Hi All, I'm looking to buy/build a new PC and have a budget of £600. I already have a decent enough monitor, HD, SSHD, and peripherals, but everything else would need to factored in. Obviously this is THE forum for advice on such matters, and as I have been out of the loop for a few years I'd really appreciate your input.
I'm sure we can help you out, but to do that could you answer a couple of questions... What resolution is your monitor? What kind of games do you want to play on it? Do you need to buy a copy of Windows?
Sorry, that was a bit vague! I've got windows 8 to use, and will be playing anything from RPGs to 3D shooters. I'm not obsessed with graphics but obviously would like a solidncarx to keep me going for a few years. My monitor runs natively at 1680*1050 (or something like that!)
How about this? It should keep you going for a fair while assuming you don't step up your monitor resolution hugely, gives you the option to overclock if you need/want to and leave you almost £100 for a case and your preferred cooling
I'd made a list like that substituting the 770 for a 280X instead. The problem is you're left with £90 for a case, cooling and don't forget a decent PSU to run the hardware in the list especially if you want to overclock it all.
Thanks for the advice. This is all really helpful - I've been out of the building scene for a while. I don't think I want to overclock this one as I don't really have the spare time to tinker with the system. With that in mind I'm guessing a case, PSU and stock cooling is really all I need here? What sort of PSU power should I be aiming for to be safe? Also does the setup below require a specific type of case?
Any ATX size case would work and the stock cooler that comes with the CPU will be fine if you're not going to ocerclock it. As for psu size, you'd be fine with 500 watts for that setup.
If you're not likely to overclock you could drop the CPU to the Intel Core i5-4440 for £139.38 on scan - you probably won't see a huge difference in real world performance unless you're doing lots of video encoding etc. Also I definitely recommend Fractal Design cases, they're well built and a joy to put a system together inside - if you like the styling!
Not bad, the 970 would cover you for a better monitor later if you wanted to go that way. Actually, if you're not going to overclock it you could drop the motherboard to something like this H81 board for £30 or this Z87 board for £48, that brings the total back under £600.
Slight hijack incoming... I'm looking at buying to a build similar to what Crapman linked, but would like to keep the possibility of SLI open for future upgrades. Can anyone recommend a motherboard that's going to be x8/x8 compatible without increasing price too much?
