Build me a PC

[James Mk1]

Looking for some CS advice and help. Had my PC for about 5 years now and its time to upgrade.

Looking to spend £700-800 maybe more maybe less. I use my PC for League of Legends as well as normal use (videos etc). I don't play any hugely demanding games like Battlefield etc, and although nowadays a £400 PC would probably be fine for what I want, I do want a decent system incase I do want to play other games or whatever else.

I will most likely order a custom built pc from somewhere like Dinopc.com or similar as I have zero idea how to build the pc myself.

I don't need peripherals, all I need is the PC and things like power supply etc.

I've looked at (briefly) a spec something along the lines of:

Intel® Core™ i5 6500
16GB Crucial 2133mhz DDR4 (2x8GB)
MSI GeForce® GTX 960 4GB OC
Asus H170M-PLUS Motherboard
1TB S-ATAIII 6.0Gb/s

This sort of spec comes to £700-750 depending on what extras etc you take, there's also things like SSDs which I have no idea what they are!

If anyone could give some pointers, or even recommend a custom PC website (Im happy to pay the extra ~£150 they charge to build compared with the price you'd pay if you bought the components and built the PC yourself, but I don't want to be ripped off)

Thanks

 

[SharkyUK]

At your budget / requirement it's probably just easier to get a pre-built system from one of the reputable PC specialists mate.

SSD - this is a solid state hard drive (i.e. no moving parts). These are essential in my opinion these days. Much, much faster than mechanical hard drives and more reliable. The easiest way to boost a PC's performance generally.

 

[Snakebelly]

SSD on a modern Pc in my opinion is a must, I'm in the IT business and although we don't supply hardware its always the biggest boost to performance of almost any PC nowadays. The Hard Drive is pretty much the only mechanical part left in a PC apart form maybe the DVD drive. My works machines all have SSD's for the operating system and then larger SATA drives for data and some programs that don't need SSD access times. Just be aware that buying a small SSD for the Os will be a waste of time as it will fill up incredibly quickly especially on a windows machine with windows updates, look at 250Gb or larger.
HTH

 

[Adam G]

Highly recommend box.co.uk

 

[James Mk1]

Thanks for the responses. Yeah I will most likely get a pre built one (well, definitely lol) just want some recommendations on good specialists/specs to go for.

So if you have a SSD is that alongside a Hard Drive or does it serve a different purpose?

 

[Ben.Block]

I've gone with an SSD for Windows, another SSD for games and a Normal HD for music and photos. The SSD boot drive really does speed things up, I put one in an old laptop and the difference was night and day.

I recommend pc specialist, my last PC was from them and it was great value for money and very reliable.
http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk

 

[SharkyUK]

Agree with @Ben.Block - spec a system with an SSD for the operating system (250GB) and then, if you can afford it, another larger SSD for games. If not, go with a high speed (7200 rpm) regular hard drive with a couple of TB's storage (all depends on budget). I would also try and stretch to a 970 if you can afford it.

Likewise, I have used PC Specialist in the past (albeit for my partner's computer) but they were helpful and provided a decent quality product.

 

[Snakebelly]

Thanks for the responses. Yeah I will most likely get a pre built one (well, definitely lol) just want some recommendations on good specialists/specs to go for.

So if you have a SSD is that alongside a Hard Drive or does it serve a different purpose?

Yes mate the SSD Is for the (presumably ) Windows operating system and the traditional hard drive for everything else.x

 

[James Mk1]

Okay so SSD is only for your OS? I don't think I'd go for a second SSD for games I think that could be overkill for my needs, but a 970 could be on the cards for ~£70 more. You really think the jump from 960-970 is big enough?

Cheers guys

Edit - also, talk to me about power supplys? Liquid cooling etc? lol

 

[Snakebelly]

Rom the description of what your going to use it for I would think the extra for the 970 wouldn't really be worth it mate

 

[Ben.Block]

Unless you're going to be overclocking I can't see the point in liquid cooling, unless it's purely for looks. It will eat into your budget that's for sure.

 

[James Mk1]

Okay, what kind of power supply I need.. 750W or something?

 

[Ben.Block]

Depends on components. http://outervision.com/power-supply-calculator

Also if you build a PC on the website I linked it'll tell you whether you've over or under spec'd the psu.

 

[James Mk1]

Cheers, will do that when I get a mo

 

[SharkyUK]

Okay so SSD is only for your OS? I don't think I'd go for a second SSD for games I think that could be overkill for my needs, but a 970 could be on the cards for ~£70 more. You really think the jump from 960-970 is big enough?

Cheers guys

Edit - also, talk to me about power supplys? Liquid cooling etc? lol

SSD can be used for anything mate, but it's ideal for the OS as it so frequently reads/writes to and from the drive.

Is the jump from 960 to 970 big enough? Yes. The 960 in my opinion is a very compromised card. It's not a bad performer for the price but the 970 will offer a decent chunk more performance. I know you say you aren't playing the very latest modern / demanding games but I'd still opt for the 970. Especially as GPU's are becoming more general purpose these days.

As for PSU, a decent 600W supply will be plenty.

 

[Darren S]

SSD can be used for anything mate, but it's ideal for the OS as it so frequently reads/writes to and from the drive.

I finished a reformat of my PC - the first wipe clean to Windows 10, since before Christmas.

I had two 240GB SSD drives in RAID0 and have switched to a standard 2TB SATA with this install. What a performance drop! I always knew SSDs were faster - but to see the same PC behave like its dragging several ball & chains is quite surprising. Boot time is easily 2 to 3 times slower also.

 

[James Mk1]

Unless you're going to be overclocking I can't see the point in liquid cooling, unless it's purely for looks. It will eat into your budget that's for sure.

That was another of my questions - is it worth overclocking? I could overclock a cheaper CPU and have the same performance potentially? Would the company set up the overclocking/cooling setup etc?

Another quick one (@SharkyUK ) if I were to spec an SSD would the PC builder already allocate it to run the OS (or is that the only function it has anyway)?

On Pcspecialist.co.uk I can't find anywhere to build the PC with any combination of components, it only seems to let you 'choose your price range' then customize from that set of components appropriate for your price range?

Cheers for the help so far!

 

[Ben.Block]

That was another of my questions - is it worth overclocking? I could overclock a cheaper CPU and have the same performance potentially? Would the company set up the overclocking/cooling setup etc?

Another quick one (@SharkyUK ) if I were to spec an SSD would the PC builder already allocate it to run the OS (or is that the only function it has anyway)?

On Pcspecialist.co.uk I can't find anywhere to build the PC with any combination of components, it only seems to let you 'choose your price range' then customize from that set of components appropriate for your price range?

Cheers for the help so far!

Overclocking would allow you to squeeze more out, I've always preferred buying the best I can at the time. I tend to keep a PC running for about 5 years, with just a graphics card upgrade at a midway point.

When configuring a PC the 1st hard drive option should be allocated to the boot drive, won't hurt to confirm the spec with them and make sure it's configured how you want.

 

[SharkyUK]

Another quick one (@SharkyUK ) if I were to spec an SSD would the PC builder already allocate it to run the OS (or is that the only function it has anyway)?

As mentioned above, you can always drop PC Specialist a line and request that the SSD be set as the boot / OS drive. They will be happy to oblige (based on past experience).

As for choosing a system on PC Specialist, they tend to show a specific product and provide the 'configurator' so you can tweak options. If needs be, make a note of the system you are interested in and then contact them to discuss the specifics.