New build - £800-900 - looking for suggestions

[Phana]

Hello everyone

I've been putting together a new system based off the Mainstream Enthusiast System from the latest builder marathon (link). After putting a very similar build together, I've found that it's a little below my budget and I was wondering if I could squeeze anything better components in.

I'm using this PC mainly to play games and I won't be doing anything like video editing. However, I would like to have my games look nice and run smoothly.

Here's a link for the build I've made on pcpartpicker. Note that I haven't yet picked a case but I don't plan on spending any more than £50-60. Please tell me if I've missed anything important out.

Thanks

 

[Jeff Baffalo]

Builds a little over budget but should be good

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor (£279.71 @ More Computers)
CPU Cooler: Enermax ETS-T40-TB 86.7 CFM CPU Cooler (£27.34 @ Scan.co.uk)
Motherboard: MSI Z97 PC MATE ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£64.74 @ Aria PC)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£58.69 @ Ebuyer)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£40.39 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card (£269.98 @ Amazon UK)
Case: NZXT S340 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case (£57.35 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£36.98 @ Novatech)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£69.99 @ Ebuyer)
Total: £905.17
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-12-30 17:22 GMT+0000

 

[Phana]

Builds a little over budget but should be good

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor (£279.71 @ More Computers)
CPU Cooler: Enermax ETS-T40-TB 86.7 CFM CPU Cooler (£27.34 @ Scan.co.uk)
Motherboard: MSI Z97 PC MATE ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£64.74 @ Aria PC)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£58.69 @ Ebuyer)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£40.39 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card (£269.98 @ Amazon UK)
Case: NZXT S340 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case (£57.35 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£36.98 @ Novatech)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£69.99 @ Ebuyer)
Total: £905.17
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-12-30 17:22 GMT+0000

Thanks for the alternative parts, as I said I just based most of it off the builder marathon. I'm not sure about the i7, though. How much better is it for gaming than the i5?

 

[SantaOnRs]

Builds a little over budget but should be good

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor (£279.71 @ More Computers)
CPU Cooler: Enermax ETS-T40-TB 86.7 CFM CPU Cooler (£27.34 @ Scan.co.uk)
Motherboard: MSI Z97 PC MATE ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£64.74 @ Aria PC)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£58.69 @ Ebuyer)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£40.39 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card (£269.98 @ Amazon UK)
Case: NZXT S340 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case (£57.35 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£36.98 @ Novatech)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£69.99 @ Ebuyer)
Total: £905.17
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-12-30 17:22 GMT+0000

Thanks for the alternative parts, as I said I just based most of it off the builder marathon. I'm not sure about the i7, though. How much better is it for gaming than the i5?

i7 aren't much better for gaming than i5's as i7 only really have hyperthreading and most games don't need the extra threads so you might as well get a high end i5 and use the money gained from getting the i5 and get a better power supply, cpu cooler or even add an ssd. Hope this helps

 

[Jeff Baffalo]

Builds a little over budget but should be good

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor (£279.71 @ More Computers)
CPU Cooler: Enermax ETS-T40-TB 86.7 CFM CPU Cooler (£27.34 @ Scan.co.uk)
Motherboard: MSI Z97 PC MATE ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£64.74 @ Aria PC)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£58.69 @ Ebuyer)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£40.39 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card (£269.98 @ Amazon UK)
Case: NZXT S340 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case (£57.35 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£36.98 @ Novatech)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£69.99 @ Ebuyer)
Total: £905.17
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-12-30 17:22 GMT+0000

Thanks for the alternative parts, as I said I just based most of it off the builder marathon. I'm not sure about the i7, though. How much better is it for gaming than the i5?

i7 aren't much better for gaming than i5's as i7 only really have hyperthreading and most games don't need the extra threads so you might as well get a high end i5 and use the money gained from getting the i5 and get a better power supply, cpu cooler or even add an ssd. Hope this helps

True, but it fit close to the budget so I thought, why not.

 

[zeyuanfu]

I cannot stress enough how this build would have MUCH MUCH more bang for your buck:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (£130.94 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SLI ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£89.99 @ Novatech)
Memory: Kingston 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1333 Memory (£93.97 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£107.59 @ CCL Computers)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£35.94 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: Palit GeForce GTX 970 4GB JetStream Video Card (£257.99 @ Aria PC)
Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case (£31.99 @ Novatech)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£87.99 @ Amazon UK)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£71.60 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £908.00
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-06 21:14 GMT+0000

i7s are overkill for gaming as games rarely use more than four cores. Also, my build contains an SSD, 16 GB of RAM (which helps more in gaming than an i7 would) and a Tier 1 PSU. The EVGA 500 B is a Tier 3 unit.

 

[sora]

I cannot stress enough how this build would have MUCH MUCH more bang for your buck:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (£130.94 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SLI ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£89.99 @ Novatech)
Memory: Kingston 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1333 Memory (£93.97 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£107.59 @ CCL Computers)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£35.94 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: Palit GeForce GTX 970 4GB JetStream Video Card (£257.99 @ Aria PC)
Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case (£31.99 @ Novatech)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£87.99 @ Amazon UK)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£71.60 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £908.00
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-06 21:14 GMT+0000

i7s are overkill for gaming as games rarely use more than four cores. Also, my build contains an SSD, 16 GB of RAM (which helps more in gaming than an i7 would) and a Tier 1 PSU. The EVGA 500 B is a Tier 3 unit.

i7s could be useful if he is doing heavy multitasking with CPU demanding applications though.

 

[zeyuanfu]

OP will be gaming without any mention of multitasking. Plus, 16 GB of RAM lets you multitask very very well.