• £700 budget gaming/photoshop PC
    11 replies, posted
Hey guys, looking to buy a new PC. I'm a digital artist and a gamer and I've got a £700ish budget - could prooobably go a hundred or so higher if it's really justified for some reason. My brother's just bought this PC for himself with more or less the same budget as me; just thought I'd check with you guys whether or not there's anything I can do to optimise it. Pretty much just checking that I'm not making some terrible mistake with this build, really! I'm also looking to get an SSD drive for photoshop and a few steam games but I imagine I'm better off buying that separately, if anyone has any recommendations on where I should get a hold of one?[URL="http://www.freshtechsolutions.co.uk/custom-built-computers/intel-core-i5-4670k-1tb-8gb-1866mhz-amd-7870-2gb-galaxy-computer-gaming-pc.html"] [/URL][URL]http://www.freshtechsolutions.co.uk/custom-built-computers/intel-core-i5-4670k-1tb-8gb-1866mhz-amd-7870-2gb-galaxy-computer-gaming-pc.html[/URL] Any thoughts on this build? Thanks guys. (I'll post my current specs in just 1 minute; posting off a different computer) [editline]1st September 2013[/editline] here's my old specs if any of it happens to be salvageable (I'm assuming all you need to know is here; suddenly I feel extremely incompetent :v:) [t]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/7346219/CloudShot/currentspecs.jpg[/t]
I'm going to assume that no news is good news and probably order it some time tomorrow.
Do you need an operating system, monitor, keyboard, and/or mouse? What kind of games are you going to play? Here is a build without a graphics card: [url]http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/1yVPo[/url] If you are going to play source games and Minecraft, simple games like that this is enough.
When you mean photoshop, how powerful are you thinking? Because pretty much any computer can run photoshop just fine.
[QUOTE=wilson23;42049251]Do you need an operating system, monitor, keyboard, and/or mouse? What kind of games are you going to play? Here is a build without a graphics card: [URL]http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/1yVPo[/URL] If you are going to play source games and Minecraft, simple games like that this is enough.[/QUOTE] Nah, I have all that stuff already. I have a mind to play more system intensive games; without knowing what'll be released in the next couple of years I guess the most intensive titles I can think of that i'd like to play are planetside 2 and NS2 - which at the moment run like total gash. As for photoshop, I need a more powerful machine because I work on a very large canvas with lots of layers, and after a while it slows down beyond use which is incredibly irritating during an 8 hour stint with it.
Then this isn't going to be great. You'll need some more RAM too if you're working on such a large canvas.
[QUOTE=Proffrink;42051750]Then this isn't going to be great. You'll need some more RAM too if you're working on such a large canvas.[/QUOTE] Would you recommend just getting another 8gb in addition to the build I posted, then?
2 8GB modules of DDR3 RAM at 1600MHz is the de facto standard for intense photoshopping. It's also commonly recommended to get the 4770k over the 4670k, for your purposes. All of these builds are without a case (Fractal Design R4 comes most recommended): If you can go a bit over, you can get this: [url]http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/1z4nP[/url] Non-overclocking version for a bit less, this one is within your budget with a good video card: [url]http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/1z4sr[/url] Both of those rely on the 650 ti boost, which is a big step down from the 7870, but still a fantastic video card. I wouldn't recommend dropping below that for a video card. Instead, if you need to save money, I would rely on integrated graphics for a while until you can afford a decent one. 4670k build: [url]http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/1z4wi[/url] 4670 build: [url]http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/1z4v8[/url] The 4670 builds would preform slower in photoshop, but you would be able to buy a much better video card. The non-overclocking build has a 7950 which you could also swap out for a GTX 760 for around the same performance results (which card is better varies per game). The overclocking build has a 7870 (but it's gigabyte's extremely overclocked 7870, so the performance is near that of the 7950/760/7870 XT). Both are extremely good cards which would max out most anything you can throw at them at high settings. I have the 7870 now, and I haven't dropped below 60 FPS in anything. I would recommend the 4770 build if you are doing that intensive photoshopping really often, but it's up to you. I would look up some benchmarks too, in order to see how much of a performance boost it really is.
Thanks for the informative reply! I'm thinking I could invest a little more and go for something like this? PCPartPicker part list: [url]http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/1z5x9[/url] Price breakdown by merchant: [url]http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/1z5x9/by_merchant/[/url] Benchmarks: [url]http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/1z5x9/benchmarks/[/url] CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£184.24 @ CCL Computers) CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£22.85 @ CCL Computers) Motherboard: MSI Z87-G41 PC Mate ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£77.77 @ Aria PC) Memory: Patriot Viper 3 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£82.84 @ Amazon UK) Storage: OCZ Vertex 2 100GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (£39.98 @ Novatech) Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£48.36 @ CCL Computers) Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7870 2GB Video Card (£172.09 @ Amazon UK) Case: Fractal Design Define R4 (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case (£77.70 @ Aria PC) Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply (£49.85 @ Aria PC) Total: £755.68 (Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.) (Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-09-02 17:08 BST+0100) Anything glaringly off about this? [editline]2nd September 2013[/editline] Haha wait, isn't this pretty much exactly what I posted in the OP but with +8gb ram and a SSD? Might actually be cheaper (or at least easier) to just get that and the ram/ssd separately.
"ATI Radeon 7870 2gb with HDMI" - could be the shittiest or the best 7870 (more likely shittiest, keep in mind Gigabyte's 7870 is a damn good 7870, not just any old 7870). "850 Watt Branded Power Supply" - could be an IED, could have crap efficiency, could fry all your parts, really don't trust anonymous PSUs named only by wattage. "Also Includes Free 60 Day Trial Norton Internet Security ( OEM )" - Do I need to say why this is terrible? "1tb Sata Hard Drive" - could be a 5400 RPM with an 8MB or less cache made by any manufacturer. "1 Year Collect and Return Warranty" - as opposed to individual warranties, some of which extend to five years. I'm also not sure that that case is any good at cooling. Buying a prebuilt/custom built is a bad idea. If you want to go with it anyway, go ahead, but don't be surprised when that PSU fries all your components, and it's after the warranty.
Hmm, sounds like I'd be much better off not going for the prebuilt, then. What about the parts I posted above?
[QUOTE=Robbobin;42055274]Hmm, sounds like I'd be much better off not going for the prebuilt, then. What about the parts I posted above?[/QUOTE] They all look very good to me. I'm not sure about the SSD, but it's a pretty good deal for 40 pounds.
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