Gaming Building a gaming PC

Igor Drefljak

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Right so, I've decided to make the plunge. It may be impulse, but I just fancy it right now and I wanna figure out a few things. I did ask on reddit, but as I am sure they get this question a lot, it just gets ignored.

Gonna sell my macbook pro, will clear around £8-900 on ebay, and may add an extra bit towards it if needed.

My goal is to get 4k 60fps if possible, but if not, gamers seem to prefer 1080p 60fps over 4k 30fps, correct?

So, whats a good card to aim for. With mining I see that cards are a priced higher, but whats a solid card.

I have a 65" 4k TV, and would like to use that, but is using a PC monitor far superior? The TV has a 22ms game mode.

Any advice on anything will be appreciated to be honest as I've no idea were to start.
I've decided on the i7 8770k, will look to get 16gb ram, a 256ssd + 2 or 3 TB hdd.
It's the graphics I'm mainly struggling on, as if possible, I'd love to hit 4k, hdr and 60fps
 

broccoli

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What kind of games? If FPS go for a 144hz setup. Obviously for best benefits you'd need over 144 fps as well so I always prefer 1080p on 144 rather than choppy 4k.

Check logical increments for builds.
 

Igor Drefljak

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What kind of games? If FPS go for a 144hz setup. Obviously for best benefits you'd need over 144 fps as well so I always prefer 1080p on 144 rather than choppy 4k.

Check logical increments for builds.
Forgot to mention games! Long term I want it to replace my Xbox One X, so i'll play anything from future fallouts to Call Of Duties.
Short term, it's mostly going to be single player games while I get used to mouse and keyboard, but once I get comfortable with it, I'll probably look at competitive shooters.

Also, looking at my TV, it seems to have a 120hz refresh rate. I assume that isn't bad compared to the usual 60hz that a lot of TVs have
 
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broccoli

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Forgot to mention games! Long term I want it to replace my Xbox One X, so i'll play anything from future fallouts to Call Of Duties.
Short term, it's mostly going to be single player games while I get used to mouse and keyboard, but once I get comfortable with it, I'll probably look at competitive shooters.
In any case I wouldn't look for anything below a gtx1080. Allows you to play 4k or go down to a more competitive res if you later play competitive FPS and need the 144fps for a 144hz screen.
 

Igor Drefljak

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In any case I wouldn't look for anything below a gtx1080. Allows you to play 4k or go down to a more competitive res if you later play competitive FPS and need the 144fps for a 144hz screen.
Ok, thanks. I did just slightly edit my post. My TV does 120Hz, I assume the extra 24hz really makes a difference? lol
 

DatIrishFella

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Cryptocurrency and lack of DDR 4 RAM is killing the market and GPU + RAM is through the roof.

Worst time to build a PC. I was looking to buy a 1070 but feck paying 600-700.

EDIT: I doubt your TV does true 120hz mode.
 

Pexbo

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Cryptocurrency and lack of DDR 4 RAM is killing the market and GPU + RAM is through the roof.

Worst time to build a PC. I was looking to buy a 1070 but feck paying 600-700.

EDIT: I doubt your TV does true 120hz mode.
Holy shit, you're not kidding. I built my rig in December and paid £380 for a 1070. Just looked and they're all £600 now. Mental.
 

Igor Drefljak

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hmmm. See, I don't mind buying everything second hand off ebay. As long as it works I'd be happy.
If I decide to go all out and buy a 144hz monitor though, I guess the need for 4k isn't going to be an issue really
 

VidaRed

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And new processors are right around the corner, so i'd wait if i were you.
 

matherto

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Can I use my 4k TV as a monitor and build a PC for use with it? Don't have space for a monitor anywhere but could put a PC next to the consoles and plug into the TV.
 

broccoli

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Tvs are bad idea for pc gaming because of the insane input lag. For consoles it's ok because we are generally further away and don't notice it that much.
 

DatIrishFella

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Can I use my 4k TV as a monitor and build a PC for use with it? Don't have space for a monitor anywhere but could put a PC next to the consoles and plug into the TV.
Its what i do. Buy a cheap wireless mouse and kb, use a controller for games. Its the best.
 

Stactix

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Looking through my PC build on Amazon, 2.5 years old.
The components still available have all gone up in price, Ram was 34quid, now 75..

I'd consider looking into a monitor over your TV but if you're sitting away from it, won't be as noticeable.
 

Pexbo

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Tvs are bad idea for pc gaming because of the insane input lag. For consoles it's ok because we are generally further away and don't notice it that much.
:lol:
 

Igor Drefljak

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Been watching video's all day long. I've decided if I am going to buy a monitor rather than use the 4k TV, a 1080ti seems an overkill.
Only other thing I want to look a little closer to is the processor. I'm leaning towards the i7-8700k, I just keep reading that for gaming i5s are as good for a cheaper price
Pretty much decided on:

i7-8700k
16gb corsair ram
Either a 1070ti or 1080 depending which I can get cheapest at the time
Noctua CPU fan - Shame it looks ugly
Asus Tuf Pro Gaming motherboard
Pure base 600 case

Will probably look at getting a 144hz monitor. Shame as I bought a really nice TV for the One X, but hey!
 

RMD83

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Been watching video's all day long. I've decided if I am going to buy a monitor rather than use the 4k TV, a 1080ti seems an overkill.
Only other thing I want to look a little closer to is the processor. I'm leaning towards the i7-8700k, I just keep reading that for gaming i5s are as good for a cheaper price
Pretty much decided on:

i7-8700k
16gb corsair ram
Either a 1070ti or 1080 depending which I can get cheapest at the time
Noctua CPU fan - Shame it looks ugly
Asus Tuf Pro Gaming motherboard
Pure base 600 case

Will probably look at getting a 144hz monitor. Shame as I bought a really nice TV for the One X, but hey!
It’s a slippery slope pal. My mate is an avid pc gamer who builds his own rigs. He gets so obsessed with tweaking the graphics and settings to see how good he can make it run that he hardly has any time to play anything. That said it looks amazing and puts the PS4/xbone to shame.
 

Marcelinho87

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I personally would go 1440p 120hz - Minimal downgrade from 4k and a massive upgrade in terms of FPS.

And if you are just getting into PC gaming get no less than a 1080, preferably the ti model as it just future proofs you that bit more.

You could be easily playing for the next 5/6 years with a ti and still be outputting better resolution/fps combination than what the PS5 and xbox 2 will achieve (Fight me).

Basically
1080ti
i7 8700k
32gb RAM
and a nice 32" 1440p 120hz monitor.

Noctua fans are ugly as sin but brilliant, just paint em.
 

17 Van der Gouw

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Been watching video's all day long. I've decided if I am going to buy a monitor rather than use the 4k TV, a 1080ti seems an overkill.
That depends on if you're planning on playing the games at high/ultra settings, and also the resolution of the monitor. If you're happy with 1920x1080 then a GTX 1070 will be sufficient.

If you're looking to get a 2560x1440p monitor then I'd consider a GTX 1080 or 1070ti.

Also, rather than 8700k, consider going with AMD's Ryzen 7 and save yourself ~ £100 for similar performance.

The main benefit of AMD's Ryzen being that they're keeping the AM4 socket platform for the next few years, therefore CPU upgrades in the future won't require a new motherboard.
 

broccoli

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Ryzen requires faster rams for its full benefits. Right now ram prices are absurd so i'd go for an intel 8700k.

Been watching video's all day long. I've decided if I am going to buy a monitor rather than use the 4k TV, a 1080ti seems an overkill.
Only other thing I want to look a little closer to is the processor. I'm leaning towards the i7-8700k, I just keep reading that for gaming i5s are as good for a cheaper price
Pretty much decided on:

i7-8700k
16gb corsair ram
Either a 1070ti or 1080 depending which I can get cheapest at the time
Noctua CPU fan - Shame it looks ugly
Asus Tuf Pro Gaming motherboard
Pure base 600 case

Will probably look at getting a 144hz monitor. Shame as I bought a really nice TV for the One X, but hey!
www.logicalincrements.com Get one of the recommended PSUs. It's one of the most underrated components by novice pc builders! You also don't need to go for the Noctua cooler there are many other valid alternatives currently.
 

Igor Drefljak

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@broccoli - Whats your opinion on overclocking?
Digitial foundry and Linus Tech tips both clocked it at 5ghz and said using one of the £100 liquid cooling fan it kept the CPU at a decent heat. Is that even worth looking into?
 

Igor Drefljak

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@Marcelinho87 - The above question could be aimed at you also :lol:
secondly, monitors. This could potentially be a 2k investment by the end of it :annoyed:

Would a 144hz monitor at 1080p not be ok for first time gaming? The 1440p monitors with higher hz are pretty pricey on their own :lol:
 

The Bloody-Nine

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@Marcelinho87 - The above question could be aimed at you also :lol:
secondly, monitors. This could potentially be a 2k investment by the end of it :annoyed:

Would a 144hz monitor at 1080p not be ok for first time gaming? The 1440p monitors with higher hz are pretty pricey on their own :lol:
I paid around £1500 for mine, and that was only for the PC. No keyboard, mouse or monitor.
 

Igor Drefljak

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I paid around £1500 for mine, and that was only for the PC. No keyboard, mouse or monitor.
Thing is, I don't even know if I'll like the whole KB/Mouse setup, so when I do buy, it could be a lottery on wether I like it.
I've just used scan.co.uk to build the exact pc I have decided upon and it's costing 1,700, with a 1070ti. When pricing it all up with ebay bought parts, it was coming in at 1,200. Second hand for sure, but a decent saving
 

The Bloody-Nine

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Have you tried PC Specialist? I priced the same spec PC I ordered from them at Freshtech Solutions (who I have used before) and it was a couple of hundred pounds more.
 

Igor Drefljak

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Have you tried PC Specialist? I priced the same spec PC I ordered from them at Freshtech Solutions (who I have used before) and it was a couple of hundred pounds more.
Ah thanks! To be honest, I am gonna look at overclockers and a few others also, but PC Specialist came in at £250 cheaper!
I also already have a Mouse and keyboard as I was gonna practice on my xbox first, but after a few goes, I kept going back to a controller. I feel that if I do it this way, then maybe I'll force myself to learn
 

The Bloody-Nine

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Cool. If you do decide to go with PC Specialist pay the extra £29 and get it within 5 working days. Otherwise you could be waiting 3 weeks. And no one likes waiting for exciting, shiny new tech.