Help with gaming PC build

[Sebubble]

Okay so I've been going back and forth on a gaming PC. It's my birthday in a few days and I was going to buy myself a decent gaming computer so I could play some games I'm not able to on my current computer. I finally decided not to get one as money is a bit tight at the moment and getting a computer + a new monitor would be just about all I have to spend right now. (Just learning to drive so I figured spending all my money on a computer wasn't the best idea).

However, since then my current computer has decided to start playing up with 'Windows is not genuine' thing. I've managed to fix it in the past via CMD but it's not working anymore. I can't really play games at the moment because a pop up keeps sending me back to desktop which is extremely annoying while I'm trying to play SMITE (a competitive online game).

I want to get a new computer but I'm not really sure if I should go for my preferred build as it's still pretty expensive.
This is the one I mean (and I'd appreciate some feedback whether it's worth it or not in terms of price) -

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01G926NYY/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_S_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=2FIB9CQCJN8JH&coliid=IH5YS5F3YS2SL&psc=1

Baring in mind I have priced up how much it would be to build something like that myself and it turned out more expensive... somehow.
I would appreciate a build from one of you guys similar to that one. I wanted to also get a 1440p 144hz G-sync monitor so that might have to wait.

I also thought about a gaming laptop? But from what I've researched, they seem like a bad way to go.

TLDR; I want a new machine that will play games such as Total War Warhammer, Overwatch, SpellForce 3, SMITE and Dead Rising 3 smoothly without having to spend an arm and a leg. It will be on a 1080p 60hz monitor for now I guess but I may want to upgrade.

Thoughts?

 

[Multipack]

...is the copy of Windows genuine? What version is it, Windows 10?

The new PC.. all those pre-built Amazon PC's are a little pricey, and you could probably get a much cheaper system tailored to your needs if you build it yourself.

 

[Sebubble]

...is the copy of Windows genuine? What version is it, Windows 10?

The new PC.. all those pre-built Amazon PC's are a little pricey, and you could probably get a much cheaper system tailored to your needs if you build it yourself.

I assume it's genuine, yeah. Apparently, other people have experienced the same problem. It's Windows 7 and I've tried almost everything to make it stop but seeing as I want a new computer now-ish anyway, I've decided to just scrap it.

I have looked into building it myself but the price came out around the same if not more... and I have no idea how to put the thing together.

 

[Multipack]

...is the copy of Windows genuine? What version is it, Windows 10?

The new PC.. all those pre-built Amazon PC's are a little pricey, and you could probably get a much cheaper system tailored to your needs if you build it yourself.

I assume it's genuine, yeah. Apparently, other people have experienced the same problem. It's Windows 7 and I've tried almost everything to make it stop but seeing as I want a new computer now-ish anyway, I've decided to just scrap it.

I have looked into building it myself but the price came out around the same if not more... and I have no idea how to put the thing together.

It's more to do with what you need. Some of that system you linked is overkill, some not well matched to hardware, future technologies etc. For example, no SSD, a single fan radiator cooler, a non-specific 2tb HDD, onl;y a bronze rated 650w PSU with a heavily overclockable CPU and GPU. You wont necessarily need that CPU for that graphics card either. I am sure people oin here could build you a far cheaper and still better system on partpicker.

Whether you want to try building is another matter. If not fair enough but there are still better ways to spend the money.

 

[Sebubble]

...is the copy of Windows genuine? What version is it, Windows 10?

The new PC.. all those pre-built Amazon PC's are a little pricey, and you could probably get a much cheaper system tailored to your needs if you build it yourself.

I assume it's genuine, yeah. Apparently, other people have experienced the same problem. It's Windows 7 and I've tried almost everything to make it stop but seeing as I want a new computer now-ish anyway, I've decided to just scrap it.

I have looked into building it myself but the price came out around the same if not more... and I have no idea how to put the thing together.

It's more to do with what you need. Some of that system you linked is overkill, some not well matched to hardware, future technologies etc. For example, no SSD, a single fan radiator cooler, a non-specific 2tb HDD, onl;y a bronze rated 650w PSU with a heavily overclockable CPU and GPU. You wont necessarily need that CPU for that graphics card either. I am sure people oin here could build you a far cheaper and still better system on partpicker.

Whether you want to try building is another matter. If not fair enough but there are still better ways to spend the money.

I have no idea what stuff is compatible together, though... I need someone to build it for me, or at least tell me what parts to buy. The extent I know is that I'd probably want i7 6700K with GTX 1080 (as I want to go into 1440p gaming) and... Windows 10. After that, I'm stumped. No idea what coolers, power supplies, motherboards etc are good or not.

 

[Multipack]

...is the copy of Windows genuine? What version is it, Windows 10?

The new PC.. all those pre-built Amazon PC's are a little pricey, and you could probably get a much cheaper system tailored to your needs if you build it yourself.

I assume it's genuine, yeah. Apparently, other people have experienced the same problem. It's Windows 7 and I've tried almost everything to make it stop but seeing as I want a new computer now-ish anyway, I've decided to just scrap it.

I have looked into building it myself but the price came out around the same if not more... and I have no idea how to put the thing together.

It's more to do with what you need. Some of that system you linked is overkill, some not well matched to hardware, future technologies etc. For example, no SSD, a single fan radiator cooler, a non-specific 2tb HDD, onl;y a bronze rated 650w PSU with a heavily overclockable CPU and GPU. You wont necessarily need that CPU for that graphics card either. I am sure people oin here could build you a far cheaper and still better system on partpicker.

Whether you want to try building is another matter. If not fair enough but there are still better ways to spend the money.

I have no idea what stuff is compatible together, though... I need someone to build it for me, or at least tell me what parts to buy. The extent I know is that I'd probably want i7 6700K with GTX 1080 (as I want to go into 1440p gaming) and... Windows 10. After that, I'm stumped. No idea what coolers, power supplies, motherboards etc are good or not.

Well I guess it depends how much research you want to do, but if at all possible it's best to spend that kind of money wisely obviously. I could jut throw a parts list at you but it wont give you an understanding or what or why you want those parts.

With a setup like that some kind of SSD would be a good idea, a gold rated or above PSU, probably more powerful than 650w but that's kind of the minimum, and a motherboard that supports things like SLI 2 way GPU etc. It's also a good idea not to spend more than you need to on certain things, and an i7 6700k is pretty much overkill for 1440p gaming but it will keep up with future GPU's I guess, if you want to keep it a long time.

Building isnt that difficult - it's a bit like a big meccano set - but if you dont feel confident enough then let the members here guide you with buying and you will learn a lot along the way. Am sure there'd even be someone close by who'd build it, but if not then at least advise you to spend the money on a setup that has good balance and all the things you need for a great system.

 

[FD2Raptor]

£ for £ build with an extra SSD together with all the higher quality parts:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor (£308.28 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! Dark Rock 3 67.8 CFM Fluid Dynamic Bearing CPU Cooler (£55.56 @ CCL Computers)
Motherboard: Asus Z170-PRO ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (£129.99 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory (£75.99 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Crucial MX300 275GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£64.61 @ CCL Computers)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£42.99 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Palit GeForce GTX 1080 8GB GameRock Video Card (£559.92 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Phanteks ECLIPSE P400 ATX Mid Tower Case (£54.51 @ CCL Computers)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA G2 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£76.74 @ Amazon UK)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit (£84.98 @ Novatech)
Total: £1453.57
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-10-18 04:24 BST+0100


But really:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£213.34 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! Dark Rock 3 67.8 CFM Fluid Dynamic Bearing CPU Cooler (£55.56 @ CCL Computers)
Motherboard: ASRock Z170 Pro4 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (£89.10 @ More Computers)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory (£75.99 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Crucial MX300 275GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£64.61 @ CCL Computers)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£42.99 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Palit GeForce GTX 1070 8GB GameRock Video Card (£379.98 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Phanteks ECLIPSE P400 ATX Mid Tower Case (£54.51 @ CCL Computers)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA G2 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£76.74 @ Amazon UK)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit (£84.98 @ Novatech)
Total: £1137.8
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-10-18 13:30 BST+0100


This would still put you above a good chunks of gamers build, and unless publishers/developers don't want to sell their game to a large chunk of the market, you'll do perfectly fine with this. You can move down to a GTX 1070 and would still see no issue on your FullHD@60hz screen, and by the time you have a G-sync screen, any fps dip @1440p wouldn't be very noticeable.

That single fan AIO liquid cooler won't be giving better cooling performance compare to the Dark Rock 3 since the tower air cooler isn't very far behind a 240/280mm twin fans AIO liquid cooling solution, plus your system will be quieter with an air cooler.

Corsair LPX line of low profile RAM help avoid clearance issue with air tower cooler.

Crucial MX300 has the best value-to-performance as well as £-per-GB.

The Asus Z170-Pro is better than the Gaming K3 hands down and the Asrock Z170 Pro4 bring a lot to the table for a very reasonable price. Between the Asus and the Asrock, the Asus can support good overclock of the i7k while the Asrock would best for moderate OC on the i7 but it can push an i5k perfectly fine. The Asus also have the better audio system, support for SLI and the 2nd CPU fan header should you actually want to move to liquid.

And regarding power consumption:
i7 6700k ~ 100W
GTX 1080 ~ 240W
MB 40W max
2x DDR4 DIMMs ~ 6W
3x fans ~ 4W
1xHDD+1xSSD ~ 10W

Total: ~400W max.

i5 6600k ~70W
GTX 1070 ~ 200W

Total : ~330W max

That's total power consumption under load/stressed/tortured condition. A 650W is minimum for SLI GTX 1070 (~200W a piece), 750W is recommended for that config and the minimum for SLI GTX 1080 while 850W is the recommendation for that config. A good 550W is totally sufficient for any single CPU+GPU, and the EVGA SuperNOVA G2 is the reigning champion of quality 80+Gold PSU.

 

[Sebubble]

...is the copy of Windows genuine? What version is it, Windows 10?

The new PC.. all those pre-built Amazon PC's are a little pricey, and you could probably get a much cheaper system tailored to your needs if you build it yourself.

I assume it's genuine, yeah. Apparently, other people have experienced the same problem. It's Windows 7 and I've tried almost everything to make it stop but seeing as I want a new computer now-ish anyway, I've decided to just scrap it.

I have looked into building it myself but the price came out around the same if not more... and I have no idea how to put the thing together.

It's more to do with what you need. Some of that system you linked is overkill, some not well matched to hardware, future technologies etc. For example, no SSD, a single fan radiator cooler, a non-specific 2tb HDD, onl;y a bronze rated 650w PSU with a heavily overclockable CPU and GPU. You wont necessarily need that CPU for that graphics card either. I am sure people oin here could build you a far cheaper and still better system on partpicker.

Whether you want to try building is another matter. If not fair enough but there are still better ways to spend the money.

I have no idea what stuff is compatible together, though... I need someone to build it for me, or at least tell me what parts to buy. The extent I know is that I'd probably want i7 6700K with GTX 1080 (as I want to go into 1440p gaming) and... Windows 10. After that, I'm stumped. No idea what coolers, power supplies, motherboards etc are good or not.

Well I guess it depends how much research you want to do, but if at all possible it's best to spend that kind of money wisely obviously. I could jut throw a parts list at you but it wont give you an understanding or what or why you want those parts.

With a setup like that some kind of SSD would be a good idea, a gold rated or above PSU, probably more powerful than 650w but that's kind of the minimum, and a motherboard that supports things like SLI 2 way GPU etc. It's also a good idea not to spend more than you need to on certain things, and an i7 6700k is pretty much overkill for 1440p gaming but it will keep up with future GPU's I guess, if you want to keep it a long time.

Building isnt that difficult - it's a bit like a big meccano set - but if you dont feel confident enough then let the members here guide you with buying and you will learn a lot along the way. Am sure there'd even be someone close by who'd build it, but if not then at least advise you to spend the money on a setup that has good balance and all the things you need for a great system.

Thank you so much for helping me. I've decided to build my own. My dad is an electrician and an electronic engineer so maybe I'll be okay with the building section after all. I just wanted to get a prebuilt one just in case anything goes wrong or something is broken or I can't set it up. Anyway I love this site, everyone is so helpful. Thanks again

 

[Sebubble]

£ for £ build with an extra SSD together with all the higher quality parts:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor (£308.28 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! Dark Rock 3 67.8 CFM Fluid Dynamic Bearing CPU Cooler (£55.56 @ CCL Computers)
Motherboard: Asus Z170-PRO ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (£129.99 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory (£75.99 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Crucial MX300 275GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£64.61 @ CCL Computers)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£42.99 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Palit GeForce GTX 1080 8GB GameRock Video Card (£559.92 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Phanteks ECLIPSE P400 ATX Mid Tower Case (£54.51 @ CCL Computers)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA G2 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£76.74 @ Amazon UK)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit (£84.98 @ Novatech)
Total: £1453.57
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-10-18 04:24 BST+0100


But really:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£213.34 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! Dark Rock 3 67.8 CFM Fluid Dynamic Bearing CPU Cooler (£55.56 @ CCL Computers)
Motherboard: ASRock Z170 Pro4 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (£89.10 @ More Computers)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory (£75.99 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Crucial MX300 275GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£64.61 @ CCL Computers)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£42.99 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Palit GeForce GTX 1070 8GB GameRock Video Card (£379.98 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Phanteks ECLIPSE P400 ATX Mid Tower Case (£54.51 @ CCL Computers)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA G2 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£76.74 @ Amazon UK)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit (£84.98 @ Novatech)
Total: £1137.8
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-10-18 13:30 BST+0100


This would still put you above a good chunks of gamers build, and unless publishers/developers don't want to sell their game to a large chunk of the market, you'll do perfectly fine with this. You can move down to a GTX 1070 and would still see no issue on your FullHD@60hz screen, and by the time you have a G-sync screen, any fps dip @1440p wouldn't be very noticeable.

That single fan AIO liquid cooler won't be giving better cooling performance compare to the Dark Rock 3 since the tower air cooler isn't very far behind a 240/280mm twin fans AIO liquid cooling solution, plus your system will be quieter with an air cooler.

Corsair LPX line of low profile RAM help avoid clearance issue with air tower cooler.

Crucial MX300 has the best value-to-performance as well as £-per-GB.

The Asus Z170-Pro is better than the Gaming K3 hands down and the Asrock Z170 Pro4 bring a lot to the table for a very reasonable price. Between the Asus and the Asrock, the Asus can support good overclock of the i7k while the Asrock would best for moderate OC on the i7 but it can push an i5k perfectly fine. The Asus also have the better audio system, support for SLI and the 2nd CPU fan header should you actually want to move to liquid.

And regarding power consumption:
i7 6700k ~ 100W
GTX 1080 ~ 240W
MB 40W max
2x DDR4 DIMMs ~ 6W
3x fans ~ 4W
1xHDD+1xSSD ~ 10W

Total: ~400W max.

i5 6600k ~70W
GTX 1070 ~ 200W

Total : ~330W max

That's total power consumption under load/stressed/tortured condition. A 650W is minimum for SLI GTX 1070 (~200W a piece), 750W is recommended for that config and the minimum for SLI GTX 1080 while 850W is the recommendation for that config. A good 550W is totally sufficient for any single CPU+GPU, and the EVGA SuperNOVA G2 is the reigning champion of quality 80+Gold PSU.

Wow! Thank you. I think I'll have to buy from Amazon only so it might bring the price up a little but that's fine. It's mainly for my own peace of mind that everything is coming from the same place and hopefully same parcel! Plus I have free Prime at the moment so it will get here within 48 hours which should be great as it's my birthday very soon