Gaming PC

[Ricwin]

Put together a small PC on Scan's 3XS system builder:

Corsair Obsidian 250D (little cube case, very sleek black box)
Intel i7 4790
Asus Z97I-PLUS
Corsair Vengeance 8Gb 2133MHz RAM
XFX 3Gb Radeon R9 280X
Corsair CX600M (600w, hybrid-modular, 80PLUS rating)
250Gb Samsung 840 Evo SSD
2Tb Seagate Barracuda HDD
Pioneer BDC-207DBK (Blu-ray reader, DVD writer)
Windows 7 Home Premium x64
Includes a 3 Year Warranty and a USB recovery drive. All built and tested by 3XS before being shipped out.

£1009.63

[Neil1]

Originally Posted by Ricwin

To be honest, unless you are going to be pushing some huge tasks (far beyond even the most demanding modern game) then 8Gb RAM is more than enough.

Intel is certainly the way to go for the CPU. However I'd stick with an AMD graphics card, better value for money (especially in the budget you have set for the whole system).
SSD's are a must. I use two SSD's and two HDD's. Obviously, the OS is installed to an SSD.
Forget about Windows 8.1. Its great for a tablet or phone, absolute junk for a PC or laptop. GO with Windows 7 x64 and upgrade to Windows 9 a few months after its release.
Dont bother with just a DVD-RW. Blu-ray drives are much cheaper now than they used to be, it'll be a handy upgrade if its connected to a large TV.

As nice as Mini-ITX is, its not practical at all. SFF cases have gotten alot better in the last couple of years than they used to be, but scope for upgrades and cooling potential are very limited.

Also, have you had a look at Scan?
Their 3XS range can accommodate almost any requirements on any budget, from huge custom desk builds to tiny media systems.

8Gb might be a safe option but the more the better I say, my laptop has 16Gb of memory and I still reckon it's not enough.

As for Graphic Cards, you can't beat Nvidia based ones as they are far superior than any AMD ones.

I do agree though that a Mini case isn't the way to go much better to have a full size Tower, I had Cooler Master Towers running 6 12cm fans, sounds like a jet engine on start up...lol.

I still have that Tower and it still works but it's now 6 years old and everything is now out of date but it will still give many modern machines a run for it's money.

The OS on that one is Win 7 Ultimate which has been stripped to down to remove all the bloat ware.
The laptop I have runs Win 8.1+ 64 Bit which again has been stripped down to remove all the bloat ware.

[Ricwin]

If you a building a money-no-object system, then go for nVidia.
If you are within a budget, AMD beats the comparable nVidia card pound for pound.
The GTX 780 and R9 290X are very similar in price (both around the £350 mark), however the 290X is a superior card and puts out better performance. The 290X is no match for a 780 Ti model, however that is another £100 on top of the price of a regular 780 or 290X.

nVidia always push the top end of the market further though. Right now, AMD's best offering is the R9 295 X2, available for little over £1000. This butchers the previous nVidia flagship card, the GTX Titan (currently around £700) every which way possible. But again, nVidia released another absolute top end product called the Titan Z, which retails at over £2000.

nVidia always have the single best card, or rather, always release the new best card after AMD and hold the crown until the next generation. They always push further at the top end of the market. But pound for pound, AMD will give much better performance in the market area's where people actually spend their money.

That is the top and bottom of it.

(Sorry for the thread hijack)

[Pistonbroke666]

Originally Posted by Ricwin

If you a building a money-no-object system, then go for nVidia.
If you are within a budget, AMD beats the comparable nVidia card pound for pound.
The GTX 780 and R9 290X are very similar in price (both around the £350 mark), however the 290X is a superior card and puts out better performance. The 290X is no match for a 780 Ti model, however that is another £100 on top of the price of a regular 780 or 290X.

nVidia always push the top end of the market further though. Right now, AMD's best offering is the R9 295 X2, available for little over £1000. This butchers the previous nVidia flagship card, the GTX Titan (currently around £700) every which way possible. But again, nVidia released another absolute top end product called the Titan Z, which retails at over £2000.

nVidia always have the single best card, or rather, always release the new best card after AMD and hold the crown until the next generation. They always push further at the top end of the market. But pound for pound, AMD will give much better performance in the market area's where people actually spend their money.

That is the top and bottom of it.

(Sorry for the thread hijack)

I've gone for a 780Ti as I know that'll be more than capable for a good year or two.

And no need to apologise, the threads about gaming PC's so you are still on topic hehe.

[Pistonbroke666]

Just ordered an XBone controller and a pretty outrageously priced wireless lounge keyboard - the Logitech K830. Looks very tasty and comes highly rated

[Neil1]

Originally Posted by Pistonbroke666

Just ordered an XBone controller and a pretty outrageously priced wireless lounge keyboard - the Logitech K830. Looks very tasty and comes highly rated

That sounds nice.
I don't know what it is with me but I always seem to kill keyboards, have gone through six with my last PC.
Have had 2 Microsoft wireless ones, 2 Logitech and 2 Saitek and as for mice well, one stopped working and I lobbed it out the window, not good I know, but it didn't break.
Was having a bad day....

[Pistonbroke666]

Originally Posted by Neil1

That sounds nice.
I don't know what it is with me but I always seem to kill keyboards, have gone through six with my last PC.
Have had 2 Microsoft wireless ones, 2 Logitech and 2 Saitek and as for mice well, one stopped working and I lobbed it out the window, not good I know, but it didn't break.
Was having a bad day....

I did think it looked pretty tasty. The backlit feature attracted me and it has a nice finish.

You sound like you've been quite unlucky on the keyboard front. A few people I've mentioned it to had warned me off the cheaper end of the wireless keyboard market. The K830 comes with a two year warranty so that's fairly reassuring.

[Neil1]

Originally Posted by Pistonbroke666

I did think it looked pretty tasty. The backlit feature attracted me and it has a nice finish.

You sound like you've been quite unlucky on the keyboard front. A few people I've mentioned it to had warned me off the cheaper end of the wireless keyboard market. The K830 comes with a two year warranty so that's fairly reassuring.

I think the cheapest was about £60, the Microsoft ones were over a £100 each.
My current Microsoft keyboard is working fine and that wasn't a cheap one either but it did take some getting used to because the keyboard is angled, similar to a 'V' shape.
It proved handy when gaming as I use the keyboard and mouse.

Even with my laptop I use a mouse, can't get on with pad.

[Pistonbroke666]

Originally Posted by Neil1

I think the cheapest was about £60, the Microsoft ones were over a £100 each.
My current Microsoft keyboard is working fine and that wasn't a cheap one either but it did take some getting used to because the keyboard is angled, similar to a 'V' shape.
It proved handy when gaming as I use the keyboard and mouse.

Even with my laptop I use a mouse, can't get on with pad.

I used to be terrible at using trackpads but after a few years of use at home I became a trackpad pro lol.
My PC is going to be in the lounge so I wanted to go for the most convenient set up possible.
V shape sounds a bit weird. Does it point towards you or away?

[Neil1]

Originally Posted by Pistonbroke666

I used to be terrible at using trackpads but after a few years of use at home I became a trackpad pro lol.
My PC is going to be in the lounge so I wanted to go for the most convenient set up possible.
V shape sounds a bit weird. Does it point towards you or away?

Away, similar to this one;

http://www.answers.com/topic/ergonomic-keyboard-1