Totally stupid when it comes to this. Upgrade time!

[Raldazzar]

So!

I've not had a new machine since MW2. I selfbuilt that, but it was my last foray into that stuff, and the tech since then has expanded far beyond my competancy. my current machine still runs things like planetside 2.. but at like.. 10 fps. so. convinced my wife investing in a new one was a great idea.

I have 1200 (GBP) thats my max, which I think should be more then enough to build a competant pc. my dilemma is, I'm thick! so I am appealing to you smart people to help! I dont even know what sites are good nowadays (Im a Brit) I usually use overclockers.. no idea if they are still good.

my 'requirements' are well, as high spec for as low price point as possible. I like to try and get longevity out of my machines, so im happy to pay a little extra now if itll pay off down the line. Storage is a secondary requirement, but it never hurts. if its there, I archive, if its not, i delete. its not a huge issue :P but more would be nice.

so, is anybody able to help? Ill say 1150 in order to keep 50 aside for Postage/packaging.

[Deleted]

1150gbp is more than enough to build a beast. I'm pretty sure our community computer experts will make the best of your budget.

[n0cturnal]

This would be a good build well within budget, you can spend more on a GPU but it will not give you a huge increase in performance.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£161.99 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£25.45 @ Scan.co.uk)
Motherboard: Asus P8Z77-V LX ATX LGA1155 Motherboard (£84.98 @ Aria PC)
Memory: Mushkin Blackline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£31.57 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£72.84 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Crucial M4 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (£78.96 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7950 3GB Video Card (£234.99 @ Dabs)
Case: Fractal Design Arc Midi Tower ATX Mid Tower Case (£68.57 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: SeaSonic G 550W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply (£79.41 @ Amazon UK)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer (£12.98 @ Scan.co.uk)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£59.94 @ Aria PC)
Total: £911.68
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-01-07 22:45 GMT+0000)

[Raldazzar]

This would be a good build well within budget, you can spend more on a GPU but it will not give you a huge increase in performance.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£161.99 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£25.45 @ Scan.co.uk)
Motherboard: Asus P8Z77-V LX ATX LGA1155 Motherboard (£84.98 @ Aria PC)
Memory: Mushkin Blackline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£31.57 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£72.84 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Crucial M4 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (£78.96 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7950 3GB Video Card (£234.99 @ Dabs)
Case: Fractal Design Arc Midi Tower ATX Mid Tower Case (£68.57 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: SeaSonic G 550W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply (£79.41 @ Amazon UK)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer (£12.98 @ Scan.co.uk)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£59.94 @ Aria PC)
Total: £911.68
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-01-07 22:45 GMT+0000)

good god that was fast :P

that looks awesome especially considering the price. I need to do some reading on SSD's, I have been initially put off them due to the limited number of times you can write to it? but that might be old outdated news at this point, I have absolutely no idea :P so the basic Idea would be put windows on the SSD? and everything else on the WD? or do games go on the SSD aswell?

that part picker site is very clever indeed! Thanks alot for the advice! I shall pick it up wednesday, If i think of anything in the meantime (likely stupid to yourselves im sure) ill post! Thanks very much for the help

[n0cturnal]

The most common use of a SSD is to put Windows, most of the programs you use(if not all) and a few games(1-3).
SSD have limited writes yes that is correct but any modern SSD will last 7+ years before you hit the write limit as an average home user.

[Raldazzar]

Aha, so my information was outdated, thought as much! I shall go for the SSD!

one note on the build provided, it lacks a soundcard, is that an issue? I was planning on picking up a lovely 5.1 headset Ive seen quite cheap, will that work in conjunction with the onboard sound or would I need a specific card for it?

[n0cturnal]

It will work fine with the onboard sound card, you don't really need a separate sound card unless you got some nice HiFi headphones in the $100+ category.

[Zulandia]

Aha, so my information was outdated, thought as much! I shall go for the SSD!

one note on the build provided, it lacks a soundcard, is that an issue? I was planning on picking up a lovely 5.1 headset Ive seen quite cheap, will that work in conjunction with the onboard sound or would I need a specific card for it?

Depends on which headset, but in most cases you're probably fine.

[DeltrusDisc]

This would be a good build well within budget, you can spend more on a GPU but it will not give you a huge increase in performance.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£161.99 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£25.45 @ Scan.co.uk)
Motherboard: Asus P8Z77-V LX ATX LGA1155 Motherboard (£84.98 @ Aria PC)
Memory: Mushkin Blackline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£31.57 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£72.84 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Crucial M4 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (£78.96 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7950 3GB Video Card (£234.99 @ Dabs)
Case: Fractal Design Arc Midi Tower ATX Mid Tower Case (£68.57 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: SeaSonic G 550W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply (£79.41 @ Amazon UK)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer (£12.98 @ Scan.co.uk)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£59.94 @ Aria PC)
Total: £911.68
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-01-07 22:45 GMT+0000)

There's a couple hundred pounds left. ;p

Up that to a 256GB SSD, 128~ range is just too small I've been noticing, especially with some folks' Steam libraries and how much they like to play of different games.