would never buy a ref but good too see prices coming down

Not trying to knock on people choices but how do people justify paying so much for processing power? Surely you can buy the top range processors and max out on RAM.
Or am I understanding PC modification/GPUs differently?
Genuinely curious as I'm currently collecting parts my first PC build

I see. So, If I want to run two or three monitors with my build, would it be wise to invest in a lower end GPU?
I don't really intend to play PC games, but would like to be able to if i change my mind (maybe flight simulator x occasionally).

Here's my parts collection so far https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/KRTQ9W (I've also bought a generic mechanical keyboard and wireless adapter which i couldn't find on PCPart picker)

Thanks for the reply

If you don't know the difference between a CPU and a GPU you're far from ready to build a computer or even pick your own parts. I'd do A LOT more research before you start investing money.

Building a PC all depends on what you want to use it for - interest browsing, photography, editing, gaming? Saying "I might want to play games, so I'll invest £200" could be a big gamble if you then never play games. Or saying "I might want to edit photos so I'll buy a £600 monitor" could also be a mistake.

I don't think you have a clear enough idea of what you expect from this to even start. You'd also be best explaining why you want 2-3 monitors and what you will be doing on them, as in many cases it can be pointless.

Looks like you chose a good system there. Hope you have a big case though as that cooler is massive, i had one and was really tight fit inside the case.

I think for multiple monitor setups you need a card which has multiple display connectors. I have a nvidia GTX 970 and I believe it has 3 display port connectors so can plug 3 monitors in.

I'm pretty sure with multiple monitors the resolution increases, which means in games you require more processing power.

Don't quote me but a HD monitor is 1920x1080, on 2 monitors it will be 1920x**** with an increase as the monitors increase. Never used multi monitor so can't help too much on that front.

If you know what games you plan on playing I would say check the system requirements to get an idea of what kind of card you may need.

Thanks for the reply. :smiley:
I know the difference between the two I just have never needed a GPU (or so I thought) as most CPUs come with an integrated GPU.

I write financial software for a living so I do more data processing than graphic (multi threading, etc) and have pretty solid build at work (three monitors, i7 and 32GB RAM) which works pretty well but gets a bit fidgety with monitor setup..

I didn't really think I needed a dedicated GPU but I reckoned, since I'm getting to choose my own build, and I might be playing Flight Simulator (which i haven't played in a long time), I should consider getting one at some point..

Thanks for the reply. Very helpful.
Yeah I'm getting a graphics card

If you already have an i7 computer can I ask why you're getting an i5? Your i7, even if old, is probably more powerful than a new i5. I had a i7 that was 4 years old and still outperformed a new i5.

As for a GPU, wait a month. Volta and Vega announcements may be made in May, could cause a lot of waves and price drops.

i7 is at my work computer. Doesn't belong to me. This build is a PC for home and I couldn't justify buying an i7.
Thanks for the heads up on the announcements. I'll wait and see what those reveal

I'd get an SSD, even a small one just for the OS would make the computer faster.

Make a list in your head of what games you want to play now and in the future (Possibly pre-orders you're interested in) and you should get an idea of what type of GPU you need. From what you've said so far I wouldn't spend much on one.

As for "i7 is too much", I got my i7 from ebay for £220 used. Your i5 is £200 new. Depends how much you value the "newness".

I'd keep an eye on Amazon Warehouses, whether the UK, FR, DE or IT. I built most of my PC on deals from Amazon Warehouse and they're all fine 2 years later.

Heat, nice price. I bought one from Nvidia official website which cost me ￡699. Really nice performance compares to my old GTX 980TI. If I run a game 30fps at 4k with 980ti, now I can get even more than 60fps. If you have a 4K monitor, get it for sure. If you have 2K monitor, GTX1080 will be enough for you. If you are playing with 1080P monitor (up to 60fps), GTX1060 would be great enough.

Hey,

Rate please :smiley:?

Wondering is there.... Any chance of ever playing VR(VIVE) on it to any decent degree? I know it can work with a GTX 970 but... ?bottleneck elsewhere

Thanks,

Item Number ~ Custom-DVDRW 24X DVD Writer x 1

Item Number ~ Custom-8gb-Single 8gb DDR3 1600mhz ( Single Stick ) x 1

Item Number ~ Custom-H81M-S2H Gigabyte H81M-S2H x 1

Item Number ~ Custom-4460-NOT-K Intel I5 4460 Haswell (GFX 3.20Ghz) ( NOT K ) x 1

Item Number ~ Custom-1tb-HDD 1tb Sata Hard Drive x 1

Item Number ~ Custom-GTX970-4gb Nvidia GTX 970 4gb x 1

Item Number ~ Custom-Core1000 Fractal Design Core 1000 Case + Front 120mm Fan x 1

Item Number ~ Custom-Corsair-CX600-600w-PSU Corsair CX600 600w Power Supply x 1

Also installed a 256GB SSD

TY!

970s are capable cards but outdated. Unless you are looking to buy a second hand one for sub 150, you would be better off buying a radeon 4/570, 4/580 (can find most of this around 200£) or a 1060 6gb (around 250ish).

For VR stuff the 970 is the absolute minimum, so realistically (considering how much a vr set costs) you'd want to stretch your budget to around 1070 level to get a better experience.

The rest of your specs are fine for a midrange gaming rig. 8gb of ram might be a bit on the small side.

I wouldn't recommend gaming on 2/3x monitors as you will get really wide but not tall field of view which can often be a dis-advantage. You won't need anywhere near that power for occasional gaming too. I would say probably rx480/gtx1060 would do you great for the setup you have and occasional gaming.

It's not really worth the extra ~£30 for the RX 580 over the RX 480, considering it's ~3-4% faster (and has a higher power draw). Indeed, you could even whack a 580 BIOS into a 480 (albeit with higher temps). But either way, it'll be worth picking up the 8GB versions.

But welcome to HUKD! You're in for a treat - graphics cards can generally be found much cheaper than MSRP in the UK. :smiley: You can get the 8GB RX 480 from £200 today, and it's recently been going for ~£180. 6GB 1060 cards typically start from ~£220, and there's a 6GB EVGA 1060 for £215 at Amazon at the moment.

As memelord mentions, the 970 is out of date, so a newer GPU would be recommended (8GB RX 480 or 6GB GTX 1060 for your price-range. Pay attention to the memory amount! In both cases, lower memory is also a slower card). Edit: actually, to get closer to typical 970 prices, I'll recommend this £172 ASUS Strix 8GB RX 470 instead - a bit faster than the 970: https://www.shop.bt.com/products/asus-amd-radeon-rx470-strix-oc-8gb-gddr5-pcie3-0-graphics-card-strix-rx470-o8g-gaming-CGR7.html

Your system memory is a single 8GB stick of DDR3-1600? It should cost the same to get 2 4GB sticks and run them in dual channel (they'll come as a single package of 2x4GB). 1600 is fine, but you may as well look at DDR3-1866 and 2133 prices. If the difference is £5 or less, you could get the faster memory, which will just give you a little more headroom for overclocking (specifically, tightening the latencies when paired with that choice of CPU).

Right now, I spy:

2x4GB DDR3-1600 for £46 https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00F902R5W/
2x4GB DDR3-1866 for £47 https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B010FUN1UK/
2x4GB DDR3-2133 for £47 https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00F902MN4/

So you may as well get the 2133, IMO.

That's a decent enough setup. If you can stretch to it, however, you could get a 6-core Ryzen 1600 (£20-30 more than your 4460 choice) with B350 motherboard (starting from about £30 more than your H81-M motherboard)... but then you'd need another £10-20 for a CPU cooler... and an extra £10 to get DDR4-2666... OK, yeah, that's probably more than an extra £80 already. It adds up so quickly! :man:

I wish we could go back to calling these graphics cards rather than GPUs.
What's the word for that? Is it pedantic?

whuttt, the 970 outdated, compared to the rx480?!! not even in SLI vs CF, LOL

Hey BetaRomeo,

Really appreciate the time and energy required for your post - thank you

I apologise for not clarifying earlier.. this is the system I have currently :smiley: So I don't know if it makes economical sense to upgrade to the £172 ASUS Strix 8GB RX 470, perhaps I could SLI with another 970?

I suppose I am seeing if I could optimise my current rig to play VR hoping to buy the vive 2 when it comes out :smile:

Ah, I see, no worries. :smiley:

I would stick with what you have unless you're already frustrated with your system's performance. By the time the Vive 2 releases, there will probably be better for cheaper!

Not frustrated.. it did fail horribly in the Steam VR test though :confused:

Cause i know the 970 is the minimum requirement I was wondering if the problem was my processor or motherboard :neutral_face:

I doubt you would need a cooler that big in that system to be honest... I noticed that you are missing a GPU from your build (and some RAM). These are 2 components that you can't really afford to cheap out on, depending on what you're doing with the PC.

I've read the thread and it seems you want to play some casual games so for you the best price vs performance you'll get is with an AMD card. You should probably be looking around the RX480 route. As for RAM you don't need DDR4 but don't cheap out, get some high frequency DDR3 RAM (Your board supports 2133 Mhz) and don't split the ram up, so instead of getting "4x4GB = 16GB" opt for the "2x8GB=16GB" side of things instead, most RAM Is only accessed on dual channel or even single channel, only the most expensive motherboards pull from all 4 sticks of RAM simultaneously, so the more power you have in one slot, the faster the machine will perform.

I would expect to be picking up your RX480 for between £150 and £180 and the RAM for between £60-80 depending on sales etc.

Good Luck.

EDIT: Don't forget the drives! I can't stress how much faster an SSD makes your system over a mechanical HDD.

Price increased to £648. Still okay, but expiring this deal.

Thanks for the reply.
On RAM, I was able to snag this deal yesterday before it expired: http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/adata-16gb-ddr4-2400mhz-led-73-50-amazon-co-uk-2680072
I bought two so i'm getting 32GB :smiley:
On the cooler, Again, I was looking for good deals and I thought 24 quid wasnt bad for a well reviewed cooler. I didn't know how big it was till the box came in and that thing is massive! so I've resolved to just getting a compatible box for the build.
I haven't bought a GPU yet but I was recently convinced that I need one (albeit a low end one) so I'm currently hunting for good deals.
Ah, and drives too. I'm waiting for some good SSD deals (ideally 480GB and above)
This should be fun! :smiley:

Thanks for the reply.
I'll be playing flight simulator so 3 monitors is ideal for it.
I'll also be doing to serious programming at home and one monitor won't just cut it. I have three monitors at work which I'm now used to :smiley:

Holy moly that RAM is huge, better make sure that it all fits in your case on a budget lol.
I think it's a little overkill but at least it's better to get more than less. Remember to use a 64bit Operating system otherwise it'll bottleneck at 3GB.

Did people get the code for dawn of war / ghost recon with this ?

I got a MSI 1080 ti gaming X 11g today. It came with ghost recon wildlands.
It cost £730 from Scan. Yes it's a lot of money but you get lots of card for that amount.
The card is absolutely tremendous. The 11g is regarded as being just about the best custom TI card available.i only play in 4K and games like Witcher 3 look unbelievably good. I use the HD reworked mod and it's unlikely a better looking game will come along for some time.
The free game is awful. I played the beta and didn't like it. My new card runs it at absolutely full settings without problem but the game is really hopeless.
I can recommend the 11g but only for 4K gaming. Anything less that that makes it a waste of money.