Spec me a gaming PC... (Updated 02/08/2016)
Following on from @Chox1988's thread from 2012, as things have moved on a fair bit since it was last updated I've created updated specs for the same price points as he did due to them being commonly asked for. Namely, those are:£400 - Post 2
£500 - Post 3
£600 - Post 4
£750 - Post 5
£1000 - Post 6
£1500 (Two variants - Skylake/Haswell E) - Post 7
Similar to the original thread, a few things to note:
First and foremost, this is a guide of parts you can buy to build yourself a gaming PC. The builds are entirely feasible to buy and use but use them as, well, a guide, a basis and as pointers, do some research and ask away in this thread.The builds are based around Intel/Nvidia components, that doesn't mean they're all you should consider or buy. AMD make some good CPUs and GPUs for different price point.
I will recommend some changes alongside the specs, these are examples of variations that you may prefer, may be able to stretch to dependent on budget or that may give a personal touch to the system.
All builds exclude the following:Operating SystemKeyboard/MouseMonitor(s)Optical (DVD) drive
Any other peripheralsAll items are new and almost all of the prices are not sale prices (for the very few which are, alternatives are available for a similar cost or the normal price is not that much more) so this is more relevant than just the day or week I've created/updated it. You can save some money by looking out for deals and potentially from shopping around although it's worth watching out for shipping costs wiping out any savings.
All builds are aimed at gaming, for other uses these may be a good basis but those other uses may benefit from certain changes so it may be best to ask.
Stopping at a budget of £1500 is by no means because that's the most you can spend, it's just in the area of the highest budget commonly asked for.As a rule I've worked to in these specs, all builds will be within about 10% of the budget, excluding delivery.
For the ease of speccing the builds, the prices and screenshots are from OcUK but there are many great retailers around where you will be able to buy equally good components, get different deals (e.g. motherboard bundles) and some will even build the system for you for a charge.
Edit: Although it has been time consuming in this update (November 2015) I have also included builds from Scan. Not only do AVF members get free delivery here it shows some of the variance in price and part availability with another supplier. Scan are another retailer who offer motherboard bundles and will build a system to your spec should you want them to.Update 02/08/2016: Having just spent a good chunk of time again redoing all these specs from scratch on both sites I thought I'd point out a few things. In general, prices have gone up a good chunk! Brexit is largely to blame I imagine but things like CPUs have gone up a fairly large amount in a few months - the i5-6500 went from £160 to £185 for instance. There are some components which have dropped over the time as they're more readily available or as things have moved on helping balance it out in some places but I'm struggling to be able to recommend Haswell-E (or its more expensive replacement, Broadwell-E). Z170 and Skylake has a lot going for it.
The new Nvidia GPUs are mostly quite expensive but they fit in pretty well. The GTX1060 is a great card at its price point. It beats the 970 and 980 as well as AMD's similar offerings while being pretty affordable.
I'm struggling with a lack of time at the moment when I can I will check through these specs again to make sure there isn't anything I'd want to change. As mentioned above though, they're only a guide, use it to do your own research and post in here to get some help or get confirmation before you pull the trigger. £400
OcUK Build:
https://www.avforums.com/attachments/ocuk400-png.743336/
Scan Build:
https://www.avforums.com/attachments/scan400-png.743337/
Potential Changes:
Different case (personal opinion, there are many out there). I've tended to go for one from a known brand but a lower end and fairly minimalistic (in terms of styling) oneLarger hard disk £500
OcUK Build:
https://www.avforums.com/attachments/ocuk500-png.743338/
Scan Build:
https://www.avforums.com/attachments/scan500-png.743339/
Potential Changes:
Different case (personal opinion, there are many out there). I've tended to go for one from a known brand but a lower end and fairly minimalistic (in terms of styling) one
Larger hard diskATX motherboard and case £600
OcUK Build:
https://www.avforums.com/attachments/ocuk600-png.743340/
Scan Build:
https://www.avforums.com/attachments/scan600-png.743341/
Potential Changes:
Different case (personal opinion, there are many out there). I've tended to go for one from a known brand but a lower end and fairly minimalistic (in terms of styling) one
Larger hard disk £750
OcUK Build:
https://www.avforums.com/attachments/ocuk750-png.743343/
Scan Build:
https://www.avforums.com/attachments/scan750-png.743344/
Potential Changes:
Different case (personal opinion, there are many out there). I've tended to go for one from a known brand but a lower end and fairly minimalistic (in terms of styling) one
Larger hard disk £1000
OcUK Build:
https://www.avforums.com/attachments/ocuk1000-png.743345/
Scan Build:
https://www.avforums.com/attachments/scan1000-png.743346/
Potential Changes:
Different case (personal opinion, there are many out there). I've tended to go for one from a known brand but a lower end and fairly minimalistic (in terms of styling) one
Larger hard diskLarger SSDDifferent cooling componentsSwapping motherboard based on needs - e.g. a mATX board and mATX case £1500 - Skylake (Z170)
OcUK Build:
https://www.avforums.com/attachments/ocuk1500-skylake-png.743348/
Scan Build:
https://www.avforums.com/attachments/scan1500-png.743349/
Potential Changes:
Different case (personal opinion, there are many out there). I've tended to go for one from a known brand but a lower end and fairly minimalistic (in terms of styling) one
Larger (or another) hard diskLarger (or another) SSDDifferent cooling componentsSwapping motherboard based on needs/features - e.g. a mATX board and mATX caseAdd case fansBeefier power supply to allow for SLI in the future
£1500 - Haswell E (X99)
OcUK Build:
https://www.avforums.com/attachments/ocuk1500-haswelle-png.743347/
Scan Build:
https://www.avforums.com/attachments/scan1500-haswelle-png.743350/
Potential Changes:
Different case (personal opinion, there are many out there). I've tended to go for one from a known brand but a lower end and fairly minimalistic (in terms of styling) one
Larger (or another) hard diskLarger (or another) SSDDifferent cooling componentsSwapping motherboard based on needs/features - e.g. a mATX board and mATX caseAdd case fansBetter power supply to allow SLI in the future Great work Ash. Thanks for putting the time in for this. Should help a lot of people. Awesome templates, This will be a great "goto" thread when people ask for help. I would also note that an OEM CPU only comes with a 1 year warranty where as the Retail box comes with a 3 year warranty, generally there's a tenner difference between the two..