Best £700 Gaming Build?

[d0t1]

Hi guys,

I'm currently looking to get the best possible gaming PC for £700. Will be used mostly for BF4, Minecraft, etc. and also word processing, and the usual other stuff.

Maybe overclocking, no SLI/CF, no peripherals. Just a build.

PcPartpicker links/builds are preferable.

 

[filippi]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor (£106.99 @ Amazon UK)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£25.18 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: Asus M5A97 R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard (£63.56 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: Kingston XMP Blu Red Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£59.98 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£43.54 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card (£242.90 @ Amazon UK)
Case: NZXT Source 210 Elite (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case (£38.65 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£45.00 @ Aria PC)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer (£11.96 @ CCL Computers)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£70.40 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £708.16
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-30 22:56 GMT+0000)

 

[Ronaldspiers]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4440 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor (£128.73 @ Amazon UK)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£25.18 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: Asus H87-PRO ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£75.97 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Patriot Viper 3 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£59.99 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£39.98 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 280X 3GB Video Card (£223.66 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: XFX 650W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (£70.56 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £624.07
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-30 22:53 GMT+0000)


AMD Build
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor (£106.99 @ Amazon UK)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£25.18 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: Asus M5A99X EVO R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard (£92.98 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Patriot Viper 3 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£59.99 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£39.98 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 280X 3GB Video Card (£223.66 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: XFX 650W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (£70.56 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £619.34
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-30 22:56 GMT+0000)

I left the case out of both of those suggestions simply because its such a subjective thing.

 

[Cheeky_Chris]

Hi guys,

I'm currently looking to get the best possible gaming PC for £700. Will be used mostly for BF4, Minecraft, etc. and also word processing, and the usual other stuff.

Maybe overclocking, no SLI/CF, no peripherals. Just a build.

PcPartpicker links/builds are preferable.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor (£106.99 @ Amazon UK)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£25.18 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: Asus M5A97 R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard (£63.56 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: Kingston XMP Blu Red Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£59.98 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£43.54 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card (£242.90 @ Amazon UK)
Case: NZXT Source 210 Elite (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case (£38.65 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£45.00 @ Aria PC)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer (£11.96 @ CCL Computers)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£70.40 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £708.16
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-30 22:56 GMT+0000)

Wow didn't realise such a powerful build could be achieved with £700. That's some serious grunt

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor (£106.99 @ Amazon UK)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£25.18 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3P ATX AM3+ Motherboard (£65.46 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Patriot Viper 3 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£59.99 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£43.54 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 770 4GB Video Card (£289.91 @ CCL Computers)
Case: Zalman Z11 Plus ATX Mid Tower Case (£47.98 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£45.00 @ Aria PC)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer (£12.50 @ Scan.co.uk)
Total: £696.55
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-30 23:19 GMT+0000)

 

[d0t1]

This is kinda what I had in mind.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£167.99 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z87-HD3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£79.00 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Patriot Signature 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£58.43 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£43.94 @ CCL Computers)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 280X 3GB Video Card (£223.66 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Corsair Graphite Series 230T Black ATX Mid Tower Case (£57.62 @ CCL Computers)
Power Supply: EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£48.78 @ Scan.co.uk)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer (£12.50 @ Scan.co.uk)
Total: £691.92
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-31 16:07 GMT+0000)

I can always add a cooler in the future for overclocking.

How balanced is this build? I want the optimum gaming experience for the money.
Is the difference between a 280x and GTX 770 subjective? I'd only be gaming in 1080p.

 

[Rammy]

Your build is ok, but the two things I would look to changing.

-Having a 4670K in a cheaper motherboard doesn't make a lot of sense. The USP of a 4670K is you can overclock.
With a lower quality motherboard, and no CPU cooler, you can't really exploit the value of this CPU.
Either you increase motherboard budget (at least £100 for say a Asus Z87-A, but £112 for an Extreme 4/Z8-PLUS would be good) or swap to a H87/B85/H81 motherboard and a 4430/4440 and use the money saved elsewhere.

-Pretty much every build linked to you used the XFX Core 550. At £45 it's incredibly well priced, and a better pick than the EVGA.

As for balance, it's fine. You should consider the merits of overclocking builds versus non-overclocking builds, as there is a substantial difference in price without necessarily the same type of difference in performance.
There's very little between the 280X and the GTX770, on different games they can each be ahead, but ultimately it's the same HD7970/GTX680 argument. Go with whichever you prefer or whichever is cheaper.

 

[d0t1]

Your build is ok, but the two things I would look to changing.

-Having a 4670K in a cheaper motherboard doesn't make a lot of sense. The USP of a 4670K is you can overclock.
With a lower quality motherboard, and no CPU cooler, you can't really exploit the value of this CPU.
Either you increase motherboard budget (at least £100 for say a Asus Z87-A, but £112 for an Extreme 4/Z8-PLUS would be good) or swap to a H87/B85/H81 motherboard and a 4430/4440 and use the money saved elsewhere.

-Pretty much every build linked to you used the XFX Core 550. At £45 it's incredibly well priced, and a better pick than the EVGA.

As for balance, it's fine. You should consider the merits of overclocking builds versus non-overclocking builds, as there is a substantial difference in price without necessarily the same type of difference in performance.
There's very little between the 280X and the GTX770, on different games they can each be ahead, but ultimately it's the same HD7970/GTX680 argument. Go with whichever you prefer or whichever is cheaper.

You've been very helpful.

So, the motherboard I've chosen will actually hinder the chips potential? Another mobo, such as the ones you mentioned, will increase the extent to which I am able to OC the chip?

 

[d0t1]

To be honest, after doing some research I've seen a number of similar builds with the same CPU and mobo able to OC to 4.4ghz on air. So I'm not sure how accurate your statement is.

At the end of the day it all comes down to binning right?

 

[Rammy]

Not really. All 4670Ks should be binned equally, but that doesn't mean they are equal. It's luck of the draw, plus factors like ambient temps, quality of contact etc.

It's perfectly reasonable that someone could get a solid overclock on a cheaper Z87, but things like VRM heatsinks and power phases can and will make a difference to how well you can overclock, and how well it functions there (stability and longevity). There is nothing explicitly wrong with the Gigabyte board, it's made to fill a niche, and it's priced very reasonably, but it lacks the features of a full Z87 board.

It's up to you of course, but given the fairly minimal gains to gaming performance from overclocking in general, the merits of a small overclock after spending extra on a CPU, motherboard and CPU cooler have to be questioned.

 

[d0t1]

Not really. All 4670Ks should be binned equally, but that doesn't mean they are equal. It's luck of the draw, plus factors like ambient temps, quality of contact etc.

It's perfectly reasonable that someone could get a solid overclock on a cheaper Z87, but things like VRM heatsinks and power phases can and will make a difference to how well you can overclock, and how well it functions there (stability and longevity). There is nothing explicitly wrong with the Gigabyte board, it's made to fill a niche, and it's priced very reasonably, but it lacks the features of a full Z87 board.

It's up to you of course, but given the fairly minimal gains to gaming performance from overclocking in general, the merits of a small overclock after spending extra on a CPU, motherboard and CPU cooler have to be questioned.

So what would be your advice considering that an overclock will have minimal impact on gaming performance?

 

[Ronaldspiers]

Not really. All 4670Ks should be binned equally, but that doesn't mean they are equal. It's luck of the draw, plus factors like ambient temps, quality of contact etc.

It's perfectly reasonable that someone could get a solid overclock on a cheaper Z87, but things like VRM heatsinks and power phases can and will make a difference to how well you can overclock, and how well it functions there (stability and longevity). There is nothing explicitly wrong with the Gigabyte board, it's made to fill a niche, and it's priced very reasonably, but it lacks the features of a full Z87 board.

It's up to you of course, but given the fairly minimal gains to gaming performance from overclocking in general, the merits of a small overclock after spending extra on a CPU, motherboard and CPU cooler have to be questioned.

So what would be your advice considering that an overclock will have minimal impact on gaming performance?

I think for gaming, most would agree to get a cheaper CPU/motherboard combo and use the saved money to upgrade the graphics card.

 

[Rammy]

Overclocking yields different performance boosts in different games, but the vast majority of games are still GPU bound.

In general £50 extra on graphics is worth an awful lot more than £50 extra on CPU (overclocking potential in this case).

The issue is that there isn't really anywhere to go with another £50+ on graphics. The R9 290/GTX780 are quite a lot above £300, so you either go for a more extreme overclocked card like the 280X Toxic, grab an SSD, or tweak some of the other components (perhaps a modular PSU or a fancier case).

 

[d0t1]

Overclocking yields different performance boosts in different games, but the vast majority of games are still GPU bound.

In general £50 extra on graphics is worth an awful lot more than £50 extra on CPU (overclocking potential in this case).

The issue is that there isn't really anywhere to go with another £50+ on graphics. The R9 290/GTX780 are quite a lot above £300, so you either go for a more extreme overclocked card like the 280X Toxic, grab an SSD, or tweak some of the other components (perhaps a modular PSU or a fancier case).

So effectively I should downgrade the CPU to a FX-8320/8350? Or use a non-overclockable i5 and H87 mobo?

But I agree, the cheapest non-ref r9 290 is around the £325-250 mark.

 

[Rammy]

You've got a lot of options. My main point with your Z87-4670K build is that you didn't quite have the cash to make it really worth your while (especially when you consider you weren't allowing for a CPU cooler).

Any 2nd, 3rd or 4th gen i5 is going to be remarkably close in game performance, given the difference in ages and clock speeds. There isn't really a compelling upgrade argument if you already have one.

The FX processors are perfectly decent, but personally I'd go for a 4430/4440/4570 and a H87 or B85 board. You could even go H81, but they are a bit lacking in connectors.

There is no shame (far from it) in coming up with a £650 rather than spending £700 on something which performs no better.

 

[d0t1]

You've got a lot of options. My main point with your Z87-4670K build is that you didn't quite have the cash to make it really worth your while (especially when you consider you weren't allowing for a CPU cooler).

Any 2nd, 3rd or 4th gen i5 is going to be remarkably close in game performance, given the difference in ages and clock speeds. There isn't really a compelling upgrade argument if you already have one.

The FX processors are perfectly decent, but personally I'd go for a 4430/4440/4570 and a H87 or B85 board. You could even go H81, but they are a bit lacking in connectors.

There is no shame (far from it) in coming up with a £650 rather than spending £700 on something which performs no better.

I personally like the ability for me to overclock the CPU in future though. Like I said, a 212 could always be added at a later date.

You make a good point however. If you were to suggest a build for the £700 price point (without taking anything I've posted into account) what would it be?

 

[Rammy]

Honestly, I'd personally go with something like this -
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4440 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor (£128.73 @ Ebuyer)
Motherboard: ASRock B85 Pro4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£54.88 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Patriot Viper 3 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£59.99 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£39.98 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 280X 3GB Video Card (£223.66 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Corsair Graphite Series 230T Black ATX Mid Tower Case (£57.62 @ CCL Computers)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£45.00 @ Aria PC)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer (£11.96 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £621.82
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-02-01 14:06 GMT+0000)

It shows as way under budget, but you can add a modular PSU, a 128GB SSD or a GTX770 (or a combination of any of them). For me, there isn't much of a gain from spending much more on performance components, as you can't really do an Intel overclockable build on £700. I think the "I can add a cooler later" logic is a bit of a false economy, because while it staggers purchase, it is extra expense which you have to keep in mind.

To illustrate the point -
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£167.99 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£25.18 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: ASRock Z87 Extreme4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£113.48 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (£69.98 @ Novatech)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£39.98 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 280X 3GB Video Card (£223.66 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Corsair Graphite Series 230T Black ATX Mid Tower Case (£57.62 @ CCL Computers)
Power Supply: XFX 650W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (£70.56 @ CCL Computers)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer (£11.96 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £780.41
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-02-01 14:14 GMT+0000)
Same build, but with some minor tweaks. Upgraded PSU to give you a bit more overclocking headroom plus modular cables. Decent motherboard for overclocking. 4670K. Faster memory (this is more optional). Hyper 212 (by CPU cooler standards, pretty cheap).
Lots of small costs mount up pretty quickly. If you aren't going to spend this kind of cash on an OC build, imo it's best not to bother.

 

[sora]

This is kinda what I had in mind.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£167.99 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z87-HD3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£79.00 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Patriot Signature 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£58.43 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£43.94 @ CCL Computers)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 280X 3GB Video Card (£223.66 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Corsair Graphite Series 230T Black ATX Mid Tower Case (£57.62 @ CCL Computers)
Power Supply: EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£48.78 @ Scan.co.uk)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer (£12.50 @ Scan.co.uk)
Total: £691.92
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-31 16:07 GMT+0000)

I can always add a cooler in the future for overclocking.

How balanced is this build? I want the optimum gaming experience for the money.
Is the difference between a 280x and GTX 770 subjective? I'd only be gaming in 1080p.

Not really.
I'd definitely get the 280x though since it supports Mantle and you want to play BF4.