Best way to get into PC Gaming

[BENZOOKA]

(Brrr, laptops are awful.)

Yours maybe. Mine's sweet.

Remember too, I did say the cheapest way was to build a desktop and that it would also provide the best specs for the price.

I just enjoy my laptop. Runs nearly anything maxed out. Good enough for me, and only 900 bucks to boot.

With my general dislike for laptops I was referring to the obvious pros and cons (and especially the lack of pros) of them: Laptops take less space, have batteries and greater mobility.

Otherwise (especially custom-built) desktops' qualities are far greater in every aspect. And when talking about gaming, the gap widens.

You only should get a laptop in case space and/or mobility are the most important factors. That's the way I see it.

 

[Harry3]

Yes, the best and cheapest way to get into PC gaming is to build it yourself as long as you are completely confident in doing so. Otherwise get a company such as CyberPower or Ginger6 to build one for you.

Steam is a must have too.

And never get a laptop!

Happy PC Gaming, unless Kotick has more plans.

 

[Eliam_Dar]

Building the PC yourself is the way to go. If you have a friend that can help you (if you never built one on your own) I recommend to ask for his help, but... doing it yourself, he would be your reference and guide

 

[Hiphophippo]

Yea, most people really should go the build your own route for a quality desktop for gaming.

But I still maintain that an asus laptop is quality goods for cheap.

 

[DazZ.]

But I still maintain that an asus laptop is quality goods for cheap.

The only problem I have with laptops is they don't upgrade well, so you will need to buy a whole new laptop instead of just a gfx card/processor down the line.

 

[johnman]

Build it youself and you you can pick up an awesome machine wiht top of the range parts for £650.

 

[WrongSprite]

(Brrr, laptops are awful.)

Yours maybe. Mine's sweet.

Remember too, I did say the cheapest way was to build a desktop and that it would also provide the best specs for the price.

I just enjoy my laptop. Runs nearly anything maxed out. Good enough for me, and only 900 bucks to boot.

ARMA 2 says hello, and proposes that you try playing it at maxed-out settings on your laptop. I'd offer you very good odds that you'd struggle to get past Normal settings.

My friend runs it on full settings on his laptop. It's what you put inside that counts.

 

[Harry3]

(Brrr, laptops are awful.)

Yours maybe. Mine's sweet.

Remember too, I did say the cheapest way was to build a desktop and that it would also provide the best specs for the price.

I just enjoy my laptop. Runs nearly anything maxed out. Good enough for me, and only 900 bucks to boot.

ARMA 2 says hello, and proposes that you try playing it at maxed-out settings on your laptop. I'd offer you very good odds that you'd struggle to get past Normal settings.

My friend runs it on full settings on his laptop. It's what you put inside that counts.

And the money you're prepared to waste. Would cost a PC about $1000 less to do whatever a laptop can do.

 

[Hiphophippo]

But I still maintain that an asus laptop is quality goods for cheap.

The only problem I have with laptops is they don't upgrade well, so you will need to buy a whole new laptop instead of just a gfx card/processor down the line.

Yea, that's true. I do keep a nice desktop too for that, I just get frusterated when people think good gaming laptops cost in th thousands,

 

[mrjinx]

If you don't mind following instruction manuals (Usually only breifly) and shopping around for parts, building your own PC is the best, and cheapest. It's also not very hard, hardest thing is probably hooking up your case, but the manual for your motherboard and case make it very easy, just they make the plugs so damn small.

The core things you need are:
Motherboard (Decent mobo is more important than you think, and you don't need integrated graphics)
CPU (I recommend a third party CPU fan, and you can usually overclock a bit if you want, and make sure your CPU and motherboard are on the same platform, for example Intel i7 or AMD will need different motherboards)
Video card
RAM (Again double check what your motherboard supports)
Hard drive (One for your OS and one for games isn't a bad idea)
Power supply (If you have a decent video card make sure you have enough wattage on the PSU)
Case
DVD drive

I would throw in a decent sound card and a good surge protector as well if you don't have one. To save money you can get a motherboard with integrated sound.
Then obviously a monitor if you don't have one and other accessories.

Head over to Newegg.com and you can sort by the highest rated items, and find something in your price range. I usually read some of the comments, but it's not always that helpful.

Good luck, and it's easier than it sounds.

 

[JaymesFogarty]

(Brrr, laptops are awful.) You absolutely want to buy the parts and assemble your PC by yourself. For that you need to know a thing or two though; ask, if possible, from a friend who knows lots about computers and building them. The physical building is a child's play compared to finding the parts that'll suit your needs, have good value for the price and of course they need to be compatible with each other. Also you should avoid bottleneck issues in performance. Having a high-end graphics card with a mediocre processor and loads and loads of slow memory on a x86 OS, for example, is not the best scenario. The best way to get that information would be to learn those things yourself, but that takes some time.

It's always fun to build your own computer, choosing the parts for a few weeks and considering the best possible options available for the determined price. But when you end up building about a dozen for friends and family through time, it can begin to feel slightly frustrating.

The first thing you want to do, is to determine the budget. That's really important to settle it before-hand (unless you're rich or something), you can always expand it later a bit if you can't help it. And also for starters: if/when you know something about computers, try making computers in web shops' shopping carts. It's fun and it'll help put some perspective into it.

This is why I bought a PS3. I take my hat off to you sir, a person who obviously knows what he's writing about. I spent over three months trying to buy a PC, but you've got have friends or family members to advise you. It is rather complicated, don't you think?

 

[Volafortis]

Build it yourself, or buy the components and have a tech-savvy friend help you.

 

[GoldenShadow]

Buy a strong power supply. Cheap and/or underpowered power supplys cause more trouble than their worth, you will get instability and crashes and bluescreens if your CPU and graphics card maxes out or strains the power supply.

I use a Antec Signature Series 850 watt. Its expensive, at 200 bucks, but I have had zero stability issues since I swapped this one into my PC. My old power supply was cheap 60 buck 700 watt. I had occasional bluescreens in some games and windows crashes.

Buy a big case that will make things easier to work in and have room to expand. Pick something that looks cool and stays in your budgets, make sure it has good airflow and the expansion room you will need for future hard drives, DVD drives, and oversized graphics cards.

I use an Antec Nine Hundred. Its is pretty good, but it will be enough for a new build at first.

Go with the X58 motherboard and a Core i7 CPU Pick a motherboard that has the right features you want. You will want to future proof your build. This is the best value for performance.

I use a MSI X58 Platinum motherboard with a core i7 920 CPU overclocked to 3.32Ghz Overclocking is easy on this board by flipping a dip switch located on the board. It makes a noticable difference. Don't use the stock cooling heatsink/fan Buy the aftermarket ones.

Minimum 4 GB RAM, 6GB recommended with a future expansion to 12GB when that becomes popular.

For graphics cards, spend the money on the mid range 200-300 dollar cards. The high end ones will cost over 400-600 dollars and their performance doesn't scale linearly to the prices.

My personal specs:

Windows Vista Home Premium 32bit
Case: Antec Nine Hundred
Power: Antec Signature Series 850 watt
MotherBoard: MSI X58 Platinum
CPU: Intel core i7 920 2.67Ghz Overclock to 3.32Ghz
RAM: 6GB PC3-12800 1600Mhz
Harddrive1:Western Digital SATA Velociraptor 150GB (Vista OS)
Harddrive2:Western Digital SATA 500GB (Games)
Harddrive3:Western Digital SATA 1TB (Media Center Storage)
Harddrive4:Seagate SATA 300GB (Media Center Storage)
DVD-RW1: IDE Memorex
DVD-RW2: IDE Liteon
TV Tuner1:HDHomerun Dual ClearQAM/ATSC Tuners
TV Tuner2:Hauppauge HVR-1600
Wireless Network: Linksys WMP600N Wireless N PCI Adapter
USB Xbox 360 Wireless Reciever
USB Logitech G15 Keyboard
USB Microsoft Intellimouse Optical
USB Bluetooth adapter and Bluetooth headset
USB Media Center Remote Reciever w/ Remote
USB Novint Falcon

Graphics:
Videocard: EVGA GeForce GTX 275
Monitor: LG 27" Widescreen LCD DVI (1920*1080)

Audio:
Soundcard: Asus Xonar D2X 7.1 Analog Out
Reciever: Sony STR-DG2100 7.1 Multi Input
Speakers: Harmon Kardon HKTS 18 (6x satelites 1x Center 1x subwoofer)

 

[Woodsey]

If you do actually know how to build it (not just think you know, but KNOW) then do it.

Look online for cheaper hardware and make sure it's future proof. I.e. better to spend that extra £100 now then that extra £100 and another £200 in 2 years time, all in one go.

Make sure it's a desktop - I don't care if it's advertised as a gaming laptop, it won't last a minute dammit!

 

[rocketseed]

well i would say have a look around for game specs and get a genral idea what kind of computer you need then you want something a bit better depending on how often you want to upgrade but building one is easy enough once you know what to do and if you dont just look for a website i am sure thare are lots of goodones out thare

 

[mrjinx]

Snip

Do you really have Vista 32 bit? Because it's only utilizing 3.25GB of your 6GB of RAM.

OP: You want a 64 bit OS for a new PC for that reason. Otherwise I'm not savvy on the other benefits of 64 bit.

 

[MurderousToaster]

(Brrr, laptops are awful.)

Yours maybe. Mine's sweet.

Remember too, I did say the cheapest way was to build a desktop and that it would also provide the best specs for the price.

I just enjoy my laptop. Runs nearly anything maxed out. Good enough for me, and only 900 bucks to boot.

I'm guessing the nearly comes into play when you mention a certain CryTek game.

 

[open trap]

Play some good RTS's like Command and Conguer Generals. Those were some good times...