41 replies to this topic

[Gamblers_Luck]

Looking for a new gaming rig, mines about 6-7 years old and needing a new lease of life, so lookign for recommendations etc.  Limits a grand.   Hit me. 

 

Gamblers

[Salamol]

I like these threads! I have nothing constructive to add right now though

[Rob]

There's a whole raft of graphics cards being released over the next few months. It's a good opportunity to pick up a new card (Nvidia - 1070/1060 or AMD 480/470) so you are at the peak of the performance curve, or to pick up a previous generation card (Nvidia 9XX, AMD 3XX) at a reduced price.

 

Grab one of the recent Intel i3/i5 processors, a compatible mobo, 16GB of DDR4 RAM and a decent sized SSD and you're good to go. If you cannibalise your old PC for the PSU, Case and HDD you could probably keep costs below £500-550. You could use the remainder to invest in a 1440p/144Hz monitor and other peripherals.

Edited by Rob, 23 June 2016 - 12:54 am.

[Gamblers_Luck]

Awesome. I'm not good at making PC's though so I'll probably need one built. My PSU has been also making funny noises so might be a good time for a fresh star. Plus the GF wants my old machine I think! lol

[DiBBz]

not gonna lie then but youre probably looking at maybe a 780-800ish budget if you want one pre build! due to most services like PC specialist and what not taking a huge cut as well as the VAT and the shipping to get it to you!

 

its really not hard to assemble a PC. just make sure when it comes to applying thermal paste apply a small pea sized blob directly in the center. and if everything is the way you like it before hand ently and accurately place the heat sink ontop of it and let it settle for a good 30 seconds to a minute (at best) then begin to screw it into the mobo!

 

most new comers tend to make the mistake after watching some videos. that applying a pea sized blob of thermal paste and then using an old credit card etc they would spread it across the CPU. which has actually been proven to be worse compared to letting the head sink rest onto of it, thus spreading the thermal paste evenly purely based on the heat sinks weight alone and giving it a more natural coverage that helps with keeping the CPU cool and does better at heat dissipation. 

 

compared to manually spreading the paste which would only increase CPU temperature because it needs some space on the outer edges for it to dissipate that heat!

[Ryaaf]

I second DiBBz on what he says about building your own, is not technically building it as it is plugging stuff in.

 

Only tricky part is - but even that may not be - the cpu installation, as i presume you will go for a Intel, not those ancient AMD chips, and sockets 115x have these sensitive pins - bend or brake one and goodbye motherboard, but again, only if you never watched a video you could go wrong, if you follow basic directions is over in seconds.

 

As far as the heat-sink is concerned, most cpu coolers come with a pre-applied thin layer of thermal paste and there are plenty of youtube videos tailored for that specific brand (the big ones), plus sockets 115x come with same push-pins principle.

 

Other than that, like i said in my 1st sentence, is like Lego really; worst case solution, if you really really want to avoid building your own, you could gather desired parts from places that have the best prices and take them to ANY repair shop for assembly, it will still avoid the pre-build service.

[Gamblers_Luck]

I've only installed memory and graphics cards,  and when you spend a lot of money on something I think its better to get a professional to install it in case you get it massively wrong,   plus more guarantees on the work.

 

I've been looking at this:

 

www.wired2fire.co.uk/diablo-skylake-pc-advisor-review.html  

[Ryaaf]

Yea, although i would notice some stuff:

 

I am deciding on a CPU for a new build myself, will probably go for a i5 but if i could i would go for a i7, there is endless debate but Linus Tech Tips/Digital Foundry videos (i5-i3-i7 side-by-side) and explanations show that there is indeed increase in performance with hyper threading.

 

Also, don't go for the recommended memory - aka the lowest speed, which for DDR4 is 2133, again, in side by side videos 2600 memory does matter.

 

And most importantly, the GPU - it depends on what resolution are you going to game on - > for 1080p, wait a week for the radeon 470/480 which is a revolution in terms of price; 2K resolution - then a gtx 1070, and for 4K the gtx 1080.

 

I saw in the build a gtx 970, a Radeon RX 480 offers the performance of a ~980 for less money reportedly, and even a radeon 470 is only 5%? (initial benchmarks) slower than a gtx 970.

 

So to summarize, what i would do if i were you would be to get a i7 if possible, 2600 freq. ram and a "new wave" of either Radeon or Nvidia gpus.

 

Oh and i forgot, unless you plan to overclock you can get a cheap mother board, i for one will probably go for my build with a chipset h110 one, there are higher tiers for Skylake, the highest and most expensive being the Z170.

 

Regarding warranty, there should be 2-3 or lifetime warranty on parts, so don't let that be a deciding factor on buying a prebuilt one.

 

Only problem is the exchange rate i would say, hence everything costs more in UK than in the EU, but like i said a option is to buy different components from the places that have the best price and have all of them assembled by a specialist of your choice close to home.

[Gamblers_Luck]

Excellent info sir, I'll have a look tonight

[Donkzy]

Oi oi gamblers :-) as long as it plays lol i will carry you on my silver 2 back ;-)

good to hear from ya again matey pop in ts sometimes we have a catch up

[Fozzies]

ive gone for pre assembled mobo/processor bundles in the past, removes the worry of the paste :   http://lmgtfy.com/?q...ocessor bundles

[Gamblers_Luck]

Oi oi gamblers :-) as long as it plays lol i will carry you on my silver 2 back ;-)

good to hear from ya again matey pop in ts sometimes we have a catch up

 

I'm on TS now lol

[DiBBz]

or if youre like me and work with certain programs that are better optimized for CUDA then going the nvidia route will be best!

 

Photoshop works best with CUDA hence why im mostly a nvidia fan boy

 

its the same really with games now a days!

 

adobe premiere, photoshop, after effects, sony vegas etc etc all work at their prime with nvidia cards!

 

don't think ive ever been in a studio where they have AMD cards running let alone AMD chipsets... for my line of work

 

Intel and Nvidia are #1

[SonicTHI]

I would really wait a few weeks if i was you.

New graphics cards are coming out and the 970 is a bad choice right now, unless you can get it for cheap - less than 200$.

 

The rest of the setup you posted looks ok although that store looks rather lackluster - no part picker, limited selection of components etc.

don't bother with an i7 unless you do encoding/streaming etc.

Ram speeds are rather unimportant as you also need to account for the CL ratings with barely a few % of a difference in performance.

I would get a samsung SSD, a known brand gold rated PSU and a 3TB WD RED HDD.

Also i m not sure about the posted CPU cooler and case quality.

Finally i have no use for DVD drives anymore, you could pull the one from your old PC and plug it in if you really need it.

[nidriks]

https://www.chillblast.com/

 

Couldn't recommend them enough. I'm on a Chillblast PC right now.

 

Alternatively, if you get a copy of PCGamer they have a PC build guide and it includes a PC costing a grand. 

 

But I do recommend Chillblast if you want one built.

[Donkzy]

I'm on TS now lol

Noce1 gamblers matey. I know was supposed to be going sleep but ended up binge watching first 4 episodes of game of thrones. Drank 1.5liters of hooch and a big smooke lol. I will have watch again tho got a bit hazey. +1 for the link also pal. Enjoy your night toneet also