Computing for myself

[Barkles]

well I'm going to admit it im a bit of a newb at PC's.... all my previous ones were off the shelf bar one that blew up :/

so, as im now spending more and more time on steam and PC Gaming I have decided its time to upgrade from my laptop.

its an opportune time... the current desktop my parents use has slowed to a literal halt... it only needs a de frag but im not gonna tell them that

so I have wangled £600 from my parents + about £100 of my own cash so about 700 if possible

so I ask you decent people of the internet, what should I make?

my needs are a computer that can run mid level games like Arma and Euro Truck Simulator at 60 fps (any big titles like AC IV and Watch_Dogs i'll buy on Xbox One)
any suggestions?
(btw i don't need monitors keyboards etc just the computer)

[Wood]

I would honestly recommend buying a pre built for your current needs. It will be half the price and will run more than what you want.

[Barkles]

Yes.. I found one I want however I need a decent sound card for work and my office only has wifi :/
So I'm gonna have to look around a bit
Would you recommend a AMD CPU? I heard they were cheaper...

[Tandy]

Yes.. I found one I want however I need a decent sound card for work and my office only has wifi :/
So I'm gonna have to look around a bit
Would you recommend a AMD CPU? I heard they were cheaper...

Go for intel CPU's they run cooler, have more advanced technologies and generally outperform AMD cpu's. Don't be tricked into thinking that some of those 8-core AMD cpu's are gonna be very good.Generally the differences between Intel and AMD cpu's are minimal, but in my opinion Intel is more reliable. But just go for an Intel CPU if you can afford it.[Make sure you can fit your processor into the motherboard]

[Barkles]

Yeah I'm hopefully going to go for a 3570k but If not an AMD 8 core will have do due to my low budget :/

[Freezak]

Yeah I'm hopefully going to go for a 3570k but If not an AMD 8 core will have do due to my low budget :/

While these 8 cores are powerful, they are pretty weak in games, and you can get a better i5 for the same price.

[Barkles]

Fair enough ill aim for a intel

[Tandy]

Yeah I'm hopefully going to go for a 3570k but If not an AMD 8 core will have do due to my low budget :/

Try to squeeze in an i5 4570, you don't really need a i5 4670/3570K version unless you are keen on overclocking [The K means you are able to overclock the processor]
besides, the i5 4570 is a 4th generation Haswell processor type, which means you would most likely get more performance than the 3570k (Unless you overclock the 3570k) Anyways, the i5 4570 is cheap as chips and cheaper than the i5 3570k!(For the performance you get)
I am buying it myself for my birthday soon!
If you get a i5 4570 and a GTX 650 ti, you will be able to run games such as BF4 or Planetside 2 with very good framerates!
Also make sure to get a decent motherboard, i also recommend getting 8gb 1333Mhz/1600Mhz ram, the Mhz doesn't make very much of a difference however.
These are all suggestions, and most importantly, my OPINION on what you should get! You might change some parts around and there is nothing wrong with that.
Good luck with your build!

[Barkles]

Yeah I'm hoping to future proof it a lot so I'm trying to get as much power as I can so hopefully a Gtx 760

[ilmon3y]

Case - Corsair Carbide - £75.50

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PSU - Xfx Proseries 850w - £90.50

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Couldn't find a better quality image

Motherboard (If you want AMD) - Gigabyte G1.Sniper A88X - £79.98

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Motherboard (If you want Intel) - Asrock Z77 Pro4 - £76.49

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The only major issue with this motherboard is how the ports aren't color coded, so you might get confused over the sketch of 'what-goes-where' but it's easy to remember

RAM - Corsair 8GB DDR3 (2 at 4GB) - £85.49

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GPU - GTX 760 2 GB VRAM - £209

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2 GB is good to have because almost every game uses up a whole gigabyte on textures

Hard Drive - Toshiba 1TB - £44.99

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Total = £661.96

This is my preference if you're going to exceed your full budget.

My setup is similar and I haven't been due an upgrade in about 5 years.

Regarding whether or not you want Intel/AMD, Intel is renown by the majority to be the go-to platform for gaming. However that doesn't mean AMD isn't able to achieve the same abilities. Personally, I haven't used any AMD products before, and installing fans onto the chip-set on an Intel motherboard is one of the worst pains I know. You need to have pinpoint accuracy, and even so, you're gonna struggle to get all four screws properly in place.

Intel would be more beneficial though, regardless.