Constructing a cheap gaming PC.

[Lord Quirk]

Hello all,
I'm getting a bit disillusioned with the state of console gaming by this point, and my laptop recently died, so instead of getting a PS4, I was thinking of getting a new, more-game-worthy PC (my old laptop could run most stuff, even considering that it was like 6 years old when I started playing games on it. Ubisoft games and the first Witcher basically ran at PowerPoint presentation speed, however, even at lowest settings.), but dedicated games PCs at my local computer stores are in $2000-range (keep in mind that I live in Australia; virtually all tech-related stuff seems to be more expensive here). Yet, I've been told that if I do the construction myself, a decent gaming PC can be cheaper than a console.
So, what I'm asking is, what tips/resources/websites would one recommend to someone thinking of making/buying their own PC? Keep in mind I'm not looking for a behemoth; I don't really care much about graphics or playing games on the highest settings, and I don't do much in the way of multiplayer. Just wondering how one can get into PC gaming proper.
Thanks,
-Quirk

 

[Albino Boo]

The best guide to what componentes to buy for a self built gaming PC is http://www.logicalincrements.com/ You can select the currancy of your choice.

The nuts and bolts of building are here http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/build-your-own-pc,2601-10.html

 

[Bad Jim]

You could just buy a standard non-gaming desktop PC and maybe change the graphics card. It's not the most cost effective option, but it is a lazy option.

You'll also want 8GB RAM minimum, because that's what the current gen consoles have and what developers will come to expect. If you buy a 4GB machine and and plan to upgrade, make sure you have a 64-bit version of Windows, or you will not be able to use the extra RAM.

 

[Metailurus]

The best guide to what componentes to buy for a self built gaming PC is http://www.logicalincrements.com/ You can select the currancy of your choice.

The nuts and bolts of building are here http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/build-your-own-pc,2601-10.html

Not my thread of course, but thanks for the links, I wasn't aware of the first site and its been really helpful for a discussion im having with a colleague who wants to build a PC on the cheap

 

[Rack]

Yet, I've been told that if I do the construction myself, a decent gaming PC can be cheaper than a console.

The people who tell you this are liars and charlatans. Don't trust them!

A decent gaming pc is going to be fairly expensive. With a decent case, coolers, psu and hard disks you're alreadylooking at a good chunk more than a PS4 and you'll need fairly high range GPU and CPU to hold pace. You're looking at about triple the price of a PS4 for a decent PC that is going to be relevant at all in a few years. This expense is worthwhile in several manners, cheaper games (check out the latest Origin indie bundle), better graphics and amazing mods but the overall cost is probably still higher than a console. PC gaming is a premium experience, and if you try to go cheap it will cost more in the long run.

Also if you build a rig yourself you're all but guaranteed to have several parts of your system incompatible with others. This might be something benign but annoying (usb ports in your case not compatible with your motherboard) or serious (CPU not compatible with motherboard despite being listed as such). You're best off finding someone who has built a system that worked fine on a similar budget to yours and using EXACTLY those components. If every component hasn't been checked against every other component you will have an issue. People will tell you otherwise, but they are shifty mountebanks. Don't believe their lies. Even if you're careful your rig is likely going to have a cheap homemade feel to it. Just be prepared to deal with it looking/sounding goofy.

 

[geier]

@Rack
I'm building PCs for 12 years now. Not only for me, but also for my friends. I'm also doing the support on the hardware and software side for them. And the only incomparability i had where from very cheap shitty components.

There is nothing better/cheaper then building your PC yourself.
Parts like the DVD Rom (i still use a x Toshiba burner from the first generation, produces in 2002), case, fans, water cooling must only be bought once and can be used for the next PC.
Also, playing on PC, i don't have to pay for multiplayer.
Xbox Live is 60$ a year, PS+ 50$. For that kind of money i can buy a new mid range GPU every 4 years, just for not paying for something that is free on PC.

@Lord Quirky
Do not try to build it yourself when it is your first. Assembling a PC became much easier in the last decade, but you can still do things the wrong way. Search for a friend who has some experience and let him show you how it is done.
Also: When you budget your PC, set a goal. I for my part take a current game (for my last PC, it was Skyrim) i really like to play, take the recommended hardware and add 10-20% of performance to it (MODS, MODS, MODS !!!).

 

[DrOswald]

Yet, I've been told that if I do the construction myself, a decent gaming PC can be cheaper than a console.

Not exactly true. If you want a PC with similar specs to a modern console, yes you can do it for around $400. But if you want a PC that can play games similar to a modern console, you are looking at around $550 minimum. This is because consoles are specialty machines that are intended primarily to play games. PC's are general machines intended to be adapted to whatever task you want it to do. This means they require more power to do the same task (for all the pedantic nerds out there, yes this is a vast oversimplification, I don't care it works as a general rule.)

However, that $550 machine will look as good or better than a console in game, it will allow you to purchase games cheaper than on console, etc.

Here are some general rules:

Look at games you might want to play and build against those specs. Minimum gets you good frame rate on low, recommended gets good frame rate on high.

Newegg is a great place to shop. Good return policy, a great review system, good prices, and they tend to do lots of deals.

If you can wait, picking up your computer piece by piece over a couple months can save a ton of money. Look for deals on parts that fit the profile you want for your computer and you can end up paying only $400 for a $600 computer.

When looking at product reviews, expect a good product to have lots of 5's and 4's and then a downward trend for 3's and 2's and then less 1's than everything else. If there is a spike of 1's that might mean a high failure rate, and I would avoid those products.

If you can give me a price range you are looking for I can give some more specific advice. About how much are you willing to spend?

Edit: I just thought I would point something out. For all the talk about FPS and 1080p and graphics and mods, I believe the greatest benefits of PC gaming are access to the backlog of many years, indie games, and variety, all available at massively cut prices during frequent sales (google humble bundle for an example). You don't need a powerful PC for any of that.

 

[Phoenixmgs_v1legacy]

Yet, I've been told that if I do the construction myself, a decent gaming PC can be cheaper than a console.

The people who tell you this are liars and charlatans. Don't trust them!

The TC wants a cheap gaming PC and you can build a decent gaming computer for the price of a console if you already have a monitor at least.

You definitely have to go AMD without a doubt, you just can't beat their price points. A year back or so, you could get an AMD quad-core for like $70 (which was an A8 but without the GPU). Now, you'd probably want to go to a AMD 6-core, which will be like $100. Then, buy the best video card you can find around $100 as well. The mobo is about $60-80. Case and power supply is about $100. 8GB of RAM is $60. And, the HD will be about $50. That's $490 and I'm sure you can cut some costs here and there when you actually look for deals.

make sure you have a 64-bit version of Windows, or you will not be able to use the extra RAM.

I know all Windows 7 (except Starter) and up COAs work for both 32 and 64 bit.

 

[Serinanth]

Yet, I've been told that if I do the construction myself, a decent gaming PC can be cheaper than a console.

Also if you build a rig yourself you're all but guaranteed to have several parts of your system incompatible with others. This might be something benign but annoying (usb ports in your case not compatible with your motherboard) or serious (CPU not compatible with motherboard despite being listed as such). You're best off finding someone who has built a system that worked fine on a similar budget to yours and using EXACTLY those components. If every component hasn't been checked against every other component you will have an issue. People will tell you otherwise, but they are shifty mountebanks. Don't believe their lies. Even if you're careful your rig is likely going to have a cheap homemade feel to it. Just be prepared to deal with it looking/sounding goofy.

While I recently did the opposite and built a behemoth of a machine, I have to disagree about having parts being incompatible. If this is happening to you, then you didn't properly research your build. Then again I've been doing this for quite a while and I am fairly patient during the research phase, and I do actually check everything, down to physical dimensions.

And so what if your first build has a home made feel, its so gratifying when you POST for the first time!

OP: Your first build can be a little daunting but remember, its all about research, take your time and like others have said seek out advice where you can in person and use the internet to its full advantage. I would also recommend looking into ESD (electrostatic discharge) safety, most components people complain are DOA just killed them with static

 

[loa]

Yet, I've been told that if I do the construction myself, a decent gaming PC can be cheaper than a console.

You can make a 300$ pc but that won't be a decent gaming pc.
Mid-range pcs with good performance start at 500$, peripherals, monitor and OS not included.
That is unless prices for hardware import in australia does something nutty, I don't know how that works.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

Yet, I've been told that if I do the construction myself, a decent gaming PC can be cheaper than a console.

Also if you build a rig yourself you're all but guaranteed to have several parts of your system incompatible with others. This might be something benign but annoying (usb ports in your case not compatible with your motherboard) or serious (CPU not compatible with motherboard despite being listed as such). You're best off finding someone who has built a system that worked fine on a similar budget to yours and using EXACTLY those components. If every component hasn't been checked against every other component you will have an issue. People will tell you otherwise, but they are shifty mountebanks. Don't believe their lies. Even if you're careful your rig is likely going to have a cheap homemade feel to it. Just be prepared to deal with it looking/sounding goofy.

While I recently did the opposite and built a behemoth of a machine, I have to disagree about having parts being incompatible. If this is happening to you, then you didn't properly research your build. Then again I've been doing this for quite a while and I am fairly patient during the research phase, and I do actually check everything, down to physical dimensions.

And so what if your first build has a home made feel, its so gratifying when you POST for the first time!

OP: Your first build can be a little daunting but remember, its all about research, take your time and like others have said seek out advice where you can in person and use the internet to its full advantage. I would also recommend looking into ESD (electrostatic discharge) safety, most components people complain are DOA just killed them with static

hah I think of that clip every time I'm tinkering around in my rig, perfectly accurate for why most people end up having "DOA's".

Also agreed on compatibility, if you do a bit of research before hand you can more than likely tell if it'll be compatible with next gen's hardware (for lack of a better term) or if it's on the last leg of it's life. (such as types of CPU sockets) my first rig was highly compatible over time, it lasted me a solid 4-5 years of swapping out a part here or there without needing to change the whole system.

most people have listed great links/websites, the only one I would add is:

pcpartpicker.com

you can select your country at the top and it does its best to find the cheapest prices for parts on the web relevent to you, and if you "build" the rig in your shopping cart, it does its best to make sure the parts are compatible. (very handy for new users!)

 

[Rack]

While I recently did the opposite and built a behemoth of a machine, I have to disagree about having parts being incompatible. If this is happening to you, then you didn't properly research your build. Then again I've been doing this for quite a while and I am fairly patient during the research phase, and I do actually check everything, down to physical dimensions.

And so what if your first build has a home made feel, its so gratifying when you POST for the first time!

OP: Your first build can be a little daunting but remember, its all about research, take your time and like others have said seek out advice where you can in person and use the internet to its full advantage. I would also recommend looking into ESD (electrostatic discharge) safety, most components people complain are DOA just killed them with static

It's undeniable that proper research will stop build mistakes but I think you're underestimating how hard that research can be. I've been building rigs for years and still haven't found a remotely decent resource for testing compatibility up front. So far I've only been hit with my motherboard being incompatible with weird things, but all sorts of things can be incompatible with all sorts of things.

That first POST check is super satisfying, though I probably get the biggest twinge of joy the first time I run a benchmark and have everything working. It doesn't get round that I feel a twinge of shame every time I look at my PC and see those non-functional USB ports up front.

That research part is tough, don't underestimate it.

 

[Serinanth]

Oh, I know Rack, and I most definitely don't underestimate how hard it can be. Back in the day I remember using a Dremmel on the heatsink of a sound card to get it to fit, another old system had this weird thing where it would only post after turning it off and on 3 times which was weird as hell, I think the CPU was a bit wonky because my ESD practice was not very good back then.

My family didn't have the money to buy a computer from sears or radio-shack even when they started dropping in price. My dad found a no name computer store near by and we got a barebones, 486dx33 with 2mb or ram and I ended up adding a sound card soon after, and then more ram on my own.

Shit, that was 20 years ago.

I always used to have the hardest time with figuring out what memory to get. Thankfully ASUS makes their Qualified vendor list easy to find, and while I know I am paying a premium for it, I went with Corsair Dominator.

Manufacturers seem to be getting better at dealing with each other and posting compatibility these days though, the hardest thing I had this time around was designing the cooling system, I am a stickler for my computer being quiet. I was all set to order from FrozenCPU and then discovered they have shut down! Sent me back to the drawing board.

I spent about a month from start to finish for my recent build, I wanted it to be perfect and so far it looks like it is =)

 

[MirenBainesUSMC]

Having built one my self, I think I totaled somewhere at 980.00.

What you can't really go cheap on is the base of which you will eventually upgrade your system around --- however --- you don't have to buy everything right then and there, you can always spread your cost out within three months getting good deals on quality components.

It will still be more expensive than a console but figure it this way, if the damn things were already selling retail around 400. ( not taking into consideration deal bundles and market depreciation), you are already half-way there from getting a working PC unit... that may last longer than most, in a lot of cases, its upgrading the video card that you have to pay attention to and what chip set you start off with.

Its a plan but I don't think its going to be as cheap as you think it could be --- not if you want to keep playing the latest stuff coming out.

It becomes that more crucial if you happen to like being a multi-player. In that case, you def are going to want to spend some time and money because you'll never make it without a competitive system.

 

[AlouetteSK]

https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc
They're generally helpful for a range of builds, from battle stations to budget builds.
pcpartspicker is also your friend, as others have said.
If you can't afford it all at once, do it piece by piece and upgrade. Not everyone needs a GTX 980 quad SLI (Titan is overkill for gaming, as it's pretty much a rebranded Quattro.)

Definitely keep an eye out for sales.

 

[Barbas]

I think a good place to start is the PC Gamer website. Have a look at the custom rig they build. It's also detailed in their monthly magazine. They have at least one tutorial video that I know of on their YouTube channel.

 

[BarryMcCociner]

Cheap? You might think you want that, but only too late will you realize that don't want that.

Cheap parts are cheap for a reason, OP.

Aim for mid-to-high tier parts, don't go overboard though. You'll get more bang for your buck and more importantly your rig will live longer if you take care of it.

I ask you, what's better? To go and shell out for a quick, flinstone-in-less-than-five-years rig now, or to delay gratification and get a "I'm gonna go hard and fast for ten years" fucking Rhino for a computer?


https://au.pcpartpicker.com/

Here's a link to a good place to start. Use it to find the parts you'll want but for the love of god don't buy yourself shitty parts because their price tag is more appealing. Trust me, it'll save you a massive headache down the line.

 

[gorfias]

The best guide to what componentes to buy for a self built gaming PC is http://www.logicalincrements.com/ You can select the currancy of your choice.

I just bookmarked the page. Terrific site! Thanks for posting. I liked the Extremist build the best. Few tweaks there.

My current build is fine, but I'm thinking about the future.

This is where I do some comparing myself: http://www.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html