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Thread: new build game box ideas

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    new build game box ideas

    Hi, not sure if this is the right place. Sorry if this is the wrong location. I'm looking to build a new machine but don't know what to go for. I want something small and quiet, but which will game, like properly game MP online at decent settings. SSDs are a must, and budget is TBC but I think I could wrangle £1k if I space out the purchases between now and black Friday. Lastly I want it to be good for at least 3 years with no updates etc. And if I can avoid windows 10 it would be nice, but I kind of fear the games will demand it so in which case it must be a pro licence, and preferably transferable in case mobo goes pop.

    Fire away clever people - would really like to know the collective wisdom of what to go for right now. I'm years out of touch

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    Not a good person scaryjim's Avatar
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    Re: new build game box ideas

    Quote Originally Posted by atemporal View Post
    ... I think I could wrangle £1k if I space out the purchases between now and black Friday. ...
    Black friday is, what, 5 months away? So anything you buy now will be at least 6 month old tech by then, is likely to have been replaced or revised in some way, or will be cheaper for the same components.

    If you can afford to spend money this month, you can also afford to save money this month: so that's my advice. Whatever money you would have spent over the next five months, stick it in some kind of savings account. Then when it comes to black friday you'll have an account full of money just waiting to be spent on whatever are the best deals are at the time - which are likely to be different to what's best to buy now.

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    ps I've just ordered one of these - so I would have that to start from:

    https://www.amazon.co.uk/Crucial-MX5.../dp/B0784SLQM6

    Quote Originally Posted by scaryjim View Post
    Black friday is, what, 5 months away? So anything you buy now will be at least 6 month old tech by then, is likely to have been replaced or revised in some way, or will be cheaper for the same components.

    If you can afford to spend money this month, you can also afford to save money this month: so that's my advice. Whatever money you would have spent over the next five months, stick it in some kind of savings account. Then when it comes to black friday you'll have an account full of money just waiting to be spent on whatever are the best deals are at the time - which are likely to be different to what's best to buy now.
    yeah, but if I spend £200 per month that is a manageable chunk in the budget. If it gets to £1k lump spend I get... err... grilled.
    Last edited by peterb; 07-07-2018 at 12:42 PM. Reason: Merge onsecutive posts

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    Re: new build game box ideas

    thinking about it, you're right in some ways, but I guess I want to be able to get some bits now and have some use of it over the holidays. So eg get some RAM now and add to it or swap it in the sales (hopefully).

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    Re: new build game box ideas

    sounds like a thread for Cat5th et al but I second what Jim says - save up and then commit. Equally though that was my philosophy a few years back just before prices spiked, so I would have done better getting those 1TB SSDs in that amazon sale when they were £180 each. They've only just started getting back to that price now - 3 years later!!!

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    Re: new build game box ideas

    so are you saying wait or buy now?

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    Re: new build game box ideas

    I will try to spec something you should try to aim for later on as I use SFF PCs myself.

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    Re: new build game box ideas

    There are pros and cons to waiting and to buying now.

    Winding back a bit, how small is small? Might be worth browsing some cases, with a tape measure handy to get an idea of how compact you want it. That could influence the graphics card choice (some 3 slot monster vs an ITX optimised card) and the PSU that goes in it.


    Graphics cards still aren't cheap. That's probably worth waiting for in itself.

    Are you currently trying to game on the Optiplex in your sig? If that is the bar to beat, you could start with an AMD 2400G APU based setup.

    But you've spent £90 of your £200 this month, guess you can afford a motherboard or maybe some ram and you are done for a month. This thread could drag on a bit

    Edit: As for Windows, the world has moved on to Windows 10 as a gaming platform. I think we are at the stage where fighting that is nastier than Windows 10.
    Last edited by DanceswithUnix; 27-06-2018 at 02:21 PM.

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    Re: new build game box ideas

    Quote Originally Posted by atemporal View Post
    so are you saying wait or buy now?
    both. Sorry, I know that's not helpful at all. Generally wait, but sometimes bird in the hand and all that

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    Re: new build game box ideas

    I'm not gaming at all right now. But now in a place with fibre so can finally get back into it.

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    Re: new build game box ideas

    The OP is probably like me - I collect parts for my continuous upgrade cycle,as decent deals come online. I haven't done a fully new build for years as it costs more.

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    Re: new build game box ideas

    I'd find it easier to have a target list and watch like a hawk for good prices. Things like a large storage SSD and other non-essentials can then be dropped in at a later date.

    Someone asked about size. I was thinking small - those kind of box cube things you see bolted under desks if possible. I would like (ideally) a drive bay not for optical - I have an external DVD writer - but for swapping secondary SSD/HDD. Presumably that would help reduce the number of ports the mobo needs to have natively and mean the case could be smaller. But equally with these super mini cases I'm not sure if any accommodate an external drive bay.

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    Re: new build game box ideas

    Quote Originally Posted by atemporal View Post
    I'd find it easier to have a target list and watch like a hawk for good prices. Things like a large storage SSD and other non-essentials can then be dropped in at a later date.

    Someone asked about size. I was thinking small - those kind of box cube things you see bolted under desks if possible. I would like (ideally) a drive bay not for optical - I have an external DVD writer - but for swapping secondary SSD/HDD. Presumably that would help reduce the number of ports the mobo needs to have natively and mean the case could be smaller. But equally with these super mini cases I'm not sure if any accommodate an external drive bay.
    It will bump up the price,as SFF parts cost more,and also mean cooling for the CPU and graphics card will be less.

    That means you will have to make sacrifices in what performance you will get for your money,like I have to a degree.

    Also,what size are you thinking in cm??

    Would this be too big:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFyrSSNldBI

    Its one of the smallest cases which can take a normal ATX motherboard.

    Or is it something smaller like these cases which you would prefer:

    https://www.scan.co.uk/products/silv...-w-o-psu-(sfx)
    https://www.scan.co.uk/shop/computer...i-itx-pc-cases

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    Re: new build game box ideas

    Quote Originally Posted by atemporal View Post
    I'd find it easier to have a target list and watch like a hawk for good prices. Things like a large storage SSD and other non-essentials can then be dropped in at a later date.

    Someone asked about size. I was thinking small - those kind of box cube things you see bolted under desks if possible. I would like (ideally) a drive bay not for optical - I have an external DVD writer - but for swapping secondary SSD/HDD. Presumably that would help reduce the number of ports the mobo needs to have natively and mean the case could be smaller. But equally with these super mini cases I'm not sure if any accommodate an external drive bay.
    I have one of these in my machine - it's excellent, and provided your mobo supports hot-swap on the sata port works really really well. Got a spare on the shelf too for various order problem reasons. Best purchase I've made in a while. NB it's brushed aluminium front, not plastic. The blue version is nice and shiny not plastic tat. Both 3.5" HDD and 2.5"SSD in one 5.25" bay. Whether your preferred case has that kind of room however will remain to be seen. I've not personally seen a BRIX case or the like with an external bay. Kind of defeats the object?

    (edit I presume you're meaning something like one of these: https://www.scan.co.uk/products/giga...620-usb-type-c )
    Last edited by ik9000; 28-06-2018 at 10:25 AM.

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    Re: new build game box ideas

    The only NUC which would be small and run games OK is this:

    https://www.scan.co.uk/products/inte...b-hbm2-ddr4-2x

    The OP would need to get an M2 drive(two drives can be used it appears),and some RAM,but it might be doable for just over a £1000. The GPU is around GTX1050TI level or a bit faster IIRC.

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    at the risk of sounding stupid, is a gtx1050 any good? I thought that was middle-bottom of the pile as things go. I appreciate the upper tier cards would probably destroy my budget. but is that the best i shuold think about?

    the case in the video looks larger than i was hoping for. the smaller ones perhaps, but I guess I'm after the holy grail. I was assuming a water square thing would avoid the worry about air flow so make those biscuit-tin shoebox style cases more viable. I thought I'd seen a case where the graphics card had its 3 fans on the side, and everything else was passive or water square onto a fan at the other side. I'll see if I can find it again. Probably costs £10k knowing my luck.
    Last edited by peterb; 07-07-2018 at 12:38 PM. Reason: Succesive multiple posts

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