Budget Gaming PC Build

[Rocketshoes]

Hey i'm about to order parts to build a gaming pc, i'm on a student budget so the maximum i can spend for this is £600 so the parts i've chosen seem to fit, please tell me what you guys think:

i5 4670k @ 3.4Ghz
MSI GTX 760
MSI Z87-G43-Gaming
Corsair Builder Series CX 600 Watt PSU
HyperX 8 GB 1600MHz RAM
Corsair Spec-01 Gaming Case
Generic 1TB Hard Drive

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Have you got a copy of an OS??

[Bonebreaker777]

Do you plan any after market cooler? With a K class CPU I would say yes but I can't see it anywhere on the list.

I would go for a lower rated PSU unless you plan SLi into the future, something like an XFX 450W maybe 500W I would say.

HDDs are 1TB for £38, 2TB for £54 and 3TB for £76 so look at the differences.

Also OS, you have any yet or getting one?

Plus don't forget Flubit plus cash back. Can be a good few quids.

EDiT: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/3EjGV

I quick put together a similar PC, no OS and no optical drive. Had something similar in mind?

[Rocketshoes]

Yeh i've got a spare copy of Windows 7 and 8, so not sure which one i will use yet, and I've also got a spare 1TB hard drive so that's another thing I won't need to buy. In regards to the PSU, i'm not entirely sure what wattage to go for, but a lot of people seem to recommend Corsair PSUs for safety of other parts. I probably won't Sli anytime in the future, particularly cause my motherboard won't allow it, but I might overclock. Also, what is Flubit? Thanks again!

[Bonebreaker777]

If no OS and no HDD required, maybe an SSD could be squeezed in (Crucial M500 most likely).

I am sure some members would stand by the following XFX > Corsair CX. Also your proposed 600W I am pretty sure is well above your needs especially if no SLi planned for the future.

Might overclock? If you are not sure about it, I would suggest to choose a different Mobo and a CPU then. A B85 plus a Xeon v3 would do just fine.

EDIT: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/3Ev6J

The new build has a Xeon V3 (i7 without the IGP) and a B85 board with enough SATA ports and the ability to turbo ratio overclock. Also a sufficient PSU and an 120GB SSD. All just below £600 before discounts. With the savings and discounts you could get a nice cooler, like a nice passive cooler which would look great in your case with a window!

https://www.flubit.com/ > A website to negotiate lower Amazon prices (average savings of 5-10%). You see something on Amazon (for example there are 3x items on my proposed list from Amazon which are the cheapest on Amazon already but with Flubit you can make them even cheaper), get the link and paste it on Flubit and they will come back to you with a better price with include free shipping. Flubit works as immediate savings instead of cash back, which takes some time. < If you are interested, let me refer you no money comes from it but loyalty points.

[Rocketshoes]

Thanks for the quick reply! What I was actually hoping to do was stick with the stock cooler for the moment and overclock later on when i can upgrade to a corsair water cooler or something. Might get an SSD though because it will speed up boot times. Would a 500w PSU be better then if i'm not planning to Sli, I only picked the 600w cause it met my power needs and gave me a little room to upgrade the cpu cooler, add a dvd drive in, etc. What is the difference between the two CPUs, as i'm not terribly sure what IGP is?

I'll get back to you on the Flubit thing. Thanks!

[Makzilla]

Hey i'm about to order parts to build a gaming pc, i'm on a student budget so the maximum i can spend for this is £600 so the parts i've chosen seem to fit, please tell me what you guys think:

i5 4670k @ 3.4Ghz
MSI GTX 760
MSI Z87-G43-Gaming
Corsair Builder Series CX 600 Watt PSU
HyperX 8 GB 1600MHz RAM
Corsair Spec-01 Gaming Case
Generic 1TB Hard Drive

Sounds Legit!

[Bonebreaker777]

Thanks for the quick reply! What I was actually hoping to do was stick with the stock cooler for the moment and overclock later on when i can upgrade to a corsair water cooler or something. Might get an SSD though because it will speed up boot times. Would a 500w PSU be better then if i'm not planning to Sli, I only picked the 600w cause it met my power needs and gave me a little room to upgrade the cpu cooler, add a dvd drive in, etc. What is the difference between the two CPUs, as i'm not terribly sure what IGP is?

I'll get back to you on the Flubit thing. Thanks!

The CPU cooler power take would be very small compared to such as the CPU or the GPU.

Intel® Core™ i5-4670K vs. Intel® Xeon® Processor E3-1230 v3

If you are not really serious about the overclock (which I wouldn't take under 4.2Ghz or so) I would stick with the Xeon. The i5 is quad core CPU with four logical cores available to the system. The Xeon is quad core also but with eight logical cores available to the system plus with the turbo ratio overclock, all cores would be under load at 3.7Ghz (which could act as 8 cores at 3.7Ghz for certain applications). And with the passive cooler no noise would be ever an issue. The i5 has Intel HD4600 integrated GPU, the Xeon doesn't.

I would stick by my previous statement that even the 450W XFX would be more that enough for your needs.

I wait till more senior members comment on this section but long term the Xeon would be better I would say plus you wouldn't have to deal with the problematic overclocking (turbo ratio overclock is nothing like that).

[mikeo01]

The CPU cooler power take would be very small compared to such as the CPU or the GPU.

Intel® Core™ i5-4670K vs. Intel® Xeon® Processor E3-1230 v3

If you are not really serious about the overclock (which I wouldn't take under 4.2Ghz or so) I would stick with the Xeon. The i5 is quad core CPU with four logical cores available to the system. The Xeon is quad core also but with eight logical cores available to the system plus with the turbo ratio overclock, all cores would be under load at 3.7Ghz (which could act as 8 cores at 3.7Ghz for certain applications). And with the passive cooler no noise would be ever an issue. The i5 has Intel HD4600 integrated GPU, the Xeon doesn't.

I would stick by my previous statement that even the 450W XFX would be more that enough for your needs.

I wait till more senior members comment on this section but long term the Xeon would be better I would say plus you wouldn't have to deal with the problematic overclocking (turbo ratio overclock is nothing like that).

All types of overclocking or modifications have been removed in Haswell I believe. That includes turbo.


But anyway, I'd opt for a Xeon over a locked I5.

That said if overclocking is in your interest I'd seriously consider buying used, I5-4670K or I7-4770K

Or locked, I7-4770

[Bonebreaker777]

All types of overclocking or modifications have been removed in Haswell I believe. That includes turbo.

Really? Wonder why it is still present in some BIOSes. Would be nice to have a confirmation on this.

That said if overclocking is in your interest I'd seriously consider buying used, I5-4670K or I7-4770K

Or locked, I7-4770

Those are some good prices!

[Wow MR Wolf]

Seems like a nice build. I would agree with going with XFX instead of the CX. I think those rams are at 1.65v i think some people would say go with 1.5v for the ram for intel.

[Bonebreaker777]

Seems like a nice build. I would agree with going with XFX instead of the CX. I think those rams are at 1.65v i think some people would say go with 1.5v for the ram for intel.

My build has Samsung Greens. Check that out with the Xeon.

[mikeo01]

Microcode to block overclocking on non-K chips and non-Z87 motherboards

That is what I was on about. However that is concerning multipliers.

Though I am not overly sure if base clock strap (FSB ratios) is allowed on B85 (As on Sandy Bridge-E) like limited overclocking was allowed on Ivy/Sandy.


Also XFX are good power supplies, I have one Seasonic under the hood so reliable. Pretty low ripple if you take a look at the reviews.

[Bonebreaker777]

Microcode to block overclocking on non-K chips and non-Z87 motherboards

That is what I was on about. However that is concerning multipliers.

Though I am not overly sure if base clock strap (FSB ratios) is allowed on B85 (As on Sandy Bridge-E) like limited overclocking was allowed on Ivy/Sandy.


Also XFX are good power supplies, I have one Seasonic under the hood so reliable. Pretty low ripple if you take a look at the reviews.

Turbo ratio overclocking (when it is working) instead of one core getting max Turbo or two cores getting a bit less Turbo or all cores getting a lot less Turbo can set all cores to max Turbo (which can be pretty good, something like a mild overclocking) and you don't need K class CPUs and such.

Not sure if it is working correctly currently cause it is being pretty quiet around it recently.

[mikeo01]

I know you were able to do that on Ivy/Sandy but Intel has gone further to lock down turbo, HERE.

"the standard non-K chips (ie Core i7-4770, Core i5-4670, et al) will have locked multipliers, no Turbo Boost clockspeed overclocking, and will not be allowed to use the additional 125 MHz and 167 MHz BLCK options"


What I'd suggest is quickly download some BIOS versions for your chosen motherboard in case they get updated; ready for your build they probably have by now though, but still worth a try.

[Rocketshoes]

Hey, would this be ok then if I am serious about overclocking in the future: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/3FtY8 (Just swap the Spec-03 for a Spec-01). I'm hoping to build something that will be able to play Watch Dogs quite well!