Trying to choose a gaming PC for around £1000

[Harry Curran]

Hey guys ive been having alot of trouble finding a gaming pc (not bothered whether compact or huge) for around my price point. I regularly game on a daily basis and like to play games such as LOL and Skyrim/FNV and would like to play them on the highest settings with no lag if possible as well as games such as Battlefield and Rome total war 2 on the highest settings with no lag. If my budget is to low i can go up to around £1200 but that is really the limit. Id like it to both look good as well as being able to handle basically everything I can throw at it including games like metro last light on as high a setting as possible(i know its a graphical monster so even medium/ high settings would be amazing) although looks are less of a priority than the gaming power as that will be where i focus most of my attention. Any info you guys could give me would be awesome and hugely appreciated.
Thanks all
* update just to clarify im looking for a desktop rig rather than a laptop atm, thanks guys

 

[plywrlw]

Hi, are you looking to build from scratch or do you want a prebuilt?

Will you require a monitor?

If building from scratch, do you have any parts that could be recycled from an old PC (i.e. the one you're using to game on a daily basis) like HDD and optical drive?

 

[Harry Curran]

Hi, are you looking to build from scratch or do you want a prebuilt?

Will you require a monitor?

If building from scratch, do you have any parts that could be recycled from an old PC (i.e. the one you're using to game on a daily basis) like HDD and optical drive?

Hey plywrlw and thanks for the speedy reply Im looking for the best one that i can get so im not really bothered whether its custom built or prebuilt. The only issue i have is that i have never built one before and dont feel confident building this pc myself so it would have to be built to spec and delivered to me complete. I probably will require a monitor but i have an old one that will tide me over for a little while so its not urgent that i have one but a suggestion for a good one would be nice and i don't have any parts that could be recycled either i used laptops before hand and they have all broken after a while so i have no spare pieces. Thanks for any advice

 

[plywrlw]

OK, thanks for the info. I'm off to bed but will definitely get back to you in the morning if your question isn't resolved by then!

 

[Maxwell4ME]

I highly recommend the MSI GS60 http/www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00J2PLTO0. It's about the best gaming laptop you can get for the price.

The GTX 860m is a pretty decent gaming GPU also. Really what you want to look at for a gaming notebook is the GPU and get the best GPU you can.

 

[plywrlw]

Hi Harry, sorry for the delay. These are some pretty good options for your budget

On DinoPC.com, choose the H97 chipset motherboard option https/www.dinopc.com/shop/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=1716

Customizations:

CPU: NEW! Intel Core i5 4460 £99.00
Operating System: Windows 8.1 (64-bit) £73.89
Motherboard: NEW! Gigabyte H97M-HD3 £25.70
Memory: 8GB Corsair 1600mhz Vengeance (2x4GB) £39.00
Hard Drive: NEW! Crucial 256GB MX100 SSD £45.10
Secondary Hard Drive: 1TB S-ATAIII 6.0Gb/s £38.29
Optical Drive: 22x DVD±RW DL S-ATA Included
Graphics card: NEW! NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 4GB £259.00
Sound card: Onboard 7.1 Audio Included
Case: Corsair Carbide 200R £34.50
PSU: 650W Corsair RM Fully Modular £79.30
Warranty: 3 Year SureCare Warranty Included

Additional Items:
Keyboards and Mice: Cooler Master Devastator Gaming Keyboard and Mouse £28.99

Product Subtotal: £912.70

The Corsair RM 650 isn't the greatest PSU but the 650W version is much better made than the RM's of higher wattage (which I would avoid)

Alternatively https/www.cyberpowersystem.co.uk/system/Infinity_Achilles_SE/

Case: Corsair Carbide 230T Mid-Tower Gaming Case (Black/Red Colour)
Extra Case Fan Upgrade: Default Case Fan
CPU: INTEL® Core™ i5-4590 Quad Core 3.30 GHz 6MB Cache LGA1150 + HD Grapics
Cooling Fan: INTEL Standard CPU Cooler
Coolant for Cyberpower Advance WaterCooling Kits: NONE
Motherboard: Gigabyte Z97-HD3 INTEL Z97 Chipset, ATX Mainboard w/ 4 RAM slots, 7.1 HD Audio, HDMI, GbLAN, USB 3.0, SATA-III, 1x Gen2 PCIe x16, 1x Gen2 PCIe x4, 2x PCIe x 1 & 2x PCI
Memory: 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3/1866mhz Dual Channel Memory (HyperX Fury White w/Heat Spreader)
Video Card: MSI Afterburner OC NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 4GB 16X PCIe 3.0 Video Card (Single Card)
Free Game Coupons: FREE Pick Your Path Coupon
Power Supply Upgrade: 750 Watts Power Supplies (Cooler Master 750 Watts V750 VSM Gaming Power Supply, 80+ Gold)
Hard Drive: 256 GB Crucial MX100 Series SATA III Gaming MLC Solid State Disk (Single Hard Drive)
Secondary Hard Drive: 1TB SATA-III 6.0Gb/s Cache 7200RPM Hard Drive (Single Hard Drive)
Optical Drive: 24X Double Layer Dual Format DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW DRIVE. (BLACK Colour)
Sound: HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO
Network: ONBOARD 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT -- As standard on all PCs
Keyboard: (Keyboard & Mouse Combo) Cooler Master Devastator Gaming Keyboard & Mouse
Operating System: Microsoft® Windows 8.1 (64-bit Edition)
Warranty Service: DESKTOP STANDARD WARRANTY: 3 Year Labour, 2 Year Parts, 1 Month Collect and Return

Comes to £828

Scan.co.uk 3XS's Systems also have a good reputation but the PC configuration is rather "involved"

Sorry it took so long by the way!

 

[Harry Curran]

Hi Harry, sorry for the delay. These are some pretty good options for your budget

On DinoPC.com, choose the H97 chipset motherboard option https/www.dinopc.com/shop/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=1716

Customizations:

CPU: NEW! Intel Core i5 4460 £99.00
Operating System: Windows 8.1 (64-bit) £73.89
Motherboard: NEW! Gigabyte H97M-HD3 £25.70
Memory: 8GB Corsair 1600mhz Vengeance (2x4GB) £39.00
Hard Drive: NEW! Crucial 256GB MX100 SSD £45.10
Secondary Hard Drive: 1TB S-ATAIII 6.0Gb/s £38.29
Optical Drive: 22x DVD±RW DL S-ATA Included
Graphics card: NEW! NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 4GB £259.00
Sound card: Onboard 7.1 Audio Included
Case: Corsair Carbide 200R £34.50
PSU: 650W Corsair RM Fully Modular £79.30
Warranty: 3 Year SureCare Warranty Included

Additional Items:
Keyboards and Mice: Cooler Master Devastator Gaming Keyboard and Mouse £28.99

Product Subtotal: £912.70

The Corsair RM 650 isn't the greatest PSU but the 650W version is much better made than the RM's of higher wattage (which I would avoid)

Alternatively https/www.cyberpowersystem.co.uk/system/Infinity_Achilles_SE/

Case: Corsair Carbide 230T Mid-Tower Gaming Case (Black/Red Colour)
Extra Case Fan Upgrade: Default Case Fan
CPU: INTEL® Core™ i5-4590 Quad Core 3.30 GHz 6MB Cache LGA1150 + HD Grapics
Cooling Fan: INTEL Standard CPU Cooler
Coolant for Cyberpower Advance WaterCooling Kits: NONE
Motherboard: Gigabyte Z97-HD3 INTEL Z97 Chipset, ATX Mainboard w/ 4 RAM slots, 7.1 HD Audio, HDMI, GbLAN, USB 3.0, SATA-III, 1x Gen2 PCIe x16, 1x Gen2 PCIe x4, 2x PCIe x 1 & 2x PCI
Memory: 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3/1866mhz Dual Channel Memory (HyperX Fury White w/Heat Spreader)
Video Card: MSI Afterburner OC NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 4GB 16X PCIe 3.0 Video Card (Single Card)
Free Game Coupons: FREE Pick Your Path Coupon
Power Supply Upgrade: 750 Watts Power Supplies (Cooler Master 750 Watts V750 VSM Gaming Power Supply, 80+ Gold)
Hard Drive: 256 GB Crucial MX100 Series SATA III Gaming MLC Solid State Disk (Single Hard Drive)
Secondary Hard Drive: 1TB SATA-III 6.0Gb/s Cache 7200RPM Hard Drive (Single Hard Drive)
Optical Drive: 24X Double Layer Dual Format DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW DRIVE. (BLACK Colour)
Sound: HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO
Network: ONBOARD 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT -- As standard on all PCs
Keyboard: (Keyboard & Mouse Combo) Cooler Master Devastator Gaming Keyboard & Mouse
Operating System: Microsoft® Windows 8.1 (64-bit Edition)
Warranty Service: DESKTOP STANDARD WARRANTY: 3 Year Labour, 2 Year Parts, 1 Month Collect and Return

Comes to £828

Scan.co.uk 3XS's Systems also have a good reputation but the PC configuration is rather "involved"

Sorry it took so long by the way!

Hey plywrlw thanks for all the help these are great i was just wondering if this is the max that this system could get on my budget or if anything more would be needed either now or in a few months and if so what sort of prices would i be looking at?

 

[plywrlw]

Hi Harry. Both those systems are strong and will play most if not all the newest games well. There are a few things you could do to bring the budget up to £1000. There's nowhere you can go with the graphics really as the GTX 970 is an awesome card and the GTX 980 is well above your budget unless you were going to build the PC yourself

- Change the i5 to an i7, almost all games right now will play fine on an i5 but I see more and more newer games looking for an i7 to play on ultra settings and this will probably continue because the games are coded for the new consoles and their processors have 8 threads

- If you're into listening to music on your PC or the audio is an important part of gaming for you, add a sound card. The Soundblaster Z, the Asus DGX and DSX and the Soundblaster X-Fi to name a few examples will all sound much better than motherboard sound

- Spend it on peripherals, no point building a dream PC and then plugging a £5 cheap keyboard and mouse into it. A decent gaming mouse is around £30+ and a gaming keyboard can be as much as £100

- Get a second monitor for browsing the web or watching iplayer etc. whilst gaming

- Buy a decent headset or speakers

These are just some suggestions of course, hope I helped!