Gaming PC for ~ £3K

Discussion in 'General Hardware' started by ModestWisdom, Oct 12, 2015.

  1. ModestWisdom

    ModestWisdom Guest

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    Hi everyone!

    I'm looking for some advice. I've had my current system for approximately 4 years now and this 7870 just doesn't cut it anymore. Please keep in mind that it is not really an option for me to build my own system due to "financial constraints". I will be buying a system and then paying for it for the next 3-4 years.

    It seems to me that I have 3 options (in terms of suppliers) - Scan, Overclockers & Cyberpower. There are a few issues with these suppliers though - Scan does not allow you to choose the brand for your graphics card, you are literally limited to EVGA, you cannot even buy a system without a graphics card. Overclockers only has memory of up to 2666 if I remember correctly. Cyberpower may be the best option for me as I would be able to choose not to have any graphics card in my system and therefore I could buy/use a brand that I liked the most.

    I have done some research and I am definitely going for 980 Ti, most likely Zotac AMP! Extreme edition. I am also very keen on grabbing 5930K, originally I wanted that 5960X beast however the price for it seems a bit steep. I've done some research on ASUS Rampage V Extreme and it seems literally a beast of a card, however - is it really worth getting it? Some advice would be really nice. Please keep in mind that my budget for this system is ~ £2.4K excluding graphics card OR ~ £3K with graphics card.

    Some of you will most likely have your own views and opinions of EVGA/Zotac and whatever else, what I am looking for is somewhat "straight out of the box" beast of a card. I do not want to do any overclocking myself - if I'm not mistaken it makes the warranty no longer valid. The reason why I wanna go for AMP! Extreme is because it literally destroys any other card in terms of FPS (straight out of the box, I'm not talking about customized overclocking).

    Oh and I plan on gaming on 1440p (if that makes any difference)...

    Lastly, if you read this - thank you! The question is - can you help me? :)
     
    Last edited: Oct 12, 2015
  2. Extraordinary

    Extraordinary Guest

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    Build it yourself, and you can choose any brand of anything you like

    Also have eBuyer.com, Dabs.com, Novatech.co.uk, Aria.co.uk
     
  3. ModestWisdom

    ModestWisdom Guest

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    Could you read the 3rd sentence please?

    Aria, Novatech, eBuyer do not have a good variety/financial options.
     
  4. Extraordinary

    Extraordinary Guest

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    Yea I did read it, and it sounds like you're trying to buy a pre-built machine, because if you were trying to build it with individual components, you'd know you can choose any brand you like of 980ti from Scan
     

  5. ModestWisdom

    ModestWisdom Guest

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    If I bought the parts individually then yes you are correct - I would need to build everything myself. Which means that I would need to overclock my CPU myself and who knows what else I might have to do. Overclocking voids any kind of warranty, no? I just think that it would be much better to buy a pre-built system from people who know exactly what they're doing. I have never built a PC before and I don't think that it would be a bright idea to do it myself for a system that costs thousands of pounds.
     
  6. Extraordinary

    Extraordinary Guest

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    Overclocking does not void warranty no. Not to mention there is no way for them to know if you have or have not OCd anything

    Building a machine is pretty straight forward, and you're on a forum that can walk you through it step by step if you get stuck

    And it's a very good idea to build it yourself, because if something goes wrong somewhere down the line, you have a much better idea on how to fix it, and what the issue might be

    Not to mention, if you're into gaming machines, it's an unspoken rule that you should build it yourself, that's half the fun, and gives you a buzz that the high end machine you're running, is running because you built it

    Also, if a part dies, you only need to return that one part, not the entire machine
     
  7. Deathchild

    Deathchild Ancient Guru

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    Overclocking does not void your warranty. And if you haven't built a pc before then maybe it's time.
     
  8. ModestWisdom

    ModestWisdom Guest

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    Haha well maybe it is. I don't want to jump to any conclusions just yet, but you guys might have inspired me to do it myself! ;)

    I don't know where I had this concept/idea from - that OCing voids any warranty.

    OT: Could you guys give me your opinions/advice on the components that I have listed?
    5930K
    980Ti
    ASUS Rampage V Extreme
     
  9. Extraordinary

    Extraordinary Guest

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    Can't really think of anything that voids PC parts warranty, other than blatantly obvious user abuse, like snapping something in half, or with GPUs, flashing the wrong BIOS to it maybe - but you really have to go out of your way to void it

    And PCs are not made of silk thread, so long as you earth yourself before touching parts, and don't force anything, you're not going to break them
     
  10. Truder

    Truder Ancient Guru

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    You'll save a lot of cash buying parts/building yourself. The other thing as well is, several retailers offer finance at the checkout too for example my recent build I bought on finance, sure it means an extra £50 (or whatever % cost it will be) overall but it's better than paying an extra £300 (comparatively speaking in my case) on a prebuilt system, savings would be more so on more expensive hardware too.

    Try looking at http://www.cclonline.com/ they sometimes have some decent prices (main reason I use ccl though is I live nearby, I can just go to their trade counter :D).
     

  11. Deathchild

    Deathchild Ancient Guru

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    I think that's a pretty solid build. Anywhere you can save cash do it though.
     
  12. Tat3

    Tat3 Ancient Guru

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    Get a mobo with two one digit displays (Asus calls it Q-Code display and that Rampage V has it). If you get a part which does not work and PC doesnt boot or display anything on monitor, it makes your life easier. That display gives two digit error code which you can google or look from manual and it tells you what is wrong.

    Building a PC is not too hard, brother built one not too long ago and it went fine. Well, mobo was DOA (Asus ofc, cant think of friends or me having dead ones from other companies, other than one Gigabyte from like 15 years ago). He said that it took some time, but was not too hard. With new mobo he built it with friend and it worked, not fun if the first time you build something and you get a broken component.

    I would go with 6700K for gaming. I would recommend building it yourself, just take your time and if you are not sure about something, ask. Without using violence I dont think that you can destroy any parts while building that pc.
     
  13. CDJay

    CDJay Guest

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    There's not really any need for you to get the 5930k; I'd get a pre-binned 5820k from www.siliconlottery.com ( 4.6ghz ). Step up to a 8 core down the road when new versions come out which are socket compatible.

    16gb (4x4) Corsair 3000Mhz kit is pretty good value/perf.

    Samsung 950 Pro (512gb) as boot drive, maybe a 1tb 840 evo as storage

    2x 980ti (with a decent PSU!)

    I really like the Asus sabertooth X99 but do bear in mind it lacks wireless built in.

    You'll be stunned at the performance you'll get with a build like that! :)

    With your budget I'd be pretty tempted to watercool, and get the most out of the ti's. Or perhaps do that down the road if you move to 8 core.

    CDJay
     
  14. CDJay

    CDJay Guest

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    I also strongly disagree with opting for the 6700k over the X99 platform; you've got a much better upgrade path (to 8 core) and that's something that is likely to be increasingly important over the next few years as things take advantage of threading more :)

    CDJay
     
  15. Darkest

    Darkest Guest

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    I concur, when you've a budget like that I wouldn't even consider Skylake at this point in time. I barely consider it now in some areas, as a 5820K build often comes out at a similar price as a 6700K.

    I would seriously look into a PCI-E SSD with that budget, there's some very tasty products out there. Although for gaming alone a SATA drive is probably more than enough.
     
    Last edited: Oct 13, 2015

  16. ModestWisdom

    ModestWisdom Guest

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    If I decided to build my own system I'd go for Intel 750 (400gb) or Samsung SM951 (500gb). Once again this is an IF I decided to proceed this is more or less what I would be aiming for

    5930K
    Rampage V Extreme
    980Ti
    Intel 750/Samsung SM951

    I also plan on getting a sound card, but currently I'm using Syberia v3 which probably wouldn't be a wise idea, but I do plan on getting some decent pair of headphones in the near future.



    >To be able to post links or images.. blah blah need 10 posts. Can't quote you.

    Hey, thanks for advice Jay. Do you not think that it would be a lot more beneficial for me to simply just go ahead with what I "want" at the moment? Basically look at the key components that I have listed at the start of this post.

    What you're suggesting is opting out for lower components at the cost of having SLI. I honestly think that I would be better off with what I've proposed initially. Because currently I don't think that SLI is very well optimized for gaming and in the next few years once I do need to upgrade my graphics card - I could either decide whether I want to SLI or get an entirely new card. Besides having those other beastly components would also be a huge + right?
     
    Last edited: Oct 13, 2015
  17. Darkest

    Darkest Guest

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    If headphones are your primary use, external options (rather than a soundcard) might be an idea. Although that's an entire discussion on its own.

    SLI can be very good depending on the games you play, I wouldn't rule it out entirely. There's a few members on here who buy two of each card every time they upgrade, and have very few (if any) issues.

    I'm a tad busy right now, but if you want I can put together a full system build (parts and prices) for your specifications and budget, and link it here? It'll give you a good idea of what's available if nothing else. As others have suggested, it's worth building your own. You'll save money, and then there's the fun factor -- not to mention confidence in your build.
     
    Last edited: Oct 13, 2015
  18. ModestWisdom

    ModestWisdom Guest

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    I literally never use speakers; hell I don't even have them (only at work). I use headphones all day every day. I think that getting a sound card is definitely a wise decision as it would not only improve the quality of my sound - it also wouldn't put a "constraint"/wouldn't interfere with motherboard. Anyway like you said - it's an entirely different subject! :)

    Would SLI really be an option for me? Once again - I doubt it. I will be gaming on 1440 and I don't plan on using multiple monitors, nor anything 4K. I might eventually have 2 monitors and use 1 for gaming, the other one for other tasks/streaming. I just think that SLIs still have a vast room for improvement and having these "higher tier" components instead of SLI would work out better in the end. I'm not saying I would have bottleneck issues or anything like that, but I just prefer to have "everything up to scratch"; I'm an elitist in a sense.

    It wouldn't hurt if you could put a system/components together, and don't take this in a wrong way or anything - but please only suggest something that you have a vast knowledge upon. And please keep in mind my financial "options/constraints". I plan on repaying a debt over 3-4 years, and I don't think it's really an option to get a debt from some "other companies" than gaming-related-ones (hopefully that makes sense). I still need to look into all the financial options available.

    If it's of any help - I do not plan on video editing/working with PS, etc. I will literally be pretty much gaming on 1440p with some potential streaming in the future.
     
  19. somersetmartin

    somersetmartin Guest

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    phone scan up and talk to them and yoyotech [amazon suppler] play them off against each other 3k is serious money you might be glad you called them its only a phone call nothing lost
     
  20. ModestWisdom

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    Dude... what?
     

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