Dear PC Gaming Master Race,

Im looking to build a new computer for gaming, on a bit of a budget so not talking totally high end, but something that has room to upgrade over time, so i was thinking starting with an i3 or i5 and then maybe in a year or so i could get an i7.

I also want it to be pretty small so i can move it around, put it the lounge as a steam box when i get the occasional PC game i want to play on the big screen. 

So im thinking either mAtx or mItX motherboard and a small cube case, but one that can still hold a normal size graphics card, its been like 10 years since i built my last PC so very much out of the loop. 

So looking for suggestions on :

• mATX ITX Mobos
• processor
• graphics card
• amount of ram
• speed of ram
• smallest cases that can fit this stuff in

Tah!

First thing you need to tell us is how much your budget is

Well its not locked down yet so lets say £500, bearing in mind i dont want any optical drives and i have spare SATA Hard Drives that i could use for the time being. Might even be able to use my power supply if its still rated well enough :)

I personally would start with this mATX case - http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=345

And then load it up with a 1000W PSU, 2 GTX 680 in SLI, 3570k and ASUS Maximus V Gene mobo.

It would cost around $2000 dollars but hey, you only live once. :)

What about an OS and screen?

The issue with the i7 range is that they really aren't worth the price - the i5 2500k is still the best CPU around that won't bottlekneck any graphics card out at the moment (within reason. Let's ignore the 7990). 

• mATX ITX Mobos
• http://www.ebuyer.com/283735-zotac-z68itx-a-e-z68-socket-1155-onboard-graphics-cpu-required-8-channel-audio-z68itx-a-e
• processor
• http://www.ebuyer.com/251596-intel-core-i5-2500k-3-3ghz-socket-1155-6mb-cache-retail-boxed-processor-bx80623i52500k
• graphics card
• Depends on how hardcore you want to go. Case can take dual slot cards
• amount of ram
• Board can take up to 16gb of Ram over 2 slots. So for now stick with one stick of 8gb
• speed of ram
• 1600Mhz or greater. For RAM that's 1.5V you don't actually need the heatsink so don't worry about it
• smallest cases that can fit this stuff in
• http://www.ebuyer.com/392377-coolermaster-elite-120-mini-itx-case-rc-120a-kkn1

I personally went quite high end, but there are few things you might want to consider

Firstly, google the "digital foundry PC." They made it for £300 and offer up suggestions to make it better

Secondly, don't worry about an i7, the GPU is nearly always the bottleneck, I have a 670 and an i5-3570k. I have never had any need to overclock it to make up for the much better GPU

Cool thanks for the tips guys keep em coming and also i dont need to worry about a monitor in the short term, was hoping to get an OEM Windows 8 with the mobo if possible

Ah so these dual slot cards, just need 1 PCI slot but 2 mounting points inside the case, so they will work on an itx mobo?

Yep. 1 PCI-E slot but two mounting points at the back and obviously the card musn't collide with anything else on the board e.g. RAM but i've never seen a MOBOs have that issue