Question Gaming PC - Where to buy

simonfr

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Any recommendations where I should buy a ready made gaming PC from these days? Budget is under £700 so I know it's not going to be earth shattering.
 
Overclockers and Scan are 2 places people recommend a lot, but why not build it yourself? It is better value and as easy as putting lego together.
 
Thanks! I'd forgotten about Overclockers completely. I built my own i7 box a few years ago so certainly know my way around, just not sure I have the time. I need it all delivered and built by the end of next week as is a present for my son.
 
Thanks! I'd forgotten about Overclockers completely. I built my own i7 box a few years ago so certainly know my way around, just not sure I have the time. I need it all delivered and built by the end of next week as is a present for my son.
Scan do free next day delivery for avf members.... [emoji4]
 
Your better off building your own as will save you some ££££££ (as your likely aware)

to build a standard PC shouldnt take you more than 2-3 Hours (I think you can personally do it in a shorter time frame but thats being conservative)

Overclockers has some great bundle offers on that can get you some decent speced components for £369
  • Intel Core i3 7350K @ 4.60GHz
  • Asus Prime Z270-P Motherboard
  • 8GB 2400MHz Team Group Elite Memory
  • Raijintek Aidos CPU Cooler

I recently got a Asus 1050i graphics card for £130 new

XfX 500w PSU £43


£550 in total and some spare change for case etc.

be a pretty decent gaming machine
 
Thanks dollag. I'll have at look at Overclockers. I've been on Scan and put together a spec, but excluding the monitor (which is for me), the machine is coming in at £894. Any thoughts on where I can make some savings without compromising too much? The SSD is a must...

11n PCI Express Wireless Network Card with Low Profile Bracket from Asus Asus PCE-N15 V2
11n PCI Express Wireless Network Card with Low Profile Bracket from Asus Asus PCE-N15 V2
£13.99

Asus H170 PRO GAMING ATX Skylake Motherboard
Asus H170 PRO GAMING ATX Skylake Motherboard
£104.99

LiteOn IHAS124-14 24x DVD±R, 8x DVD±DL, DVD+RW x8/-RW x6, DVD-RAM x12, SATA, Black, OEM
LiteOn x24 DVD Writer Dual Layer 5.25" SATA Black OEM
£12.98

CIT Prism RGB PC Gaming Case with 2x RGB Fans and USB 3.0
CIT Prism RGB PC Gaming Case with 2x RGB Fans and USB 3.0
£33.98

Arctic Freezer 7 Pro V2 Intel/AMD CPU Cooler
Arctic Freezer 7 Pro V2 Intel/AMD CPU Cooler
£17.99

Intel Core i5 7500, S 1151, Kaby Lake, Quad Core, 4 Thread, 3.4GHz, 3.8GHz Turbo, 6MB Cache, 1100MHz GPU, 65W, CPU, Box
Intel Core i5 7500 Kaby Lake Desktop Processor/CPU
£187.99

Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1050 Ti D5 4GB GDDR5 Graphics Card, 768 Core, 1290MHz GPU, 1392MHz Boost
Gigabyte NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB D5 Graphics Card
£143.99

250GB Samsung 960 Evo, 3D V-NAND, M.2 PCIe Gen 3.0 x4, NVMe 1.1, 3200MB/s Read, 1500MB/s Write, 330K/300K IOPS
Samsung 250GB 960 Evo PCIe NVMe Solid State Drive/SSD MZ-V6E250BW
£117.35

8GB (2x4GB) Corsair DDR4 Vengeance LPX Red, PC4-17000 (2133), Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 13-15-15-28, XMP 2.0, 1.2V
Corsair 8GB DDR4 Red Vengeance LPX 2133MHz Memory Kit 2x4GB
£72.1

550W Corsair VS Series VS550, 80PLUS White, Fully Wired, SLI/xFire, Single Rail, 42A +12V, 1x120mm Quiet Fan, ATX PSU
Corsair 550 Watt VS550 ATX PSU/Power Supply Unit Black
£39.98

Microsoft Windows 10 Home, 64-bit ONLY, English, DVD Disc, 1 License/s, OEM, Operating System Software
https://www.scan.co.uk/products/mic...isc-1-license-s-oem-operating-system-software
£88.55

Logitech MK270 Wireless Desktop Compact Spill Resistant Multimedia Keyboard and Optical Mouse 1000dpi USB
https://www.scan.co.uk/products/log...-multimedia-keyboard-and-optical-mouse-1000dp
£21.49

1.8m UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead Type) Moulded with UK Plug (Suitable for PSU's) 5A Fuse
£2.48

28" AOC U2879VF Wide, TN LED Panel, 4K, 3840x2160, 1ms, 300cd/m2, DP/HDMI v2.0/DVI/VGA
https://www.scan.co.uk/products/28-...4k-3840x2160-1ms-300cd-m2-dp-hdmi-v20-dvi-vga
£309.98

Creative Inspire T10 2.0 Speakers, Black 10W RMS
https://www.scan.co.uk/products/creative-inspire-t10-20-speakers-black-10w-rms
£36.98
 
Take out the DVD drive unless you are going to be burning stuff.

USB Drive and predownload GPU / Motherboard Drivers and slap them on a bootable windows USB Drive.

Windows installs sooooooooo ******* quick from a USB Drive and then when installed just copy the folder with all the drivers onto your desktop and install them from there.

Also, do you need a 4k Panel ?

Do PSU's not come with a power lead nowadays ? Been a while since I purchased one.

EDIT
Just noticed you purchased Windows 10 that is on a DVD Disc, will this not come with a number you can enter and predownload the windows 10 iso from the windows site and enter key after / during installation ?

Are the USB Versions much more expensive ?
 
Tbh I cannot see many ways to cut corners.

I know you can get a 250gb samsung ssd for less than £100 on overclockers.

the CPU is taking a large chunk of the budget.

so is windows. Is there any way that you can install windows (another account in the house maybe) saves nearly £100

the speakers you can source separate, maybe second hand on ebay.

i'd suggest getting Vulcan Ram which is 2400mhz and saves and is also a few quid cheaper on overclockers than the corsair.

maybe source the 1050 over the 1050ti which saves another £40

just a few thoughts




 
You could save £30 on the motherboard if you go b250 unless you want to sli at a later date? Also you could just get the pentium g4560(i use it with a 970 till i upgrade) to tide you over that'd save £130 and you could upgrade at at a later date. If you do get that motherboard check the revision as you may need to update the bios with a 6th gen cpu iirc. Also Windows if you can download elsewhere is available for £10-20 look for mr high tech.
 
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Thanks for the feedback. The machine is for my son, though he'll be getting my 23" Samsung monitor, with me benefiting from the 4K panel :)

From the feedback you guys are providing it sounds like I can make some savings now, but at the expense of having to update at a later date. I'm not so keen on that so think I'll just bite the bullet and go for a machine that should last him around 5 years.

As for Mr High Tech, the reviews are terrible and I don't see how it can possibly be legit.
 
Have a look at Ryzen as well - it can work out a bit cheaper for the same performance.

You can also get Windows cheaper on Ebay (wink)
 
As for Mr High Tech, the reviews are terrible and I don't see how it can possibly be legit.

I've used them there ok, amazon also have it under £20
 
INTEL Core i5 6600K 3.5Ghz & ASUS H110M-A & 8GB DDR4 2133 CRUCIAL Bundle
£350

Asus GeForce GTX 1050 Expedition 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
£109

Samsung 250GB 850 EVO SSD 2.5" SATA 6Gbps 32 Layer 3D V-NAND Solid State Drive (MZ-75E250B/EU)
£98.99

550W Corsair VS Series VS550, 80PLUS White, Fully Wired, SLI/xFire, Single Rail, 42A +12V, 1x120mm Quiet Fan, ATX PSU
Corsair 550 Watt VS550 ATX PSU/Power Supply Unit Black
£39.98

Logitech MK270 Wireless Desktop Compact Spill Resistant Multimedia Keyboard and Optical Mouse 1000dpi USB
https://www.scan.co.uk/products/log...-multimedia-keyboard-and-optical-mouse-1000dp
£21.49

CIT Prism RGB PC Gaming Case with 2x RGB Fans and USB 3.0
CIT Prism RGB PC Gaming Case with 2x RGB Fans and USB 3.0
£33.98

Windows
£20

This comes in at £673 but in all honesty, is a pretty brutal machine (for a beginner especially)

I choose the 6600K as it's a dedicated skylake processor and is unlocked so is clockable and will outperform the 7500T. in addition, the higher speed ram will yield further gains.

there is not much difference with the 1050 and 1050Ti and as GPU's are easily interchangeable, I'd suggest getting the 1050 (I doubt there will be much difference, especially for 1080P gaming)

you got me thinking maybe I should upgrade :D

I'm still running a 2600k from 2011 and just upgraded certain components over the years, albeit my processor is clocked at 4.55ghz and to a degree holds it's own against most modern processors
 
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Thanks for the above @dollag. I'm just going to bite the bullet and spend the cash now as I don't really want to be upgrading in a few years. You have identified some areas where I can make savings so thanks for that!!

What I'm currently struggling with is whether or not the following power supply is compatible with the motherboard and GPU I'm buying. Can anyone confirm as I'm not sure how to tell beyond any doubt that it'll work.

Power supply :
Corsair 550 Watt VS550 ATX PSU/Power Supply Unit Black

Motherboard :
Asus H170 PRO GAMING ATX Skylake Motherboard

GPU :
Gigabyte NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB D5 Graphics Card
 
There are online wattage calculators that can help. Most modern components are efficient so I can't see you needing more than 550w but for peace of mind, run the components through a calculator.

I'm using a corsair 600w and my components are a lot more hungry than modern ones and the machine your building is pretty much the same just a newer version so you should be ok
 
Don't include the monitor in the build price. Just saved you £300[emoji3]
 
There are online wattage calculators that can help. Most modern components are efficient so I can't see you needing more than 550w but for peace of mind, run the components through a calculator.

I'm using a corsair 600w and my components are a lot more hungry than modern ones and the machine your building is pretty much the same just a newer version so you should be ok

With what is in my sig I also have 7 Fans (2 top, 2 Heatsink, 1 Rear, 1 Front, 1 Side) along with 1xSSD and 4xMechanical Drives.

This is with the GPU at 80% (Highest peak on graph)

Left of center is Power In and the Right is Power Out
 

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  • Corsair Link.jpg
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you have loads of headroom :thumbsdow
 
you have loads of headroom :thumbsdow

Exactly, unless you are going to dual GPU your machine and have every single bell and whistle even a 500w should be fine.

I was just trying to provide another example with a breakdown of whats in my machine and then show what the corsair link software is feeding back.

GPU was at 80% load and peaked at 225
 
Exactly, unless you are going to dual GPU your machine and have every single bell and whistle even a 500w should be fine.

I was just trying to provide another example with a breakdown of whats in my machine and then show what the corsair link software is feeding back.

GPU was at 80% load and peaked at 225

That software is really handy ive always used online calculators so thanks for sharing:thumbsup:
 
I'm running an old lga1366 motherboard and CPU with a 280x. Not the most efficient but my 500w PSU handles it fine. With newer components you should have plenty of head room
 
Gladiator pcs in Manchester has been recommended to me on a number of occasions.
 

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