A Gaming PC and all that brings with it.

[HalfCaptainRob]

Alright gents. I've been through the 360 and a PS3, and well. Yeah. The last generation of consoles was awesome. The only time I ever had problems with them at any time was playing the crash-tastic Morrowind (which is still the greatest game. Evar. /discussion)

But the 360 and PS3 are trash. I don't understand why they would make a game for either systems that has crippling slowdowns and ungodly loading times (I'm looking at you, Ninja Gaiden 2 and Borderlands). In a sense, they've more or less turned into glorified computers that have nothing awesome the computers can't already do better.

So. I want to purchase a gaming pc. But, since I'm a console-tard and have zero interest in computers other than gaming on one, I know NOTHING about computer specs, what to look for, and when something is a rip-off.

Now. I don't want a top-of-line computer that could run a simulation of everything on the highest settings. I want something that runs games smoothly, without a shithole framerate, on at the very least, medium-high graphics. Not freakout games like Crysis, though.

Now. Basically, I want something that could play, say, Oblivion or Fallout 3 on medium-high without stuttering. But I'm also a cheap prick, and the idea of spending more than a thousand dollars on a gaming platform is... well. Yeah. I'd rather. Not.

So my request is really just what I should look for in a computer. And it will be my gaming platform. I'll only be using the internet for getting mods and online play, and all of my surfing and nefarious browsing will be done on my laptop.

Halp?

 

[Jedamethis]

Wow. I was just about to make a thread like this, but I'd like a gaming laptop.
Any help?

And sorry 1/2 Cpt. Rob, I can't help you

 

[ghalkhsdkssakgh]

Wow. I was just about to make a thread like this, but I'd like a gaming laptop.
Any help?

For laptops, I use a Dell XPS m1530. It cost about £700 when I first got it, but you'd probably be able to get it for cheaper. I've been able to play Crysis on it, so it's pretty sturdy. I'm hoping it'll last me another year and a half, until I get a proper rig for uni.

 

[ghalkhsdkssakgh]

I built a gaming PC for 700 euros that can run Crysis at full settings with only a tiny bit of lag. The only thing I splashed out on was the monitor, so that kicked it up to 950 euros. A guide came with PC Gamer UK on how to build your own and it was incredibly helpful. If you follow it to the letter, you can build a gaming PC in about 3 hours. I think it's still on their website.

That's what I plan to use. PC Gamer are pretty helpful for Novice PC builders.

 

[countrysteaksauce]

Wow. I was just about to make a thread like this, but I'd like a gaming laptop.
Any help?

And sorry 1/2 Cpt. Rob, I can't help you

Let me share my experience with you.
I got a gaming laptop right before I went off to university. I can't say I would recommend it. They are powerful and all, but they are bulky (since you're going to want the 17 inch monitor for gaming) and very prone to overheating without a cooling pad, especially if you're going to play high-spec games, which you will. Trust me, buy yourself a regular laptop with a long battery life and then build yourself a gaming desktop for all your powerful computing needs.
If you do end up getting the gaming laptop, then I have two pieces of advice:
1. Buy a cooling pad, they are about $20
2. Make sure you dust the thing, dust buildup will make it overheat like crazy. Even better, take it apart and then dust it, though I know you run the risk of messing it up.

Now, OT:
OP, you can build yourself a gaming desktop with powerful specs without spending over a grand.

 

[TheHitcher]

You're gonna wanna build your own PC mate. But somethings you wanna think about are:

-what type of games do you play?
-what are your personal requirements for running games? e.g. expected FPS? Graphics on high?
-is there anything you can save money on? e.g. amazing graphic card, but less HDD space.

I could think of more, but these are just some of the things you should be thinking about.

 

[Kaboose the Moose]

There is a really good thread somewhere here on the site about building a custom gaming computer. Not that I am suggesting that you should build one (you are free do to as you please and as your budget dictates) but in that thread there was plenty of discussion about the best parts you would want to have in your rig. It just seems that that would be an ideal thread for you but I can't for the life of me find it. Perhaps someone who knows the link i am referring to can share it here, otherwise hop onto the IRC channel and ask around (if you want an answer fast). Or else just give it awhile someone might give you the answers you seek.

 

[HalfCaptainRob]

You're gonna wanna build your own PC mate. But somethings you wanna think about are:

-what type of games do you play?
-what are your personal requirements for running games? e.g. expected FPS? Graphics on high?
-is there anything you can save money on? e.g. amazing graphic card, but less HDD space.

I could think of more, but these are just some of the things you should be thinking about.

After thinking, mostly fps games.

As in. Borderlands, Fallout 3, Morrowind. As well, the mods that are Killing Floor, the realistic halflife mod (forget what it is called), e.t.c. e.t.c.

And a few rts games. But yer.

As far as fps/graphics go. I really don't care much about graphics, and I'd gladly sacrifice them for a high fps that doesn't stutter. That being said, my total experience with 'high' fps is WoW on my laptop, which rarely broke twenty, and my mum's garbage comp which chugged away at eight. On the lowest settings.

So I'm used to bad fps, and don't know a realistic projection. In the sixty-ish range I think? Seems like that is touted by a lot of games.

Thanks for the help from everyone too. I'm actually pretty exciting, what with the awesomeness of game mods and all.

 

[RRilef]

To do that, you're going to have to build it yourself, which is not really that hard. It took me about six hours to build my first one, and it went without any really hitches. To get the parts, try newegg and look for what you want.

Baseline graphics card you're looking for is an 8800 GT (Thats Nvidia, I'm not sure how ATI does their cards) It is starting to get a bit dated though, so you may want to upgrade. However mine still works well and runs everything fine, just not at the top graphics.

I like 4 gigs of RAM, you shouldn't go any lower than 3. If you get a 64 bit operating system feel free to upgrade ram, but a 32 bit will be useless to do so. DDR3 is the best kind of RAM, although for the price DDR2 is the way to go, many applications don't have any real noticeably benefit from DDR3.

Get a dual core processor, many applications are just starting to support multiple cores, and at least now equally priced dual cores tend to be better than quad. Of course, some people will swear by quad cores, so it really won't make a difference.

For the Motherboard, I have no recommendations, just look at reviews on newegg.

Also, GameFaqs always has at least one topic at any time about buying a budget PC, you may want to start there.

 

[MGlBlaze]

Well, if you want to avoid a rip-off, one excellent way to do so is to just build one yourself. It's not terribly hard, just do the research.

Try www.overclock.net
The people there are usually willing to help out quite a bit.

Although I would reccomend a good tri-core processor over a quad-core unless you're really serious about performance, since a tri-core will still to a great job and isn't as expensive.

I'd also recommend an ATI 5850, since they perform well at a fairly reasonable price, although if that's too expensive, a 5770 is much cheaper and still offers great performance.
I personally plan to upgrade to a 5870 around Christmas time.

Although this will ALL depend. If you're not too bothered about playing games at lower settings, you won't need higher-end graphics cards, and you can go for a lower frequency CPU or maybe a dual-core instead.

If you're like me, want to play any game at max settings at good frame-rates, and want to be able to do so for a while, though, you will need to splash out a fair bit more, though. Also, if you plan on playing games at high resolutions, make sure the graphics card has 1Gb or more memory. Make sure you have a monitor to support those resolutions, too.

Oh, and I wouldn't recommend going much above 4Gb of RAM. 6Gb is fine, but 8Gb and up is excessive right now.

Like I said, though, what you want to build your computer with all depends on what you want out of it.

Also, a final word;
Make sure you get good heatsinks and fans if you plan on overclocking.