Hardware & Technical £1000 what pc should i get?
- Thread starter Jacksy
- Start date
UK based?
I am assuming you have a monitor keyboard & mouse.
Novatech as a company have never let me down - you build a bundle and they either send it to you for assembly yourself (and it is really easy these days) or pay £10 and they will build it for you.
I am a Nvidia/Intel fanboi so I would aim for something like the i5 or i7 bundles here http://www.novatech.co.uk/barebonebundles/ and then add in a GTX1070.
to be honest, unless you run VR, you could probably get away with a 1060 and the i5 and 8-12gb RAM, but it's up to you.
You can debate the various merits/demerits of each component but unless you are building it yourself the marginal gains in £ or performance probably aren't worth it for a £1k build. Indeed, the fact you are asking here means that you probably don't want or need to focus on minutiae.
tl;dr
1. What is your display output likely to be? VR/4k/800x600?
2. Always avoid SLI
3. Choose a base that you can upgrade easily.
4. Buy the best GPU you can afford.
I am assuming you have a monitor keyboard & mouse.
Novatech as a company have never let me down - you build a bundle and they either send it to you for assembly yourself (and it is really easy these days) or pay £10 and they will build it for you.
I am a Nvidia/Intel fanboi so I would aim for something like the i5 or i7 bundles here http://www.novatech.co.uk/barebonebundles/ and then add in a GTX1070.
to be honest, unless you run VR, you could probably get away with a 1060 and the i5 and 8-12gb RAM, but it's up to you.
You can debate the various merits/demerits of each component but unless you are building it yourself the marginal gains in £ or performance probably aren't worth it for a £1k build. Indeed, the fact you are asking here means that you probably don't want or need to focus on minutiae.
tl;dr
1. What is your display output likely to be? VR/4k/800x600?
2. Always avoid SLI
3. Choose a base that you can upgrade easily.
4. Buy the best GPU you can afford.
Wait until (early) next year. Hopefully AMD will be releasing a few of their new CPUs, and if nothing else, that should lead to some price drops in intel's fantasy pricing. Unless you're looking at weird stuff like VR, get mid-range parts. CPU speed hasn't really mattered in years now, and if you don't want to run 4K at all the highest settings at over nine thousand frames per second, mid-range GPUs will also last you quite some time. Put both of those on a mid-range mainboard, because you will not hear, see, or feel a difference between one of those and a flashy ultra-expensive XXX999 g@m0ral1ty-branded thing. Decide by the features you need.
Seriously, I'm running an FX-6300 and an R9 280x which were both priced "fell off the back of a truck" and are effectively "ancient and outdated technology", and I find myself wishing for a faster CPU maybe once every three or four months when I'm encoding a video. E:D runs at a solid 60 FPS most of the time, 40–60 on planets or in stations, at enjoyable quality, and other games are Fine™. (Disclaimer: doesn't run Star Citizen worth a damn.)
Invest the money you save on those overhyped parts in
Seriously, I'm running an FX-6300 and an R9 280x which were both priced "fell off the back of a truck" and are effectively "ancient and outdated technology", and I find myself wishing for a faster CPU maybe once every three or four months when I'm encoding a video. E:D runs at a solid 60 FPS most of the time, 40–60 on planets or in stations, at enjoyable quality, and other games are Fine™. (Disclaimer: doesn't run Star Citizen worth a damn.)
Invest the money you save on those overhyped parts in
- A good amount of RAM (8GB are fine, 16GB don't cost that much either and will be enough).
- A decent SSD for the OS (around 256GB will be totally fine, you can go down to 128GB), and a fast HDD like a WD black for games and other "bulk" stuff. If you want to record video, get a second HDD (I have a WD green for "data", it has good sustained transfer and everything, but frankly their "red" series is better in every regard and not much more expensive)
- A case with good and silent ventilation and a good CPU cooler (I like Noctua).
- A cheap and cheerful external USB audio interface because no matter how much you spend on your mainboard, the built-in audio will be butts. For output only, I can fully recommend the Behringer UCA222, but that will cause problems if you try to record through it.
- Maybe a UPS that can power the whole mess for 5 minutes if the power goes out; because why not?
I had a quick look on eBuyer and knocked up a pretty decent PC in your budget which was based on an i5 6500 / GTX1070 / Decent Gaming Case & Semi Modular PSU / 2gb Hybrid SSD/HDD / Mid Range Gaming Motherboard / 16GB Ram. Didn't take into account OS, but you can get a Win10 Key on Kinguin cheap for example. Don't skimp on cheap PSU, not worth the hassle, semi modular really helps with cable management. Make sure you have the correct connectors for you Graphic Card of choice, most of the big boys take 2x 8pin PCI-E now.
Consider replacing the stock Intel Cooler with something a little better, you can save a lot if you go with AMD Motherboard/CPU but wait for the next generation if you do that as the current chips lag behind Intel quite a bit.
I like the Hybrid Drives in a pure gaming PC as they keep the cost down but improve performance. You can go with SSD for OS and HDD for Games if you can keep it in the budget.
Final advice, I mentioned PSU but case is very important for Airflow and cooling, a decent Case and PSU will give you 5 years use so be good when you upgrade your Mobo/CPU/GPU in 2-3 years (probably)
Good luck and shop around, don't buy all from one place and keep an eye out for Black Friday deals on CPU/GPU
Consider replacing the stock Intel Cooler with something a little better, you can save a lot if you go with AMD Motherboard/CPU but wait for the next generation if you do that as the current chips lag behind Intel quite a bit.
I like the Hybrid Drives in a pure gaming PC as they keep the cost down but improve performance. You can go with SSD for OS and HDD for Games if you can keep it in the budget.
Final advice, I mentioned PSU but case is very important for Airflow and cooling, a decent Case and PSU will give you 5 years use so be good when you upgrade your Mobo/CPU/GPU in 2-3 years (probably)
Good luck and shop around, don't buy all from one place and keep an eye out for Black Friday deals on CPU/GPU
ethelred
Would you mind knocking together a bundle a nvidia/intel bundle and linking it for me..i have no idea what most of the jargon means on the novatech site. I have around £1k to spend and do not need a monitor keyboard OS and mouse..
cheers
Here we go:-
https://www.novatech.co.uk/modifier.html?s=PC-1983&b=13946
Provisos:-
- No OS included - Win10 is another £100. (£130 for Win 10 Professional which I would recommend). I know IT guys who can usually source an additional Win10 activation code (now we are all grown up they are heads of dept.) for me, but if you don't know anyone like that then you will need an OS.
- I replaced the SATA hard drive with an SSD. This gives you only 480GB of storage, which you may/may not think is enough.
- I upgraded the GFX card to an EVGA GeForce GTX 1060 SC GAMING 6GB GDDR5 - this is the cheapest 1060 with 6GB. the stock is a 950 which will probably be alright for a couple of years. (and is £117 cheaper)
- no optical drive - you will need one if you want to install Windows 10 via DVD-ROM, or get it on an USB stick. Don't make the mistake I did where I was going to download Win10, without any browser or OS to be able to connect to the internet (d'oh) cheapest is £11.
As others have said, processor power isn't an issue, GFX cards only need to be super-duper for VR/massive 4K displays. The 1060 I chose is probably overkill but will last you 5 years (probably)
The lead time is about 7-10 days - delivery should be free.
Grand total £1018. I figured the £18 you could probably stretch to. By all means ask others to have a look, caveat emptor and all that.
All I will say is that I usually custom build my PCs from components supplied by novatech, the PSU is excellent, they have great customer service & have honoured warranties on broken GFX cards with no quibbles. I have never had a pre-built machine from them mind.
Good luck!
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Really appreciate your time and effort mate..im bloody ingnorant when it comes to this stuff..have a merry xmas
That's not a bad system but you can do a lot better for the price if you buy the parts individually and shop around, I see a lot of budget componets there like case and PSU, the system I priced up had a GTX 1070, Corsair Carbide Case and Semi-Modular 750w Corsair PSU, MSI Gaming Motherboard and it came out a similar price, that was without shopping around.
Update:
Actually it's not that expensive to upgrade the case & PSU so you might consider doing that if you go the Novatech route. Looking at the Novatech case it might be a rebadged coolermaster so probably not too bad if you like the design
Update:
Actually it's not that expensive to upgrade the case & PSU so you might consider doing that if you go the Novatech route. Looking at the Novatech case it might be a rebadged coolermaster so probably not too bad if you like the design
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Three days until Black Friday! You never know, might be worth waiting!
P.S. might be a bit out of date now but I'm absolutely delighted with the PC I ended up getting following the advice I was given in this thread ...
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php/199124-Spec-for-new-PC-aimed-at-Elite-Dangerous-VR
P.S. might be a bit out of date now but I'm absolutely delighted with the PC I ended up getting following the advice I was given in this thread ...
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php/199124-Spec-for-new-PC-aimed-at-Elite-Dangerous-VR
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That's not a bad system but you can do a lot better for the price if you buy the parts individually and shop around, I see a lot of budget componets there like case and PSU, the system I priced up had a GTX 1070, Corsair Carbide Case and Semi-Modular 750w Corsair PSU, MSI Gaming Motherboard and it came out a similar price, that was without shopping around.
Update:
Actually it's not that expensive to upgrade the case & PSU so you might consider doing that if you go the Novatech route. Looking at the Novatech case it might be a rebadged coolermaster so probably not too bad if you like the design
Hi fitzsteve
Thanks for your help. as i have said i am pretty ignorant when it comes to PC parts etc...that is why i asked ethelred for his help.I have not placed an order yet so i am open to further advice and help..
ps i will need walking through it though
Hi Evoflash
I will have a mouse, keyboard, monitor and OS mate
i want the best gaming system i can get for £1000 give or take few quid
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dayrth
Volunteer Moderator
This is what I got. Came in just over £800. Loving it so far
Power Supply : EVGA 700W Power Supply 80+ Bronze
Motherboard : Gigabyte Z170-HD3P
CPU : Intel I7 Skylake 6700K
Hard Drive 1 : 120gb Solid State Drive
Hard Drive 2 : 2tb Western Digital 7200RPM 64MB Cache
Memory : 16gb DDR4 3000mhz Corsair Vengeance
Graphics Card : Geforce GTX 970 4gb
Optical Drive : 24x Dual Layer DVD Writer
Power Supply : EVGA 700W Power Supply 80+ Bronze
Motherboard : Gigabyte Z170-HD3P
CPU : Intel I7 Skylake 6700K
Hard Drive 1 : 120gb Solid State Drive
Hard Drive 2 : 2tb Western Digital 7200RPM 64MB Cache
Memory : 16gb DDR4 3000mhz Corsair Vengeance
Graphics Card : Geforce GTX 970 4gb
Optical Drive : 24x Dual Layer DVD Writer
black Friday? will that make a difference to PC parts?
If you're very VERY lucky, there may be one or two complete gaming PCs for a bargain price. Or perhaps a discount GPU? Never managed to grab a bargain myself but for the sake of three days it might be worth waiting.
This is what I got. Came in just over £800. Loving it so far
Power Supply : EVGA 700W Power Supply 80+ Bronze
Motherboard : Gigabyte Z170-HD3P
CPU : Intel I7 Skylake 6700K
Hard Drive 1 : 120gb Solid State Drive
Hard Drive 2 : 2tb Western Digital 7200RPM 64MB Cache
Memory : 16gb DDR4 3000mhz Corsair Vengeance
Graphics Card : Geforce GTX 970 4gb
Optical Drive : 24x Dual Layer DVD Writer
when did you get that dayrth? where from? assembled?
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i will wait but i doubt i would know a bargain if it kicked me in the face
Here I put a quote together on Scan.co.uk, again you can shop around but it will give you an idea, that lot came to £1013 and includes an upgraded cooler for the CPU, semi modular PSU and GTX1070. I think you might find a deal on Friday for a 1070, maybe saving about £50 so keep your eyes open
Edit - fixed
Edit - fixed
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Quickly looking, this is what I come up with below:
I spent a little more. You could reduce the cost by buying cheaper graphics card, cpu and mobo and HDD.
HOWEVER, I would advise against this. This build will last you a while, has some some upgradeability e.g. can buy extra 2 x dual channel ram, can pick up 1080Ti in a few years. If anything I'd be tempted to buy the gaming 7 motherboard which will allow you to upgrade to Dual M.2 in a RAID array - which is what I went for.
I may have forgotten DVD drive, but these are very cheap.
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lol you used Scan aswell.
I spent a little more. You could reduce the cost by buying cheaper graphics card, cpu and mobo and HDD.
HOWEVER, I would advise against this. This build will last you a while, has some some upgradeability e.g. can buy extra 2 x dual channel ram, can pick up 1080Ti in a few years. If anything I'd be tempted to buy the gaming 7 motherboard which will allow you to upgrade to Dual M.2 in a RAID array - which is what I went for.
I may have forgotten DVD drive, but these are very cheap.
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lol you used Scan aswell.
Yeah I love Scan, I prefer to use them where possible if I buy new. I got my 970 on a Black Friday deal £250 2 years ago so I was well pleased at the time (EVGA SC) It's interesting to see your quote too, gives the OP some nice options, as you can see I like my Corsair stuff (my media build is in an Air240 with Hydro H100 cooler, it's really cool for it's size.)
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