New to the pc world.

Dylanw2u

I've never really trusted prebuilt because I've often heard that you can build for cheaper.


I appreciate all the spec lists lads, and I really like the one at 2400 pounds, only thing I'm worried about is the keyboard and mouse since they have pretty bad reviews.

Metric Tensor

If you build that £2400 one we will definitely need pictures!

BloodBath

Honestly you could do much better. I don't think a 7700k cut's it anymore for high end builds like this either. Especially for a 144Hz monitor. There's a lot of games where 4 cores just doesn't cut it for minimum frame rates and really 4 cores in 2017 is a joke in a 2.5 grand PC. Hyper threading or not.

Here's something at the upper end of your budget that's actually high end.

Intel Core i7 7800X
Asus TUF X299
16GB Corsair Vengeance LPX
8GB ZOTAC GeForce GTX 1080 AMP! Extreme+
500GB Samsung 850 Evo
1000GB WD Blue
Noctua NH-D14
850 Watt EVGA SuperNOVA G2
Phanteks Eclipse P400S Glass White

Total on all of that is around €1850 once you use geizhals.de for a discount. That leaves plenty to get a nice 27" 1440p 144hz+ G-Sync monitor and whatever keyboard/mouse/headphones etc you want to get.

My headphone recommendation for under €100 is the Hyper X cloud 2 although the 1 is even cheaper and identical except for the 7.1 gimmickry on the 2's.

BloodBath

You probably want a better case. The 7800x and 1080 are both going to be pretty power hungry especially with overclocks. They both have great coolers there but the case will need space and airflow.

You would probably have to buy some additional fans regardless so maybe get a good AIO watercooler instead of the Noctua as it will come with 2 fans and should have similar cooling performance and it will look better.

I'm not really up to date on cases though so maybe someone can recommend something better.

Blazer

As you can see loads of opinions
So it's completely up to you.
Game at 1080p and only spend around €1200-1500 or game at 1440p or higher and spend the whole 3k
that's the decision you need to make.
About 90% of gamers game at 1080p I would imagine so nothing wrong with that.

Metric Tensor

Also if you've always gamed on a console until now the difference that even a E1500 machine will make to your gaming is huge!

Grahamer666

Agree 100%. I've come from console and i'm glad i did. I still have the PS4 Pro for exclusives but PC gaming is where it's at. The jump in FPS is what i enjoy most about it. Pushing out over 100fps makes games play so much better. The difference is night and day.

TerrorFirmer

The problem with console games is that a lot of them are locked to 30fps, while others often vary from 30-60 depending on what's going on. Very, very few games run at a stable 60fps.

So even an €600 PC that will push high settings at 1080p 50-60fps is a titanic improvement on consoles from that POV!

Watching my housemate play Fallout 4 on the PS4 is painful. 30fps, and often dips to what looks like 15fps when stuff really gets crazy on screen. Even the PS4 Pro can't hold a stable 30fps.

BloodBath

The last option is the second hand market. There's a hell of a lot of great PC's for sale on adverts at good prices.

Example

http://www.adverts.ie/desktops/mini-itx-gaming-desktop-gtx-980-ti-3d-monitor/12948347

Terrlock

Metric Tensor wrote: »

It just struck me that with the OP not being too sure about building and having a good budget he could always look into buying something from Alienware.

Wouldn't usually be my advice but in this case it might be worth it for the peace of mind. He didn't specifically say he wanted to build it himself.

Or getting a nice pre built system from the likes of overclockers and scan.co.uk

Pac1Man

Not meaning to hijack the thread but is seems like a good place to dump a random question.

I'll be making the jump from a lifetime of console ownership shortly. For those who have come from a similar position, would it be recommended to buy one pre-built or have or have some of you jumped straight into building your first one yourselves?

I wouldn't like to see a puff of smoke when I first switch it on!

Dylanw2u

Pac1Man wrote: »

Not meaning to hijack the thread but is seems like a good place to dump a random question.

I'll be making the jump from a lifetime of console ownership shortly. For those who have come from a similar position, would it be recommended to buy one pre-built or have or have some of you jumped straight into building your first one yourselves?

I wouldn't like to see a puff of smoke when I first switch it on!

agree haha

Grahamer666

I jumped from consoles a couple of months ago. Built it myself and had no trouble. Just take your time while building it. The lads who post parts recommendations are spot on with it so that part is taken care of.

Digital Solitude

I jumped straight into building when I was 15, no regrets.

PC components are basically expensive Lego, have a look at a few "how to build a PC"s on YouTube.

Lu Tze

Digital Solitude wrote: »

I jumped straight into building when I was 15, no regrets.

PC components are basically expensive Lego, have a look at a few "how to build a PC"s on YouTube.

I have to disagree with this oft quoted truism, have you seen the price of some of the new lego sets :pac:

Blazer

Digital Solitude wrote: »

I jumped straight into building when I was 15, no regrets.

PC components are basically expensive Lego, have a look at a few "how to build a PC"s on YouTube.

have you seen the price of lego these days? If anything PCs are nearly cheaper

challengemaster

Lu Tze wrote: »

I have to disagree with this oft quoted truism, have you seen the price of some of the new lego sets :pac:

Never mind new lego sets, I remember spending a few hundred pounds on a lego set back in the day (good aul' communion money!)

Anyway, I started building when I was 13. I've only ever had to RMA two items in 13 years. One was a graphics card that started giving artifacts after a few months, the other was a OCZ SSD.

Monkeys could manage. Although they should probably be hairless monkeys to avoid static :pac:

Redfox25

BloodBath wrote: »

Honestly you could do much better. I don't think a 7700k cut's it anymore for high end builds like this either. Especially for a 144Hz monitor. There's a lot of games where 4 cores just doesn't cut it for minimum frame rates and really 4 cores in 2017 is a joke in a 2.5 grand PC. Hyper threading or not.

Here's something at the upper end of your budget that's actually high end.

Intel Core i7 7800X
Asus TUF X299
16GB Corsair Vengeance LPX
8GB ZOTAC GeForce GTX 1080 AMP! Extreme+
500GB Samsung 850 Evo
1000GB WD Blue
Noctua NH-D14
850 Watt EVGA SuperNOVA G2
Phanteks Eclipse P400S Glass White

Total on all of that is around €1850 once you use geizhals.de for a discount. That leaves plenty to get a nice 27" 1440p 144hz+ G-Sync monitor and whatever keyboard/mouse/headphones etc you want to get.

My headphone recommendation for under €100 is the Hyper X cloud 2 although the 1 is even cheaper and identical except for the 7.1 gimmickry on the 2's.

As an alternative case https://www.overclockers.co.uk/phanteks-enthoo-luxe-glass-midi-tower-case-black-ca-065-pt.html

Its big, plenty of space inside, gets good reviews and will allow you to run your rig pretty cool.
So many choices so pick something you like and that gets good reviews too.

Grahamer666

I have the Phanteks P400S. Loads of room and a good bit cheaper than the Enthoo.

Redfox25

Yep, i got mine for a 100 on sale one day so cant complain. They seem to have gotten alot more expensive since , brexit impact on Stg maybe?

ZeroThreat

BloodBath wrote: »

Honestly you could do much better. I don't think a 7700k cut's it anymore for high end builds like this either. Especially for a 144Hz monitor. There's a lot of games where 4 cores just doesn't cut it for minimum frame rates and really 4 cores in 2017 is a joke in a 2.5 grand PC. Hyper threading or not.

Here's something at the upper end of your budget that's actually high end.

Intel Core i7 7800X
Asus TUF X299
16GB Corsair Vengeance LPX
8GB ZOTAC GeForce GTX 1080 AMP! Extreme+
500GB Samsung 850 Evo
1000GB WD Blue
Noctua NH-D14
850 Watt EVGA SuperNOVA G2
Phanteks Eclipse P400S Glass White

Total on all of that is around €1850 once you use geizhals.de for a discount. That leaves plenty to get a nice 27" 1440p 144hz+ G-Sync monitor and whatever keyboard/mouse/headphones etc you want to get.

My headphone recommendation for under €100 is the Hyper X cloud 2 although the 1 is even cheaper and identical except for the 7.1 gimmickry on the 2's.

tbh I thought that the strength of your graphics card followed by clock speed of the cpu was what primarily determined frame rates.

BloodBath

For max frame rate sure you would be right. A lot of newer titles are showing an improvement with more than 4 cores in min frame rate though. This is an often overlooked factor. Do you want FPS dips down into the 60's with your 144Hz monitor? This is only going to increase with 6 and 8 core cpu's going mainstream.

As it stands a 7700k at 5Ghz has much lower minimum frame rates than the likes of a 6 or 8 core ryzen at 4Ghz in some titles. This is with just the game running. Do you want to record on OBS? Do you want to stream? You're gonna be eating into your frame rate if so.

Is it still fine for 90% of people. Sure. Should you be buying a 4 core processor with a budget of €2.5-3k. Hell no.

I buy a CPU that's going to last at least 5 years. I don't think a 7700k is going to cut it for the next 5 years. (For high end 144Hz)

As it stands it is being maxed 100% cpu usage with a 1080ti in the likes of battlefield 1 multi. That means it will be a bottleneck for a GPU upgrade down the line.

You might lose 5 fps at the most off your max frame rate but gain 40-50 on your mins with a 6 core i7 vs a 4 core i7 and the price difference isn't that big.

Redfox25 wrote: »

As an alternative case https://www.overclockers.co.uk/phanteks-enthoo-luxe-glass-midi-tower-case-black-ca-065-pt.html

Its big, plenty of space inside, gets good reviews and will allow you to run your rig pretty cool.
So many choices so pick something you like and that gets good reviews too.

It's too plastic looking for my liking. At that price I'd expect a painted metal finish. The cooling also looks bad. Only 2 front intakes and 2 big drive cages blocking those fans. I guess they can be removed. You could stick an AIO in the top and change the rear to intake but you can do that with most cases these days. Also 4 x 5.25" bays is totally unnecessary. I'd argue you don't need any. I haven't used a 5.25" drive in about 5 years and my current case, the NZXT H440, has no 5.25" bays.

The interior actually looks identical to another case I have except for the PSU shroud. The Phanteks Enthoo Primo. They do make great cases. Just their premium ones tend to cost €250+ That also means it's massive. The Enthoo Primo is the biggest case I've ever seen. It's meant for custom water loops and SLI configs. Too big for most use cases.

ZeroThreat

BloodBath wrote: »

For max frame rate sure you would be right. A lot of newer titles are showing an improvement with more than 4 cores in min frame rate though. This is an often overlooked factor. Do you want FPS dips down into the 60's with your 144Hz monitor? This is only going to increase with 6 and 8 core cpu's going mainstream.

As it stands a 7700k at 5Ghz has much lower minimum frame rates than the likes of a 6 or 8 core ryzen at 4Ghz in some titles. This is with just the game running. Do you want to record on OBS? Do you want to stream? You're gonna be eating into your frame rate if so.

Is it still fine for 90% of people. Sure. Should you be buying a 4 core processor with a budget of €2.5-3k. Hell no.

I buy a CPU that's going to last at least 5 years. I don't think a 7700k is going to cut it for the next 5 years. (For high end 144Hz)

As it stands it is being maxed 100% cpu usage with a 1080ti in the likes of battlefield 1 multi. That means it will be a bottleneck for a GPU upgrade down the line.

You might lose 5 fps at the most off your max frame rate but gain 40-50 on your mins with a 6 core i7 vs a 4 core i7 and the price difference isn't that big.



It's too plastic looking for my liking. At that price I'd expect a painted metal finish. The cooling also looks bad. Only 2 front intakes and 2 big drive cages blocking those fans. I guess they can be removed. You could stick an AIO in the top and change the rear to intake but you can do that with most cases these days. Also 4 x 5.25" bays is totally unnecessary. I'd argue you don't need any. I haven't used a 5.25" drive in about 5 years and my current case, the NZXT H440, has no 5.25" bays.

The interior actually looks identical to another case I have. The Phanteks Enthoo Primo. They do make great cases. Just their premium ones tend to cost €250+

tbh I'm not that big into as big into fps for those with hyper reflexes as I was when I built a pc in 2012, with the exception of World of Tanks (which isn't very resource hungry) I'd spend more time playing strategy or games such as civ these days, so I'd be more interested getting something for high res and looks good colourwise rather than for purely frames anyway (at least 1440).

BloodBath

ZeroThreat wrote: »

tbh I'm not that big into as big into fps for those with hyper reflexes as I was when I built a pc in 2012, with the exception of World of Tanks (which isn't very resource hungry) I'd spend more time playing strategy or games such as civ these days, so I'd be more interested getting something for high res and looks good colourwise rather than for purely frames anyway (at least 1440).

Anything over 100 is fine. It's the dips you want to avoid though. Dropping suddenly from 100+ to 60 is going to be pretty jarring and noticeable even if it's only for a second. First world problems sure but problems that are avoidable. I think these kinds of dips are going to become more commonplace soon as well. Like how the i3's gradually fell behind the i5 and the i5 fell behind the i7 in some titles.

We are finally getting better multi core optimisation and it's pushing past 4 now.

Billy86

Pac1Man wrote: »

Not meaning to hijack the thread but is seems like a good place to dump a random question.

I'll be making the jump from a lifetime of console ownership shortly. For those who have come from a similar position, would it be recommended to buy one pre-built or have or have some of you jumped straight into building your first one yourselves?

I wouldn't like to see a puff of smoke when I first switch it on!

Dylanw2u wrote: »

agree haha

Had the same worries when this forum helped me do my first build about 9 months ago - don't worry, between youtube tutorials and the fact that nearly all the parts won't physically fit in the wrong sockets etc it's ridiculously easier than you'd think and like Digital Solitude really is quite like a more advanced Lego set.

You'll sh** yourself a little putting the CPU in place and clicking down the RAM/GPU (don't worry, force is perfectly fine - just make sure they're aligned to slot in first! ) and it will be a few hours of frustration and confusion, but it's so worth it down the line. Also, a big advantage that only dawned on me very recently is that if I ever have a problem with the computer I am not able to fix it, instead of paying someone money (and being without it for longer) to do so.

Added to that, you get much better value for money from building it yourself.

Pac1Man

Billy86 wrote: »

You'll sh** yourself a little putting the CPU in place and clicking down the RAM/GPU (don't worry, force is perfectly fine - just make sure they're aligned to slot in first!.

I'm sweating already!:D

Nah, I'll probably have a go myself. Seems to be a lot of good info out there.

I'll have to start a Pick My Parts Please thread soon.