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Getting back into the PC building game

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  • redneon Programmer, SUMO Digital 25 Jan 2013 17:06:03 46 posts
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    Hey everyone,

    After seven years of using macs I'm getting rid of my latest iMac tomorrow and switching back to PC. Thing is, being out of the PC building game for seven years I'm a bit rusty on the hardware and am looking for some advice, if you'll indulge me.

    I've got £750 to play with and can maybe push that to about £800. I've built a spec on eBuyer that looks like this: http://www.ebuyer.com/lists/list/135569 and I'd be grateful for any comments/recommendations (particularly if anything is incompatible or I've forgotten anything).

    At the minute it's a little bit more than I wanted to spend but that's probably because I've got two of the 21.5" HDMI monitors on there. I really do want two monitors, though.

    I'm not an uber-uber-gamer obviously otherwise I'd be spending thousands on a rig with overclocking support and everything. Ideally I want something that's future-proof for a bit and will run most games at 1080p/60fps for a while.

    Any help would be much appreciated.
  • DodgyPast 25 Jan 2013 17:18:13 7,900 posts
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    Dig through the last 6 or 7 pages of the budget PC thread then post there.
  • Moot_Point 25 Jan 2013 17:22:14 1,109 posts
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    mowgli wrote: I fucking love willies.

  • Mattwow 25 Jan 2013 17:26:21 43 posts
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    redneon wrote:
    Hey everyone,

    After seven years of using macs I'm getting rid of my latest iMac tomorrow and switching back to PC. Thing is, being out of the PC building game for seven years I'm a bit rusty on the hardware and am looking for some advice, if you'll indulge me.

    I've got £750 to play with and can maybe push that to about £800. I've built a spec on eBuyer that looks like this: http://www.ebuyer.com/lists/list/135569 and I'd be grateful for any comments/recommendations (particularly if anything is incompatible or I've forgotten anything).

    At the minute it's a little bit more than I wanted to spend but that's probably because I've got two of the 21.5" HDMI monitors on there. I really do want two monitors, though.

    I'm not an uber-uber-gamer obviously otherwise I'd be spending thousands on a rig with overclocking support and everything. Ideally I want something that's future-proof for a bit and will run most games at 1080p/60fps for a while.

    Any help would be much appreciated.
    Ive got a 6 month old LG 21.5" LCD 1080p set that i no longer require for my set up if your interested?

    In fact looking at your Ebuyer link its exactly the same screen / spec.

    Edited by Mattwow at 17:27:35 25-01-2013

    Windows 7 - 64
    Intel Core I7-2600 CPU @ 3.40GHz
    8GB Ram
    ATI Radeon HD 6970

    Xbox Gamertag - Wolves since 86

  • redneon Programmer, SUMO Digital 25 Jan 2013 17:48:15 46 posts
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    @rodpad: I know what you mean but I want two the same size as I'm incredibly OCD and two 24" won't fit on my desk (not to mention being too expensive). Also, I'm not sure if I'm fussed about a K processor. I can't see that I'll be overclocking it really and that's the only benefit, isn't it? Also, the 670 is too expensive too. I have got a limited budget which I'm already slightly over ;)

    @Mattwow: Thanks, I'll get back to you on that one once I've finally decided on a rig.
  • Stickman 25 Jan 2013 17:48:33 28,569 posts
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    PC building's not a game, son. Srs bznz.

    Quoted

  • ED209 25 Jan 2013 18:03:34 390 posts
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    Would you not be better with one bigger screen instead of two?
    I think that of all the gui differences between mac and PC the windows 7 feature of attaching windows to sides has given me the biggest productivity boost.
  • redneon Programmer, SUMO Digital 25 Jan 2013 19:06:19 46 posts
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    @ED209 Maybe. I'm just used to having two monitors. I can't imaging working with just one anymore. It's just so handy to have two when coding. That being said, I'll think about having just the one. The only concern then is that the native res is higher for gaming so I'd need a bit more umph to get the same gaming results.
  • grey_matters 25 Jan 2013 19:09:46 3,110 posts
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    Save a bit of money on the motherboard (and possibly the graphics card) and get a 120GB SSD for a boot drive. Everything else will always feel slow after that.
  • redneon Programmer, SUMO Digital 25 Jan 2013 19:42:05 46 posts
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    The thing I like about that motherboard is that I've got a bit of room for upgrading with a second graphics card running in SLI. I could always just get an SSD in a few months.
  • grey_matters 25 Jan 2013 19:54:37 3,110 posts
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    redneon wrote:
    The thing I like about that motherboard is that I've got a bit of room for upgrading with a second graphics card running in SLI. I could always just get an SSD in a few months.
    True. The thing about SLI/Crossfire is that it is rarely a good upgrade option. By the time you're thinking of doing it, there is usually something new just as good as the twin gpus for roughly the same cost (taking into account selling your current card) and a single card has less issues than twin ones. Also, the new-generation card will be supported longer and will be more sellable 18 months later than 2 cards of a, by now, ancient era.
  • skuzzbag 25 Jan 2013 19:55:46 5,214 posts
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    redneon wrote:
    @ED209 Maybe. I'm just used to having two monitors. I can't imaging working with just one anymore. It's just so handy to have two when coding. That being said, I'll think about having just the one. The only concern then is that the native res is higher for gaming so I'd need a bit more umph to get the same gaming results.
    No don't do it. Going to one screen after two for development or IT work is like having one arm chopped off. A miserable experience by all accounts.

    I could do with three screens now to be honest. The bigger the better.
  • skuzzbag 25 Jan 2013 19:55:59 5,214 posts
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    Post deleted
  • grey_matters 25 Jan 2013 20:12:28 3,110 posts
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    skuzzbag wrote:
    redneon wrote:
    @ED209 Maybe. I'm just used to having two monitors. I can't imaging working with just one anymore. It's just so handy to have two when coding. That being said, I'll think about having just the one. The only concern then is that the native res is higher for gaming so I'd need a bit more umph to get the same gaming results.
    No don't do it. Going to one screen after two for development or IT work is like having one arm chopped off. A miserable experience by all accounts.

    I could do with three screens now to be honest. The bigger the better.
    Yeah, keep the two screens. Get an SSD and a 7850/650ti and a cheaper motherboard. In 18-24 months time sell off your graphics card and get a new one.
  • ILoveThrashMetal 25 Jan 2013 20:22:29 303 posts
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    Hijack, sorry. I am in the process of sorting specs for pc I want to build this year.
    I'm thinking about trying the watercooling route a:because I want to try b:I want it to run ultra quiet & cool.
    Anyone have any tips/suggestions?

    Arsechickens

  • redneon Programmer, SUMO Digital 25 Jan 2013 20:32:02 46 posts
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    What cheaper motherboard should I be looking at? My thought process was if I get a decent motherboard it won't need upgrading for a while and I can just upgrade the components. I don't think I saw a cheaper board that can do SLI, but I might be wrong.
  • B0rked_Gamer 25 Jan 2013 20:56:45 682 posts
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    Hey I have a busted GTX 670 you can have for £200.
  • Carlo 25 Jan 2013 21:49:51 17,104 posts
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    ILoveThrashMetal wrote:
    Hijack, sorry. I am in the process of sorting specs for pc I want to build this year.
    I'm thinking about trying the watercooling route a:because I want to try b:I want it to run ultra quiet & cool.
    Anyone have any tips/suggestions?
    In my experience, water Cooling is just as noisy
  • FutileResistor 26 Jan 2013 02:34:54 1,045 posts
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    @redneon
    You could also build a hackingtosh if you want to continue using Mac Os, but that's another subject.

    The i5-3470S is a lower powered CPU designed to fit into a 65w TDP spec and for which you pay a premium. There's no point getting it over the better performing i5-3330 for £138.80 or the i5-3470 for just a quid more at £144.96.

    You would only buy that motherboard if you were going for extreme overclocking. Since you're not overclocking, a B75 chipset motherboard from Gigabyte or Asus for around £50-£55 quid would be fine. I don't recommend the £50 MSI b75 motherboard on Ebuyer as I believe that particular board has performance issues. If you can't get a B75 for around £50, you may as well get a Z77 chipset motherboard for £68-£80, I normally recommend Gigabyte or Asus.

    8GB Corsair Vengeance 1600MHz is better and a whole £1 cheaper than the set in your link.

    Get the 2GB version of the Sapphire Radeon 7850 for about £140-£150. When over clocked it outperforms the GTX 660.

    Also these LG IPS234V-PN - 23" IPS monitors seem to be better value for just £9 more each.

    i5-3470 £145
    Gigabyte GA-Z77-DS3H Motherboard £68
    8GB Corsair Vengeance 1600MHz £38
    Sapphire Radeon 2GB 7850 OC £150
    Coolermaster Elite 330 £58
    Seagate 1TB £50
    2 X LG IPS234V-PN - 23" IPS £227
    DVD Writer £15

    I make that £751.

    Personally I would also ditch the Coolermaster case and get a Corsair CX430 V2 PSU and an Enermax ECA3250-B about £35 or NZXT Source 210 Elite about £40. I'm picky about what PSU I put in my PCs.

    Also you should consider getting this Samsung 830 128GB SSD for £76 for your OS. I would also consider a 2TB HDD for about £20 more.

    You also may wish to take into account that dabs is doing discounts with the following codes.

    JAN10 - £10 off on orders over £199.
    JAN25 - £25 off on orders over £399.
    JAN40 - £40 off on orders over £599.

    Edited by FutileResistor at 09:49:57 26-01-2013
  • FutileResistor 26 Jan 2013 10:01:04 1,045 posts
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    redneon wrote:
    What cheaper motherboard should I be looking at? My thought process was if I get a decent motherboard it won't need upgrading for a while and I can just upgrade the components. I don't think I saw a cheaper board that can do SLI, but I might be wrong.
    Since you won't be overclocking, a B75 would be fine as I explained above. The B75 chipset is pretty much up to date with USB3, SATA6 and PCIE 3. However if there's only about £10 price difference or you want SLI/Crossfire, go with a Z77 board.

    We typically don't recommend SLI/Crossfire as there are issues with performance, micro-stuttering and driver support. The Gigabyte GA-Z77-DS3H in my example build does support Crossfire though.

    Edited by FutileResistor at 10:12:49 26-01-2013
  • redneon Programmer, SUMO Digital 26 Jan 2013 21:57:47 46 posts
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    Yeah, I want SLI so I can add a second graphics card when this one won't cut it anymore. Thanks for the info on Dabs. £40 is a good discount :) I've built a system on there that looks like this:

    Gigabyte Z77X-D3H S1155 Intel Z77 DDR3 ATX £95.98
    Intel Core i5-3570K S1155 3.4GHz 6MB £172.99
    Gigabyte GeForce GTX 660 2GB PCI-Express 3.0 HDMI OC £167.53
    Kingston 8GB (2 x 4GB) HyperX Predator DDR3 1866MHz DIMM CL9 XMP £35.98
    Samsung S22B300BH 21.5" Widescreen LED Monitor Full HD 5ms HDMI VGA Gloss Black £99.98
    Coolermaster Elite 430 Black £34.99
    Seagate 1TB Barracuda SATA 6Gb/s 64MB 7200RPM Hard Drive £54.99
    Pioneer VR-220BK 24x Int SATA DVDRW Black OEM w/o Label Flash £15.12
    Corsair Memory TX650 V2 650W ATX Enthusiast Series £65.98

    What do you think?
  • Dirtbox 26 Jan 2013 22:01:45 73,993 posts
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    It's fine. Maybe an SSD (Samsung 840 non-pro imo) if you're feeling like a small boost in how snappy it generally feels.

    +1 / Like / Tweet this post

  • redneon Programmer, SUMO Digital 26 Jan 2013 22:12:39 46 posts
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    Aye, I do plan to get an SSD eventually but I'd rather spend the money on the barebones for now. I can always add an SSD in a few months.
  • Dirtbox 26 Jan 2013 22:14:59 73,993 posts
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    Migrating from an HDD to an SSD is a huge pain in the arse, you're better off with getting the boot/program drive to begin with and expanding with an HDD later.

    +1 / Like / Tweet this post

  • mal 26 Jan 2013 22:25:46 20,710 posts
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    Dirtbox wrote:
    Migrating from an HDD to an SSD is a huge pain in the arse, you're better off with getting the boot/program drive to begin with and expanding with an HDD later.
    Only because in this day and age you have to cut down your porn stache to switch from a moderately sized HDD to a decently sized SSD. Give it a few years and you'll be able to fit your stache on even a moderately sized ssd, so it'll just be like switching HDDs, surely?

    Cubby didn't know how to turn off sigs!

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