Gaming PCs Thread...time for a sticky / running thread?

[130R]

Just ordered a GTX 1080 and an Oculus Rift

[Guvernator]

130R said:

Just ordered a GTX 1080 and an Oculus Rift

Lol, thought you'd be the first to fold on a GTX 10XX. My 980ti is still going great guns so will probably wait for the 1080 Titan\X equivalent and OR v2 before taking the plunge. Let us see some "real life" tests when you get it setup though.

[130R]

Some Time Spy DX12 benchmarks with new EVGA Classified 1080 and trusty old 3770K @ 4.5 GHz

Stock: 6773 - http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/14574929 (Graphics Score: 7465)
Overclocked (@ 2126 MHz): 7235 - http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/14576558 (Graphics Score: 8103)

That overclock isn't stable but I got a score of 7124 (Graphics Score: 7969) with what I think is a stable overclock (@ 2088 MHz).

[L5WiRE]

FUBAR said:

I was swayed away from Alienware by this thread, and as I still wanted a built (to order) machine went with http://www.chillblast.com/

They have budgets to suit most so have a look

Don't buy Alienware been seen done it customer service sucks they took my laptop back and sent it back to me not fixed in anyway then after 1 year 1 graphics card went then another tried to get new ones and nope couldn't get them 2.5 k laptop for 1 n a half years not worth it
build it urself a lot cheaper and a lot better

[FUBAR]

L5WiRE said:

Don't buy Alienware been seen done it customer service sucks they took my laptop back and sent it back to me not fixed in anyway then after 1 year 1 graphics card went then another tried to get new ones and nope couldn't get them 2.5 k laptop for 1 n a half years not worth it
build it urself a lot cheaper and a lot better

Youre 6 months too late mate lol. Anyway, its been great so far Still st at BF though. (PS Ive pre bought and currently rumbling around the beta)

[Liszt]

Have been having a tinker on the PC Parts List site. Been a long time since I have had a desk top and monitor. Been running various with Dell XPS 17 for years but current one is starting to show its age. Budget is around the £2K point. Usage is gaming in all its glory. I don't think I am going to get a comparable laptop for the same money am I?

Thoughts on the spec?

PCPartPicker part list: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/7W4qd6
Price breakdown by merchant: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/7W4qd6/by_merchant...

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor (£300.80 @ Amazon UK)
CPU Cooler: ARCTIC Freezer i11 74.0 CFM CPU Cooler (£18.98 @ Novatech)
Motherboard: MSI Z170A SLI ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (£107.99 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory (£89.99 @ Novatech)
Storage: Crucial MX300 525GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£109.98 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Seagate 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£95.97 @ Scan.co.uk)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1080 8GB G1 Gaming Video Card (£589.98 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Cooler Master MasterCase 5 ATX Mid Tower Case (£67.33 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£104.99 @ Novatech)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit (£84.98 @ Novatech)
Monitor: Asus PB287Q 28.0" 60Hz Monitor (£369.99 @ Ebuyer)
Keyboard: A4Tech G800V Wired Gaming Keyboard (£18.09 @ CCL Computers)
Speakers: Logitech Z623 200W 2.1ch Speakers (£145.98 @ Ebuyer)
Total: £2105.05
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-10-08 12:24 BST+0100

[RedWhiteMonkey]

Liszt said:

Have been having a tinker on the PC Parts List site. Been a long time since I have had a desk top and monitor. Been running various with Dell XPS 17 for years but current one is starting to show its age. Budget is around the £2K point. Usage is gaming in all its glory. I don't think I am going to get a comparable laptop for the same money am I?

Thoughts on the spec?

PCPartPicker part list: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/7W4qd6
Price breakdown by merchant: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/7W4qd6/by_merchant...

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor (£300.80 @ Amazon UK)
CPU Cooler: ARCTIC Freezer i11 74.0 CFM CPU Cooler (£18.98 @ Novatech)
Motherboard: MSI Z170A SLI ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (£107.99 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory (£89.99 @ Novatech)
Storage: Crucial MX300 525GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£109.98 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Seagate 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£95.97 @ Scan.co.uk)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1080 8GB G1 Gaming Video Card (£589.98 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Cooler Master MasterCase 5 ATX Mid Tower Case (£67.33 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£104.99 @ Novatech)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit (£84.98 @ Novatech)
Monitor: Asus PB287Q 28.0" 60Hz Monitor (£369.99 @ Ebuyer)
Keyboard: A4Tech G800V Wired Gaming Keyboard (£18.09 @ CCL Computers)
Speakers: Logitech Z623 200W 2.1ch Speakers (£145.98 @ Ebuyer)
Total: £2105.05
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-10-08 12:24 BST+0100

Couple of obvious questions. Firstly, do you actually need an i7? There is no real advantage in gaming of an i7 over an i5, so unless you are doing non gaming things that need the i7 I'd go for an i5 6600K. Secondly, do you need 3TB of storage? It seems like an awful lot, for the price of a 500gb SSD and a 3TB HD for can just about get a 1TB SSD.

The forums on PCPartpicker are normally pretty good for advice, just beware of the 13 year olds who might try to advise (they are normally easy to spot). My suggestion would be this:

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/xTmqd6
Price breakdown by merchant - http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/xTmqd6/by_merchant...

• CPU** | [Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/gx648d/intel-cpu-bx80662i56600k) | £213.34 @ Aria PC
• CPU Cooler** | [CRYORIG H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/93Crxr/cryorig-cpu-cooler-h7) | £39.99 @ Ebuyer
• Motherboard** | [MSI Z170A GAMING PRO ATX LGA1151 Motherboard](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/Qn7CmG/msi-motherboard-z170agamingpro) | £123.78 @ YoYoTech
• Memory** | [Kingston Savage 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/zsL7YJ/kingston-memory-hx424c12sb2k216) | £84.00 @ CCL Computers
• Storage** | [Crucial MX300 1.1TB 2.5" Solid State Drive](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/bh38TW/crucial-mx300-11tb-25-solid-state-drive-ct1050mx300ssd1) | £227.60 @ Amazon UK
• Video Card** | [Zotac GeForce GTX 1080 8GB AMP! Extreme Video Card](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/qKp323/zotac-geforce-gtx-1080-8gb-amp-extreme-video-card-zt-p10800b-10p) | £613.35 @ Amazon UK
• Case** | [Cooler Master MasterCase 5 ATX Mid Tower Case](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/VK4NnQ/cooler-master-case-mcx0005kkn00) | £67.33 @ Amazon UK
• Power Supply** | [EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/MfJwrH/evga-power-supply-220g20750xr) | £104.99 @ Novatech
• Operating System** | [Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/96RFf7/microsoft-os-kw900139) | £84.98 @ Novatech
• Monitor** | [AOC U2879VF 28.0" 60Hz Monitor](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/Rk98TW/aoc-monitor-u2879vf) | £274.98 @ Amazon UK
• Keyboard** | [Cooler Master CM Storm Devastator Gaming Bundle Wired Gaming Keyboard w/Optical Mouse](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/6P2kcf/cooler-master-keyboard-sgb3010kkmf1us) | £29.80 @ Amazon UK
• Speakers** | [Logitech Z323 30W 2.1ch Speakers](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/yx8Zxr/logitech-speakers-980000354) | £48.07 @ Misco UK

| *Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts* |
| **Total** | **£1912.21**
| Generated by [PCPartPicker](http://pcpartpicker.com) 2016-10-08 13:16 BST+0100 |

[Dejay1788]

I'm running an old I5 3570K which is about 5 years old now. I upgraded the PSU to a Corsair 750W and GPU to a GTX 970 around July but I'm looking to upgrade the processor now. I haven't kept up to date really on parts since then so could anybody recommend a I5 + mobo bundle (will need RAM too).

I use the PC for gaming and it's still running fairly well but not as quick as it once was.

[Liszt]

RedWhiteMonkey said:

Liszt said:

Have been having a tinker on the PC Parts List site. Been a long time since I have had a desk top and monitor. Been running various with Dell XPS 17 for years but current one is starting to show its age. Budget is around the £2K point. Usage is gaming in all its glory. I don't think I am going to get a comparable laptop for the same money am I?

Thoughts on the spec?

PCPartPicker part list: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/7W4qd6
Price breakdown by merchant: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/7W4qd6/by_merchant...

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor (£300.80 @ Amazon UK)
CPU Cooler: ARCTIC Freezer i11 74.0 CFM CPU Cooler (£18.98 @ Novatech)
Motherboard: MSI Z170A SLI ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (£107.99 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory (£89.99 @ Novatech)
Storage: Crucial MX300 525GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£109.98 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Seagate 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£95.97 @ Scan.co.uk)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1080 8GB G1 Gaming Video Card (£589.98 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Cooler Master MasterCase 5 ATX Mid Tower Case (£67.33 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£104.99 @ Novatech)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit (£84.98 @ Novatech)
Monitor: Asus PB287Q 28.0" 60Hz Monitor (£369.99 @ Ebuyer)
Keyboard: A4Tech G800V Wired Gaming Keyboard (£18.09 @ CCL Computers)
Speakers: Logitech Z623 200W 2.1ch Speakers (£145.98 @ Ebuyer)
Total: £2105.05
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-10-08 12:24 BST+0100

Couple of obvious questions. Firstly, do you actually need an i7? There is no real advantage in gaming of an i7 over an i5, so unless you are doing non gaming things that need the i7 I'd go for an i5 6600K. Secondly, do you need 3TB of storage? It seems like an awful lot, for the price of a 500gb SSD and a 3TB HD for can just about get a 1TB SSD.

The forums on PCPartpicker are normally pretty good for advice, just beware of the 13 year olds who might try to advise (they are normally easy to spot). My suggestion would be this:

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/xTmqd6
Price breakdown by merchant - http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/xTmqd6/by_merchant...

• CPU** | [Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/gx648d/intel-cpu-bx80662i56600k) | £213.34 @ Aria PC
• CPU Cooler** | [CRYORIG H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/93Crxr/cryorig-cpu-cooler-h7) | £39.99 @ Ebuyer
• Motherboard** | [MSI Z170A GAMING PRO ATX LGA1151 Motherboard](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/Qn7CmG/msi-motherboard-z170agamingpro) | £123.78 @ YoYoTech
• Memory** | [Kingston Savage 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/zsL7YJ/kingston-memory-hx424c12sb2k216) | £84.00 @ CCL Computers
• Storage** | [Crucial MX300 1.1TB 2.5" Solid State Drive](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/bh38TW/crucial-mx300-11tb-25-solid-state-drive-ct1050mx300ssd1) | £227.60 @ Amazon UK
• Video Card** | [Zotac GeForce GTX 1080 8GB AMP! Extreme Video Card](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/qKp323/zotac-geforce-gtx-1080-8gb-amp-extreme-video-card-zt-p10800b-10p) | £613.35 @ Amazon UK
• Case** | [Cooler Master MasterCase 5 ATX Mid Tower Case](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/VK4NnQ/cooler-master-case-mcx0005kkn00) | £67.33 @ Amazon UK
• Power Supply** | [EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/MfJwrH/evga-power-supply-220g20750xr) | £104.99 @ Novatech
• Operating System** | [Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/96RFf7/microsoft-os-kw900139) | £84.98 @ Novatech
• Monitor** | [AOC U2879VF 28.0" 60Hz Monitor](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/Rk98TW/aoc-monitor-u2879vf) | £274.98 @ Amazon UK
• Keyboard** | [Cooler Master CM Storm Devastator Gaming Bundle Wired Gaming Keyboard w/Optical Mouse](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/6P2kcf/cooler-master-keyboard-sgb3010kkmf1us) | £29.80 @ Amazon UK
• Speakers** | [Logitech Z323 30W 2.1ch Speakers](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/yx8Zxr/logitech-speakers-980000354) | £48.07 @ Misco UK

| *Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts* |
| **Total** | **£1912.21**
| Generated by [PCPartPicker](http://pcpartpicker.com) 2016-10-08 13:16 BST+0100

Interesting on the i5 vs i7. Didn't realise there wasn't that much in it. Kids will also us it for gaming, and my daughter is in to creating digital art and music production.
Also planning to encode the dvd collection at some point.

Currently running at 1.85tb used on the laptop out of 2.5 tb split across a 500gb SSD and a 2tb HDD, all backed up to a NAS. New games seem to be around the 40gb-50gb mark these days! Combine that with films and daughters stuff, photos, videos I've filmed, 1tb is no where near enough these days.

[Art0ir]

Dejay1788 said:

I'm running an old I5 3570K which is about 5 years old now. I upgraded the PSU to a Corsair 750W and GPU to a GTX 970 around July but I'm looking to upgrade the processor now. I haven't kept up to date really on parts since then so could anybody recommend a I5 + mobo bundle (will need RAM too).

I use the PC for gaming and it's still running fairly well but not as quick as it once was.

I'm in the same boat, 3570k OC to 4.2Ghz and a 980TI. Truth is though I'm yet to run into any issues playing anything yet.

The architecture is old yes, but it still does what it's meant to for me at least.

[wst]

How much of a step up is the 3750k compared to the 2500k? I ask, as I have a 2500k sitting at 4.6Ghz and I am wondering if it'll manage Forza Horizon 3 (it's got an R9 290X on the graphical side).

[Dejay1788]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

MY motherboard doesn't let me use the USB 3.0 ports on the front of my PC case

Any excuse to upgrade

Any thoughts on this? - https://www.overclockers.co.uk/8pack-approved-inte...

[Dejay1788]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

No idea, would like to know if I'm looking at the right parts really before I go shopping for prices.

[mikef]

Dejay1788 said:

MY motherboard doesn't let me use the USB 3.0 ports on the front of my PC case

Any excuse to upgrade

Well if that's the main problem and you have a spare PCIe slot, this will do the job for £20: Silverstone EC01-P

I've used them with a couple of older mobo's

[rsv gone!]

Art0ir said:

Dejay1788 said:

I'm running an old I5 3570K which is about 5 years old now. I upgraded the PSU to a Corsair 750W and GPU to a GTX 970 around July but I'm looking to upgrade the processor now. I haven't kept up to date really on parts since then so could anybody recommend a I5 + mobo bundle (will need RAM too).

I use the PC for gaming and it's still running fairly well but not as quick as it once was.

I'm in the same boat, 3570k OC to 4.2Ghz and a 980TI. Truth is though I'm yet to run into any issues playing anything yet.

The architecture is old yes, but it still does what it's meant to for me at least.

I'm still on an i5-2500K. It must be the longest I have ever kept a CPU/mobo. I toyed with the idea of a new i7 (for messing about with virtualization), but it still runs practically every game with the sliders high. That's on a 770, although I fancy an upgrade to a 1070. Can't face the cost of a 1080!

[Mannginger]

Considering upgrading my Mobo and processor to better run the Oculus.

Here's what I have currently:

Motherboard: Asus P8Z77
GFX - 980ti
Processor: i5-3570

Can anyone suggest a good Mobo / CPU combination? Or can I just upgrade my CPU? I'm thinking not but I do run out of talent pretty quickly when working out what can / can't be used together!

Cheers in advance

[rsv gone!]

Easy to spend a grand on a 'refresh'

[PCPartPicker part list](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/qndWr7) / [Price breakdown by merchant](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/qndWr7/by_merchant/)

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----

• CPU** | [Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/tdmxFT/intel-cpu-bx80662i76700k) | £316.98 @ Novatech
• CPU Cooler** | [Corsair H60 74.4 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/74bp99/corsair-cpu-cooler-cwch60) | £74.39 @ Novatech
• Motherboard** | [MSI Z170A GAMING PRO CARBON ATX LGA1151 Motherboard](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/gpH48d/msi-motherboard-z170agamingprocarbon) | £136.87 @ BT Shop
• Memory** | [Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/v4Crxr/corsair-memory-cmk32gx4m4a2133c15) | £168.36 @ Ebuyer
• Video Card** | [MSI GeForce GTX 1070 8GB Video Card](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/NJM323/msi-geforce-gtx-1070-8gb-video-card-geforce-gtx-1070-armor-8g-oc) | £394.98 @ Amazon UK

| *Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts* |
| **Total** | **£1091.58**
| Generated by [PCPartPicker](http://pcpartpicker.com) 2016-10-30 08:36 GMT+0000 |

[wst]

rsv gone! said:

I'm still on an i5-2500K. It must be the longest I have ever kept a CPU/mobo.

I've had mine 5 years. It's not the longest-lived CPU I've had, but it doesn't feel anywhere near as sluggish as the Athlon 64 did after this length of time (I ended up on Linux to try and keep speeds high).

[Art0ir]

Mannginger said:

Considering upgrading my Mobo and processor to better run the Oculus.

Here's what I have currently:

Motherboard: Asus P8Z77
GFX - 980ti
Processor: i5-3570

Can anyone suggest a good Mobo / CPU combination? Or can I just upgrade my CPU? I'm thinking not but I do run out of talent pretty quickly when working out what can / can't be used together!

Cheers in advance

Does VR use multithreading better than other video games or something? Because I did the Oculus "compatibility" test and if had a guff about my CPU but single thread benchmarks really haven't dramatically improved at all in recent years.

[130R]

Oculus works fine with my 3770K @ 4.5Ghz despite failing the compatibility test (not surprising really since the minimum is a i5-4590 which is much slower out of the box). I just use a script to disable the warning message.