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Thread: Buying a new desktop PC £800-900 - need help!

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    Aexodus's Avatar Persuasion>Coercion
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    Default Buying a new desktop PC £800-900 - need help!

    I want to get a desktop computer for work and gaming, budget around £600-700, I have no idea what is good and what is bad so do you guys have any reccomendations? Should I get an all-in-one, or a tower, etc...
    Last edited by Aexodus; November 29, 2018 at 04:11 AM.
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    King Athelstan's Avatar The Wheel Weaves
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    Default Re: Buying a new desktop PC £600-700 - need help!

    First off: Are you planning on building it yourself? And is this just the pc, or with peripherals (mouse, keyboard, monitor etc)
    I'd say building one yourself in a tower makes for the most rewarding experience, and will definitely provide for a tower of the highest quality. It's not that hard to build one yourself either, if you just watch a few YouTube videos or you have a friend who knows how to do it you'll be fine. And of course, we're here to help
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    Aexodus's Avatar Persuasion>Coercion
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    Default Re: Buying a new desktop PC £600-700 - need help!

    I’d preferably want to build one with the help of friends, but I’m not sure if you can get good warranty/cover so if thats the case I’ll buy a complete PC with windows already installed.

    And yes it’s completely from scratch
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    King Athelstan's Avatar The Wheel Weaves
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    Default Re: Buying a new desktop PC £600-700 - need help!

    Each individual part should include warranty, either that or the shop selling it will- At least, that's how it works here in Norway (5 year warranty on all electronics, even if manufacturer only says 2, shop that sells must give 5).

    Do you already have any parts/misc accessories? I'd like to take as little out of the budget for other stuff as possible, as that'd make for the best possible experience. A few quid saved here and there can mean a lot in this budget range
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    Aexodus's Avatar Persuasion>Coercion
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    Default Re: Buying a new desktop PC £600-700 - need help!

    All I have is a headset. However I could spend up to 800-900 depending on the PC if I wanted to.

    Our current family computer is a Mac, and we sold all or threw away the old PC accesories before it.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Himster View Post
    The trick is to never be honest. That's what this social phenomenon is engineering: publicly conform, or else.

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    King Athelstan's Avatar The Wheel Weaves
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    Default Re: Buying a new desktop PC £600-700 - need help!

    Alrighty, I'll see what I can put together - any specific stores you'd like to order from, or anything that I can find that seems reputable go?
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    Aexodus's Avatar Persuasion>Coercion
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    Default Re: Buying a new desktop PC £600-700 - need help!

    Currys-PC World (its a combined store) would be my preference.

    Thanks for helping me athelstan mate +rep
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    Quote Originally Posted by Himster View Post
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    Default Re: Buying a new desktop PC £600-700 - need help!

    Honestly, that's a very small budget. What games are you trying to play? Your real budget is like 400-600 pounds if you want a desktop, and you'll probably be limited to a 1050 TI if you want a laptop.

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    Aexodus's Avatar Persuasion>Coercion
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    Default Re: Buying a new desktop PC £600-700 - need help!

    I’m not looking to play massive games like battlefield and uncharted, more just stuff like Total War (pre-Shogun II) and CS. I could buff up my budget to 800-900 however if thats a very small budget
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    Quote Originally Posted by Himster View Post
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    Default Re: Buying a new desktop PC £800-900 - need help!

    The list here lacks a keyboard, mouse and Windows, but has a monitor + full pc

    https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/Ath...d/#view=K29QZL. Afraid I couldn't see Currys PcWorld selling any individual parts, so this one uses a few different, but it shouldn't be a problem.

    The processor is very powerful, and I'm surprised I saw it for so cheap, I think AMD is doing a discount on them at the moment. The GPU too is great. 16 Gigs of RAM, and an SSD for your OS and a few games. Windows I'm sure you can find cheaper elsewhere.

    Anyhoo, here's a starting point, let me know what you think about it. I highly recommend we get everything sorted within 1-3 days, as I don't know when the CPU offer ends and the GPU is at a 15% off atm, and the motherboard is 33% off.

    I see you're in Ulster, so I assume you're in Northern Ireland and thus the UK, and therefore based the build on that.
    Last edited by King Athelstan; November 29, 2018 at 06:17 AM.
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    Aexodus's Avatar Persuasion>Coercion
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    Default Re: Buying a new desktop PC £800-900 - need help!

    That looks a pretty good build, the ram and the hdd are the only things I would want to cut down on. Ill have a better look later

    Here’s an i7 build for £880 sterling, what do you think?

    https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/b/MP6scf#partlist

    also this build is a christmas gift, im trying to get a feel for what I should say I’m looking for or just know the full build
    Last edited by ♔Greek Strategos♔; December 10, 2018 at 09:52 AM. Reason: Merged posts.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Himster View Post
    The trick is to never be honest. That's what this social phenomenon is engineering: publicly conform, or else.

  12. #12

    Default Re: Buying a new desktop PC £800-900 - need help!

    https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/Fm6W7W

    Here's the basic build where I changed a few things.

    Ryzen 5>Ryzen 7 to save money. ASRock B350M Pro 4 is a pretty bulletproof budget board for AMD. Crucial MX500 is probably the best SSD for Price/Performance.

    Quote Originally Posted by Aexodus View Post
    Here’s an i7 build for £880 sterling, what do you think?

    https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/b/MP6scf#partlist

    also this build is a christmas gift, im trying to get a feel for what I should say I’m looking for or just know the full build
    This is definitely not 880 pounds. It's more. If I were to buy all of those items brand new, it'd be around 1700-2000 USD very roughly, I may be overshooting here. I'd also change a lot of things, but they'd be preference based. There's nothing in the build that screams "bad" so it's fairly solid. It's just definitely over 800 pounds.


    Here are a few things I would keep in mind.

    1. Ryzen 5>Ryzen 7 and i5>i7 if you want to save 20-30 pounds. Gaming wise they are the same.
    2. If you can, I'd go with 16GBx1 for Ram, that way you have more upgrade options in the future. Also, Low-Profile RAM saves you headache with installing cooling towers for your CPU. Liquid cooling like Corsair H60 makes that issue irrelevant, but I tend to buy low-profile RAM anyway, just to minimize obstruction.
    3. GPU will depend on your budget largely, but also on your screen resolution. If you're playing on 1080p, you'll want a Radeon 580 or GTX 1060, whichever is cheaper. If you want a larger resolution, I'd recommend going for a better GPU and prioritizing VRAM in that GPU card. Especially for Total War games and mods.
    4. If you want a nice display, get a Dell SE series. If you ever get more hardcore and want a "gaming" screen, I recommend 144hz BenQ or Asus screens.

    Some other notes would probably be regarding the case. I personally really like Fractal Design R4. It's a very "minimalistic" case. Ideal for a professional looking environment, though considering how messy my office is most of the time, that's probably a tad bit wasted on me. It's a bit more "premium" and doesn't have as many features, but it looks nice, performs solidly, and has a good build quality. Right now, Western Digital is probably the safest bet for affordable and reliable hard drives. Personally I use snag good Hitachi deals, but they're owned by WD and Toshiba now anyway... so... it's a pretty safe bet to stick to WD imo. If you get more into the PC game, you'll learn the nuances of each model and manufacturer. Some Seagate and Samsung models are very solid. PSU is one of the most critical components you'll ever buy. You'll probably keep it for your next build, and it's imperative that it's a good, reliable unit. Jonnyguru is generally a good place to go to for power supply reviews, and Corsair is the best brand when it comes to customer service.

    There's alternatives to everything but they all have caveats. I tend to recommend "proven" brands with a history of reliability over either cheaper or more powerful options. It all depends on your preferences.

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    Default Re: Buying a new desktop PC £800-900 - need help!

    I went with a Ryzen 7 1700 over a 5 2600 as it has better performance, and only costs 2 quid more. As for the builf Aex linked, half the parts don't have a price appliee, double the 800 and you might get it. T'is not a good combo.

    I'll take a look at Sukiyamas link when I get home, on the bus on my way to a part atm. Liquid cooling is very much not worth it at this price range.
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    Default Re: Buying a new desktop PC £800-900 - need help!

    Quote Originally Posted by Aexodus View Post
    Here’s an i7 build for £880 sterling, what do you think?

    https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/b/MP6scf#partlist

    also this build is a christmas gift, im trying to get a feel for what I should say I’m looking for or just know the full build
    Some money-saving tips:

    You don't need K series CPU, Z-chip motherboard and liquid cooling unless you want to overclock.

    I'd suggest a 512GB SSD at least. Much better to put games on SSD not HDD. Avoid M.2 which is a pain for system recovery, also not the fast PCI-E kind since they're only faster for communication (= recently cached data) not actual read/write speed. Plain SSD has highest value for money.

    Power output could be smaller. No point to get 750W when you use only 200. Also saves electricity because PSU works best at somewhere 80% or 90% of max output. Modular power isn't worth any penny people'd just end up with missing cables.


    BTW for logitech g602 you also need a super fast charger and 4 rechargeable batteries

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    Default Re: Buying a new desktop PC £800-900 - need help!

    Overclocking is a waste in general if you ask me. I prefer to focus on temperatures, noise levels, and physical footprint. I did prioritize performance over everything else when I was younger, but nowdays, I find other metrics much more important. I actually really like the aesthetics of Razer Blade and the new MSI GS65. They can pass off as professional looking machines without too much gamer bling.

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    Default Re: Buying a new desktop PC £800-900 - need help!

    @Aexodus

    Hey buddy,

    I was absent for the last few weeks due to RL issues and missed your post. If you're still in need of my advice or you have any questions about hardware etc feel free to shoot here or message me anytime

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    Default Re: Buying a new desktop PC £600-700 - need help!

    Do you have a good Internet connection? In this case you might look for Shadow client which gives you performance similar to a pc running a 400 euro worth 1070.

    If you look into the download Steam stats they already have a major slice of downloads in France and Netherlands.


    I've tried it for one month playing Shadow of Tomb Raider maxed out in 1080p


    No doubt your targeted games will run fine. Recommend a 50 Mbit or more bandwidth.

    If you consider your investment of 700 pounds and the monthly fee you will you can play a quite long time.


    Quote Originally Posted by Aexodus View Post
    I’m not looking to play massive games like battlefield and uncharted, more just stuff like Total War (pre-Shogun II) and CS. I could buff up my budget to 800-900 however if thats a very small budget
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    Default Re: Buying a new desktop PC £800-900 - need help!

    What's the status of this Aex, got any closer to purchasing day?
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    Aexodus's Avatar Persuasion>Coercion
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    Default Re: Buying a new desktop PC £800-900 - need help!

    Plans for this are on hold at the moment. I’ll definitely revisit the advice yous have given me at another time.
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    Default Re: Buying a new desktop PC £800-900 - need help!

    Alrighty! Let us know when you're planning on resuming the plans, and I'll make a new list more applicable to the date
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