Trying to get my build to the £1500 mark, i'm currently about £170 over budget.

sedateeddie

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Nov 11, 2014
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I am trying to build a PC for £1,500 including a screen and peripherals. My current build is about £170 over budget I was wondering if you could give me any suggestions to help lower the cost without damaging the performance too much.
I am looking to game at 1440 in the near future when screens come down in price a bit, my chosen screen is 1080 but I want the build 1440 capable, and capable of playing Star Citizen at 1080 with good graphics settings, I will also be doing a wee bit of overclocking on the CPU.
http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/NZWmHx
 
Solution
The SLI you want to make is useless for that monitor, its an overkill so you should change the GPU to GTX 980, GTX 780 ti, or R9 295x2.

I would not go with the R9 because of the power consumption, but check this comparison that might help you decide: http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/2015-vga-charts/compare,3664.html?prod%5B7396%5D=on&prod%5B7275%5D=on&prod%5B7344%5D=on&prod%5B7328%5D=on

I also changed the board, to one with usb 3.1 support, and the case to one a bit less expensive.

Are you planing on buying the M-Audio Studiophile AV 40 Powered Speakers or do you already have it?

OPTION 1

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£174.90 @...

ykki

Honorable
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£174.90 @ Amazon UK)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£26.34 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£104.99 @ Novatech)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LP 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (£94.83 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£80.43 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£42.95 @ CCL Computers)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card (2-Way SLI) (£272.20 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card (2-Way SLI) (£272.20 @ Amazon UK)
Case: NZXT Source 530 ATX Full Tower Case (£65.27 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNova B2 850W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (£84.46 @ Amazon UK)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£75.54 @ Aria PC)
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WDN4800 802.11a/b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter (£25.74 @ Scan.co.uk)
Monitor: BenQ GL2460HM 60Hz 24.0" Monitor (£114.99 @ Amazon UK)
Keyboard: Cooler Master CM Storm Devastator Gaming Bundle Wired Gaming Keyboard w/Optical Mouse (£25.88 @ Scan.co.uk)
Speakers: M-Audio Studiophile AV40 40W 2ch Speakers
Total: £1460.72
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-04-18 17:17 BST+0100
 
PCPartPicker part list: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/ZjsMdC
Price breakdown by merchant: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/ZjsMdC/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£174.90 @ Amazon UK)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£26.34 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: Asus Z97-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£115.99 @ Aria PC)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LP 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£51.12 @ CCL Computers)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£80.43 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£42.95 @ CCL Computers)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card (£272.20 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 w/Window (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case (£81.26 @ CCL Computers)
Power Supply: EVGA 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£99.99 @ Amazon UK)
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WDN4800 802.11a/b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter (£25.74 @ Scan.co.uk)
Monitor: BenQ GL2460HM 60Hz 24.0" Monitor (£123.98 @ Amazon UK)
Keyboard: Cooler Master CM Storm QuickFire TK Wired Gaming Keyboard (£72.89 @ Amazon UK)
Mouse: Razer DeathAdder 2013 Wired Optical Mouse (£55.07 @ Kustom PCs)
Speakers: M-Audio Studiophile AV40 40W 2ch Speakers
Total: £1222.86
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-04-18 17:21 BST+0100
 
you can got with your first build...just buy one 8g ram stick now and when you have the funds drop in the other 8g ram stick. same with the video card...you can add it latter it just a plug the card and the sli bridge and your done.
if you dont mind wiping your hard drive in a few months and starting fresh you can download windows 10 beta for free and then buy it when it goes rtm after june of this year. the only part that you had to change is the power supply it was under sized for sli rig.
 

lcp1109

Distinguished
Mar 31, 2010
764
0
19,160
The SLI you want to make is useless for that monitor, its an overkill so you should change the GPU to GTX 980, GTX 780 ti, or R9 295x2.

I would not go with the R9 because of the power consumption, but check this comparison that might help you decide: http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/2015-vga-charts/compare,3664.html?prod%5B7396%5D=on&prod%5B7275%5D=on&prod%5B7344%5D=on&prod%5B7328%5D=on

I also changed the board, to one with usb 3.1 support, and the case to one a bit less expensive.

Are you planing on buying the M-Audio Studiophile AV 40 Powered Speakers or do you already have it?

OPTION 1

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£174.90 @ Amazon UK)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£26.34 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: Asus Z97-A/USB 3.1 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£135.56 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£98.42 @ CCL Computers)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£80.43 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£42.95 @ CCL Computers)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card (£466.98 @ Aria PC)
Case: NZXT Source 530 ATX Full Tower Case (£65.27 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£63.31 @ Amazon UK)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£75.54 @ Aria PC)
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WDN4800 802.11a/b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter (£25.74 @ Scan.co.uk)
Monitor: BenQ GL2460HM 60Hz 24.0" Monitor (£114.99 @ Amazon UK)
Keyboard: Cooler Master CM Storm QuickFire TK Wired Gaming Keyboard (£72.89 @ Amazon UK)
Mouse: Razer DeathAdder 2013 Wired Optical Mouse (£55.07 @ Kustom PCs)
Speakers: M-Audio Studiophile AV40 40W 2ch Speakers
Total: £1498.39
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-04-18 17:31 BST+0100

OPTION 2 (more future proof)

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor (£274.74 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£26.34 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: Asus Z97-A/USB 3.1 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£135.56 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£98.42 @ CCL Computers)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£80.43 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£42.95 @ CCL Computers)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card (£466.98 @ Aria PC)
Case: NZXT Source 530 ATX Full Tower Case (£65.27 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£63.31 @ Amazon UK)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£75.54 @ Aria PC)
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WDN4800 802.11a/b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter (£25.74 @ Scan.co.uk)
Monitor: BenQ GL2460HM 60Hz 24.0" Monitor (£114.99 @ Amazon UK)
Keyboard: Cooler Master CM Storm Devastator Gaming Bundle Wired Gaming Keyboard w/Optical Mouse (£25.88 @ Scan.co.uk)
Speakers: M-Audio Studiophile AV40 40W 2ch Speakers
Total: £1496.15
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-04-18 17:36 BST+0100

OPTION 3 (also more future proof then the OPTION 1, and you can keep the mouse and keyboard you selected)

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£209.11 @ Scan.co.uk)
Motherboard: Asus Z97-A/USB 3.1 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£135.56 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£98.42 @ CCL Computers)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£80.43 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£42.95 @ CCL Computers)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card (£466.98 @ Aria PC)
Case: NZXT Source 530 ATX Full Tower Case (£65.27 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£63.31 @ Amazon UK)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£75.54 @ Aria PC)
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WDN4800 802.11a/b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter (£25.74 @ Scan.co.uk)
Monitor: BenQ GL2460HM 60Hz 24.0" Monitor (£114.99 @ Amazon UK)
Keyboard: Cooler Master CM Storm QuickFire TK Wired Gaming Keyboard (£72.89 @ Amazon UK)
Mouse: Razer DeathAdder 2013 Wired Optical Mouse (£55.07 @ Kustom PCs)
Speakers: M-Audio Studiophile AV40 40W 2ch Speakers
Total: £1506.26
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-04-18 17:39 BST+0100
 
Solution

lcp1109

Distinguished
Mar 31, 2010
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19,160
If you need to buy those speakers, they go for 99 pounds at amazon, you can change the ram to 8bg (at least for now you don't really need more then 8gb for gaming), drop the SSD to 120GB, get a cheaper keyboard and/or a cheaper mouse, and you can also go with only one GTX 970 now and buy another one later, one GTX 970 is good enough for one monitor working at 1920x1080

http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/2015-vga-charts/compare,3664.html?prod%5B7396%5D=on&prod%5B7275%5D=on&prod%5B7344%5D=on&prod%5B7328%5D=on&prod%5B7345%5D=on