PC Buffs opinions on this?

[Fanum]

Currently researching a new PC......I've settled on wanting an i5 CPU (as it's just as good as an i7 for gaming) and a Z97 Mobo....I was looking at GTX980 cards but this fekker below goes to the max with a 980Ti (that in itself is over £500 sold separately!)

It's got a dinky SSD (I'd prefer 256GB but 120 is fine if I keep it PURELY for the OS and things like Flash, codecs and media player) I already have about 6TB of HDs I will transfer into it, but I might add a new Hybrid drive in as well.....about 80 quid
16GB of VERY fast DDR3 ram, that's nice and I don't need more.

The case is a bit wanky but I can spray it if I can't live with the garishness......I'd also prefer a K series chip so I can OC it,but let'[s be honest, I'm not going to need to do that for a year or two and by that time, I'll be able to stick a Haswell in it for 50 quid
This lot, with genuine W10 installed, is £993, which I find amazing

(I just priced up the components separately and even if I bought them and chucked them all in a case myself, I couldn't beat this price!)

Ideas for alternatives welcome......


Case : Aerocool Red / Black Case
Power Supply : XFX TS650 Bronze Certified 80 Plus 650W Power Supply
Motherboard : Gigabyte Z97P-D3 (supports new 5th Gen Intel CPU)
CPU : Intel I5 4460 4th Gen Quad Core 3.2Ghz CPU (3.4Ghz Turbo)
Hard Drive : 120gb Solid State Drive
Memory : 16gb DDR3 2400mhz Corsair Vengeance Pro Memory
Graphics Card : Geforce GTX 980 TI 6GB (Multi screen supported)
Optical Drive : 24x Dual Layer DVD Writer
Warranty : 12 Months Return To Base (Parts & Labour)
Connections : 6 x USB 2.0 / 2 x USB 3.0 / LAN / Sound
Software : Windows 10 Home 64 Bit

 

[Fanum]

This one's got a much less silly case, very similar specs and is £996.

Case : Black Venom Case + LED 120mm Front Fan
Power Supply : XFX TS650 Bronze Certified 80 Plus 650W Power Supply
Motherboard : Gigabyte Z97P-D3 (supports new 5th Gen Intel CPU)
CPU : Intel I5 4460 4th Gen Quad Core 3.2Ghz CPU (3.4Ghz Turbo)
Hard Drive : 120gb Solid State Drive
Memory : 16gb DDR3 2400mhz Corsair Vengeance Pro Memory
Graphics Card : Geforce GTX 980 TI 6GB (Multi screen supported)
Optical Drive : 24x Dual Layer DVD Writer
Warranty : 12 Months Return To Base (Parts & Labour)
Connections : 6 x USB 2.0 / 2 x USB 3.0 / LAN / Sound
Software : Windows 10 Home 64 Bit

 

[Blackal]

Be carefull with that small SSD.

Windows updates will eat it up, and iTunes and a lot of other programs insist on using your C:\drive.

I'd get 256gb min.

Al

 

[Fanum]

Be carefull with that small SSD.

Windows updates will eat it up, and iTunes and a lot of other programs insist on using your C:\drive.

I'd get 256gb min.Al

Yep.....that would be preferable, but I've been living with a 60GB SSD in my current machine for a year or two......I'm scrupulous about where I allow things to go and wouldn't ever go near iTunes

Even if I lashed out on a bigger ssd to put in (500GB Samsung for 100 quid) , the price of the PCs above comes out a few hundred quid less than others I've found

It's that GPU and Ram that's making me moist...Skyrim on Ultra everything with full effects

 

[DrFarkoff]

Fuck Me I must be a dinosaur

still Running Windows XP pro on a 2.6 gig processor with 2 gig of RAM and a 40 gig HD as my C drive ????

256 Gb for a drive Fugg Me!!!

Be carefull with that small SSD.

Windows updates will eat it up, and iTunes and a lot of other programs insist on using your C:\drive.

I'd get 256gb min.

Al

 

[Titto]

Sounds good fanum, but unless 4k gaming is your thing the 980ti is total overkill, not slight but total! A 970 will blow anything out the water for 1080p.
If you haven't invested in a decent nvidia g sync monitor then I would save half the cost of buying the 980ti and get the 970 with a g sync screen. You won't regret it!
Rest sounds great. Intel and nvidia are blowing the opposition out the water and the poke of an i5, even a sandybridge i5, is still incredible!

Good good build!

Sent from my D5503 using Tapatalk

 

[Titto]

Ps, Asus strix is the only way to for the 970!!!( or 980ti if you have to!!)

Sent from my D5503 using Tapatalk

 

[rjsmith26]

Re SSD - I'd be more concerned with manu and model than size. There is a big difference between a good and bad SSD in terms of performance and reliability - care needed unless you want it all to end in tears.

 

[Fanum]

Sounds good fanum, but unless 4k gaming is your thing the 980ti is total overkill, not slight but total! A 970 will blow anything out the water for 1080p.
If you haven't invested in a decent nvidia g sync monitor then I would save half the cost of buying the 980ti and get the 970 with a g sync screen. You won't regret it!
Rest sounds great. Intel and nvidia are blowing the opposition out the water and the poke of an i5, even a sandybridge i5, is still incredible!

Good good build!

Sent from my D5503 using Tapatalk

I like the futureproofing aspect of the 980Ti......having seen the sort of demands that are going to be poked at GPUs by some of the open world sandbox games coming out next year, that future is a lot closer than many imagine.

I've been looking at some 40+ inch UHD smart TVs as possible monitors as well.....I run a pair of 22 inch Dells at the moment, but with a 50 inch curved UHDTV coming in at about 500 notes refurbished with no dead pixels and perhaps minor bevel marks (more often than not just opened in the box then re-sealed when people see the size of them!) I reckon that's what I'll be playing Skyrim on by Xmas

Seriously, just look at some of these and you can already see the 980ti being given a work out!
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MpUg0vvspa4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rETWN8pHV_4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[Fanum]

Re SSD - I'd be more concerned with manu and model than size. There is a big difference between a good and bad SSD in terms of performance and reliability - care needed unless you want it all to end in tears.

I've been keeping a disc image of my boot SSD, and with them being so (comparatively) cheap, even a bricked drive wouldn't be the end of the world......Especially when I will still have a second (smaller) ssd to hand.....what, 30 mins tops to get back up and running, with a replacement on the mat inside 48 hours?

 

[wessie]

SSD prices are getting cheaper. My Samsung ATIV 9 lite came with 128GB SSD which has been getting a bit full. So for about £80 I splashed out on a Crucial (made by Micron) 256GB SSD & USB cradle. I now have a 100 odd GB C drive with the OE image transferred onto it and a separate partition for data storage and future program installs. Saves dicking about with memory sticks for torrented files.

 

[Titto]

If your going for 4k and you can afford the extra then go for it! I want one just because it's so special, but can't really justify it for 1080p.
I personally think you should test some or experience some uhd gaming monitors though mate, their high refresh rates are seriously going to be important for you if you play first person stuff etc. Plus the best ones come with g sync. Its quite brilliant!
Enjoy your build!!


Sent from my D5503 using Tapatalk

 

[JohnnyOldBoy]

I have been using Quiet PC to build a new system.

Gaming performance is not an issue for me, I am trying to reduce noise and power consumption with fanless devices.

 

[AberdeenAngus]

I got mine from overclockers and very good it is too. It does sound like a 747 starting up though.

 

[gerarddwatts]

Spend the money on bikes....geek..

 

[Fanum]

Spend the money on bikes....geek..

I've got all the bikes I want in my 1150GSA tyvm

PS I've checked Quiet PC, Overclockers and about a dozen other assemblers with the same specs as above, and not one of them can match those prices

 

[Walowiz]

I've got all the bikes I want in my 1150GSA tyvm

PS I've checked Quiet PC, Overclockers and about a dozen other assemblers with the same specs as above, and not one of them can match those prices

Both specs look really good and if they come up less than buying the components from overclockers - then that's a bloody good deal indeed.

I've got bought loads from overclockers and they've always been damn good on price (as well as customer service).

 

[Fanum]

Ooooooh........less than a fortnight before I finalise my spec and I've just found this for £1139:

Case : CORSAIR CARBIDE SPEC-03 GAMING CASE


Power Supply : 800 Watt CORSAIR PSU With Power Cable Supplied

Motherboard : GIGABYTE Z97P-D3 usb3 sata3 gen3 10/1000 lan port​

• Supports 4th and 5th Generation Intel® Core™ processors
• Extreme multi graphics support
• HD Audio support
• LAN with high ESD Protection
• GIGABYTE LAN Optimizer
• Long lifespan Durable Solid caps
• Supports HDMI output
• APP Center including EasyTune™ and Cloud Station™ utilities
• GIGABYTE UEFI DualBIOS™​

CPU : Intel i7 4th Gen 4790K Quad Core CPU 4Ghz (4.4Ghz Turbo)​

Hard Drive : 128 GB SSD SATA 3 (BOOT DRIVE) + 1000 GB 7200 RPM SATA 3 (STORAGE) ​

Memory : 16gb DDR3 2400 mhz Corsair/Kingston Memory​

Graphics Card : NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 980 Ti 6GB DDR5 MULTIPLE OUTPUTS​

Optical Drive : 24x Dual Layer DVD Writer​

Warranty : 12 Months Return To Base (Parts & Labour)
​

Software : 8.1 64 BIT INSTALLED WITH LICENCE
OR WINDOWS 7 HOME PREMIUM 64 BIT
PLEASE SPECIFY AT CHECKOUT WHICH YOU PREFER OR EMAIL US

I don't really need the i7, but I have done a lot of graphics and video editing and I also now have an SJ1400 which I'd like to work with, so the i7 may be nice.....plus it's a "K" series
128GB sd which is fine......(but cheaply upgradeable) and I already have a smaller SSD which I'll probably use for either Skyrim or for all the codecs, Roxeo, PS etc for speed.

It's also got an 800W PSU rather than 600, which could be useful for the future (especially as this case should take a second 980ti in SLI in the future)

Hmmmmmmm.........the two favourite companies do a price match thingy, so I can see myself spending an hour or two on the phone getting an upgrade or two

(wondering if I can squeeze an MSI or EVGA non-reference 980ti out of either of them, but I'm guessing not as they'll have bought a bulk load on S.O.R.....)

 

[Walowiz]

Hmmmmmmm.........the two favourite companies do a price match thingy, so I can see myself spending an hour or two on the phone getting an upgrade or two

(wondering if I can squeeze an MSI or EVGA non-reference 980ti out of either of them, but I'm guessing not as they'll have bought a bulk load on S.O.R.....)

For the specs you've listed the prices look pretty good, what two 'favorite' companies are these ?

 

[Fanum]

Freshtec is the company in the lead by a fair margin on a like for like basis, but the one above is from Onlinetek100

I've gone through all the similar (based on 980ti as a starting point) PCs from Overclockers, DinoPC, PCSpecialist and a half dozen more, as well Medion , a company I rate highly, and Dell refurbished etc, as well as pricing up all of the components individually from Amazon/Ebay on a self-build basis.