavily threaded games (BF4 is a good example) it's going to be a moot point for most games right now.

Ok I'm just trying to not spend too much on components when I don't need to.

With a budget of ~800 pounds, I second Cowboy's list. I would maybe swap the Toshiba HDD for a Seagate Barracuda, but that's more personal preference than anything else. I'd also add an aftermarket CPU cooler, like the one I mentioned above (Gelid).

AMD are a very cost effective solution for stuff like content creation (making lots of videos) thanks to their higher core count for the price but they are a bit harder to recommend for gaming because games can't use all the cores.

Only the FX6300 for around £85 stands out as being of notable value but you're still looking at £70 for a decent motherboard.

It would be a good way of saving money with the R9 270X but should you upgrade the graphics card in the future it could well end up being the weak link and hold the graphics card back.

So what would I be looking at getting in terms of fans/cooling?

The Corsair Carbide 200R comes with two fans. The Sapphire GPU has it's own cooling fans. Add a CPU cooler and you will be fine and should have no issues with keeping the entire system cool enough.

Are u planning on running two graphics cards for a multiple monitors? if so the power supply is better to be a 750w one. Corsair do a good range of them.

But if ur running just one card (not sure if the 7850 does triple screens) please ignore,,lol

Greg   

It's me again. Would it be beneficial in the long term to get a six core processor for gaming or would 4 cores be enough?

Depends on the brand.

AMD 6 core processors like the FX-6300 & FX 6350 are good budget processors if you can't stretch to the FX 8320/8350 8 core processors.

Intel 6 core processors on the LGA 2011 platform that cost £350+ are overkill if you are just gaming. An i7 is possibly overkill too as an i5 will be plenty for the next few years IMO.

Cool thanks

Does anyone here play League of Legends?

Mthrfckin Microsoft Flight Simulator X is just £4 on Steam for the next two days!!!

And don't forget Euro Truck Sim 2 is only €2,99!!

F4H Rosso wrote:Does anyone here play League of Legends?

i been playing alot of league of legends lately with my cousin haha