True, but he'll get perhaps another year or two out of the system if he goes for it. The 2500k is still more than capable today thanks to its OC ability. It's not something for now as there's no budget for an aftermarket cooling solution, but he'll be glad to have the option in a few years time.
Other Building a PC?
- Thread starter Earthquake
- Start date
completely agree ,just don't believe that many new to pc building over an age will get into OC ing
Give it a few years when he wants to swap his 960 out for a second gen Pascal GPU, and he'll be thanking me for telling him to pay the extra £30 for a better mobo & CPU
My 3770k is going to last forever!Aria do some decent overclocking bundles with good presets that last in a decent ventilated case. Though I've never really bothered with it, there's no real need when you're running glorified PS4 games
No offence, but any build in 2015 that doesn't involve an SSD is shite. Better off cutting the RAM down to 8gb and getting one.
if not ocing this would be the best for 700
http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/sm8Hyc
you can go with R9 390 Gpu if you like it outperforms the gtx970 , i am just an nvidia fan
http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/sm8Hyc
you can go with R9 390 Gpu if you like it outperforms the gtx970 , i am just an nvidia fan
Last edited:
And then getting no HDD for games? Or getting a cheap SSD just to afford a HDD along with it. For £90 you'd be looking, at best, at a Corsair (yuck) SSD and a 500GB/1T seagate HDD. Rather just get an SSHD & better components elsewhere for the system. An SSD is something that can be bought later IF he finds Windows boot times to be an annoyance.
We're starting to see games match & excede the 8GB recommendation now (SW Battlefront recommends 16GB [doesn't use that much (yet)] though). I hate talking about "future proofing" but 8GB isn't going to be good enough for long.
I'm guessing Windows 10 would boot in around 20 seconds from an SSHD from post?
Did you read what I said? I didn't say to bump down the other HD. I said to bump down the RAM. 8GB is more than futureproof and that Mobo is overkill too. Games just aren't progressing on PC these days and it'll stay that way for a few years at least because it's early in the current gen of consoles.
SSDs are a great investment, better than going from 8GB to 16GB, or buying a more expensive mobo.
What kind of SSD are you going to get for £40? Looking at £63 for the bare minimum I'd recommend.
I'd rather drop the GPU to a 960 than the RAM, CPU & motherboard if the SSD is something you want. The CPU/Motherboard is the core of the PC, and getting good quality overclockable components now may not seem like its worth the cost, but he'll appreciate it in the future.
I'd rather drop the GPU to a 960 than the RAM, CPU & motherboard if the SSD is something you want. The CPU/Motherboard is the core of the PC, and getting good quality overclockable components now may not seem like its worth the cost, but he'll appreciate it in the future.
no he won't. I've had the same CPU, mobo and RAM for almost 3 years, never had to overclock for any game. Just recently got a 970 to replace my old card and I can run everything on max. I suspect that'll be the case for another 2 or 3 years now too.
CPUs and RAM are pointless to upgrade these days because modern PC games don't push them and will not do so until the next generation of consoles is nearly here.
What CPU & RAM are you using?
People with 2500k's are still able to use their CPUs thanks to their OC potential. There will come a time where that extra £30 or so spent will give you months if not a year plus of life out of the core of the system.
You don't even have to overclock a 2500k. It works very well to this day for gaming purposes (I ran Witcher 3 smoothly and that with a GTX460 on 1920x1080!)
Just work out what the bottleneck will be. I would imagine that it's more likely to be the GPU than the CPU if gaming is your focus.
But with a decent overclock that CPU could get you another 5-10 fps/higher settings in games like Witcher 3, Battlefront & GTA5
There will come a time where that CPU is found just a tiny bit lacking, but the ability to overclock will rule out the immediate need to upgrade. Overclocking gives every component several months (at least) extra before they really do need to be upgraded.
2500k's don't need to be OC'd. Give it 8 gigs of RAM and a 970 and you can run any game on max.
You are correct. If you built a good gaming PC 2-3 years ago it's likely the only thing you need to upgrade is the PSU.
I know they don't need to be overclocked, but you can get better performance with an OC'd 2500k in 2015 than you can with a non OC'd 2500k, and the OC'd 2500k will last longer than the stock 2500k before needing to be replaced (as long as you don't overvolt the feck out of it). The difference is definitely worth paying.
It's really not, especially if you're on a budget and can't afford an SSD if you do it.
Perhaps the OP should just work the streets for a few nights and end up with both
Been 3 years since I switched to Samsung SSDs in Raid0, and there's no chance of me going back now.I don't really know much about overclocking, so I wasn't factoring it into my plans. I'm a bit wary of messing with stuff I don't understand. How simple is the whole process?
And I think I could push the boat out for an SSD or even a hybrid. I suppose I never specified exactly what I wanted haha.
I work in IT so Ive built a fair few in my time.
Most motherboards will have specifications for what hardware can be plugged in. If you want good gaming Im assuming you need good graphics, good cpu, lot of ram and an ssd drive.
Not sure what the best of the best is nowadays but just pick a good motherboard with a good cpu and the rest will work itself out.
First place to start is your budget. Look at the games recommended specs and then go from there.
Most motherboards will have specifications for what hardware can be plugged in. If you want good gaming Im assuming you need good graphics, good cpu, lot of ram and an ssd drive.
Not sure what the best of the best is nowadays but just pick a good motherboard with a good cpu and the rest will work itself out.
First place to start is your budget. Look at the games recommended specs and then go from there.
The overclocking process itself is simple, you just enter the BIOS and mess with the CPU speed (base clock speed, clock speed multiplier - though that is almost certainly locked -, and the system memory multiplier) there. Most CPUs even have preset options for overclocking there.
But be aware that this may require extra cooling (well it's not strictly necessary if you do moderate overclocking but will help to lengthen the hardware's lifespan). Also, for most users I don't think it's worth it. If you have a stable system that works well for you, no need to mess with it unless you really need that little extra speed.
Don't worry about it, in your budget you can get a decent i5 and it'll far outlast this generation. Besides you can easily clock graphics cards these days from the software they install. You can get pre-built cpu/motherboards, my latest one was a deal for an i7 overclocked and it turned out just an extra £50 than the parts seperately and is under warranty.
As for SSD, unless you plan on getting a massive one to install games onto, it's not a necessity. I myself haven't bothered, I pumped the extra money into a decent hdd and the extra system memory. If you look into optimising your computer for your needs, the windows boot time and all that isn't really an issue. SSD's are great and are the future, but really not worth the cost at the moment compared to the other components.
For games you really want to look at memory and graphics cards mostly anyway, as even a low i5 or a top i3 will easily compete with anything this gen throws at it coupled with a decent gpu set up.
http://choosemypc.net/uk/?budget=610&oc=false
What's your opinions of these components? Remember, it's going to be used primarily for Fallout 4 for at least the first 9 months. I'm not into FPS (apart from FO4, obviously), so the only other games that I'll be looking to play in the foreseeable future are RPGs and strategy games.
What's your opinions of these components? Remember, it's going to be used primarily for Fallout 4 for at least the first 9 months. I'm not into FPS (apart from FO4, obviously), so the only other games that I'll be looking to play in the foreseeable future are RPGs and strategy games.
Looks good! I'd get 2 x 4gb of RAM instead of 1 x 8gb, though. Should be a minimal price increase.
Also be prepared for it to be loud if you're using the stock cooler. Might be worth the extra 15-20 quid to get a Coolermaster or something.
That and spend the extra £10 to get a Superflower/Seasonic PSU in my opinion.
Oh, and make sure you buy Pillars of Eternity!
the difference in performance is close to 0 . better get 1x8 then one more if necessary
Not a huge difference no, still 10-15% which makes it worth it imo.
If it's for gaming you won't need 16GB for around 4-5 years.
For RPGs as he's interested in, you might be right (only CDPR seemingly push the graphical envelope), but the Battlefront beta is running a lot better on 16GB than 8GB in regards to framepacing issues.
more like 5% in best case scenario
'
Theoretically, dual-channel configurations double the memory bandwidth when compared to single-channel configurations. This should not be confused with double data rate (DDR) memory, which doubles the usage of DRAM bus by transferring data both on the rising and falling edges of the memory bus clock signals.
Tom's Hardware found little significant difference between single-channel and dual-channel configurations in synthetic and gaming benchmarks (using a "modern (2007)" system setup). In its tests, dual channel gave at best a 5% speed increase in memory-intensive tasks.[7] Another comparison by Laptop logic resulted in a similar conclusion for integrated graphics.[8] The test results published by Tom's Hardware had a discrete graphics comparison.'
I love reading through this thread and pretending to have any clue of what is actually talked about. The little knowledge I had 10 years ago has now completely gone. Love reading ppl discuss about it though for some strange reason.
Hahaha, I'm the same. I usually check hotukdeals to see if there's any good budget bundles and it tends to follow the same pattern:
"It's good, but I would take out this and replace it with that".
"What the hell do you need that for? This will last for a good few years as it is. He only wants to do XYZ with it."
"Well, if I was him I wouldn't buy this anyway. I'd build it myself. It'd be cheaper and it's not that hard to do."
"I agree. The OP's a feckin noob. So, what do you think about the new BLAH BLAH chipset? "
Looks decent enough, though I'd definitely recommend 16gb. Despite some saying 8 is enough, more and more games make use of over that, it's not like pc's are always limited like consoles. There's all sorts of tricks used to use up extra memory if it's there, so for the cost it's more important for gaming than a ssd or anything else bar the gpu.
But for right now, playing the new Fallout which is released next month, this setup will do the job?
I agree about the RAM. I'll buy the 8 and I'll upgrade in future if I need to.
I agree about the RAM. I'll buy the 8 and I'll upgrade in future if I need to.
It will do, yes. However I bet good money FO4 will run better with 16gb, especially if (like we all will have to just to make it work no doubt) you plan on using mods.
But if you stick to 8gb, buy 1 8gb stick not two 4gb (to keep slots free for future use) and make sure you keep note of the exact stick you buy so you can match it when you do upgrade.
Nice one, cheers.
Overclocking MIGHT get you an extra couple of years on that rig though. Its not the same thing but I know someone who was still playing the latest games up till recently with a Q6600 (a four core instead of a duo core Wolfsdale)
I personally couldn't justify spending the extra money on a K CPU and Z board when I could spend it on a GTX 970 instead of a 960, though.
*edit* Or what @Cina said.
No worries, let us know how you get on! Between us all I doubt there's many issues you might face that at least one of us haven't come across
One of my mates still uses a dual E6600
Decent memory and graphics card more than makes up for a decent cpu for the most part thanks largely to the game programming industry being terrible at multi-core.
If that stick goes faulty you're fecked until you buy more. If you split it you can just take one out if need be. RAM is so cheap that you don't need to leave one spare for future use. You can just upgrade both for peanuts if you ever decide to upgrade.
Yeap. Also, take in mind how many slots of RAM the mobo has. I chose a mobo with 4 slots instead of 2 because I knew I could only have enough budget for 8 gigs of RAM and I knew I wanted it in 4x2 rather than 8x1. This could then be upgraded theoretically to 4x4 = 16 gigs. Just don't think there'll ever be a time where we'd need 32gb of RAM, at least not for just gaming, in the next 4-5 years.
On another note, how cheap are DDR4 RAMs these days? They cost a bomb when I built my PC just under a year ago!