Looking to buy first Gaming PC

LeafGreen

Hi everyone,

I'm a 40-something of the spectrum/amiga era and over the last year or two I've been getting back into gaming. I bought an Xbox 360 which has been great but I now find that the type of games appealing to me are less arcadey and more of the simulation genre... so rather than go to latest gen console I'm planning on investing in my first gaming desktop.

Based on a rough budget of £800 excluding monitor and other accessories, the system I am looking at presently is the Chillblast Fusion Mantis.

Main spec is:-
Intel Core i5 6600K overclocked to 4.4GHz
GeForce GTX 960 2GB Graphics Card
8GB 2133MHZ DDR4 Memory
1000GB Seagate SSHD Hybrid Drive

Reference:- http://www.chillblast.com/Chillblast-Fusion-Mantis-Gaming-PC.html

The games I am most interested in at present are Dirt Rally (and maybe other racing games), Train Simulator, and Omsi 2.

My questions are:-

1. Is this a good level of specification to be looking at?

2. I don't know a huge amount about overclocking. The system can be supplied without being overclocked (same price) but is it a good idea one way or the other?

3. Any sensible value for money upgrades I should consider to that base spec? I'm thinking about substituting the hybrid drive for a regular HD and separate SSHD but unsure of the difference that may make. Other options might be a different processor or graphics card. I can spend a bit more if I'm getting good bang for my buck, but I don't want the budget to get too far above target if I can avoid it.

4. Monitor options. I'm stabbing in the dark a little here, but have the Asus VC239H as my starting point. Would that be a good choice and are there any other options at around the same price point (£120ish)?

Thankyou :beer:

duggan1

Perfectly good setup, obvious caveat that if you are willing to shop around and self assemble you can pick up the parts for a bit cheaper.

Overclocking isn't really a great idea in my opinion, at least if you don't want a lot of messing about. I wouldn't worry about it personally.

Never been convinced by Hybrid drives. I'd be inclined to get an SSD for OS and some games, but a larger standard drive for data/games etc. Having a proper SSD is the single biggest performance increase you will see, even over a hybrid drive.

ASUS make good monitors and that is pretty good. Stretch for a 26" model if you can but it will be more than sufficient.

LeafGreen

Thanks buddy, very useful comments and good to know I was roughly on the right track :-)

wacko911

Going with the build it yourself brigade, I just finished a build for my nephew on a tight budget to give you an idea of what you may get for your money.

For gaming - GFX card is king, followed by processor. i7 is overkill for gaming but handy to have for some future proofing.

Benchmark Scores GFX Card
8654 GTX 970 4GB Used £210 ebay 45% faster
8028 GTX 780 3GB Used £170 ebay 35% faster
5971 GTX 960 2GB £150

The 960 just wouldn't cut it for me. I say get a 970 as a minimum or 780/780ti at a squeeze, these pop up right and cheap on ebay barely a year old for silly money. (These were top of the range >£300 just a year ago).

Benchmark Scores Processor:
7748 Intel Core i5 6600K 3.5ghz (not overclocked) £215
10031 Second hand i7 4790 ~£170
7627 Second hand i5 4690 ~£130

If you are not going to overclock, then don't bother with the K processors and save some money. Plus you can save some dosh on custom coolers, the stock coolers are just fine for non K processors.

I'd get a decent 250ssd (Evo 850) + a 1-2TB bog standard hard drive (cheap as chips). Logic being, OS and games you currently play goes onto the SSD, then when your bored but 'might' go back to them move them over to the massive HD.

Anyhow heres what I got him for reference:
Intel Core i7-4790 3.6GHz Quad-Core Processor £169.99
Zotac GeForce GTX 780 3GB OC Video Card £180.00
GA-Z97P-D3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard £61.79
Corsair CX600 Power Supply (PSU) £36.00
CiT VANQUISH RED ATX Mid Tower Case £34.49
8GB (2x4GB) Kingston HyperX Fury Red £30.00
Sumvision PC Gaming Headset £16.00
Sumvision LED Gaming Keyboard and Mouse £15.89
250GB Crucial BX100 2.5" Solid State Drive £50.62
1TB 3.5" Hard Drive £37.00
23.6" Monitor Asus VS247HR £102.24

~£730 and 2 hours to assemble. That includes bog standard keyboard mouse headset and 24" 1080p 60hz TN monitor, but these can be swapped out for something better if within your budget. I would highly recommend a 27" IPS 1440p monitor. Once you have gone 1440p 1080p looks so bad. I've used a 28" 4k gaming monitor (£498) and it was impressive but not 500 quid impressive, not to mention the 500 quid 980ti required to run it.

While on monitors:
1080p the sweet spot for me is 23/24"
1440p 27/28" is the sweet spot. Your mileage may vary.

Oh and the cheap headset I got him it awesome. Ive the hyperX gaming headset and some bose QC15's (£200) and the £16 ones are maybe even better??

Qwiksilver

grahamgoo the spec you have chosen is a great starting point and I would regard as a decent mid end set up. It will cope with the majority of games relatively easily and will easily handle the ones you have asked about.

Some pre-built systems will use one decent high end component to lure you in and then fill the system with cheap low grade components which will effectively nullify your decent one. If you are in any doubt post the specs here and you will get an honest bang for buck appraisal.


If you have never tried to build your own pc and are not entirely conversant with doing so then please don't even attempt it as it will as likely as not end in tears. If you damage any components during setup your any warranty you may have had is gone. If you know someone who does know what they are doing then by all means consider it.
You will also need to add the cost of an operating system as well as things like thermal paste and cooling fans if you want to do it properly.
Your gaming monitor need not be hugely expensive, but i would go for a 27" if you can stretch to it.

Oh and an SSD is a god send. If you can afford it get it. I can vouch for the Samsung 850 EVO.

LeafGreen

Thankyou everyone, really glad I posted on here, lots of invaluable info :-)