Gaming Rig

Mickeroo

Hi folks,

Finally have the opportunity to get a build together, not had a gaming PC in over a decade so it's been far too long. Looking forward to getting back to my rightful place in the master race :P

1. What is your budget? 1500 (can push it more if needs be probably)

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer? Bit of everything gaming wise. Likely Overwatch, Elite Dangerous, Star Citizen and any AAA games that come out over the next few years like BF1. I like my Xbox so the Windows 10 exclusives like GoW4 will probably be getting played on PC too. Would probably be interested in VR also but won't be able to get a headset until next year I would think.

3. Do you need a copy of Windows? Yes, unless there's a way to transfer from my laptop?

4. Can you use any parts from an old computer? No

5. Do you need a monitor? No - already have a Dell S2716DG G-Sync 1440p 144hz I got from overclockers a few weeks ago

6. Do you need any of these peripherals? Will definitely need a keyboard and mouse, I think I can do without speakers and the like as I will likely just get a headset.

7. Are you willing to try overclocking? maybe at some point

8. How can you pay? credit card/pay pal

9. When are you purchasing? hopefully before christmas

10. If you need help building it, where are you based? I'm a bit rusty but I think I should be ok following a tutorial. I'm in Mayo fwiw.

Threw this together a few weeks back when I was mulling it over but didn't put much thought into it: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/nj2Pnn

Thinking maybe I should go for an i7 rather than the i5 though?

Cheers guys.

Digital Solitude

Your list is blank

i7 6700k €350
Z170 €90
8gb RAM €50
1tb HDD €50
GTX1070 €500
250gb SSD €90
Case €100
500w PSU €80
Total €1310

Loads left for Windows and a good kbm combo

Mickeroo

Sorry, edited the link to the list there. It's not very good anyway I'm sure.

Thanks for the info, I'll look into those parts later when I get a chance.

Digital Solitude

I forgot a cooler.

Go for the i7 if you're at 144hz, most of your parts are sound

JoyPad

I bought the exact same monitor, and I ordered the Define X1 from PCSpecialist, for £1561 built and delivered. See components in my thread.

The Define X1 was reviewed here. I think it's a good price for what it gives, as it comes with 3 years warranty, one year collect & return, for extended peace of mind. Should play all games at max settings in glorious 1440p resolution.

Mickeroo

Thanks for that Joypad but I think I'm going to go the self build route.

One question about graphics cards, I'm going to grab one a bit early to avail of the free GoW4 code, what brands should I be looking at for the 1070 or does it really matter?

For example here: https://www.overclockers.co.uk/pc-components/graphics-cards/nvidia/geforce-gtx-1070

The KFA2 one is £80 cheaper than the MSI but would MSI be more reliable? I've noticed a lot of people on here mention EVGA as a good brand too?

TerrorFirmer

My vote always goes to Inno3D, always among the cheaper cards but premium builds and very quiet and cool. The only model I'd outright avoid is the 'reference' model. Palit Gamerock another strong one and one of the cheaper models. With that budget I would definitely be going 6700K, Z170, 16GB DDR4 and a GTX1070.

K.O.Kiki

Palit Jetstream/Gamerock & Gainward Phoenix line are whisper quiet & run cooler than the competition.

Just be aware that you can't easily SLI with them (the coolers are 3-slot).

Venom

K.O.Kiki wrote: »

Palit Jetstream/Gamerock & Gainward Phoenix line are whisper quiet & run cooler than the competition.

Just be aware that you can't easily SLI with them (the coolers are 3-slot).

I thought only the Zotac Amp Extreme was a 3 slot jobbie?

The Palit, Gamerock and Gainward cards do seem popular but are pretty funky looking colour wise. Saying that, the top tier versions like the Golden Sample and Goes like Hell top every benchmark I'v seen.

For what its worth I'm planning to pick up an MSI Gaming X next week from Overclockers for the free GoW offer which Amazon make no mention of.

Myrddin

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

My vote always goes to Inno3D, always among the cheaper cards but premium builds and very quiet and cool. The only model I'd outright avoid is the 'reference' model. Palit Gamerock another strong one and one of the cheaper models. With that budget I would definitely be going 6700K, Z170, 16GB DDR4 and a GTX1070.

I'm in the market for a 1070 myself, curious though, why avoid the reference model? I was looking at a reference design to help keep temps down in my matx case (the reference design exhausts heat from the rear)

Venom

Myrddin wrote: »

I'm in the market for a 1070 myself, curious though, why avoid the reference model? I was looking at a reference design to help keep temps down in my matx case (the reference design exhausts heat from the rear)

The reference card would probley be better for you seeing as you have a smaller case with less fans to move air through the case so a blower style cooler is needed. The downside will be noise level and how hot the card gets, as the fans on reference cards tend to be crap. Pick up a AIB blower card tho as it should be cheaper than Nvidia's FE ones.

For those of us with mid to large sized cases with more fans or AIO's to cool things down, the open air style coolers offer much better cooling and noise levels along with matching colour schemes.

K.O.Kiki

Myrddin wrote: »

I'm in the market for a 1070 myself, curious though, why avoid the reference model? I was looking at a reference design to help keep temps down in my matx case (the reference design exhausts heat from the rear)

I would always avoid reference coolers simply because they cannot cool the GPU effectively. They thermal throttle earlier & longer than any decent dual/triple-fan.

Better way to keep temps down is to have good case fans in a push-pull configuration.

Myrddin

K.O.Kiki wrote: »

I would always avoid reference coolers simply because they cannot cool the GPU effectively. They thermal throttle earlier & longer than any decent dual/triple-fan.

Better way to keep temps down is to have good case fans in a push-pull configuration.

Makes sense, very difficult though in the case I have....there's zilch room left after the aio cooler is installed.

Mickeroo

Going to start ordering bits and bobs for this over the next few weeks. Already have graphics card and monitor got but just want to run the other parts by folks first.

• Samsung 850 EVO 250 GB 2.5 inch Solid State Drive
  
• WD Blue 2TB Desktop Hard Disk Drive - 5400 RPM SATA 6 Gb/s 64MB Cache 3.5 Inch
  
• Corsair CH-9000224-UK K30 Red Backlit Gaming Keyboard
  
• Corsair CMK16GX4M2B3000C15 Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4 3000 MHz CL15 XMP 2.0 High Performance Desktop Memory Kit
  
• Intel Core i7 6700K Processor (4 GHz, 4 Core, 8 Threads, 8 MB cache, LGA1151 Socket Box)
  
• Corsair RM650x Series Full Modular 650 W Power Supply Unit
  
• Logitech G502
  
• Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo CPU Cooler "RR-212E-16PK-R1, 4 Heatpipe, 1x 120mm PWM Fan, Intel / AMD"
  
• Asus Z170 Pro Motherboard (Socket 1151, Z170, DDR4, S-ATA 600, ATX, SupremeFX, Sonic Radar ll)
  
• Phanteks Enthoo Pro M Midi Tower Case With Window - Black(PH-ES515P_BK)

I'll likely order from amazon since the exchange rate is so good and it's free shipping but I'm open to other suggestions if it will save a few bob. Above comes to just over £1000 I think.

Mickeroo

Thinking this might have been missed at the weekend, any advice is greatly appreciated.

Should I be spending more on the cooler? Is 650w PSU relatively future proof if I want to upgrade bits and pieces in a few years?

This is the GPU I got for reference: https://www.overclockers.co.uk/inno3d-geforce-gtx-1070-ichill-air-boss-x3-8192mb-gddr5-pci-express-graphics-card-gx-066-in.html

Shlippery

Mickeroo wrote: »

Thinking this might have been missed at the weekend, any advice is greatly appreciated.

Should I be spending more on the cooler? Is 650w PSU relatively future proof if I want to upgrade bits and pieces in a few years?

This is the GPU I got for reference: https://www.overclockers.co.uk/inno3d-geforce-gtx-1070-ichill-air-boss-x3-8192mb-gddr5-pci-express-graphics-card-gx-066-in.html

As far as I know the cooler is fine, I've one myself (there's a photo of it in the MAIN PC pictures thread)

It's a beast of a thing and is well able to keep temperatures low!

With the PSU I think 650w is more than enough the way things are going lately.

Everything is getting more and more power efficient and the days of 1000w+ coolers seem to be long gone unless in exceptional circumstances, but again, i'm open to correction, this is just what I've been noticing from reading here in the past while!

Mickeroo

Finally got the last piece of the puzzle ordered today so hope to be building by the weekend. Thanks to everyone who offered me advice on here.

How quick are UPS from mindfactory once they've shipped usually?