Best Gaming PC I can buy FOR £2500

[phil0sophy]

Hi guys bit of a challenge for you all, I have been out of the pc market for a while but I have recently struck a bit of luck and really want to get back into the scene, only problem is I do not know what is overkill and what is good enough so here is what I am looking for.

A gaming pc that will run the most demanding games on the market (crysis 3?) at 1080P res, FULLY maxed out at 80 - 120 fps whilst recording for a youtube channel.

I realise that it is a steep ask but I want to future proof this for at least the next few years and ensure I can run all games maxed out also if possible have it so the system is not water cooled (but I assume with the power this requires that is pretty much the standard now?)

Anyway the money I can spend is flexible from £1000 to £3000 so if anybody has any recommendations please let me know.

Many Thanks.

 

[vanthus]

Case
COOLERMASTER CM690 MKII ADVANCED CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-3570 (3.4GHz) 6MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® P8Z77-V LK: PCI-E 3.0 READY, SLI, CROSSFIREX
Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz (2 X 4GB)
Graphics Card
4GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 690 DUAL GPU - 3 x DVI-I, 1 x mDP
Free Item
FREE £100 IN-GAME VOUCHER with GTX 660 & UPWARDS GPUs!
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
120GB KINGSTON HYPERX 3K SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 555MB/sR | 510MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk
1TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD1002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply
CORSAIR 1050W PRO SERIES™ HX1050-80 PLUS® GOLD MODULAR (£159)
Processor Cooling
Super Quiet 22dBA Triple Copper Heatpipe Intel CPU Cooler (£19)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs
USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365
Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
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 8 to 10 working days
Quantity
1
Price: £1,787.00 including VAT and delivery.

Unique URL to re-configure: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/quotes/intel-ivy-bridge-pc/F374dqxDKt/

 

[Blackdog]

Case
COOLERMASTER CM690 MKII ADVANCED CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Processor i7-3770K (3.5GHz) 8MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® P8Z77-V LK: PCI-E 3.0 READY, SLI, CROSSFIREX
Memory (RAM)
16GB SAMSUNG DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz (4 X 4GB)
Graphics Card
2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 670 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready
Free Item
FREE £100 IN-GAME VOUCHER with GTX 660 & UPWARDS GPUs!
2nd Graphics Card
2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 670 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready
Free Item
FREE £100 IN-GAME VOUCHER with GTX 660 & UPWARDS GPUs!
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
120GB INTEL® 520 SERIES SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 550MB/sR | 520MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk
1TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD1002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W ENTHUSIAST SERIES™ TX750 V2-80 PLUS® BRONZE (£86)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H80i Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler (£69)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs
USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365
Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
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 8 to 10 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £1,638.00 including VAT and delivery.

Unique URL to re-configure: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/quotes/intel-ivy-bridge-pc/WugveIwKvp/

This should do as you ask, ive gone for an sli setup which is cheaper than the current flagship cards (gtx titan/690) and will still give you better framerates. Went for an unlocked processor if you are going to be recording and playing, as well as 16gb ram as this may be quite memory intensive. Also went for the h80i water cooler as its the only one ive seen reviewed, perhaps somebody else could advise you on the sweet spot for those.

Note you dont need an i7 to max crysis -an i5 would do it with this setup, however you said you were quite pc literate and this setup gives you a lto of flexibility going forward if you decide to embark upon video editing as opposed to just streaming.

 

[Blackdog]

My spec also gives you 200 quid worth of in game loot, so you can pretty much buy victory on Planetside 2

 

[phil0sophy]

Case
COOLERMASTER HAF 912 PLUS MID TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Processor i7-3770K (3.5GHz) 8MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® P8Z77-V LK: PCI-E 3.0 READY, SLI, CROSSFIREX
Memory (RAM)
16GB SAMSUNG DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz (4 X 4GB)
Graphics Card
2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 670 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready
Free Item
FREE £100 IN-GAME VOUCHER with GTX 660 & UPWARDS GPUs!
2nd Graphics Card
2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 670 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready
Free Item
FREE £100 IN-GAME VOUCHER with GTX 660 & UPWARDS GPUs!
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
120GB INTEL® 520 SERIES SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 550MB/sR | 520MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk
1TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD1002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W ENTHUSIAST SERIES™ TX750 V2-80 PLUS® BRONZE (£86)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H80i Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler (£69)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs
USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365
Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
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 8 to 10 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £1,638.00 including VAT and delivery.

Unique URL to re-configure: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/quotes/intel-ivy-bridge-pc/WugveIwKvp/

This should do as you ask, ive gone for an sli setup which is cheaper than the current flagship cards (gtx titan/690) and will still give you better framerates. Went for an unlocked processor if you are going to be recording and playing, as well as 16gb ram as this may be quite memory intensive. Also went for the h80i water cooler as its the only one ive seen reviewed, perhaps somebody else could advise you on the sweet spot for those.

Note you dont need an i7 to max crysis -an i5 would do it with this setup, however you said you were quite pc literate and this setup gives you a lto of flexibility going forward if you decide to embark upon video editing as opposed to just streaming.

It is actual video editing I am doing, not streaming, I have a dedicated youtube channel which I am hoping to use more often with the new setup, how long will an i5 be future proofed for?

Also thank you for the setup looking at it now.

 

[Blackdog]

I will say that one advantage of Vanthus spec is thht its a lot simpler, and runs one gpu, which gives you the option of (cringe) adding another 690 in the future. Depending on how intensive your video editing needs are i think the right pc is perhaps a balance of the two.

 

[phil0sophy]

My spec also gives you 200 quid worth of in game loot, so you can pretty much buy victory on Planetside 2

hahaha sounds good, love planetside 2 (also never mind I see you added the i7 which is want I wanted)

 

[phil0sophy]

I will say that one advantage of Vanthus spec is thht its a lot simpler, and runs one gpu, which gives you the option of (cringe) adding another 690 in the future. Depending on how intensive your video editing needs are i think the right pc is perhaps a balance of the two.

If I was to add two 690 dual gpu's to the setup you recommended would I have to change anything else?

 

[vanthus]

If I was to add two 690 dual gpu's to the setup you recommended would I have to change anything else?

No,the motherboard and PSU I selected will cater for "two" 690's.

 

[phil0sophy]

So what do you guys think of this spec, do I need to change anything in particular? In other words is anything overkill on there?

Case
COOLERMASTER HAF 912 PLUS MID TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Processor i7-3770K (3.5GHz) 8MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® P8Z77-V LK: PCI-E 3.0 READY, SLI, CROSSFIREX
Memory (RAM)
16GB SAMSUNG DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz (4 X 4GB)
Graphics Card
4GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 690 DUAL GPU - 3 x DVI-I, 1 x mDP
2nd Graphics Card
4GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 690 DUAL GPU - 3 x DVI-I, 1 x mDP
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
240GB INTEL® 520 SERIES SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 550MB/sR | 520MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk
1TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD1002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply
CORSAIR 1050W PRO SERIES™ HX1050-80 PLUS® GOLD MODULAR (£159)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H80i Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler (£69)
Extra Case Fans
2 x 12CM Black Case Fan (configured to extract from rear/roof) (£9)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
DUAL-BAND WIRELESS 802.11N 450Mbps PCI-E CARD (£35)
USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
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 8 to 10 working days
Miscellaneous
FREE £100 IN-GAME VOUCHER with GTX 660 & UPWARDS GPUs!
Quantity
1

Price: £2,974.00 including VAT and delivery.

http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/quotes/intel-ivy-bridge-pc/0ftXI4wnBD/

 

[vanthus]

For gaming it's almost all overkill,but if you want to go down that road I would go for a better case.

 

[Keedar]

In my opinion 690 is the best option for gpu Why you need two of them?

 

[Teaz]

Looks good, I would say a better cooling case as mentioned just for all the spec and especially for those two 690s. Personally though two 690s is a lot, I'd opt for a single titan just to keep things simple. Apart from that, specs are good

 

[phil0sophy]

Looks good, I would say a better cooling case as mentioned just for all the spec and especially for those two 690s. Personally though two 690s is a lot, I'd opt for a single titan just to keep things simple. Apart from that, specs are good

Does the 690 support hdmi out to a tv with audio? As I will primarily be playing on my tv, also can you even use sli via hdmi as both cards have a hdmi out on them?

 

[vanthus]

Does the 690 support hdmi out to a tv with audio? As I will primarily be playing on my tv, also can you even use sli via hdmi as both cards have a hdmi out on them?

The 690 doesn't have an HDMI port,but you could use a Mini DisplayPort to HDMI Adapter

 

[phil0sophy]

The 690 doesn't have an HDMI port,but you could use a Mini DisplayPort to HDMI Adapter

So would I see a big performance drop if I was running two 4gb 680's as oppossed to two 690's? Also if I am connecting one via HDMI do I just connect the primary?

Also just out of curiousity do you think its worth me just getting a hex core? Or will quad core still be sufficiant once these 8 core consoles start coming out (I am thinking how well will games spread over 8 cores perform when ported to a quad?)

Sorry lots of questions

 

[keynes]

So would I see a big performance drop if I was running two 4gb 680's as oppossed to two 690's? Also if I am connecting one via HDMI do I just connect the primary?

Also just out of curiousity do you think its worth me just getting a hex core? Or will quad core still be sufficiant once these 8 core consoles start coming out (I am thinking how well will games spread over 8 cores perform when ported to a quad?)

Sorry lots of questions

For gaming in 1 screen a single gtx 690 will be fine to max games at the highest settings. What 8 core consoles?

 

[phil0sophy]

For gaming in 1 screen a single gtx 690 will be fine to max games at the highest settings. What 8 core consoles?

PS4 is using 8 cores, I worry we will once again be screwed by poor ports because of them scaling across all cores, so would you in your opinion recommend SLI or just a single card? Also does the gtx 690 work as an sli or is it just considered a single card like the titan? I realise its dual gpu but why I mean is does it work in the same way as two seperate cards would?

Just read up a lot about sli and most games it seems to be a headache due to NVIDIA not updating profiles etc

 

[phil0sophy]

In my opinion 690 is the best option for gpu Why you need two of them?

Future proofing I guess, although the more sensible option is just to get the one and add another if needs be in the future.

I just want to basically max games out with aa and everything cranked up and get a solid 60fps whilst recording at 1080p

 

[keynes]

The GTX 690 are 2 x GTX 680 underclocked. I am running 2 x GTX 680 in SLI and for the games I play I have not yet experienced any issues. I am not sure whether you will benefit from the i7 if you are planning to play and record at the same time. Most games are gpu intensive so I wouldn't worry about future games as long as you choose a decent gpu.