Upgradable gaming build

Soldie

Hello,

I'm looking to spend around €600 on a gaming PC that provides a good platform for future overclocking and upgrading. I don't necessarily need or want to overclock it as soon as I get it, so I'd rather get the best bang for my buck with my initial outlay with a view to upgrading parts at a later point to facilitate overclocking (i.e. cooling kit, and so on). Any suggestions or pointers?

I'd be buying from hardwareversand, as I happen to live in Germany.

1. What is your budget? €600-700 (the close to €600 the better)

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer? Gaming

3. Do you need a copy of Windows? No

4. Can you use any parts from an old computer? No

5. Do you need a monitor? No

6. Do you need any of these peripherals? No

7. Are you willing to try overclocking? Yes

8. How can you pay? Credit/debit card

9. When are you purchasing? Within the next month

Thanks in advance.

Gumbi

Mindfactory generally beat HWVS on price by a small bit, you'd probably save a bit buying from them. Either way you'll get good value.

What kind of games do you play/will you be playing? What resolution is your monitor?

Soldie

Gumbi wrote: »

Mindfactory generally beat HWVS on price by a small bit, you'd probably save a bit buying from them. Either way you'll get good value.

What kind of games do you play/will you be playing? What resolution is your monitor?

Thanks for the tip regarding Mindfactory. I hadn't heard of them.

I'm mainly into FPS and RTS games. I'm a bit of an oldschool gamer and I still play a lot of older games, so I'm not that bothered about fancy graphics. I wouldn't mind dipping my toe into new games every now and then, so I'd want something that'd run them well, but I don't insist on playing with the graphics set to ultra.

Regarding the monitor, I'll be getting an ASUS VG248QE, which is full HD.

Gumbi

Soldie wrote: »

Thanks for the tip regarding Mindfactory. I hadn't heard of them.

I'm mainly into FPS and RTS games. I'm a bit of an oldschool gamer and I still play a lot of older games, so I'm not that bothered about fancy graphics. I wouldn't mind dipping my toe into new games every now and then, so I'd want something that'd run them well, but I don't insist on playing with the graphics set to ultra.

Regarding the monitor, I'll be getting an ASUS VG248QE, which is full HD.

Well, your budget has wiggle room, and I don't like money being thrown away freely. If you play old school games you won't need to spend all of 650 quid, you could get away with around 400 - but that's not to say 650 would necessarily be thrown away. I suppose what I'm trying to say is, are you perfectly happy to spend 650? (If you are, great). But if that's really pushing it, something more than capable can be put together for less.

Soldie

Gumbi wrote: »

Well, your budget has wiggle room, and I don't like money being thrown away freely. If you play old school games you won't need to spend all of 650 quid, you could get away with around 400 - but that's not to say 650 would necessarily be thrown away. I suppose what I'm trying to say is, are you perfectly happy to spend 650? (If you are, great). But if that's really pushing it, something more than capable can be put together for less.

To be honest it's something I'm quite torn on. On the one hand I'm generally of the opinion that most (but not all) new games I've tried are crap, but I'd still like something capable of playing them in the event that a good one comes along. Like I said I'm not a graphics junkie, so I wouldn't feel like I'm missing out by not having the graphics set to ultra. On the other hand I'm reluctant to economise too much as I don't want a redundant/EOL build.

The upgradability would be something I'd be particularly keen on. I thought about going for an overclockable Core i5 with an appropriate motherboard and a low-end/middle-of-the-road graphics card in order to drive the price down, with a view to chucking a better graphics card in it when I'm more flush.

I wouldn't say I'm perfectly happy to spend €650. I can afford up to around that, but cheaper would of course be better, bearing in mind my criteria.

Soldie

Just put the following together on Mindfactory.de:

Item|Price
Intel Core i5 3570K 4x 3.40GHz So.1155 BOX|€195.88
ASRock Z77Pro3 Intel Z77 So.1155 Dual|€76.29
8GB Corsair Vengeance Black DDR3-1600|€60.40
BitFenix Shinobi Core Midi ower ohne|€47.43
500GB Seagate Barracuda EcoGreen F3|€42.94
LiteOn IHAS124-04 DVD-RW SATA 1.5Gb/s|€15.17
450 Watt Super Flower Amazon Non-Modular|€43.70
2048MB Gigabyte GeForce GTX 660 OC|€168.65
TOTAL|€650.46


As I understand it the Core i5 3570K processor and Z77Pro3 are decent for overclocking, which is something I will look into in the future. I'm aware I'd need a better CPU fan in order to do this, but I'd rather economise now and leave the overclocking to a later point. Is the GTX 660 OC overkill for my needs? As I said in an earlier post, graphics are not a major priority for me so this is potentially an area where savings could be made. I'd rather go for a middle-of-the-road graphics card now and get a better one in the future when I have more money to spend.

I'd welcome feedback on my choice of items. As it's slightly beyond what I'm comfortable spending I'd also appreciate any tips as to where savings could be made. If I could drive the price down it would be great - perhaps the graphics card?

Lu Tze

Soldie wrote: »

Just put the following together on Mindfactory.de:

Item|Price
Intel Core i5 3570K 4x 3.40GHz So.1155 BOX|€195.88
ASRock Z77Pro3 Intel Z77 So.1155 Dual|€76.29
8GB Corsair Vengeance Black DDR3-1600|€60.40
BitFenix Shinobi Core Midi ower ohne|€47.43
500GB Seagate Barracuda EcoGreen F3|€42.94
LiteOn IHAS124-04 DVD-RW SATA 1.5Gb/s|€15.17
450 Watt Super Flower Amazon Non-Modular|€43.70
2048MB Gigabyte GeForce GTX 660 OC|€168.65
TOTAL|€650.46


As I understand it the Core i5 3570K processor and Z77Pro3 are decent for overclocking, which is something I will look into in the future. I'm aware I'd need a better CPU fan in order to do this, but I'd rather economise now and leave the overclocking to a later point. Is the GTX 660 OC overkill for my needs? As I said in an earlier post, graphics are not a major priority for me so this is potentially an area where savings could be made. I'd rather go for a middle-of-the-road graphics card now and get a better one in the future when I have more money to spend.

I'd welcome feedback on my choice of items. As it's slightly beyond what I'm comfortable spending I'd also appreciate any tips as to where savings could be made. If I could drive the price down it would be great - perhaps the graphics card?

You mention in the opening post that you want it upgradeable, and although that cpu is a cracker, you are pretty much at the top of the tree as regards that socket. That said, if the main purpose is gaming that should do you for a good few years, with the option to overclock down the line if its starting to struggle

Soldie

Lu Tze wrote: »

You mention in the opening post that you want it upgradeable, and although that cpu is a cracker, you are pretty much at the top of the tree as regards that socket. That said, if the main purpose is gaming that should do you for a good few years, with the option to overclock down the line if its starting to struggle

The socket 1150 Core i5 4670K is only €21.54 more expensive than the socket 1155 Core i5 3570K. Can you suggest a budget socket 1150 motherboard that allows for overclocking?

Gumbi

Soldie wrote: »

The socket 1150 Core i5 4670K is only €21.54 more expensive than the socket 1155 Core i5 3570K. Can you suggest a budget socket 1150 motherboard that allows for overclocking?

Overclocked 3570k will last you for ages. A 4570k runs hotter, so it needs a better cooler to achieve the same (sometimes worse, even) clocks compared to a 3570k. Also, the motherboards are more expensive.

Go for 3570k. Graphics can be replaced in due time if you need more power. The 3570k will not limit you in any games for years.

Soldie

Gumbi wrote: »

Overclocked 3570k will last you for ages. A 4570k runs hotter, so it needs a better cooler to achieve the same (sometimes worse, even) clocks compared to a 3570k. Also, the motherboards are more expensive.

Go for 3570k. Graphics can be replaced in due time if you need more power. The 3570k will not limit you in any games for years.

Thanks - good to know.

What do you make of the motherboard and other components I picked? I was thinking of going for a low-end graphics card (something like a GTX 650) with a view to getting a better one in around 6-9 months time when I have more money to spend. Any suggestions? Would like to shave €50+ off the overall price tag if it's possible.

marco_polo

You can pickup a HD7790 for about €110 would be fairly decent for a year or two and slightly better than the GTX650. A free copy of Bioshock Infinite as well by the looks of it.

http://www.mindfactory.de/product_info.php/1024MB-HIS-Radeon-HD-7790-iCooler-Aktiv-PCIe-3-0-x16--Retail-_842705.html

Gumbi

marco_polo wrote: »

You can pickup a HD7790 for about €110 would be fairly decent for a year or two and slightly better than the GTX650. A free copy of Bioshock Infinite as well by the looks of it.

http://www.mindfactory.de/product_info.php/1024MB-HIS-Radeon-HD-7790-iCooler-Aktiv-PCIe-3-0-x16--Retail-_842705.html

Doesn't it compete with 650ti?

marco_polo

Gumbi wrote: »

Doesn't it compete with 650ti?

Not much in it granted, but I think somewhere in between the GTX 650ti and the GTX 650ti boost is about right (Although closer to the regular GTX 650ti for sure).

EDIT: Ah I just noticed I didn't type ti in the last post , that is the one I meant .