Getting a gaming PC

[CommanderL]

Hello there guys/girls/other/daystar I have been pc gaming on my laptop for past year in a half. I am thinking its time for me to get a desktop but the thing is I know nothing about computers and am on a budget of about 600 au any help would be glady welcomed

 

[Delta2501]

Is that £600 UK? I'm in a similar boat to you (building for the first time). What got me sold on the idea was this article, which might be a handy starting point:
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/06/14/build-a-next-gen-pc/

I then went and discussed the matter on the GameFAQs PC Hardware board and got some very useful advice, so I recommend asking questions there:
http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/2000403-pc-hardware-discussion/67313297

One of the people there suggested an interesting build to me, so I set up topics on GameFAQs and here to get responses. Only did it just now so haven't heard anything yet so here's a link

http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/2000403-pc-hardware-discussion/67746779
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/538.833239-Rate-a-mid-power-PC-build

If you are in the UK, that partpicker site (http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/) looks handy as it seems to compare prices on parts and indicate whether there are likely to be any compatibility issues (don't know if it's 100% accurate but it's a start). It also has some videos of putting some together, which made things look not too hard.

Edit: Sorry, missed the AU part. That build costs £500 UK so maybe $850 AU(?), but I've no idea how prices compare over there. Hope some of the information is useful all the same.

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

Hello there guys/girls/other/daystar I have been pc gaming on my laptop for past year in a half. I am thinking its time for me to get a desktop but the thing is I know nothing about computers and am on a budget of about 600 au any help would be glady welcomed

Ugh... tricky... tricky.... It's doable but it isn't going to be top-of-the-line and you're gonna need some bunny to put it together because you won't get off-the-shelf gaming rigs in Oz for $600.

First up, what don't you need? That means what parts do you already have or can get your hands on? Do you need a keyboard, mouse, monitor, operating system? The OS and monitor are the real price killers for a budget build. Do you know any PC gamers that can donate parts? Even a free case helps keep costs down. Do you have an external harddrive that runs off mains power that you can rip out of it's enclosure and pop in the case as your boot drive?

If you jot down what kind of performance you're looking for and what parts you can get your hands on without touching your budget then we can start looking at what's practical within your budget.

 

[CommanderL]

Hey guys thanks for answering a friend offered to sell me his old gaming pc for 150 bucks and I decided to go with that option instead but thank you all for your responses

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

Hey guys thanks for answering a friend offered to sell me his old gaming pc for 150 bucks and I decided to go with that option instead but thank you all for your responses

No wuckers... and now you'll have parts for possible cannibalising next time.