Building a PC looking for help on parts needed.

[Leemorgan978]

Hey guys im looking to build a desktop pc for gaming but havent a clue what parts I would need to get.
Was asking around some friends and they suggested that I came on here and asked you guys.

My budget is about £900-£1000.

Many thanks Lee.

[ik9000]

Cat will be along soon to sort you out. Before he does though, here's my 10p worth.

1) You can often save a bit by buying from Scan's Today Only offers. The best ones for doing a whole system tend to be between Fri pm and Monday lunchtime.

2) Does your price need to include a monitor?

[Bagnaj97]

Cat will be along soon to sort you out. Before he does though, here's my 10p worth.

1) You can often save a bit by buying from Scan's Today Only offers. The best ones for doing a whole system tend to be between Fri pm and Monday lunchtime.

2) Does your price need to include a monitor?

3) Does the price need to include an OS or do you have a copy of Windows available?

[MSIC]

Cat will be along soon to sort you out. Before he does though, here's my 10p worth.

I too am trying to play 'Beat the CAT' , although probably wont succeed. That guy is just so annoyingly helpful and considerate... it makes me want to scream!
Anywho

It's always useful to be clear about identifying your criteria, as the more specific that you can become, the more likely you are to be happy with the outcome; this also however requires some experience too, as we all often think that something is great, but later with hindsight we might have made a change to X, Y or Z.
So far, you have stated

build a desktop pc for gaming

which is fine, but in terms of us helping you I would ask you to consider the following:

Is physical size important? (a larger case is easier to work in and often better for thermals, but a smaller case is less intrusive on space).
Is noise a factor?
Do you want something that looks 'cool' even when switched off?
Do you prefer something 'young' and loud, with lights and colours, or something more understated?
Do you need to factor in peripherals (keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, printer ... etc)?
Is a powerful / fast machine the main priority?
Finally, is there anything other than gaming that you want to do with it?

[ik9000]

A gaming PC wants the following components:

1) A Case (obviously). Some come with more fans already installed - good as long as the fans themselves are good
2) A power supply (PSU) with capacity to match the components. (Min 500w-750w for large single GPU or 2 smaller GPU in SLI/crossfire, 850w-1000w+ for 2 large GPU in SLI/crossfire)
3) CPU - the good default all-rounder is the i5-2500k, but AMD do some nice offerings for less money which Cat will take you through
4) a CPU cooler - if not using the stock cooler (which is often noisey and not that great if you want to be able to push the CPU harder than its defaults (overclock)
5) a motherboard - it will determine what you can and can't put in the machine, and how well everything works.
6) a graphics card (GPU). Some people have 2. This can be a good way of upgrading an old machine, but for your budget it's better to get one decent card than 2 mediocre ones.
7) RAM - how much your system can think about/keep to mind in one go
8) HDD - how much your system can store in the filing cabinets so to speak
9) SSD like an HDD but wayyyy quicker and wayyyy more expensive. This is optional
10) an optical drive (DVD writer with or without BluRay ability depending on your want)
11) An operating system (software like windows. Get windows 7 64 bit home premium as a minimum)
12) other faff as necessary (case fans, thermal paste for the CPU cooler, anti-vibration washers (£3 from Maplins) and the like)

[ik9000]

I too am trying to play 'Beat the CAT' , although probably wont succeed. That guy is just so annoyingly helpful and considerate... it makes me want to scream!
Anywho

It's always useful to be clear about identifying your criteria, as the more specific that you can become, the more likely you are to be happy with the outcome; this also however requires some experience too, as we all often think that something is great, but later with hindsight we might have made a change to X, Y or Z.
So far, you have stated
which is fine, but in terms of us helping you I would ask you to consider the following:

Is physical size important? (a larger case is easier to work in and often better for thermals, but a smaller case is less intrusive on space).
Is noise a factor?
Do you want something that looks 'cool' even when switched off?
Do you prefer something 'young' and loud, with lights and colours, or something more understated?
Do you need to factor in peripherals (keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, printer ... etc)?
Is a powerful / fast machine the main priority?
Finally, is there anything other than gaming that you want to do with it?

ooh that's a good list. We really should get some of this into a Hexus default requirement list for new posts - how many back-and-forth posts would that solve.

[Leemorgan978]

Thanks for the help so far guys in reply to questions. (I have a monitor already so monitor is not in with the budget and I also have a copy of windows 7 aswell.)
Is physical size important? (a larger case is easier to work in and often better for thermals, but a smaller case is less intrusive on space). (Nope size is not an issue.)
Is noise a factor? (Not as such but being a bit quiet wont hurt.)
Do you want something that looks 'cool' even when switched off? (Not really only im going to really see it at the end of the day. Its what inside that matters the most to me)
Do you prefer something 'young' and loud, with lights and colours, or something more understated? (understated is fine)
Do you need to factor in peripherals (keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, printer ... etc)? (Nope have all that already)
Is a powerful / fast machine the main priority? (Mainly yeah)
Finally, is there anything other than gaming that you want to do with it? (Just general browsing thats all but mostly gaming)

Again thanks for the help guys.

[ik9000]

How about this?

It includes a monitor - a really good one, and a decent GPU. No SSD to save money and no OS granted but an OEM windows licence is about £70 so you're only just over £1k with that.

The only thing it doesn't have is a custom CPU cooler. I'd prob want to get one myself, but to get a good one and a PWM fan you're looking at £50+ so you'll have to weigh up whether you want the lower noise + better ability to overclock the CPU.

The case looks great (I have one) and has switchable LEDs to all fans, and the crest/logo on the front. Plus it has USB3

[ik9000]

Just seen your post on your requirements

Losing the monitor from the list and using the budget to get a decent CPU cooler and a few SSDs gets us to the list below:

The 40GB SSD is to make use of the SSD caching feature on the z68 MOBO (better MOBO specified to enable this)

The 60GB SSD is for a drive for the OS (the c:\ drive) You could even bump this up to an 80 or 120GB SSD depending how much you want to spend

The HDD is for file storage etc.

[Bagnaj97]

Just seen your post on your requirements

Losing the monitor from the list and using the budget to get a decent CPU cooler and a few SSDs gets us to the list below:

The 40GB SSD is to make use of the SSD caching feature on the z68 MOBO (better MOBO specified to enable this)

The 60GB SSD is for a drive for the OS (the c:\ drive) You could even bump this up to an 80 or 120GB SSD depending how much you want to spend

The HDD is for file storage etc.

If you're running the OS off an SSD I don't think the SSD caching feature will have any noticeable performance benefit. I reckon you'd be better off going for one big Intel SSD (they seem the best overall from what I've seen, but I've not been following SSDs that closely) I'd also change the PSU to this XFX one. Otherwise it looks good to me Obviously if the case isn't your style you can change it, just pick one you like the look of, run it past us if you're unsure.

I'm sure CAT will say wait a few weeks for AMD to release Bulldozer before making a decision.

[ik9000]

If you're running the OS off an SSD I don't think the SSD caching feature will have any noticeable performance benefit. I reckon you'd be better off going for one big Intel SSD (they seem the best overall from what I've seen, but I've not been following SSDs that closely) I'd also change the PSU to this XFX one. Otherwise it looks good to me Obviously if the case isn't your style you can change it, just pick one you like the look of, run it past us if you're unsure.

I'm sure CAT will say wait a few weeks for AMD to release Bulldozer before making a decision.

the ssd caching is for the HDD

That XFX PSU is inferior to the one I suggested - plus the XFX is out of stock. The NZXT drive is quiet (no increase in noise between 20%-100% load) and gold efficiency. The XFX one is less efficient, and some people have complained about XFX's RMA process. The NZXT has a 5-year guarantee too.

Is bulldozer ever going to come out? I heard it was due out in March, then June, then July, then August.... getting bored now.

[shaithis]

What games are you playing/planning to play? What resolution is your current display? and do you see yourself upgrading the monitor any time soon?

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Is bulldozer ever going to come out? I heard it was due out in March, then June, then July, then August.... getting bored now.

It is coming out this year and this is what AMD said AFAIK. We were just guessing dates but AMD never gave an official ones.
Intel is starting to announce price cuts for the September to October period but I supposed this might hint as something.

My view is if you can wait a month or two then it will worth it to see how Bulldozer pans out. If not get a Sandy Bridge based build.

BTW,the following is not targetted towards you.

TBH,I am getting fed up of all this nonsense from people who want Bulldozer to fail because of E-PEEN and flip-flop. It really pisses me off how adults can act like flipping 12 year olds and immature ones at that.

[ik9000]

BTW,the following is not targetted towards you.

TBH,I am getting fed up of all this nonsense from people who want Bulldozer to fail because of E-PEEN and flip-flop. It really pisses me off how adults can act like flipping 12 year olds and immature ones at that.

Thanks for clarifying - for the record I actually want it to be s***-hot and give Intel a great big slap around the face. We need competition again. Not allowing overclocking on budget chips indeed.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Thanks for clarifying - for the record I actually want it to be s***-hot and give Intel a great big slap around the face. We need competition again. Not allowing overclocking on budget chips indeed.

The sad thing is there are thick idiots who want Bulldozer to fail just because they got a Core i5 or Core i7!!!! How stupid are these people?? They are that desparate for E-PEEN purposes.

I OTH want Bulldozer to do well like you said. More competition means better prices and probably more features.

[shaithis]

I'm really hoping BD is good enough for another round of patent swapping between AMD and Intel....

Regardless of just how good it is though, it has to be close and I cannot remember the last time AMD had a massive howler. It has to be worth the wait unless your really desperate to upgrade now.