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[amardilo]

That looks like a solid build. I don't know about the Corsair SSD, i'm sure someone else can chime in.

As for adding a second 780 in a few years. I can promise you that you won't. In a few year mid range card will most likely beat the 780 with ease.

Thanks, my 2 options are getting a PS4 and a new TV or getting a gaming PC. I was am still not 100% sure but I am now leaning towards my first ever gaming PC (and first PC since 2005).

It sounds like I'll be OK with getting this and it lasting this generation.

I am really concerned the machine I am building won't keep up with next gen hardware (I know my planned PC build is technically better hardware but I am worried that as time goes on and developers get used to the lower level access of the next-gen hardware games will look better on consoles).

 

[Seanspeed]

I am really concerned the machine I am building won't keep up with next gen hardware

You're joking right?

 

[mapla]

Okay I gotta know: how important is it really to have eight threads? If I want a processor that'll last me a good five years of gaming is it really imperative I have eight threads? Right now I'm looking at an i5-4670k and this thread has noted repeatedly how unnecessary an i7 is for most tasks. But still, the consoles will have eight threads, and now I'm actually hearing of PC games that will make use of eight threads.

And is it really impossible to upgrade a CPU without taking a whole motherboard with it?

Knowing the shit that are the CPUs of the consoles I wouldn't worry about the life of a processor like i5-4670k.

However, I think you can get enough performance of a much cheaper processor like a FX-8320 (with OC to get 8350), which has 8 cores. Yes, it has an IPC much worse than Intel, but with the saving of choosing this option ahead of the Intel option you can get better GPU.

So yes, I would choose an eight core processor (because right now the 8320/8350 reminds me to the mythical Q6600) or at least an i7 (if you want to do SLI/CF in the future).

The other thing I would like to know is if people think this PC is more powerful and will play games at a 60fps and at 1080p and look at least as good as the next gen consoles?

My future plan is to add another GTX 780 but this will be a few years from now. By the sounds of it I need a power supply just over 700W so I am planning on getting a 750W power supply.

The PC you have chosen will run games better than the next gen consoles for sure (It would be enough even with a 7950 Boost). But 1080p/60fps is another question, depends on the graphic options, but I would not expect to get 1080p/60fps in every game, not by any means. In any case the consoles won't be able to have 1080p/60fps in every game, right now we know a few examples of that fact.

Even though if you add another GTX 780 you'll get a monster xD

 

[Addnan]

Your PC will destroy the coming gen. Just look at what they are arguing over in the COD and BF threads and see what the discussions are in the the PC thread. Not on the same level.

 

[Hindle]

I need some feedback

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B008LZGDUM/

Is this PC good enough to run BF4 at full settings?

Edit. Also, will this PC be powerful enough for The Witcher 3?

 

[Addnan]

I need some feedback

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B008LZGDUM/

Is this PC good enough to run BF4 at full settings?

Edit. Also, will this PC be powerful enough for The Witcher 3?

Not even close. If you want prebuilt check out dinopc. They will build for you.

 

[mapla]

I need some feedback

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B008LZGDUM/

Is this PC good enough to run BF4 at full settings?

Edit. Also, will this PC be powerful enough for The Witcher 3?

Is not a good choice in my opinion, it cannot run BF4 at full settings. The graphic card is a shit.

Don't buy it.

 

[Hindle]

Not even close. If you want prebuilt check out dinopc. They will build for you.

Thanks.

Are Dinopc reliable btw?

 

[Seanspeed]

I would not expect to get 1080p/60fps in every game

With some options tweaking, there's no reason he couldn't expect that.

 

[Addnan]

Thanks.

Are Dinopc reliable btw?

Yeah, they are good. There is also yoyotech, scan.co.uk build for you too. At the top their is the 3XS systems they do. Which come in all price ranges.

 

[dapperbandit]

Odd question perhaps.

I don't really watch TV so I've been using an LCD monitor with my PS3 and I used to use it as a monitor for my PC before it died.

When I bought the monitor I was on a tight budget so I don't think its very good; the picture quality isn't outstanding, that's for sure.

What monitor would you reccomend that's good for PS3/PS4 play but can double up as a monitor for a PC in the not too distant future?

For reference, I think this is what i have just now

http://www.foehn-hirsch.com/19-lcd-dvd-combo-tv.html

 

[Seanspeed]

Odd question perhaps.

I don't really watch TV so I've been using an LCD monitor with my PS3 and I used to use it as a monitor for my PC before it died.

When I bought the monitor I was on a tight budget so I don't think its very good; the picture quality isn't outstanding, that's for sure.

What monitor would you reccomend that's good for PS3/PS4 play but can double up as a monitor for a PC in the not too distant future?

For reference, I think this is what i have just now

http://www.foehn-hirsch.com/19-lcd-dvd-combo-tv.html

Pretty much anything is a step up from that. Check the OP for some recommendations based on your budget.

 

[Hindle]

Yeah, they are good. There is also yoyotech, scan.co.uk build for you too. At the top their is the 3XS systems they do. Which come in all price ranges.

My knowledge of PC gaming isnt very good. For a absolute top of the the range PC, capable of playing the likes of BF 4 at full spec, what kind of parts will I need?

 

[amardilo]

You're joking right?

No, but this is mostly down to me overly worrying about stuff. The other worry I have is that is Windows 8.1 and Direct 3D APIs a massive overhead compared to console OS' and cut down customised APIs. Also as my graphics card only has 3GB of RAM is that enough as consoles can access more (even though it is shared with the CPU).

All this PC build stuff and numbers are new to me. Never really played games on PC (other than Football Manager games).

The PC you have chosen will run games better than the next gen consoles for sure (It would be enough even with a 7950 Boost). But 1080p/60fps is another question, depends on the graphic options, but I would not expect to get 1080p/60fps in every game, not by any means. In any case the consoles won't be able to have 1080p/60fps in every game, right now we know a few examples of that fact.

Even though if you add another GTX 780 you'll get a monster xD

Yeah I understand that as time goes on developers will find new ways to make use of newer hardware and GPUs and I won't be able to run everything maxed out with a 1080p resolution and 60fps.

I think I would like to at least be able to play most games out now (and within the next 2 years) at 1080p and at 60fps (I personally can't notice any differences with frame rate higher than 60) and have them look as good as next-gen consoles (even if the next gen consoles are running at a lower resolution).

 

[kharma45]

Can anyone tell me if they think I should be able to play Battlefield 4 at 1080p at 60fps on max settings with this approx build (will get a cheaper 750W power supply and I already own a copy of Windows 8 and a 1.5TB 5200RPM WD Green HDD) - http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/amardilo/saved/2eP6

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler
Thermal Compound: Arctic Silver Arctic Alumina 5g Thermal Paste
Motherboard: Asus Z87-PRO ATX LGA1150 Motherboard
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2133 Memory
Storage: Corsair Neutron Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 780 3GB Video Card
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case
Case Fan: Corsair Air Series AF120 Performance Edition (2-Pack) 63.5 CFM 120mm Fans
Power Supply: Corsair RM 650W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply
Optical Drive: Asus BW-12B1ST/BLK/G/AS Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer 23.0" Monitor[/url]

The other thing I would like to know is if people think this PC is more powerful and will play games at a 60fps and at 1080p and look at least as good as the next gen consoles?

My future plan is to add another GTX 780 but this will be a few years from now. By the sounds of it I need a power supply just over 700W so I am planning on getting a 750W power supply.

Few changes. Drop that RAM, different PSU, different mobo, different SSD. As Addnan says, in a few years mid range cards will beat the 780.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£233.99 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (£87.99 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z87X-UD3H ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£128.25 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Patriot Viper 3 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£109.31 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (£123.49 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 780 3GB Video Card (£399.98 @ Aria PC)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case (£76.97 @ Ebuyer)
Case Fan: Corsair Air Series AF120 Performance Edition (2-Pack) 63.5 CFM 120mm Fans (£17.99 @ Ebuyer)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 750W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply (£107.70 @ Scan.co.uk)
Monitor: LG 24EA53V-P 23.8" Monitor (£134.99 @ Ebuyer)
Total: £1420.66
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-10-31 11:00 GMT+0000)

Get your 4770K from Amazon too btw. As for the 780 change it to Scan or Novatech too where it is also £400, whichever one gives you the cheapest delivery. Make sure too with Novatech you check the box on the page for the free games! Gigabyte has a much, much better RMA service in the UK than ASUS.

Also if you just decide to go for a single GPU drop the PSU to something like the Seasonic G550w Gold. Your cooler will also come with it's own paste.

Also LG do very good IPS monitors too, could save a bit by moving to them over the Dell

I've 3 Dell IPS monitors at home and 1 LG IPS and they're all pretty much the same.

I think I would like to at least be able to play most games out now (and within the next 2 years) at 1080p and at 60fps (I personally can't notice any differences with frame rate higher than 60) and have them look as good as next-gen consoles (even if the next gen consoles are running at a lower resolution).

That's because you're playing on panels that can only show 60fps.

A 120Hz monitor you'll notice the difference.

 

[mapla]

With some options tweaking, there's no reason he couldn't expect that.

You are right, but sometimes the people with PC expect the highest options, 1080p, constant 60 fps while in console they accept medium options, sub-standar resolution of that time, 30 fps with drops.

I am not saying that amardilo think in that way but it is pretty common, i don't know why.

I think I would like to at least be able to play most games out now (and within the next 2 years) at 1080p and at 60fps (I personally can't notice any differences with frame rate higher than 60) and have them look as good as next-gen consoles (even if the next gen consoles are running at a lower resolution).

As Seanspeed said, if you tweak some options you will get 1080p/60fps for sure. Sometimes an option is really demanding but you can't barely notice its benefit.

PS: If you wait until February you could get the new generation of graphic cards of Nvidia. GTX 780 is a great card but in my opinion is expensive.

 

[kharma45]

PS: If you wait until February you could get the new generation of graphic cards of Nvidia. GTX 780 is a great card but in my opinion is expensive.

It's unlikely we're going to see anything from Nvidia in February. 20nm won't be ready so they might launch a 760 Ti or something to plug a gap but Maxwell won't be here until Q3/Q4 2014.

 

[Hindle]

Few changes. Drop that RAM, different PSU, different mobo, different SSD. As Addnan says, in a few years mid range cards will beat the 780.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£233.99 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (£87.99 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z87X-UD3H ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£128.25 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Patriot Viper 3 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£109.31 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (£123.49 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 780 3GB Video Card (£399.98 @ Aria PC)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case (£76.97 @ Ebuyer)
Case Fan: Corsair Air Series AF120 Performance Edition (2-Pack) 63.5 CFM 120mm Fans (£17.99 @ Ebuyer)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 750W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply (£107.70 @ Scan.co.uk)
Monitor: LG 24EA53V-P 23.8" Monitor (£134.99 @ Ebuyer)
Total: £1420.66
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-10-31 11:00 GMT+0000)

Get your 4770K from Amazon too btw. As for the 780 change it to Scan or Novatech too where it is also £400, whichever one gives you the cheapest delivery. Make sure too with Novatech you check the box on the page for the free games! Gigabyte has a much, much better RMA service in the UK than ASUS.

Also if you just decide to go for a single GPU drop the PSU to something like the Seasonic G550w Gold. Your cooler will also come with it's own paste.

Also LG do very good IPS monitors too, could save a bit by moving to them over the Dell

I've 3 Dell IPS monitors at home and 1 LG IPS and they're all pretty much the same.

That's because you're playing on panels that can only show 60fps.

A 120Hz monitor you'll notice the difference.

Thanks for this dude.

Is it safe to say this spec will run BF4 at full spec and that I'll be future proof for games such as The Witcher 3?

 

[kharma45]

Thanks for this dude.

Is it safe to say this spec will run BF4 at full spec and that I'll be future proof for games such as The Witcher 3?

You sure you're quoting the right build? That was for amardilo.

 

[mapla]

It's unlikely we're going to see anything from Nvidia in February. 20nm won't be ready so they might launch a 760 Ti or something to plug a gap but Maxwell won't be here until Q3/Q4 2014.

Really? Fuck, I was waiting for Maxwell.

I want a GTX 770 but is a little bit expensive seeing the AMD's counterparts (I want 4 GB of VRAM). Well, I guess I'll can see how it works mantle.

 

[Hindle]

You sure you're quoting the right build? That was for amardilo.

I've no idea what I'm doing with PC gaming dude Amardilos quote, is it capable of running BF 4 at full spec?

 

[fluffydelusions]

It's unlikely we're going to see anything from Nvidia in February. 20nm won't be ready so they might launch a 760 Ti or something to plug a gap but Maxwell won't be here until Q3/Q4 2014.

Just like to say thanks for the build. Everything works great!

 

[kharma45]

I've no idea what I'm doing with PC gaming dude Amardilos quote, is it capable of running BF 4 at full spec?

No bother. I will never call a machine future proof as you're likely to end up with egg on your face, I'd say it's fairly future resistant though.

As for the 780 in BF4 I've taken these quotes from the BF4 performance thread

i7-4770K @3,5GHz
16GB RAM
GTX 780

Running perfectly Smooth in 1080p on Ultra Settings

I just played through the entire campaign with it on and I was hitting mostly 60FPS with the ultra preset at 1080p. Didn't even notice it was background recording.

Specs:
GTX 780 3GB Factory OC'd
16GB RAM
i7 3930k at 3.20GHz

GTX 780, i7 920 @ 3.8, 6gb ram, SSD. Getting 80-100ish FPS with all settings Ultra, 4x AA, and 90 FOV. Only problem I'm having is that my game is crashing a lot (ctd with bf4.exe error), about once every 30-60 minutes.

Really? Fuck, I was waiting for Maxwell.

I want a GTX 770 but is a little bit expensive seeing the AMD's counterparts (I want 4 GB of VRAM). Well, I guess I'll can see how it works mantle.

It's unfortunate but it's out of Nvidia (and AMDs) hands.

 

[kharma45]

Just like to say thanks for the build. Everything works great!

Good stuff. Just looking back your build now, nice potent machine that! I'm pleased to hear it's all working well, I always have a slight worry in the back of my head when I recommend something as if it goes wrong (say a DOA motherboard) then I'll get blamed

 

[Seanspeed]

My knowledge of PC gaming isnt very good. For a absolute top of the the range PC, capable of playing the likes of BF 4 at full spec, what kind of parts will I need?

Looking at the PC you were thinking about, I'm guessing you aren't trying to spend 1000's of dollars. So don't worry about top of the line stuff. You don't really need that kind of thing, anyways(unless you really want to).

The OP has some good recommendations for builds. Definitely check that out first. This might all require a bit of research and asking questions here, but its better to take a bit of time now so you can get exactly what you need for the best price.

No, but this is mostly down to me overly worrying about stuff. The other worry I have is that is Windows 8.1 and Direct 3D APIs a massive overhead compared to console OS' and cut down customised APIs. Also as my graphics card only has 3GB of RAM is that enough as consoles can access more (even though it is shared with the CPU).

All this PC build stuff and numbers are new to me. Never really played games on PC (other than Football Manager games).

Yeah I understand that as time goes on developers will find new ways to make use of newer hardware and GPUs and I won't be able to run everything maxed out with a 1080p resolution and 60fps.

I think I would like to at least be able to play most games out now (and within the next 2 years) at 1080p and at 60fps (I personally can't notice any differences with frame rate higher than 60) and have them look as good as next-gen consoles (even if the next gen consoles are running at a lower resolution).

Lets just say that with your graphics card, you could buy a 1440p monitor and make next-gen gaming look positively outdated. Its that powerful.

Honestly, your goal is achievable with lesser components. 'Max settings' is terribly overrated. Its nice when you can do it, but like mapla says, a lot of the 'ultra' settings are hardly even noticeable unless you have them side-by-side(and even then, it often requires squinting your eyes and sticking your face close to the screen! lol). And these settings can often be quite performance draining, so you can usually achieve the performance you want without having to compromise much at all on image quality.

If you've got the money, I would buy that rig in a heartbeat. You wont be disappointed and there'd be absolutely nothing to worry about from the consoles.

 

[amardilo]

Few changes. Drop that RAM, different PSU, different mobo, different SSD. As Addnan says, in a few years mid range cards will beat the 780.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£233.99 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (£87.99 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z87X-UD3H ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£128.25 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Patriot Viper 3 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£109.31 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (£123.49 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 780 3GB Video Card (£399.98 @ Aria PC)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case (£76.97 @ Ebuyer)
Case Fan: Corsair Air Series AF120 Performance Edition (2-Pack) 63.5 CFM 120mm Fans (£17.99 @ Ebuyer)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 750W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply (£107.70 @ Scan.co.uk)
Monitor: LG 24EA53V-P 23.8" Monitor (£134.99 @ Ebuyer)
Total: £1420.66
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-10-31 11:00 GMT+0000)

Get your 4770K from Amazon too btw. As for the 780 change it to Scan or Novatech too where it is also £400, whichever one gives you the cheapest delivery. Make sure too with Novatech you check the box on the page for the free games! Gigabyte has a much, much better RMA service in the UK than ASUS.

Also if you just decide to go for a single GPU drop the PSU to something like the Seasonic G550w Gold. Your cooler will also come with it's own paste.

Also LG do very good IPS monitors too, could save a bit by moving to them over the Dell

I've 3 Dell IPS monitors at home and 1 LG IPS and they're all pretty much the same.



That's because you're playing on panels that can only show 60fps.

A 120Hz monitor you'll notice the difference.

Thanks for that. I went with the Dell monitor as I saw reviews mentioning the screen can be rotated, which looks really useful for some of my work related stuff.

As Seanspeed said, if you tweak some options you will get 1080p/60fps for sure. Sometimes an option is really demanding but you can't barely notice its benefit.

PS: If you wait until February you could get the new generation of graphic cards of Nvidia. GTX 780 is a great card but in my opinion is expensive.

Thanks.

I've no idea what I'm doing with PC gaming dude Amardilos quote, is it capable of running BF 4 at full spec?

You might not want to use my build as a best example as I am not fully clued up with all this stuff either Also I went with the i7 due to my work setup requiring me to run lots of virtual machines at once through Hyper-V Manager. I also added water cooling stuff as I wanted it to be quiet (as my machine is on for long periods due to it being used for work and gaming) and I just think the idea of water cooling is cool.

Lets just say that with your graphics card, you could buy a 1440p monitor and make next-gen gaming look positively outdated. Its that powerful.

Honestly, your goal is achievable with lesser components. 'Max settings' is terribly overrated. Its nice when you can do it, but like mapla says, a lot of the 'ultra' settings are hardly even noticeable unless you have them side-by-side(and even then, it often requires squinting your eyes and sticking your face close to the screen! lol). And these settings can often be quite performance draining, so you can usually achieve the performance you want without having to compromise much at all on image quality.

If you've got the money, I would buy that rig in a heartbeat. You wont be disappointed and there'd be absolutely nothing to worry about from the consoles.

Sounds like I may have then gone overboard, which I guess is good. Might look at dropping the GPU back to the 770 to save some cash.

 

[kharma45]

Thanks for that. I went with the Dell monitor as I saw reviews mentioning the screen can be rotated, which looks really useful for some of my work related stuff.

No problem, stick with the Dell then as the LG bases are fixed. The Ultrasharps are great monitors, you'll be very happy with it.

Sounds like I may have then gone overboard, which I guess is good. Might look at dropping the GPU back to the 770 to save some cash.

Even with swapping that Dell in going with the 780 in the build that I did is still £110 cheaper than what you'd originally drawn up. If you can afford it the 780 is well worth it.

You could swap to the H80i instead of the H100i if you want to save money and still retain a top GPU.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£233.99 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H80i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (£71.25 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z87X-UD3H ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£128.25 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Patriot Viper 3 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£109.31 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (£123.49 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 780 3GB Video Card (£399.98 @ Aria PC)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case (£76.97 @ Ebuyer)
Case Fan: Corsair Air Series AF120 Performance Edition (2-Pack) 63.5 CFM 120mm Fans (£17.99 @ Ebuyer)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 750W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply (£107.70 @ Scan.co.uk)
Monitor: LG 24EA53V-P 23.8" Monitor (£134.99 @ Ebuyer)
Total: £1403.92
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-10-31 12:09 GMT+0000)

Another £30 could be saved if you drop to a 550w Gold rated PSU and stick with a single GPU set up.

 

[Seanspeed]

Sounds like I may have then gone overboard, which I guess is good. Might look at dropping the GPU back to the 770 to save some cash.

Wouldn't rule out a 280X, either. Really cheap in the UK at the moment(£220-230). Just doesn't come with any games.

 

[amardilo]

Big thanks to everyone that has responded to my messages in this thread. It's very much appreciated.

No problem, stick with the Dell then as the LG bases are fixed. The Ultrasharps are great monitors, you'll be very happy with it.



Even with swapping that Dell in going with the 780 in the build that I did is still £110 cheaper than what you'd originally drawn up. If you can afford it the 780 is well worth it.

You could swap to the H80i instead of the H100i if you want to save money and still retain a top GPU.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£233.99 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H80i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (£71.25 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z87X-UD3H ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£128.25 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Patriot Viper 3 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£109.31 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (£123.49 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 780 3GB Video Card (£399.98 @ Aria PC)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case (£76.97 @ Ebuyer)
Case Fan: Corsair Air Series AF120 Performance Edition (2-Pack) 63.5 CFM 120mm Fans (£17.99 @ Ebuyer)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 750W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply (£107.70 @ Scan.co.uk)
Monitor: LG 24EA53V-P 23.8" Monitor (£134.99 @ Ebuyer)
Total: £1403.92
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-10-31 12:09 GMT+0000)

Another £30 could be saved if you drop to a 550w Gold rated PSU and stick with a single GPU set up.

Thanks again. Will check out those parts

Wouldn't rule out a 280X, either. Really cheap in the UK at the moment(£220-230). Just doesn't come with any games.

I don't think I need any games as I bought a load of games when they hit sales on Steam but I have never had anything other than a MacBook Pro from 2009 to play them on.

I was looking at nVidia mainly because I heard bad things about ATI drivers and nVidia cards can support PhysX which sounds like a cool idea if games support it (but then again I imagine ATI has it's own propriety stuff too).

 

[Newline]

Ok so with Battlefield 4 arriving tomorrow i'm doing a quick upgrade to my PC, will order the parts in the next few hours to arrive for tomorrow.
Getting really confused with the PSU requirements though.

So i'm going to finally overclock my 2500k i5 and to do so i'll have to snag this:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0068OI7T8/

Will also be buying a Windforce GTX 770.

How much will I need for that card and over clocking my CPU? Apart from those two, I have a standard motherboard, 8 GB DDR3, CD Drive and 1TB HDD.

Also has anyone got a guide for over clocking an i5 2500k? Have little to no idea what i'm doing.

 

[Addnan]

Ok so with Battlefield 4 arriving tomorrow i'm doing a quick upgrade to my PC, will order the parts in the next few hours to arrive for tomorrow.
Getting really confused with the PSU requirements though.

So i'm going to finally overclock my 2500k i5 and to do so i'll have to snag this:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0068OI7T8/

Will also be buying a Windforce GTX 770.

How much will I need for that card and over clocking my CPU? Apart from those two, I have a standard motherboard, 8 GB DDR3, CD Drive and 1TB HDD.

Also has anyone got a guide for over clocking an i5 2500k? Have little to no idea what i'm doing.

A good 550W is plenty. Something like Seasonic G series. Whats your budget?

 

[kennah]

There is an overclocking guide in the OP.

Also loving that parts haven't changed for years. Might be snagging an i7-920, Rampage II, 12 gig of ram and a psu for $180.

 

[kharma45]

I was looking at nVidia mainly because I heard bad things about ATI drivers and nVidia cards can support PhysX which sounds like a cool idea if games support it (but then again I imagine ATI has it's own propriety stuff too).

AMD drivers are perfectly stable now, it's been a long time since they were bad.

PhysX isn't really all that big a selling factor as it's so niche, just like AMD's Mantle will be when it arrives. What you get with Nvidia is a lot of feature richness that AMD hasn't matched yet like ShadowPlay, TXAA, downsampling and G Sync (although you need a particular monitor for G Sync to work).

If AMD had non-reference 290s and 290Xs out at the minute I'd be recommending them over the 780 but as it stands the 290 is still MIA and the 290X is too hot and noisy with its reference cooler. The 780 is the single best GPU on the market at the minute (ignoring Titan that is).

 

[chunk3rvd]

A colleague's son has asked for a gaming PC for Christmas and as the resident office nerd he's come to me for advice. I'm clueless about modern PC builds though so hoping GAF can help him make an informed decision

He asked for suggestions around £400 but could stretch to £500 if it was a good deal. He doesn't need a monitor which should help keep the price down. I've explained that this cross-gen transition is probably the worst time to make a purchase like this with the specs that seem to be floated for Watchdogs and COD etc. That doesn't change what a kid wants for Christmas though!

Can anyone suggest the best "bang for buck" parts he can purchae in that price range? Also, I'm sure he may be a little averse to building himself so as an alternative, do any sites offer decent pre built models in that price range? I know you'd get much less power for your money doing that but would be handy to see how big a difference it would make

 

[kharma45]

A colleague's son has asked for a gaming PC for Christmas and as the resident office nerd he's come to me for advice. I'm clueless about modern PC builds though so hoping GAF can help him make an informed decision

He asked for suggestions around £400 but could stretch to £500 if it was a good deal. He doesn't need a monitor which should help keep the price down. I've explained that this cross-gen transition is probably the worst time to make a purchase like this with the specs that seem to be floated for Watchdogs and COD etc. That doesn't change what a kid wants for Christmas though!

Can anyone suggest the best "bang for buck" parts he can purchae in that price range? Also, I'm sure he may be a little averse to building himself so as an alternative, do any sites offer decent pre built models in that price range? I know you'd get much less power for your money doing that but would be handy to see how big a difference it would make

Does he need Windows or can he get it free through anywhere/does he own a machine he can transfer it from already?

 

[chunk3rvd]

Does he need Windows or can he get it free through anywhere/does he own a machine he can transfer it from already?

I'd leave windows out of the cost if we're suggesting parts. I assume it would come with a pre built model in most cases anyway?

 

[Newline]

A good 550W is plenty. Something like Seasonic G series. Whats your budget?

I currently have:
http://eolref.ocztechnology.com/ocz-500w-stealthxstream-power-supply-eol.html
Budget is quite inflexible at the moment. Purchased the GTX 770 Gigabyte just now (very excited) for £250. Hoping not to spend more than £50 on the CPU Fan overclocking solution. If I do have to upgrade my PSU, I guess it blows that budget out the water.

 

[Prophet Steve]

I'd leave windows out of the cost if we're suggesting parts. I assume it would come with a pre built model in most cases anyway?

A prebuilt 500 pound PC will not be a gaming PC. And a 400 pound one definitely not.

 

[kharma45]

I'd leave windows out of the cost if we're suggesting parts. I assume it would come with a pre built model in most cases anyway?

Some pre-builds will come with it yes. Let them know that building isn't a difficult task and is quite rewarding when you're done. You'll save money, get better quality parts and each one will have its own individual warranty too.

For £500 I'd look at this

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i3-4130 3.4GHz Dual-Core Processor (£83.99 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: Biostar Hi-Fi Z87X 3D ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£104.99 @ Ebuyer)
Memory: Patriot Viper 3 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£54.17 @ CCL Computers)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£41.99 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7850 2GB Video Card (£109.99 @ Novatech)
Case: NZXT Source 210 Elite (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case (£38.65 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply (£48.99 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £482.77
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-10-31 13:04 GMT+0000)

It's built with upgrading in mind. The motherboard is totally overkill, totally but it's a Z87 chipset which means if his son ever wanted to upgrade down the line to a 4670K or a 4770K (or even Broadwell if it does have LGA options) he can do that. PSU is in the same vein, will allow you to run basically any single GPU.

If that doesn't sound appealing you could do this instead but you'll be more limited in the future

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i3-4130 3.4GHz Dual-Core Processor (£83.99 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: MSI B85M-G43 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£54.50 @ Ebuyer)
Memory: Patriot Viper 3 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£54.17 @ CCL Computers)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£41.99 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7850 2GB Video Card (£109.99 @ Novatech)
Case: NZXT Source 210 Elite (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case (£38.65 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 450W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply (£33.60 @ Aria PC)
Total: £416.89
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-10-31 13:06 GMT+0000)

Enough money spare there too for an SSD. Kingston V300 is £63.99 at Amazon for 120GB.

Personally I'd lean towards the top one but that's because upgrading would tickle my fancy.

 

[Addnan]

I currently have:
http://eolref.ocztechnology.com/ocz-500w-stealthxstream-power-supply-eol.html
Budget is quite inflexible at the moment. Purchased the GTX 770 Gigabyte just now (very excited) for £250. Hoping not to spend more than £50 on the CPU Fan overclocking solution. If I do have to upgrade my PSU, I guess it blows that budget out the water.

It could probably just about run it, but you would need to use adapters since that PSU only has 1x PCI-E. I personally wouldn't recommend it though. I wouldn't want to run my new parts on that.

 

[chickdigger802]

thinking about mantle... w/e happen to tressfx, that other amd initiative? Besides tomb raider, was it really utilized anywhere?

 

[kharma45]

thinking about mantle... w/e happen to tressfx, that other amd initiative? Besides tomb raider, was it really utilized anywhere?

Not as far as I am aware. DICE does seem fairly behind Mantle so I'd imagine a few EA games will support it but I don't see much beyond that really. It'll be just a niche thing like PhysX.

 

[Felix Lighter]

I imagine TressFX was developed along side of Tomb Raider, the same way Mantle was developed along side of Frostbite 3/BF4, now it should potentially out their for devs to use.

 

[Quake1028]

Cross posting from the B/S/T thread to show you guys:

Looking to sell a factory refurbished ASUS Maximus V Gene. Comes complete with everything. Looking to get $175 shipped OBO via Paypal Gift, CONUS only.

 

[chickdigger802]

well with frostbite being THE EA engine (besides sports), there could be potential thing going on.

hmmm what are some upcoming games that have picked sides... witcher 3's wolf tech is nvidia right? I recall watch_dogs and w/e ubisoft is up to is nvidia as well.

 

[chunk3rvd]

A prebuilt 500 pound PC will not be a gaming PC. And a 400 pound one definitely not.

I assumed as much. Just handy to see it confirmed and could help to sell him on the idea of building from scratch

Some pre-builds will come with it yes. Let them know that building isn't a difficult task and is quite rewarding when you're done. You'll save money, get better quality parts and each one will have its own individual warranty too.

For £500 I'd look at this

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i3-4130 3.4GHz Dual-Core Processor (£83.99 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: Biostar Hi-Fi Z87X 3D ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£104.99 @ Ebuyer)
Memory: Patriot Viper 3 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£54.17 @ CCL Computers)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£41.99 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7850 2GB Video Card (£109.99 @ Novatech)
Case: NZXT Source 210 Elite (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case (£38.65 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply (£48.99 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £482.77
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-10-31 13:04 GMT+0000)

It's built with upgrading in mind. The motherboard is totally overkill, totally but it's a Z87 chipset which means if his son ever wanted to upgrade down the line to a 4670K or a 4770K (or even Broadwell if it does have LGA options) he can do that. PSU is in the same vein, will allow you to run basically any single GPU.

If that doesn't sound appealing you could do this instead but you'll be more limited in the future

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i3-4130 3.4GHz Dual-Core Processor (£83.99 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: MSI B85M-G43 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£54.50 @ Ebuyer)
Memory: Patriot Viper 3 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£54.17 @ CCL Computers)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£41.99 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7850 2GB Video Card (£109.99 @ Novatech)
Case: NZXT Source 210 Elite (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case (£38.65 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 450W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply (£33.60 @ Aria PC)
Total: £416.89
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-10-31 13:06 GMT+0000)

Enough money spare there too for an SSD. Kingston V300 is £63.99 at Amazon for 120GB.

Personally I'd lean towards the top one but that's because upgrading would tickle my fancy.

Thanks for your time and for the advice. Assuming he was to go for the first option, what could you expect to play on those specs? Will it play all the latest games out this Chriatmas at a respectable level? AC IV, COD, BF4 etc or will some of those be a struggle already?

 

[Addnan]

I assumed as much. Just handy to see it confirmed and could help to sell him on the idea of building from scratch



Thanks for your time and for the advice. Assuming he was to go for the first option, what could you expect to play on those specs? Will it play all the latest games out this Chriatmas at a respectable level? AC IV, COD, BF4 etc or will some of those be a struggle already?

They will run perfectly fine at medium settings. Just make sure they know the high settings are made for £900+ PCs.

 

[Newline]

It could probably just about run it, but you would need to use adapters since that PSU only has 1x PCI-E. I personally wouldn't recommend it though. I wouldn't want to run my new parts on that.

Thanks for the reply! Is there a chance it could damage my beautiful new GTX 770?

 

[kharma45]

Thanks for your time and for the advice. Assuming he was to go for the first option, what could you expect to play on those specs? Will it play all the latest games out this Chriatmas at a respectable level? AC IV, COD, BF4 etc or will some of those be a struggle already?

For BF4 I'd recommend a quad core over the i3 as online it loves strong cores, fiddled around a bit more and there is this for just over budget

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4430 3.0GHz Quad-Core Processor (£131.99 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: Biostar Hi-Fi Z87X 3D ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£104.99 @ Ebuyer)
Memory: Kingston Blu Red Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory (£50.15 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£41.99 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7850 2GB Video Card (£109.99 @ Novatech)
Case: NZXT Source 210 Elite (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case (£38.65 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 450W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply (£33.60 @ Aria PC)
Total: £511.36
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-10-31 13:20 GMT+0000)

Since it's an i5 you could knock down the mobo to a non Z87 one and upgrade to a 7870

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4430 3.0GHz Quad-Core Processor (£131.99 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B85M-D3H Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£60.67 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Kingston Blu Red Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory (£50.15 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£41.99 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition 2GB Video Card (£138.00 @ Amazon UK)
Case: NZXT Source 210 Elite (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case (£38.65 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 450W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply (£33.60 @ Aria PC)
Total: £495.05
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-10-31 13:21 GMT+0000)

For 1080p it'll be a good rig for the price. You've a load of different options. For power right now that build with the i5 and 7870 will perform best.

 

[Addnan]

^ why not replace the Biostar with a cheaper H87 board? http://www.scan.co.uk/products/msi-...-sata-iii-pcie-30-(x16)-d-sub-hdmi-dvi-d-matx