First Gaming Build

Chompus · August 15, 2014

I need help building my first gaming PC! I have used PCPartPicker to build 3 different computers within my budget. However, I'm unsure as to which one I should build. Could you guys possibly tell me which one is the best one for my use of purpose, please. Or, if you can build a better machine in the same price range, I would love you forever.

Location: London

Budget: Up to £600

Aim: Web browsing, using MS Office, playing games such as Far Cry 3, Titanfall, Metro Last Light, GTA, Batman Arkham games, Minecraft, Roblox, DCUO, Assassins Creed, APB Reloaded, Runescape, etc. I would like to play these games in the highest settings possible at high, playable FPS. So, for example, play them in ultra/high settings with at least 50 FPS.

Monitors: I will only use one monitor for the time being. Also, if someone could suggest a monitor that won't make a hole in my wallet, that would be awesome, as I have purposely left one out of my build. The reason being is because there are a lot of monitors on Amazon which are around the same price range, and all with good reviews; making it hard to pick one.

Peripherals: I have a mouse, keyboard and headphones. I will upgrade my keyboard and headphones to a gaming headset and keyboard in the future when I have more money to spend on them. In the meantime, if anyone could recommend any good ones, or build a PC from scratch with them included within the £600 price range, that would be amazing!

Why am I upgrading/building: Simple. I currently use a HP Pavilion G6 series laptop for gaming, which is over 4 years old. It only has 4 GB of RAM; a AMD E2-3000M APU with Radeon HD Graphics running at 1.80 GHz processor; and a AMD Radeon HD 6380G graphics card. This literally makes it impossible to play any games on this machine, let alone any actual, good games, such as Batman or BF4.

Preferences: I don't really have any. I know that the builds I have in this post are not the best, obviously. However, with that being said, I will most likely upgrade my CPU and GPU, likewise with RAM near Christmas, when the prices drop. Until then though, I need a good enough gaming machine to play games on. I will also get an SSD in the near future, probably in a month or two. As far as OS goes, I have never used Windows 8, so I can't say much about that. However, I know for certain that I will get Windows 7 unless Windows 8 is better.

My builds:

#1: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/JDRwmG

#2: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/9rFmNG

#3: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/qTLdGX

Like I said above, if anyone can build a better machine in under £600, please feel free to do so for me. This will be my first build, so I am new to this kind of stuff, so I don't really have as much knowledge as most of you here. Hence why I have come here for help. That being said, I just want to thank you guys in advance for helping me out (those of you who do ). Anyways, I'll be back later. PLEASE HELP ME!

Rappelin · August 15, 2014

1 or 2, the processors are better bang for your buck with clockspeeds of 3.5GHz, otherwise just personal preference i guess, correct me if i'm wrong, experts.

Cokeman · August 15, 2014

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($241.98 @ SuperBiiz)

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($24.99 @ Newegg)

Motherboard: Asus Z97-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($144.99 @ Newegg)

Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($84.98 @ OutletPC)

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($55.98 @ OutletPC)

Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 280X 3GB DirectCU II Video Card ($298.47 @ Amazon)

Case: Corsair 450D ATX Mid Tower Case ($99.99 @ Newegg)

Power Supply: Corsair CX 600W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($67.99 @ Micro Center)

Total: $1011.37

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-15 11:27 EDT-0400

$10 over budget but a great build

Vacsol · August 15, 2014

there's no reason to go above 8gb in the near future.

if you're planning on ugrading the CPU, gtet this and overclock it until you can get a 4690k

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/YcWJpg

Vacsol · August 15, 2014

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($241.98 @ SuperBiiz)

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($24.99 @ Newegg)

Motherboard: Asus Z97-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($144.99 @ Newegg)

Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($84.98 @ OutletPC)

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($55.98 @ OutletPC)

Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 280X 3GB DirectCU II Video Card ($298.47 @ Amazon)

Case: Corsair 450D ATX Mid Tower Case ($99.99 @ Newegg)

Power Supply: Corsair CX 600W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($67.99 @ Micro Center)

Total: $1011.37

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-15 11:27 EDT-0400

$10 over budget but a great build