£1500 Gaming PC (no graphics card needed)

C

Cbarker

Active member
Hi All

As per the title really.

I am looking for a £1500 build. I already have a Nvidia GTX 980 in my current build which I would want to move over and would replace within 12 months with something better. I mainly play strategy / RPGs but will go for he usual triple A titles as and when they come out. I am really toying with getting VR headset as well.

Want something to keep 3-4 years where I can continue to sub in a new graphics card as this is what I have done before. Hence probably overspeccing what I use it for now.

Few q.'s:

- Never used liquid cooling before so hoping it comes 'ready to go' and doesn't need any work on it?
- do I need to worry about space for graphics card? Have fitted it myself before in old build.
- am I on the wrong track entirely?!

Thoughts and ideas welcome!

1st Run:

PC Specialist

PCSPECIALIST.CO.UK QUOTATION

The specification below has been formatted so you can easily copy and paste this to our forums when discussing your specification. Once you've copied the specification, please click here to continue.


Case
NZXT PHANTOM 410 WHITE GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Six Core Processor i7-5930K (3.5GHz) 15MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® X99-A: ATX, HSW-E CPU, USB 3.0, SATA 6 GB/s
Memory (RAM)
32GB HyperX PREDATOR QUAD-DDR4 3000MHz X.M.P (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
NONE, I ALREADY HAVE A GRAPHICS CARD
1st Hard Disk
240GB KINGSTON V300 2.5" SSD, SATA 6 Gb (450MB/R, 450MB/W)
2nd Hard Disk
3TB WD BLACK 3.5" WD3003FZEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W VS SERIES™ VS-650 POWER SUPPLY
Processor Cooling
Corsair H80i GT Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler (£69)
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND (£9)
LED Lighting
60cm Blue LED Strip (£10) - To Compliment The Colours of Your Case
Sound Card
ONBOARD 8 CHANNEL (7.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
USB Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Operating System
Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 5 to 7 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £1,497.00 including VAT and delivery.

Unique URL to re-configure: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/quotes/intel-x99-pc/TD8aKezkOW/
 
Oussebon

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
May I suggest the following instead:

Case
NZXT PHANTOM 410 WHITE GAMING CASE
Overclocked CPU
Overclocked Intel® Core™i7-6700k Quad Core (4.00GHz @ upto MAX 4.60GHz)
Motherboard
ASUS® Z170-E: ATX, LG1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair Vengeance DDR4 3000 MHz X.M.P (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
INTEGRATED GRAPHICS ACCELERATOR (GPU)
1[SUP]st[/SUP] Hard Disk
250GB Samsung 850 2.5" EVO SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (upto 540MB/sR | 520MB/sW)
2[SUP]nd[/SUP] Hard Disk
3TB WD BLACK 3.5" WD3003FZEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1[SUP]st[/SUP] DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W RM SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET (£109)
Processor Cooling
Noctua NH-D15S Ultra Quiet Performance CPU Cooler (£69)
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND (£9)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
USB Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Operating System
Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 5 to 7 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £1,156.00 including VAT and delivery.

Unique URL to re-configure: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/quotes/intel-skylake-overclocked/BkM468SD5g/

i7 6700k's better for gaming, clock for clock, and also OCs to higher speeds.
V300 SSD's supposed to be poor, the Samsung Evo is excellent and only a little more
You don't need 32gb RAM at all for gaming, 16gb's fine
VS series is a budget quality PSU PSU. RMx is excellent and at 850W gives all the headroom you'll ever need. Hopefully.
Pre-OCed build to take some of the silicon lottery out of the chip
Mobo has USB 3.1
£300+ cheaper

Your GPU should fit fine.
I switched to the Noctua Cooler as it's a truly excellent air cooler and mean you don't need liquid in your case. And is a bit cheaper also.
 
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C

Cbarker

Active member
Thanks so much - what would you improve on your build if you had some more funds? More RAM? Happy to spend the 1500 so anything more can get would be appreciated!
 
Oussebon

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
A bigger 850 Evo I guess. A bigger PSU if I thought there was ever a chance I might run ultra-high end GPUs in SLI (e.g. 2 x 980 tis).

Aside from that, I'd probably set the money aside against my next GPU purchase.

16gb RAM is way more than enough for gaming, and will be for quite a long time I imagine. For gaming these days, 8gb is perfectly alright. The Noctua cooler will overhang the RAM slots making adding more in future physically more of a hassle, but unless you end up wanting to do video editing on any meaningful level I would imagine you're unlikely to find 16gb insufficient for a very long time.
 
L

Lez501

Gold Level Poster
As you have the funds available, may I offer this spec for you......(not much different to the one already suggested for you)

Case
NZXT PHANTOM 410 WHITE GAMING CASE

Overclocked CPU
Overclocked Intel® Core™i7-6700k Quad Core (4.00GHz @ upto MAX 4.60GHz)

Motherboard
ASUS® Z170-E: ATX, LG1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs

Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair Vengeance DDR4 3000 MHz X.M.P (2 x 8GB)

Graphics Card
INTEGRATED GRAPHICS ACCELERATOR (GPU)

1st Hard Disk
500GB WD BLACK 3.5" WD5003AZEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm) - I've added this to allow you to have windows use this disk for all your documents/downloads etc, takes the strain off your OS drive.

2nd Hard Disk
3TB WD BLACK 3.5" WD3003FZEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)

M.2 SSD Drive
512GB SAMSUNG SM951 M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 2150MB/R, 1550MB/W) - I see no point in using a slower SSD when these are available

1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
16x BLU-RAY WRITER DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW & SOFTWARE - For a couple of quid more, why not

Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET (£109) - Upgraded the PSU for more flexibility for future longevity.

Processor Cooling
Noctua NH-D15S Ultra Quiet Performance CPU Cooler (£69)

Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND (£9)

Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)

Wireless/Wired Networking
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)

USB Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS

Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)

Operating System
Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)

Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language

Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE

Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE

Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)

Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)

Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 5 to 7 working days

Cost - £1,401

URL = http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/quotes/intel-skylake-overclocked/0aBU_6OwwX/
 
Oussebon

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
*headscratch* I had added the RM850x but the configurator must have had a twitch as it seemed to think I'd added the RM850, which obviously isn't listed. Hence why it defaulted to CS660. Have corrected the link in my post above.

Not sure it's really worth the OP spending £250 extra on a 500gb HDD, a blu-ray drive, and an M2 SSD where they'll frankly see little real benefit for games. The blu ray drive itself it £53 more. They could just spend £160 extra and increase the SSD to a 1tb 850 Evo. Still, OP's call. :)
 
Last edited:
L

Lez501

Gold Level Poster
Oussebon said:
Not sure it's really worth the OP spending £250 extra on a 500gb HDD, a blu-ray drive, and an M2 SSD where they'll frankly see little real benefit for games. The blu ray drive itself it £53 more. They could just spend £160 extra and increase the SSD to a 1tb 850 Evo. Still, OP's call. :)
Click to expand...

The site must've been slow, when I added the Blu-Ray drive, the cost hardly seemed to jump - but at £50, I tend to agree.

With regards the M.2 drive, while I agree it won't make a game run better, or with more FPS - it will load quicker. I have used regular SSD's (Samsung 850 pro) and M.2 drives - and the M.2 wins hand's down. If you can afford it, and your system supports it, I would always highly recommend the M.2 drive.

As to the extra 500GB drive, yes, it is a "luxury" to have - however, as SSD's have a finite life, I like to take as much strain off them as possible.

We all see things differently, and that's why forums like this are a great help.
 
C

Cbarker

Active member
Thanks both - +rep to all.

Think the configuration is having some issues as that power unit keeps reverting when I click links but have updated.

- from the above i put together the below.
- the config tool said to install the OS on the M.2 drive - that correct thing to do?
- my thought was to keep the other one for docs / load individual games onto when I am binge playing one?
- I like the case for tart value but if there was a better one at similar price I'd go for that.

Am not fussed about blu Ray players - well sorted on that front!

Will be my fourth purchase from PCS - I'm considering whether to go on commission for friends and family ordering :)

PCSPECIALIST.CO.UK QUOTATION
Case
NZXT PHANTOM 410 WHITE GAMING CASE
Overclocked CPU
Overclocked Intel® Core™i7-6700k Quad Core (4.00GHz @ upto MAX 4.60GHz)
Motherboard
ASUS® Z170-E: ATX, LG1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair Vengeance DDR4 3000 MHz X.M.P (4 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
INTEGRATED GRAPHICS ACCELERATOR (GPU)
1st Hard Disk
250GB Samsung 850 2.5" EVO SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (upto 540MB/sR | 520MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk
3TB WD BLACK 3.5" WD3003FZEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
M.2 SSD Drive
512GB SAMSUNG SM951 M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 2150MB/R, 1550MB/W)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET (£109)
Processor Cooling
Noctua NH-D15S Ultra Quiet Performance CPU Cooler (£69)
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND (£9)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
USB Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Operating System
Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Delivery
SATURDAY DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (BEFORE 12 NOON) (£19)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 5 to 7 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £1,463.00 including VAT and delivery.

Unique URL to re-configure: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/quotes/intel-skylake-overclocked/qCTIXK0Skc/
 
C

Cbarker

Active member
Other than a measuring contest with other people's PCs .... :whistling:

Not really in all honesty other than always wanted because I don't know better!

I have read there isn't much point now, but I bought 8 when there was no need for more than 4. But kept long enough to allow 8 to now be useful. If it stopped me getting something else for it (better something) then I'd drop but for the increased price I'm not too worried.
 
S

SlimCini

KC and the Sunshine BANNED
You could buy a PC with a 980ti INCLUDED for your budget. Why waste a load of money on stuff you don't really need just because you have the money going? Why not spend half the amount and save £750 for a Pascal gpu on a few months tims? Or just spend £750 on a holiday?!
 
C

Cbarker

Active member
I could?

When I've specced I've not managed to get 980ti under 1500 without a drop in processor (limited knowledge) and no SSD? (I suppose I should have said that both I wanted - and 3tb hard drive would be nice as my existing 2tb is getting full with games/films which just keep coming out!)

Planning on getting a new graphics card in 12months Only bought the 980 six months(ish) ago.
 
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S

SlimCini

KC and the Sunshine BANNED
But I should point out... I WOULDN'T do that if I already a 980. I'd spend about £800 on a PC... Stick the 980 in it, buy a nas and a couple of wd reds for £500 and then buy a Pascal gpu in a few months time. Job done.

And then when you have a bit more, buy an i3/i5 cheapish plex server mini pc for about £500.
 
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