Building a gaming PC. Components overview.

Tomaspol

Hi, I went to local computer shop and the owner said that he can build the computer for me.
I told him that i want to be able to play the newest games like far cry 4 or gta 5.
Below are the components that he proposed me for the price of 1045 EURO.

- PSU Power supply unit COOLER MASTER 450W
- case COOLER MASTER N600
- 8GB DDR3- PC3- 12800
- SSD KINGSTON 240 GB
- Processor intel core i5- 4460- 3.2Ghz
- MSI GeForce GTX 970 GAMING 4G
- ASUS H81M Motherboard - Socket 1150

I will buy the keyobard, monitor and HDD later independently.
Could you tell me if it is a good choice and a good price please?
Thank you.

RossieMan

Horribly overpriced. thats about 600-700 euro worth of components depending where you buy.

Tomaspol

O no! Thats no good.
So you definitely wouldnt go for that so?

TerrorFirmer

To be fair it's closer to about 800 I would think, wouldn't say it's 'horribly overpriced' for a retail shop at all, considering what you'd get in PC World/Currys for that money. Let's remember here that a shop is a business and has to make money to pay rent, staff, overheads, etc.

Obviously building yourself would save you that 250E all the same, or allow you to build a more powerful machine...even though as a baseline that machine is pretty good, but building yourself you could get a much nicer case, add a 1TB hard drive on top of the SSD, fit in the monitor and accessories.

RossieMan

Its actually closer to 850 after a search, but you get my point.
He would be overcharging you. You'd be better building it yourself.

Jsmurff

I take that he would also be building it for you? that woul be another €50-100 ontop of €800 plus physical outlets would have overheads like esb council rates etc that would effect pricing which is probably where the other €145 comes in

DaDerv

Building a PC is surprisingly easy and very rewarding too. I just sourced and built my own without any previous experience. Read some forums here, watched some building tutorials and that was it. Can't recommend it highly enough.

Tomaspol

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

To be fair it's closer to about 800 I would think, wouldn't say it's 'horribly overpriced' for a retail shop at all, considering what you'd get in PC World/Currys for that money. .

Do you mean that it would be even more expensive in a PC world?
Yes It would be better to build it myself but i wouldnt know how to do that
SO in that case im overcharged 200 euro but the guy bought my old broken laptop for parts and gave me a discount 100 euro.
so Iam overpaying 95 euro in that case.
I might go for that.

Jsmurff

DaDerv wrote: »

Building a PC is surprisingly easy and very rewarding too. I just sourced and built my own without any previous experience. Read some forums here, watched some building tutorials and that was it. Can't recommend it highly enough.

Yeah it is relatively easy considering that most components will be compatible the only trouble is making sure that are 100% compatible (data transfer rates, clockspeeds, chipsets etc) so you get the full potential out of your build

Tomaspol

Jsmurff wrote: »

I take that he would also be building it for you? that woul be another €50-100 ontop of €800 plus physical outlets would have overheads like esb council rates etc that would effect pricing which is probably where the other €145 comes in

No. Thats the total price together with his work.

TerrorFirmer

I don't think you would get a better PC for the money in any retail store to be honest - it IS good value from a shop.

For the same price in PC World you would get a much worse PC.

I was in Maplins the other day and they had a gaming PC for 850 - with i3 and GTX750! :eek:

Lu Tze

RossieMan wrote: »

Its actually closer to 850 after a search, but you get my point.
He would be overcharging you. You'd be better building it yourself.

Overcharging - Only if his time to build it(and potentially warranty and support we dont know) has no value.

Buying a built PC from a shop gives you certain consumer rights as well for the PC as a whole, so presumably, no tinkering/troubleshooting, to identify faulty components when things go wrong to send back to germany or wherever. And local too.

Im not saying its excellent value or anything like it, but for those who just want a pc, or value their time, its not a bad option.

Tomaspol

My friend adviced me to get the crucial mx100 256GB instead f the Kingston SSD.
He said its way better. I will go for that.
He also said it better to get that processor :
processor intel core i5 4690 box
rather than the 4460 version.
It is probably even more expensive but if its way better i will go for that.
What about the motherboard would it be better to get the ASUS B85 instead of the H81M?

TerrorFirmer

I would get the crucial yes but I think the 4460 is fine, no need to go for the 4690. It's not 'way better'. For games there will be no difference really.

H81 is fine too.

Tomaspol

And one last question : which one would be better to choose ?
The crucial mx100 256 GB ssd or the samsung 840 Evo series 250Gb.

TerrorFirmer

Either are fine, both great drives. Whichever is cheaper really.

Tomaspol

Hello again
I want to buy a 23inch maybe 23.6 matte screen gaming monitor for my desktop.
I can afford to spend up to €200 max i think.
Could some experienced user advise me which one to get?
The choice is massive and i dont know what to get.
I heard that philips ones are not good.
Maybe samsung or Benq?
I am going to be using it only for my desktop so i dont need any special xbox inputs or anything like that.

Tomaspol

PSU Power supply unit COOLER MASTER 450W
- case COOLER MASTER N600
- 8GB DDR3- PC3- 12800
- SSD samsung 840 evo series 250gb
- Processor intel core i5- 4460- 3.2Ghz
- MSI GeForce GTX 970 GAMING 4G
- ASUS H81M Motherboard - Socket 1150

What do you think about this set up?
Is it well optimized?
I want to have a good PC for gaming on high settings (far cry4, gta5 etc.)
I don't do video editing or anything like that.
Is it worth to get a better processor like i5 4670k or will this one do?
Would you change anything ?

Dard23

To be honest I've just built my first pc which is very rewarding and satisfying. I spent months doing research which I think is half the fun so although I'm no expert I'd have an idea. I would upgrade your psu to maybe a 600+, this would allow you to sli your 970 in the future as they are very power efficient. I believe you are definitely paying a premium and would recommend doing some research and maybe building yourself. My Computer Is a beauty and I paid 870 for everything.
I have in order and price
i5 4690k - 190 euro
asrock z97 extreme3 motherboard - 95 euro
msi r9 290 gaming - 240 euro ( Amazon warehouse, used like new. Actually was new, damaged box)
corsair carbide 300r case - 60 euro roughly
crucial ssd 128gb - 62 euro
wd 1 tb blue - 48 euro
8gb crucial low profile ram - 65 euro roughly

I know the end price was exactly 870 so may have slightly altered prices there as going from memory.
I also believe a good 128gb sdd with a nice wd 1 tb hdd is the way to go for Speed and gaming.
Use the ssd for your OS and hdd for games.
When building the most Important advice I can think of is use an anti static wrist strap. Made my own, I'm an electrician so just earthed myself with some cable. Videos on YouTube will take you through step by step guide.
Sorry for long post, hope it helps a bit.

Dard23

Sorry also I went for that card for price and because a moderate overclock brings it to 970 levels.
Also got a cooler Master V series 750w gold rated psu, also from Amazon. Used, like new.
80 euro. Also included in overall end cost of 870. I use my telly as monitor and Mainly my xbox 360 wireless controller for games with USB dongle.