Hey gang,

I'm building a new PC this weekend. I'm pretty excited, but when it comes down to actual hardware, I'm kind of at a loss. I've gone to reddit's "buildmeapc" board, and I've come back with two builds so far.

This

and

This

Would you recommend I build either of these computers?

Basically, I have an upper limit of £800. Would you build something else?

I'd love to hear from you guys if you have any ideas

I would go with a better quad core processor than a six core processor. For gaming / general PC usage, you will probably benefit more from a higher rated quad core and may not truly utilize a six core processor.

The first one only has an SSD, while the second system has both an SSD and an HDD. It depends on how much storage you need, if you locally store pictures and music, etc., but I would generally recommend people have a HDD as well as a SSD. Especially with the 240 GB drive in computer #1. You have to figure that will store the OS, any other programs, and games. When you consider how games can easily take up to 30-60 GB (if not more), that space will go away real fast. (Alternatively with computer #2, you are primarily going to have your core applications and the OS on that SSD, since 120 GB is even less room to store files, games, etc.)

I don't really have a preference between the two systems, since one has something the other does not, but that's my two cents.

Was going to suggest that a 1060 and 8 gb ram is not enough these days but remembered the damn price inflation.

I like that i3 build better.

120GB SSD is silly. You'll want to jump to a larger one sooner rather than later, and migrating to a larger SSD that's going to boot can be a pain in the ass.

Processor wise, I think you'd be fine with that quad core i3 for right now. It's essentially same spec as an older i5.

I wouldn't go with the 1060 3GB model. The AMD 580 with 8 GB of ram competes with the 6GB 1060.

None of these builds include a Windows license. Tack on 80-100 quid pounds sterling to your price.

I would keep my expectations in check. This is not a computer that will do 4k/60/Ultra. Realistically, on modern titles, prepare to tweak settings to get 1080/60.

I tried: https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/8J69qk

Over budget by more than £50, sorry, but I tried to keep the price low whilst keeping the build robust and offering appealing upgrade options for if/when you can throw more money at it. Also doesn't come with a Win10 license.

Explanation of choices:

Going with last year's i5-7600K carved some money off (and it's still a beast), and allowed me to pick Tom's Hardware's recommended budget Z270 motherboard, which seems pretty good. The combination will last you years, and you get the option of overclocking to get another year or two out of it. The combination needs a separate heatsink, and the Hyper 212 EVO is a budget darling.

The dire RAM shortage makes 16GB unattainable for now so this build has 8GB (importantly 2x4GB -- notably both builds you linked have 1x8GB configs, which actually makes your memory run in a half-speed mode, which is bad), but the motherboard in this build has two spare DIMM slots allowing you to add another 2x4GB kit down the road to get to 16GB. Not having 16GB might mean having to shut down your browser when running high-end games at some point.

I'm omitting an SSD because I think you can live without one for a while and, whilst you can get a decent HDD with plenty of storage very cheaply (as with the Barracuda in the build), cheaping out on an SSD is likely to leave you with a sub-par drive and very little storage space to work with. (Remember that, e.g. DOOM is something like 70GB alone, Win10 needs something like 60GB, etc.) You should get by fine for a while with just a HDD, but a good SSD would be the first upgrade I'd go for.

You're not in the price range for a GTX 1070, which makes either an 8GB RX 580 or a 6GB GTX 1060 your best bet. Either card should do 1080p really well for a few years. I hedge towards the RX 580 because Freesync > G-Sync (open standard > proprietary extortionist standard, and also you're not likely to have the cash for a G-Sync monitor), but you might be happy to ignore this format war and stick with V-Sync anyway, and with the state of the video card market right now I think you may just end up jumping on whichever gets closest to the price/availability sweet spot when you buy.

I stole the 80+ Gold-rated power supply from one of the other builds, though I'd personally lash out for one of these, because EVGA make really classy PSUs and their warranties are unrivaled. Don't cheap out on the PSU, whatever else you do. The case is the cheapest compatible case listed on pcpartpicker, and I have no experience with it, but it is something you could upgrade later and it looks okay.

@peasforfees: 16GB in most games isnt going to be all that useful, and you can start with 8 and move to 16. I do agree about waiting for the SSD but would recommend finding somewhere to spend half that RAM money elsewhere.

I'd also jump on the higher end quzd core vs lower end hexacore CPU suggestion, games are still not always benefiting from qyad core and hexacore is probably a ways away. The CPU is generally second tier in terms of replacing/upgrading so getting one that's good for your purpose is important. You'll have it for a while. Thpugh the i3 8100 is a great value if you arent as concerned or plan on using this as a platform to launch into a heftier build over the next year or so. That'll get you on a socket that supports a high end 8th gen i5 or i7 if you want to upgrade when those prices drop for next generation CPUs.

It may even be worth downgrading the GPU to something more affordable if you think you are interested in a more substantial build growing out of this one and don't mind sacrificing 15 frames and some quality settings for a year just to be in the PC space.

Do you want to record games or stream? If so get the nVidia option, as this build will not be able to do anything like that rspecially well from the CPU, but ShadowPlay is great on any system. Otherwise get whichever is cheaper.

What games do you know you want to play well? That can make a difference as well. The Division is a RAM hog for example, and ArmA 3 is a CPU crippler.

I'm thinking about going with this build so far. I know it's a bit over budget, but if I'm going in on a good gaming PC, I might aswell just go for it.

Unless anyone else can give me a better build for my budget, I'll go with this. Ordering tomorrow, so if anyone has any advice, PLEASE shout!

@sombre: I've created a build here similar to the one you most recently listed. It comes it at 100 less. I'll tell you why I chose the parts I did.

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/6VZh6X

CPU(i5 8400) - The i5 8400 is a fantastic processor. It outperforms the i7 7700k in nearly all applications. Something unprecedented for a one generation gap in intel processors. Also, save yourself the money and stick with the stock cooler. You don't need an 212 Evo for a processor with no ability to overclock.

Motherboard - ASRock is a good brand and that's a great price for a Z370 board.

Memory - The 2666Mhz speed is what the Z370 chipset is rated for. It will be the fastest memory you can get without having to mess with overclocking the memory or mess with memory timings.

Storage - The Seagate 2TB Firecuda drive is a great drive for a system with no SSD. It's a hybrid drive, so you'll get SSD like performance in many scenarios.

GPU - Graphics cards are inflated in price right now due to coin mining. That RX580 in your build is priced way too high for it's performance. 250 for a 1060 is about as good a deal as you'll get right now without stepping up to a 1070.

Case - Went with the case you had already picked

PSU - A 500 watt 80+ power supply is more than enough for a midrange build. And EVGA is a reputable brand.

If you want to use that extra 100 pounds you budgeted for, you could step up to 16GB of memory or get a small 120GB SSD for your boot drive.

Or even save more money and go with the i3 8100, but I do believe that very soon we will enter an era where 4 core processor will be left behind. DX12 already shows gains for processors that have more than 4 cores and I think that trend will continue. But, going with an i3 8100 would free up more of your budget for maybe even a 1070, or 16GB or memory, or a 256GB SSD boot drive. It all depends on what you want to do with the computer. If it's just gaming, you might be better off with the i3, but if you want to stream games, you'll want to go with the i5 8400 and 16GB of memory.

Thanks, this looks way more reasonable. I know this is probably impossible to say, but what kind of percentage increase/decrease am I looking at building this over say, the other build I had looked at?

The problem with building a new PC is that there's so much information, it's hard to know what to look at!

@sombre: I like your original build with the i5 8400/1060 a lot. I still think that's a great build to go with if you want to. And as some have said it's silly to go with a 120gb boot drive, I don't think that's true at all and is a little silly of them to say. An SSD boot drive is one of the most noticeable performance upgrades you can do for a PC. Here is another build with a SSD/HDD combo.

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/BtGym8

As far as performance, the performance difference in games between an i5 8400 vs i3 8100 ranges from anywhere to 5 - 20 percent depending on the game. But, I think if DX12 gains from processors with more than 4 cores is any indication of where engines are going, it would be better to invest in a six core processor with more IPC upfront. I think that processor could last you a good 5 maybe even 7 years if you wanted it too.

For the 1060, as compared to the RX580 you were also looking at, the 1060 and 580 are very similar in performance. The 580 will perform better in some games, the 1060 in others. It just depends on the game. But mostly, they will get you around the same performance. But, spending anything over 280 pounds for either of those cards is way too much in my opinion as that's well over MSRP.

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

I'm about £30 over your budget but this system has a pretty strong midrange CPU while also providing you decent room to expand down the road if you chose to do so. Here's a cursory glance of the parts in the list and my reasoning why I chose them.

The second one with the i5.

It's hard to know which of these builds is the right one for me.

The last computer I built was the £300 Digital Foundry PC in 2012. I bought it to play Guild Wars 2.

I like the look of this one just above my post, because it's closer to my budget.

@sombre:The second build is going to have longer legs. The i5-8400 is great performance of the money, along with the 1060; AMD cards are still overpriced because of mining. If you can find a full size 1060 with dual cooling for cheaper I would get that instead of the mini (and hell, preferable a 6GB if you can).

I would change the PSU - go for the EVGA Supernova G2 (I think the newer G3 is also top tier). Long story short the corsair power supplies use some pretty cheap components which offer the most minimal protection. The extra few bucks here could save components or your rig even. 650 watts and you should be right in the efficiency sweet spot.

If you can swing it, get a larger SSD and go for either Crucial or Samsung. Both perform at the top end in terms of real world consumer use tests. Crucial is definitely bigger bang for your buck though (assuming you can't find the Samsung on sale). If you want to save money to provide more room for a better GPU, then I would just cut the SSD and go for a SSHD instead of the HDD (hybrid drive that has a small amount of NAND flash with mass storage in the form of traditional platters). You can live without an SSD (contrary to what people are saying), especially if you're mostly just going to be gaming. Buy a hybrid drive instead of both an hdd and ssd and you'll save a hundred bucks or so (this is exactly what I'm doing with an i5, 1070, and 16gb ram rig). Your games will run just the same, you'll just have some inconsequentially longer load times. Just make sure your Windows Updates happen at night and leave your PC on. That OS is not non-SSD friendly when running updates haha.

Your ram is fine. You could get 16 GB if needed, but 8 is workable, especially since you have 1 stick, leaving you room to throw in another stick later.

And lose the CPU cooler - the stock one that comes with the 8400 is perfectly fine (unless you're planning on doing some overclocking, something I've done once or twice and realized was almost a complete waste of time/power/money in my 20 years pc gaming.)

Summary/tldr (in order of importance):

- replace your psu with a 650 watt EVGA Supernova G2

- lose the CPU cooler, use the stock one

- replace the 3GB 1060 with a 6GB 1060, perhaps dual cooling

- lose the SSD; replace the HDD with a hybrid drive from either Seagate or WD

- throw in 16GB of ram instead of 8GB

With the savings from getting rid of the cooler and SSD you should have room for both a better PSU and GPU (the latter of which will actually make a difference in game). The RAM is a luxury, hence it's last spot on the list.

This is the build I'm going with:

My friend is a huge computer guy, so gave me a good future proofed PC. It's a little over budget, but he says the 16GB of Memory is future proofed, aswell as the 500GB SSD.

The graphics card is a little budget, but seeing as I'm only intending to play 1080p60FPS, should manage.

Fuck me, building a new computer is stressful!

This build i believe will give you the best bang for your buck the 6100 leaves you with very little in the ways of upgrade path and 8400 although very good the mobo's are still expensive.

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/n8hC2R

@sombre: Just keep in mind that going from a 1060 to a 1050 is a sizeable step down; your GPU is what's driving your games, so it's really the absolutely last place you want to skimp. But if you aren't insistent on playing your games maxed at 1080p (and expecting to hit 60 fps) then you'll be A-OK. However, if you want to play games at high-max settings at 1080 at a smooth 60, then you absolutely do need to go for the 1060 at a minimum.

I still highly recommend you replace the psu with a evga supernova g2 just give how much better it is for the minimal cost differential. That's the last you'll hear from me on it though haha.

Do you have any parts you can reuse? Hardrive etc. Neither of those builds has a copy of windows so thats another 100$ or so (unless you have a copy alreasy or are going linux or something).

I dont know much about i3's but i can say for sure an i5 is a great cpu for gaming. I still only have 8gb of ram myself and probably wont upgrade any time soon at these prices, and games have had no issue(i have a 1080 though). I wouldn't get a graphics card with less than 6gb (preferably 8gb). Make sure your power supply is at the very least bronze rated as it is the life blood of your system.

If you can save money on reusing parts then do it, i assume you have a monitor but if not dont forget thats an additional expense.

lol, it's the fucking worst. :P

Thoughts on your friend's build:

I think the 1050Ti is a mistake, unless you're buying it as a stopgap or something. A lot of AAA games I've played recently (Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, Rise of the Tomb Raider, Prey) run somewhere in the 60-90fps range at 1080p on my 1070 with all but a few little problematic settings maxed. I imagine you'll need to pick your settings more carefully to get 1080p60 on a 1060 or an RX 580, but it'll be doable, whereas you'll have to compromise a lot on a 1050Ti. Games are only going to get more resource-intensive as well, and a lot of big PC games launch poorly optimized.

I think you can find the money for a 1060 or an RX 580 by knocking the RAM down to 8GB. Yes 16GB is future-proof, but you know what else is future-proof? 8GB plus the two empty DIMM slots on your motherboard so you can add another 8GB or 16GB kit later down the road. There might not even be a DRAM shortage hiking memory prices through the roof when you go to buy that extra kit. (I bought a better 16GB kit than the one in your list for like, a third of the price, just over a year ago.) With that 500GB 850 EVO in your build you could even consider postponing the HDD to add money to the GPU fund.

I also concur with the person talking up the EVGA G2 or G3 PSU, though the PSU in your build is probably fine. You should certainly never skimp on a PSU -- you'll pay for it on your energy bill, you increase risk of failure, and the PSU is the component most likely to make it into your next build (and the build after that, even). I wouldn't go below an 80+ Gold rating, and you want a reputable vendor and a good warranty.

Less important thoughts:

I'm not going to talk you out of going Ryzen. Seems like AMD made a respectable generation of chips that forced Intel to wake up, and I have friends who speak highly of them, so I can't imagine the chip in your list being a bad choice. wrt my previous list, it looks like I underestimated the i3's and the non-K i5's, as well as just generally what a leap the new generation of CPUs are over the Kaby Lake ones. I also got the impression that prices for the new generation Intel chips are still unsettled and a lot of the compatible motherboards (notably the non-Z boards) are yet to debut, so it's hard to pick a winning horse. But Ryzen is a little more mature in that regard.

Motherboard shopping is a total nightmare, and is part of why I recommended the CPU in my previous list. I'd cross-check the feature list of the motherboard against other boards to make sure it has more-or-less every feature you could imagine yourself wanting in the future out of the board, since you're probably going to be stuck with it for a while and your technological needs/interests are likely to grow. Otherwise, you want a decent quality board, but at some point it feels like the vendors are trying to sell you all sorts of snake oil, because you see boards that cost a whole lot more and make nebulous cases for themselves that don't justify the extra money, and the reviews don't do enough to clarify things.

Can I just say a big thank you to everyone in this thread that's suggested advice.

A lot of thought went into building this PC, and my basic build went off some advice based from this thread.

Expect to see another thread in the PC board asking what games I've missed when I actually build it!