£650 Gaming PC

[Daniel_18]

I'm looking to build a gaming PC with a £650 budget, please post any builds. Can you also include the WiFi adapter and optical drive. I plan on upgrading the PC in the future so if you can choose any parts in anticipation of this it would be much appreciated (for example a motherboard supporting crossfire if with an AMD GPU). Quietness would be ideal but only if it doesn't take up lots more of the price. Feel free to recommend any good cooling for the build as well but don't include it in the actual price as I might get them later than the build. I also already have an SSD so don't include any within the actual build a standard hard drive will be fine. I don't mind if the limit goes over a bit if it makes a great change but preferably staying under the budget. I will be using a headset with the build so it would need to support Dolby 7.1 Surround Sound, but don't go over the top on any sound cards if you choose to include one. I will also be purchasing windows outside of the budget so you don't need to include it within. Thanks for any help.

 

[Chayan4400]

I'm looking to build a gaming PC with a £650 budget, please post any builds. Can you also include the WiFi adapter and optical drive. I plan on upgrading the PC in the future so if you can choose any parts in anticipation of this it would be much appreciated (for example a motherboard supporting crossfire if with an AMD GPU). Quietness would be ideal but only if it doesn't take up lots more of the price. Feel free to recommend any good cooling for the build as well but don't include it in the actual price as I might get them later than the build. I also already have an SSD so don't include any within the actual build a standard hard drive will be fine. I don't mind if the limit goes over a bit if it makes a great change but preferably staying under the budget. I will be using a headset with the build so it would need to support Dolby 7.1 Surround Sound, but don't go over the top on any sound cards if you choose to include one. I will also be purchasing windows outside of the budget so you don't need to include it within. Thanks for any help.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (£139.98 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: Asus H97M-E Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£69.61 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LP 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory (£44.39 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£39.98 @ Scan.co.uk)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card (£249.54 @ Aria PC)
Case: BitFenix Neos White/Silver ATX Mid Tower Case (£28.98 @ CCL Computers)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£48.06 @ CCL Computers)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer (£9.38 @ CCL Computers)
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WDN4800 802.11a/b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter (£24.99 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £654.91
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-09-25 16:32 BST+0100

Here you go. In terms of upgradability, it isn't compatible with the new Skylake CPUs, because currently they are too expensive for your budget. However, you can always upgrade later on to an i5 4690K or i7 4790K for extra performance, and overclock it as well. You can't SLI with the motherboard, unfortunately, but this build will max out pretty much any current game (And most probably the next generation of games, too.) at 1080p and still keep framerates well above acceptable values.

EDIT: Sorry, I was a bit inattentive when I put this build together 🙁: You CANNOT overclock any CPU on this board, it's chipset is not designed for that. Thank you blasc for pointing that out! You can still upgrade to a non-K i7 for added performance later on (Or even a K series i7, but you won't be able to overclock it.).

 

[blasc]

you gave him a H97 motherboard. that won't be able to do SLI, and also NOT be able to overclock if he changes the CPU...

You should go for a Z97 motherboard, but bear in mind that for gaming related aspects, the build you have there suggested, will already last you for some ~4 years without sweating with lots of games on max.

So basically, you don't need to upgrade the CPU. The build suggested is already perfect.

 

[ben001]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD FX-8350 4.0GHz 8-Core Processor (£132.37 @ More Computers)
CPU Cooler: Phanteks PH-TC12DX_RD 68.5 CFM CPU Cooler (£33.74 @ Scan.co.uk)
Motherboard: MSI 970 GAMING ATX AM3+ Motherboard (£74.99 @ Novatech)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (£35.78 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£34.74 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 380 4GB Video Card (£178.96 @ More Computers)
Case: Corsair SPEC-02 ATX Mid Tower Case (£56.99 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA GS 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£57.35 @ Aria PC)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer (£9.38 @ CCL Computers)
Wireless Network Adapter: Gigabyte GC-WB867D-I 802.11a/b/g/n/ac PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter (£28.90 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £643.20
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-09-25 17:01 BST+0100

 

[Chayan4400]

you gave him a H97 motherboard. that won't be able to do SLI, and also NOT be able to overclock if he changes the CPU...

You should go for a Z97 motherboard, but bear in mind that for gaming related aspects, the build you have there suggested, will already last you for some ~4 years without sweating with lots of games on max.

So basically, you don't need to upgrade the CPU. The build suggested is already perfect.

Whoops, forgot I put an H97 motherboard in that build 🙁; Guess I was a bit inattentive! Sorry, yes blasc is completely right, you CANNOT overclock using that motherboard. Sorry for the confusion.

Also, yes this build will last ~4 years, but to play whatever comes out after the next generation of games comes out (Say in about 2 years time.) you will probably have to turn down the settings a bit in order to get good framerates. Keep in mind though, that with this CPU you will be able to upgrade the GPU to GTX 980 Ti in the future (Or whatever is equivalent to a GTX 980 Ti's performance when you decide to upgrade.), which should give you a decent chance at having decent settings in games in 3-4 years time, provided you upgrade the GPU (And also possibly the RAM, as games seem to require more and more of it!).

 

[Daniel_18]

I'm looking to build a gaming PC with a £650 budget, please post any builds. Can you also include the WiFi adapter and optical drive. I plan on upgrading the PC in the future so if you can choose any parts in anticipation of this it would be much appreciated (for example a motherboard supporting crossfire if with an AMD GPU). Quietness would be ideal but only if it doesn't take up lots more of the price. Feel free to recommend any good cooling for the build as well but don't include it in the actual price as I might get them later than the build. I also already have an SSD so don't include any within the actual build a standard hard drive will be fine. I don't mind if the limit goes over a bit if it makes a great change but preferably staying under the budget. I will be using a headset with the build so it would need to support Dolby 7.1 Surround Sound, but don't go over the top on any sound cards if you choose to include one. I will also be purchasing windows outside of the budget so you don't need to include it within. Thanks for any help.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (£139.98 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: Asus H97M-E Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£69.61 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LP 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory (£44.39 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£39.98 @ Scan.co.uk)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card (£249.54 @ Aria PC)
Case: BitFenix Neos White/Silver ATX Mid Tower Case (£28.98 @ CCL Computers)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£48.06 @ CCL Computers)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer (£9.38 @ CCL Computers)
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WDN4800 802.11a/b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter (£24.99 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £654.91
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-09-25 16:32 BST+0100

Here you go. In terms of upgradability, it isn't compatible with the new Skylake CPUs, because currently they are too expensive for your budget. However, you can always upgrade later on to an i5 4690K or i7 4790K for extra performance, and overclock it as well. You can't SLI with the motherboard, unfortunately, but this build will max out pretty much any current game (And most probably the next generation of games, too.) at 1080p and still keep framerates well above acceptable values.

EDIT: Sorry, I was a bit inattentive when I put this build together 🙁: You CANNOT overclock any CPU on this board, it's chipset is not designed for that. Thank you blasc for pointing that out! You can still upgrade to a non-K i7 for added performance later on (Or even a K series i7, but you won't be able to overclock it.).

This is the build I am going to go with so far, I'll most likely upgrade to a 980 ti in the future, I also don't plan on overclocking since this build will be able to run all the games I plan on playing better than the PS4 I'm currently using - thanks for blasc pointing this out though). I'll leave it another day or two to see for any other suggestions but so far yours is the best.

 

[blasc]

There will probably no need to upgrade that build in the near/mid future, since DirectX12 is coming out (giving you a "free performance boost" regarding frame rate) and later we will (maybe) get vulkan, which in theory will be an even better API.

So, you are perfect and good to go. you will be able to play, for example, Metal Gear Solid V on max settings, with +75FPS. GTAV same thing. (all this on 1080p of course).

I would pick the first build suggestions as the best solution for this thread. good luck on your build.

 

[Chayan4400]

I'm looking to build a gaming PC with a £650 budget, please post any builds. Can you also include the WiFi adapter and optical drive. I plan on upgrading the PC in the future so if you can choose any parts in anticipation of this it would be much appreciated (for example a motherboard supporting crossfire if with an AMD GPU). Quietness would be ideal but only if it doesn't take up lots more of the price. Feel free to recommend any good cooling for the build as well but don't include it in the actual price as I might get them later than the build. I also already have an SSD so don't include any within the actual build a standard hard drive will be fine. I don't mind if the limit goes over a bit if it makes a great change but preferably staying under the budget. I will be using a headset with the build so it would need to support Dolby 7.1 Surround Sound, but don't go over the top on any sound cards if you choose to include one. I will also be purchasing windows outside of the budget so you don't need to include it within. Thanks for any help.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (£139.98 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: Asus H97M-E Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£69.61 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LP 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory (£44.39 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£39.98 @ Scan.co.uk)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card (£249.54 @ Aria PC)
Case: BitFenix Neos White/Silver ATX Mid Tower Case (£28.98 @ CCL Computers)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£48.06 @ CCL Computers)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer (£9.38 @ CCL Computers)
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WDN4800 802.11a/b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter (£24.99 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £654.91
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-09-25 16:32 BST+0100

Here you go. In terms of upgradability, it isn't compatible with the new Skylake CPUs, because currently they are too expensive for your budget. However, you can always upgrade later on to an i5 4690K or i7 4790K for extra performance, and overclock it as well. You can't SLI with the motherboard, unfortunately, but this build will max out pretty much any current game (And most probably the next generation of games, too.) at 1080p and still keep framerates well above acceptable values.

EDIT: Sorry, I was a bit inattentive when I put this build together 🙁: You CANNOT overclock any CPU on this board, it's chipset is not designed for that. Thank you blasc for pointing that out! You can still upgrade to a non-K i7 for added performance later on (Or even a K series i7, but you won't be able to overclock it.).

This is the build I am going to go with so far, I'll most likely upgrade to a 980 ti in the future, I also don't plan on overclocking since this build will be able to run all the games I plan on playing better than the PS4 I'm currently using - thanks for blasc pointing this out though). I'll leave it another day or two to see for any other suggestions but so far yours is the best.

The 980 Ti upgrade I gave only as an example, you needn't upgrade until you start experiencing stuttering or lagging in games, which with GTX 970 won't be for quite a while, I'd say this card could go on for around two and a half years at max settings in most games before you start experiencing problems. Again, I only gave the 980 Ti example to show just how much this CPU can handle, and did not mean that you will have to upgrade in the near future.

 

[Daniel_18]

Thanks for the help from everyone you've learned me a lot and can't wait to build the PC, will be sure to return to the website if I need any further advice.

 

[sora]

There will probably no need to upgrade that build in the near/mid future, since DirectX12 is coming out (giving you a "free performance boost" regarding frame rate) and later we will (maybe) get vulkan, which in theory will be an even better API.

So, you are perfect and good to go. you will be able to play, for example, Metal Gear Solid V on max settings, with +75FPS. GTAV same thing. (all this on 1080p of course).

I would pick the first build suggestions as the best solution for this thread. good luck on your build.

DirectX12 won't increase frame rate drastically.