Current Events > I want to buy a gaming PC. I have no clue how to begin.

(+) Yeah! (+)

Where should I start looking?

What's your budget? Pre built or would you be building it yourself?

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https://www.bestbuy.com/site/6400453.p?skuId=6400453

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i'd recomment building your own.

pcpartpicker is a good site to start and i think logicalincrements (sp?) is the other

i learned a lot about how they work from building my own, years ago.

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You should see a therapist first.

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Only advice I have is don't get a cheap power supply

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Its called a playstation 5. Will cost you $400 and you can play games with the same graphics as PC ultra settings. And you can use the system for 10 years playing said games without needing to upgrade

casio_guy posted...

Only advice I have is don't get a cheap power supply

this. i have a 10 year old 750w that is still going strong. worth the cost.

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My advice: Don't even try it (for now). I've been trying to build a new PC for a while now but there are shortages on a lot of stuff due to the virus. Power supplies are especially hard to find right now, and certain motherboards are damn near impossible too.

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If you want to learn how to do it, there are a number of resources out there. I recommend going to YouTube and looking up people like JayzTwoCents, BitWit, and Paul's Hardware. They have relatively efficient guides on how to build PCS and how to choose what parts work best for the type of build you want.

If this seems daunting, and you don't want to go through with it, look up an SI. NZXT is a fairly reputable PC chassis manufacturer, that also does pre-built units.

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MacadamianNut3 posted...

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/6400453.p?skuId=6400453

Damn, that's actually a pretty good deal

CPU is about $300
GPU about $380
RAM about $75
1TB SSD about $150

That's like $900 already without factoring in the motherboard, case, mouse, keyboard, power supply...

...and it's sold out. Motherfuckers.

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Im assuming youre picking parts for a desktop, even if youre not building it yourself.

After deciding on your budget - a decent gaming PC will run you about $800 without factoring in peripherals like keyboard and mouse, at least when I last built one - heres a list of parts that you need:

• CPU / processor: the brain of your computer. All of the calculations happen here. Youll have to choose between Intel and AMD, the two leading brands. Ive only used Intel as AMD only recently became relevant again, but I dont think theres much of a difference in quality. If youre getting a separate video card, which is highly recommended for a gaming PC, then you dont need a CPU with integrated graphics, although you shouldnt pair a powerful video card with a shitty CPU as this will prevent you from getting the best performance (bottlenecking).
• Motherboard: the spinal cord. Pretty much everything plugs into the motherboard, directly or indirectly. You need to make sure that the socket type matches your CPU; AMD and Intel use different sockets, for example, and some high-end CPUs need more space. The socket type is called something like LGA 1155 (in the Intel case). You also need to choose a chipset, which is mainly determined by your budget. Just dont get a motherboard thats too old. Also make sure that its size is compatible with your case. Sizes are called things like ITX and mini-ATX. Finally, make sure that it has space for your video card and any other cards, such as WiFi, that you want to add. These require slots called PCIe slots; for longevity you should look for at least 2 slots.
• GPU / Video card: essential for gaming. You need to choose between Nvidia and AMD; Ive used both in the past and theyre both fine for what they do, but Nvidia seems to update their drivers more often. This tends to be a rather bulky part of a PC build, so make sure your case is long enough for the card that you pick, and again, dont bottleneck yourself by pairing a strong video card with a cheap CPU, or vice versa.
• Memory / RAM: the short-term memory of your computer. Note the difference between storage e.g. hard drives. Memory is cheap enough that you should go for 16 GB of DDR4 (speed) memory at minimum. If you get a third party CPU cooler, then check that the memory sticks arent so tall that they block the cooler.
• Power supply / PSU: supplies electricity to the whole machine. Sometimes overlooked, but a bad power supply can ruin some or all of your other parts in certain scenarios. So go with a trusted brand and check reviews diligently. You can skimp on certain parts in this list, but the power supply is one that you should spend good money on. Otherwise, make sure you have extra wattage; there are online calculators that will estimate how much power your other parts will need, but to be safe you should exceed that amount of watts as your budget allows.
• Storage: where you save your files such as the operating system, games, and documents. I highly recommend a solid state drive (SSD), which is a very fast type of digital storage with no moving parts. This is in contrast with a traditional hard disk drive (HDD), which uses magnetic spinning plates. SSDs are very fast but expensive, while HDDs are noticeably slower but dirt cheap. Many people, including myself, have a smaller SSD with the operating system and some of your most used games and programs, and an HDD as a dumping ground and for long term storage of files. Either way, Id go for 1 TB of storage overall at a minimum.
• Case: the place where your parts will live. The main deciding factor is the size - mid tower cases are usually 1.5 feet tall, while full towers are 2 feet or taller. I wouldnt recommend going smaller than a mid tower, as your parts need room to breathe and expel the heat that they generate while in use. I highly recommend Corsair cases, as they usually have clean designs and come in a wide range of price points. Features to look for are extra space to keep cables tidy, lots of dust filters, and space for more fans if you want to add more in future to keep temperatures low.

That should cover the essentials. Now some optional stuff:

• CPU cooler: most CPUs come with a cooler, which is fine for most uses. If you have a decent budget and have a lot of high-performance parts, however, you can buy a more powerful cooler. Some popular ones are the Cooler Master Hyper 212 line, the Corsair Hydro series, and anything by Noctua. The Corsair Hydros are examples of liquid coolers; these generally take up more space but are very efficient at cooling your CPU. Liquid coolers are a good option if youre planning to overclock (push your CPUs speed past the factory settings - not really recommended for a new builder), but otherwise probably overkill. Id nevertheless go for a decent third party cooler, as itll still be an upgrade over the stock cooler.
• Extra fans: pretty self explanatory - you can load your case full of fans if you wish. Again, Noctua is the king of fans and coolers, especially if you care about the amount of noise that they produce.
• WiFi: if you cant / dont want to set up near your router, then youll need a way to connect wirelessly. You can either get a simple USB WiFi adapter, or a PCI one, which plugs into your motherboard.
• Sound cards and other extension cards: if you have extra slots on your motherboard, then you can add things like a sound card for higher sound quality, a capture card for recording yourself playing games, etc. I personally think sound cards are a waste unless youre willing to spring for a high-end one, and even then youll need even more in your budget for equally good speakers / headphones.
• Monitor: technically a peripheral, but the only one that affects the look of your games. Id go for a 1080p resolution monitor at minimum. The refresh rate of the monitor, e.g. 60 Hz or 120 Hz, is how many frames per second that you can expect on your games while avoiding screen tearing. Theres an extremely noticeable difference between 30 and 60 FPS in games, especially if youve played a lot of console games, so get a monitor with at least a 60 Hz refresh rate. But note that you can use a TV as a monitor - it might just be harder to read text depending on how far away you sit.
• Peripherals: keyboard, mouse, speakers... anything that you use to interact with the computer. Most of this is preference, and if youre tight on funds you can grab any old mouse and keyboard and still be fine. There are many popular brands, but the ones Ive used recently are Logitech and Razer. If you play a lot of MMOs, for example, then the Logitech G600 is hard to beat. As far as keyboards go, look for mechanical switches as they provide nice tactile feedback when you hit them, which is nice in games where key presses are important.

Finally, to check compatibility, use pcpartpicker.com, and YouTube has plenty of build guides.

Wow this was way longer than expected. Hope that helps!

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ive been looking at the NZXT prebuilds, their streaming model kinda seems like a pretty good deal

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Tired-Insomniac posted...

...and it's sold out. Motherfuckers.

Lol damn

This fucking coronavirus

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SSJCAT posted...

ive been looking at the NZXT prebuilds, their streaming model kinda seems like a pretty good deal

https://www.letsbld.com/streaming-pc

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MacadamianNut3 posted...

Lol damn

This fucking coronavirus

I was totally about to pull the trigger and buy it too lmao

Gonna bookmark it and hope it goes back in stock at that price


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GATTJT posted...

What's your budget? Pre built or would you be building it yourself?

open to build it myself though Id need help.

Budget? $1500 to $2000.

Sorry for the late response guys, was hanging out with family.

just be like me and save up then buy a beast alienware gaming pc

its really easy and theres a ton of guides and best for the money build guides out there updated monthly. just figure out your budget and dont forget about mouse/keyboard and your monitor situation.

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What case you buy is going to determine how difficult building your PC is going to be.


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