Cheap Gaming Rig (Advice On Changes Needed!)

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lLiamKelly

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Nov 3, 2013
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My friend has recently bought this build:

http://www.ebuyer.com/lists/list/251771

He bought a monitor and speakers separately so I'm not sure which he got. I have dabbled with the idea of spending about £1500 on a PC for gaming, to play games like LoL, BF4/CS/FPSs, StarCraft & other RTSs, Diablo, potentially MMOs. I will also need this computer for some basic 3D modelling programs such as Autodesk Design Suite and NavisWorks. I was just wondering if I were to decide that I wanted to go down the cheaper route, what I'd want to change/upgrade in this build to be able to run this on at least high settings whilst running Skype at the same time. I'm from the UK and would need an OS included. How much more am I looking to spend for this to be possible?
 
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This is more of a curiosity post than a requirement as I don't really have a budget (deciding how much money I'm going to spend will be made on the comparison of this and another post, I guess). I have another post asking for a build around £1500 but I'm starting to worry I'm just getting drawn in by ultra settings when I'd be perfectly happy running them on medium-high. The game I'll play the most is probably LoL and that runs well on an average build. I know for a fact I will want to play other games when I get it but if I'm not playing them all the time I'm questioning whether I really need ultra settings, etc.

I'm just wondering how much it would cost to change that build to be able to run the games mentioned above. I understand the PSU isn't great but I think the bundle is cheap due to it being in with the case, so how much would that add on to the price to sort that out? And as for the overclocking, I'm not too bothered about it. Having the ability would be cool for experimentation in a year or two when refreshing the build but not a must have.
 
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Here is something for medium-high

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4570 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (£144.62 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: Asus H87M-E Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£69.44 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£63.53 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£47.02 @ CCL Computers)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 7870 XT 2GB Video Card (£133.99 @ Aria PC)
Case: Cooler Master K280 ATX Mid Tower Case (£32.12 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 450W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply (£35.34 @ Scan.co.uk)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-222BB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer (£15.95 @ Amazon UK)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit) (£69.86 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £611.87
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-11-06 12:29 GMT+0000)
 
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And how much would you add for a decent monitor, for this set-up? That's really cheap, compared to how much I was going to spend. It's a case of, I have the money but I'm not sure whether I'm willing to spend so much, can't tell if I'm just getting over-excited and not realistic lol. Also how would this deal with 3D modelling programs mentioned?
 
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Yes, it can deal with 3D modeling programs,but for better loading times i would also get SSD. Here is with really good monitor

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4570 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (£144.62 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: Asus H87M-E Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£69.44 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£63.53 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£47.02 @ CCL Computers)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 7870 XT 2GB Video Card (£133.99 @ Aria PC)
Case: Cooler Master K280 ATX Mid Tower Case (£32.12 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 450W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply (£35.34 @ Scan.co.uk)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-222BB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer (£15.95 @ Amazon UK)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit) (£69.86 @ CCL Computers)
Monitor: Asus VE247H 23.6" Monitor (£136.43 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £748.30
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-11-06 12:38 GMT+0000)
 
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With SSD for even faster performance

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4570 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (£144.62 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: Asus H87M-E Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£69.44 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£63.53 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (£98.95 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£47.02 @ CCL Computers)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 7870 XT 2GB Video Card (£133.99 @ Aria PC)
Case: Cooler Master K280 ATX Mid Tower Case (£32.12 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply (£41.40 @ Scan.co.uk)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-222BB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer (£15.95 @ Amazon UK)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit) (£69.86 @ CCL Computers)
Monitor: Asus VE247H 23.6" Monitor (£136.43 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £853.31
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-11-06 12:43 GMT+0000)
 
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Solution
Brilliant, as the PSU has changed is there another case you would recommend? I think he only got them because they came together and not necessarily due to a desire for either component. Also would that motherboard overclock if I were to get a processor with the ability? Or would I need to change the motherboard along with the processor? (Just to gain more of an understanding)
 
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You have to change the motherboard and the cpu if you want to overclock it. But i would advise you not to do it because you will need more power, better cooling and that equals to more money. As far as the case, it's ok, it will fit every part you have.I can recommend another one if you want.
 
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Ah okay, thanks for the answer. So considering I won't be spending money on cooling/power, is the SSD a worthy replacement? Or would you spend the money elsewhere in the build to better it? Yeah, if you could recommend a better case that would be great, preferably focussed around heat management.
 
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SSD is the best part for your setup, it boots, loads programs, games 4-5 times faster that traditional hard drive. I would suggest you to install your Win8 and some important programs on the SSD, so it will work faster and use the 1Tb HDD for storage of music, pictures and other things
 
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Aftermarket cooler is always better than intel stock cooler even if you are not overclocking. The aftermarket cooler will keep your cpu cool and it will last longer. Here is something with CPU cooler and better PSU, for future upgrades.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£171.54 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper TX3 54.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£20.27 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: ASRock Z87 Extreme3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£99.29 @ Ebuyer)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£63.53 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (£99.93 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£47.02 @ CCL Computers)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 7870 XT 2GB Video Card (£133.99 @ Aria PC)
Case: Silverstone SST-RL01B-USB 3.0 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case (£33.61 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: XFX 650W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply (£59.50 @ Amazon UK)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-222BB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer (£15.95 @ Amazon UK)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit) (£69.86 @ CCL Computers)
Monitor: Asus VE247H 23.6" Monitor (£136.43 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £950.92
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-11-06 15:34 GMT+0000)
 
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If I swapped the monitor for a BenQ XL2420T 120Hz 24.0" would that still work? I understand it's a lot more expensive but I really like the idea of 120Hz. I understand this could just be an impulse thing again, and if you can give me a reason why this wouldn't be a worthwhile buy then that'd be great.
 
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You are always going to find better parts and more expensive. We went from 600 to 950 £ build. I would rather stay with the same monitor and spend extra 50 £ for graphics card. Btw for 120Hz monitor you are going to need a 350 £ graphics card so the monitor can benefit from it.
 
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See, this is why I come here! Haha. I thought I might have to upgrade other parts if I got that monitor so I will stick with the monitor you suggested. I've added my mouse and keyboard onto the build and changed a few things (I prefer Windows 7 and the optical drive needn't be too fancy as it will only be used to install the OS and then it will be used every so often to import CDs into iTunes, no DVD watching/burning will be done. It's probably good I don't get the 120Hz monitor because the money I save is spent on mouse/keyboard, and potentially a better GPU.
 
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http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/lLiamKelly/saved/2KwZ

So I think this is what I'm looking at. Almost twice the price of my friend's build (he bought that bundle in the first post for around £500 and he spent a further £150 on a monitor and speakers), which I was aiming to match at first. I feel like I've finally struck a nice balance between what I need from my computer and what I'm happy to spend. If you think there are any issues or ways to improve my build then let me know but it's mostly the same.
 
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