Mid-range gaming build - Comments?

[RDGnome]

I don't think anyone has recommended getting 4gb version of 770. Do yourself a favour, get the 4gb 770. You will thank me later

Really not necessary unless you're driving multiple monitors which I don't think OP is.

[judgechuck]

If you do re-jig that build you might be able to get a R9 290 into it IMHO. I would also go for a Xeon E3 1230 V3 and a cheaper motherboard too.

The PSU is also OTT IMHO.

TBH,those games(outside Batman) run fine on my SB based Xeon E3 1220 and a GTX660.

I've had nVidia cards since I bought my first GeForce 2 GTS and have had the following over the years:

GeForce 2 GTS
GeForce4 Ti
GeForce FX 5950 Ultra
GeForce 6800 Ultra
GeForce 8800GT
GeForce GTX 470

I don't think I'd be happy to move to a Radeon, though I'm no fanboi! ;-)

The big problem with all this is that there's too much choice and everyone has good reasons for suggesting different options... I've no idea what to get now! ;-)

Most of those games run fine even on my current rig, amazingly... I do have to drop the whizz-bangs a little in the newer titles, but it has held up very well... I do want to build some future-proofing into the system for new games.

[judgechuck]

Really not necessary unless you're driving multiple monitors which I don't think OP is.

No, I've only got a single 1080p screen, which is enough for me at present.

[judgechuck]

Hmm, the equivalent EVGA (again, a manufacturer that I've been using happily for some years) is quite a bit more expensive, but the £50 saving on 8GB of RAM nearly pays for that:

2GB EVGA GTX 770 SC ACX, Dual BIOS, PCIe 3.0, 7010MHz GDDR5, GPU 1111MHz, Boost 1163MHz, Cores 1536, DP/DVI/HDMI

I totally agree with you for EVGA! But I'd strongly recommend to do this option, drop at 8 gb and get the gtx 770, IT IS WORTH IT, plus, there is NO game that recommends Higher than 8gb, this means you're good for a while.

the h97 mobo is a great choice if you wont overclock anything, and if you dont overclock, Intel's cooler WILL be enough.

So, except for the external blu-ray drive and the 240gb ssd, I really think you did a great job for the build, and keep your PSU, not worth upgrading.

Do you NEED 240gb ssd?? an 120gb is more than enough for windows and a game or 2, but dont put them all on it, it will break your SSD (limited number of read-write) and for your blu-ray will you actually use it? its not worth it if you dont have a 3D monitor to get the 3D one, plus external one's are slower on USB than internal with SATA, plus unless you backup your PC on blu-ray disk or watch blu-ray movies ON your PC, its not worth it at all... If you really want a disk drive just get a DVD super-multi for ALOT cheaper...

Thanks for replying!

Yes, I am pretty sure I'm going to stick with 8GB RAM for now. I'll be able to up that to 16GB easily and I don't expect I'll need more than that in a desktop system in the foreseeable future!

I think that I've come round to going for the GTX 770, having read more reviews. I think that it'll last much longer than a 760.

For the final two components, I have a 500GB system disk currently, which *only* has OS and generic programs on it. No games at all. There's about 100GB of space being taken up, as I have a number of apps that take up quite a lot of room, such as Starry Night Pro Plus 7, MS Office 2013, video / photo editing software etc, so a 120GB disk is probably pushing it.

The reason for the Blu-Ray player is so that I can start creating home video on BR, as opposed to DVD, so it's required. I'm no professional, so don't need anything flash, but I do need one.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I give you an example of what you can get by playing around with the parts choice:

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/8gb-%...9-9-24-xmp-15v
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/650w-...x120mm-atx-psu
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/intel...che-80w-retail
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/pione...iter-black-oem
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/4gb-a...splayport2xdvi
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/gigab...16%29-hdmi-atx
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/512gb...c-95mm-adapter

If you shop around you might be able to get some better deals(you could get away with a cheaper PSU too IMHO),but a Xeon E3 1230 V3,aftermarket R9 290 and 512GB SSD,would be a very powerful setup for around the same price as the components lists you have considered.