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Looking to build first PC (General use and Gaming) (£800)

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chris_1995

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Dec 24, 2012
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10,510
Hi everyone, need help choosing the right components to get the best value for my money. Looking to build my first computer this week.

My budget is £800 (All components except monitors)

I will be using it for general use and Gaming (preferable high quality graphics). Would also like to have multiple monitors so it has to be compatible for this.
 
Solution
Barty1884
Might be worth considering an i5-4690k. 40quid** more than the CPU listed, but with it's unlocked potential, it can likely serve you better in the long-term. With it being your first build, I'm assuming you're not too familiar with overclocking, but in time you might be. Down the line (or even initially if you wish), you can boost your performance dramatically - I believe the 4690K can get to 4.5GHz fairly easily.

**an aftermarket cooler would be a necessity too if you wanted to go this route, so that would add a bit more to the price (although not necessarily right away).
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Something like this:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: *Intel Core i5-4440 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor (£136.47 @ Ebuyer)
Motherboard: *ASRock Z97 Anniversary ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£57.56 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: *Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£35.73 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: *Sandisk Solid State Drive 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£39.98 @ Aria PC)
Storage: *Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£39.00 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: *Zotac GeForce GTX 970 4GB Video Card (£238.99 @ Aria PC)
Case: *Thermaltake Versa H22 ATX Mid Tower Case (£25.74 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: *EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£36.98 @ Scan.co.uk)
Optical Drive: *Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer (£9.38 @ CCL Computers)
Operating System: *Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 OEM (64-bit) (£67.95 @ Ebuyer)
Total: £687.78
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-23 21:38 BST+0100
 
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hi james what kind of performance am i looking at from a general and gaming perspective, thanks for your reply
 
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General performance is easy to max out, so nothing to really say about it. Gaming wise you're looking at high settings for new games at 1080p 60fps provided they aren't pieces of garbage like Batman Arkham Knight
 
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Might be worth considering an i5-4690k. 40quid** more than the CPU listed, but with it's unlocked potential, it can likely serve you better in the long-term. With it being your first build, I'm assuming you're not too familiar with overclocking, but in time you might be. Down the line (or even initially if you wish), you can boost your performance dramatically - I believe the 4690K can get to 4.5GHz fairly easily.

**an aftermarket cooler would be a necessity too if you wanted to go this route, so that would add a bit more to the price (although not necessarily right away).
 
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Solution


The GTX 970 is a very good card (refer PassMark)and you should handle ultra on most games (see Witcher III)

That being said, your next step up would be the 980 GTX, which is around £410, so that would put you a bit over budget (James' build £690 + £40 for the CPU upgrade - £239 + £410) at £900 so it depends on your budget flexibility. Overall the 970 is more than adeqaute.

I just noticed in James' build he's selected 1x8GB RAM. The board is capable of Dual Channel, so either go 2x4GB or 2x8GB. Considering the intent of your build, 2x8GB is probably best (although still likely overkill), but again, increasing budget - I'd recommend RipJaws at £74
 
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PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£177.00 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: *MSI H97M-E35 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£59.94 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£74.00 @ CCL Computers)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£51.70 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£33.98 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card (£247.19 @ Aria PC)
Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case (£30.79 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: *EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£37.99 @ Scan.co.uk)
Optical Drive: *Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer (£9.38 @ CCL Computers)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 OEM (64-bit) (£67.95 @ Ebuyer)
Keyboard: IOGEAR GKM513 Wired Slim Keyboard w/Optical Mouse (£20.60 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £810.52
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-18 19:32 BST+0100
 
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