PC Gaming Specs

[jboking]

So, I'm in great need of a new gaming computer. I have around $800 to work with. I don't want a gaming laptop, they seem to be more finicky than desktops. So, a gaming desktop computer for $800. I don't wan to build it, as a warranty is a nice thing to have. That said, I am interested in what particular processors/ram GB's/Graphics Cards/and other things I should be looking out for.

Should I go with Intel or AMD?
What graphics cards would be good with those processors?



[small]side note: I know that the first few comments are likely going to include: "It's much cheaper to make your own." Please try to avoid saying this, I know it is true, it is just not something I'm looking at doing now.[/small]

 

[Varley]

I've heard that Intel processors have more raw power while AMD ones are faster. Or something to that degree. I personally go for Intel Processors with Nvidia graphics cards, but up to you realy.

 

[MrCollins]

It's much cheaper to find a little independant computer store who can build it for you.
That's what I did and I saved about 200 euros, (paid 800 for specs that cost 1000 on the highstreet)

 

[jboking]

I've heard that Intel processors have more raw power while AMD ones are faster. Or something to that degree. I personally go for Intel Processors with Nvidia graphics cards, but up to you realy.

^^this^^

Any recommendations for a graphics card in general? Say I want to play Metro 2033 (lets shoot for the moon), what Nvidia would you recommend?

 

[SpyderJ]

For graphics ide go with something in the RADEON 69xx series, and personaly I like AMD over Intel but that is purely my prefference

 

[loc978]

I've heard that Intel processors have more raw power while AMD ones are faster. Or something to that degree. I personally go for Intel Processors with Nvidia graphics cards, but up to you realy.

^^this^^

Any recommendations for a graphics card in general? Say I want to play Metro 2033 (lets shoot for the moon), what Nvidia would you recommend?

anything in the 400-500 series range with a "GT" after it will do you just fine.

Side note: if you're spending $800 on a pre-built desktop, don't expect a warranty from the people who built it to be directly honored. All of the parts will have manufacturer's warranties, and they'll most likely shuffle you off onto those... which you also get if you build it yourself.
Just sayin'.

 

[jboking]

For graphics ide go with something in the RADEON 69xx series, and personaly I like AMD over Intel but that is purely my prefference

Do you mean the Radeon HD 6900 series? Isn't that set really new and powerful? Would it really be necessary for the average gamer?

 

[Gamblerjoe]

If you are not going to build it yourself, then you are not going to get the PC you want for $800. I looked at a lot of gaming PCs in this price range, and all of them had something wrong with them, in addition to the fact that none of them had a quality power supply. I have never put a PC together before, but Im told its not difficult in the least. I currently have a pile of computer parts in the mail and Im super excited to do this.

Ill show you what I got. It essentially consists of not the best of everything, but some of the best values on the market right now. Others may find better bargains on certain things, but after the lofty amount of research I did, I had to finally just pull the trigger.

This is where I eventually found myself. [http://www.build-gaming-computers.com/gaming-desktop-computer.html] I took everything from the first list, except for the case and PSU which i took from the second list. I also went with 8G of Ram.

If you absolutely refuse to put it together yourself, know that you will pay at least another $100 dollars, and at least one or two parts will be substandard. Many people just look at the amount of RAM a PC has, with no regard for the reputation of the manufacturer or the RAM's clock speed. Nearly everyone overlooks the PSU. This part has a huge effect on your electric bill and longevity of your PC.

Another problem with purchasing a prebuilt gaming PC is that sometimes a company like Newegg will be cranking them out, and mess something up. Iv even heard stories of hard drives just being loose in the case and shipped that way (with it free to flop around smacking into your expensive bits.) If you put it together yourself you can have the peace of mind that A) the parts will be shipped in the manufacturers packaging, and B) it will get put together right.

Anyway, scour the interwebs. Look at good sites like Tigerdirect. The prices of the builds in that link have actually come down slightly, and Tigerdirect is still the least expensive on every individual part. If you get a prebuilt machine, educate yourself on what PSU you need and make sure the one you have is sufficient.

Also, dont expect a prebuilt machine to have a good video card. Look for one that just has an on-board card and then buy the one you want separately. Even if you dont care to mess around under the hood, popping in a video card is child's play.

 

[Jazoni89]

For graphics ide go with something in the RADEON 69xx series, and personaly I like AMD over Intel but that is purely my prefference

Do you mean the Radeon HD 6900 series? Isn't that set really new and powerful? Would it really be necessary for the average gamer?

Yeah it's a little too much.

The one I've got, the 6870, is great for the price. So, I would go for that one, Or the 560 TI.

 

[Gamblerjoe]

As far as processors go, Intel i5 and i7 are considered the best for gaming right now. The AMD Phenom II family, which I went with, is considered the best value on the market. If you go with that one, there is almost no chance at all that it will hold you back.

For video cards I prefer Nvidia to Raedon, but im not really educated enough to back that up with facts. What I can say is that for a while Raedon was catering much better to the middle of the road gaming market, but Nvidia has caught up and has better values in the $100-$200 range.

...And to reiterate a point, when companies put together PCs, they use it as an opportunity to unload parts they cant sell. Look at the specs and details. Scrutinize every single part.

 

[fix-the-spade]

Should I go with Intel or AMD?
What graphics cards would be good with those processors?

Right, find an independant computer shop.

Go to them ask about building a system based around these names:

An AMD FM-1 socket motherboard (Gigabyte GA-A75M-UD2H is great)
AMD A-3850 processor
ATI HD5850 or 6850 graphics card (Sapphire HD 6850 is the best and one of the cheapest if you can get it).

That lot should be about $400-450USD, so you have some headroom for the rest of the build.


Right now, that is the best 'cheap' gaming base set up around. Not least because the 3850 has an ATI6550 GPU built into it, so with a separate graphics card you can build a mini crossfire unit (this is a big deal).

More importantly, you should be able to get a system for comfortably less than $800.

 

[sinterklaas]

Prebuilt machines are grossly overpriced. I'll be shamelessly stealing a build from another forum (credit to Shikyo from teamliquid.net).

Spoiler

Motherboard:
MSI P67S-C43 (B3)
[link]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130576[/link]
89.99$

Processor:
Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost)
[link]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072[/link]
219.99$

CPU Cooler:
Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus
[link]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065[/link]
26.99$

Graphics Card:
GIGABYTE GV-N560OC-1GI GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 1GB
[link]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125363[/link]
234.99$

RAM:
Pareema 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333
[link]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820576006[/link]
39.99$

Hard Drive:
Seagate Barracuda ST31000524AS 1TB 7200 RPM
[link]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148697[/link]
54.99$

Case:
Cooler Master HAF 912
[link]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119233[/link]
59.99$

Power Supply:
Antec Neo Eco 520W
[link]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371030[/link]
54.99$

Optical Drive:
SAMSUNG CD/DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-222AB - OEM
[link]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151233[/link]
16.99$

Total: $798.91

Suggested Resolution: 1920x1080

You can drop the i5-2500K from this build and go for a i5-2500 (without the K) if you're not going to overclock. You can also drop the CPU cooler without overclocking. If you want an AMD card, a HD6870 or 6950 is great.

Your PC can be build at your local hardware store if you don't want to do it yourself (or at least I'd guess they'd do that favor for a small fee). I'm going to let this be done myself in a few days since I don't feel comfortable putting it all together myself. It's no problem probably for a store. You really don't want a prebuilt

 

[Fayathon]

Personally if you're looking for more bang for your buck go with an AMD/ATI setup, they are owned by the same company and your CPU/GPU work better together if they're made for each other.

A prebuilt computer, even with the warranty will never compete with a custom build one, so look for your local computer shop and order through them, you should get a light warranty, but you'll get a custom built computer. It'll save you a lot of money in the long run.

A high end Phenom CPU and a 69xx Radeon graphics card will do wonders for your gaming needs, and you can top it out with 8GB of RAM, which is more than anyone other than massive enthusiasts ever need.

I built my computer at the beginning of the year and spent about $750 on it, and even with its parts starting to look a bit weak compared to the newest cards I can still run my games in their 'High' settings with no issues.

I could price out a similar (relatively) rig to mine, and give you a listing of compatible parts to take to a shop if you're interested.

Yeah it's a little too much.

The one I've got, the 6870, is great for the price. So, I would go for that one, Or the 560 TI.

I really wish I had held out for another month on my card, I got a 5770, and though I love it the 69xx cards dropped in price so fast after I bought mine. How does it handle multiple displays? I'm kinda interested in doing a dual or triple monitor setup when I get some cash.

 

[jboking]

If you are not going to build it yourself, then you are not going to get the PC you want for $800. I looked at a lot of gaming PCs in this price range, and all of them had something wrong with them, in addition to the fact that none of them had a quality power supply. I have never put a PC together before, but Im told its not difficult in the least. I currently have a pile of computer parts in the mail and Im super excited to do this.

Ill show you what I got. It essentially consists of not the best of everything, but some of the best values on the market right now. Others may find better bargains on certain things, but after the lofty amount of research I did, I had to finally just pull the trigger.

This is where I eventually found myself. [http://www.build-gaming-computers.com/gaming-desktop-computer.html] I took everything from the first list, except for the case and PSU which i took from the second list. I also went with 8G of Ram.

If you absolutely refuse to put it together yourself, know that you will pay at least another $100 dollars, and at least one or two parts will be substandard. Many people just look at the amount of RAM a PC has, with no regard for the reputation of the manufacturer or the RAM's clock speed. Nearly everyone overlooks the PSU. This part has a huge effect on your electric bill and longevity of your PC.

Another problem with purchasing a prebuilt gaming PC is that sometimes a company like Newegg will be cranking them out, and mess something up. Iv even heard stories of hard drives just being loose in the case and shipped that way (with it free to flop around smacking into your expensive bits.) If you put it together yourself you can have the peace of mind that A) the parts will be shipped in the manufacturers packaging, and B) it will get put together right.

Anyway, scour the interwebs. Look at good sites like Tigerdirect. The prices of the builds in that link have actually come down slightly, and Tigerdirect is still the least expensive on every individual part. If you get a prebuilt machine, educate yourself on what PSU you need and make sure the one you have is sufficient.

Also, dont expect a prebuilt machine to have a good video card. Look for one that just has an on-board card and then buy the one you want separately. Even if you dont care to mess around under the hood, popping in a video card is child's play.

Tell me, before attempting to build this, how much of a tech background do you have? My knowledge of the hardware of computers is very limited, I wouldn't know where to even begin building.

Also, looking at the $570 model, I don't have a coppy of windows 7, so tack on another $100 and I want at least a decent monitor, which this sight insists is at least $80, though I'd argue I could find something comparable around $50. So it becomes $570 plus $150, totaling out to $720. I've been finding comparable builds on newegg for just about that price that come with 7 and, in some cases, a good monitor. I don't see the major advantage.

 

[jboking]

For graphics ide go with something in the RADEON 69xx series, and personaly I like AMD over Intel but that is purely my prefference

Do you mean the Radeon HD 6900 series? Isn't that set really new and powerful? Would it really be necessary for the average gamer?

It's overkill, you don't need it.

I have an AMD 6-core processor with a Radeon 6850 (that I frequently overclock to a 6870, not that much of a jump if you have proper cooling) and no game has even come REMOTELY close to challenging it. In fact, I've been able to run the Battlefield 3 Beta, Grand Theft Auto IV and Counter Strike: Source all at the same time.

In short, you probably don't need the "latest and greatest" components. If you're not building your own computer, however, I definitely recommend an Intel/Nvidia setup.

What is your computers full specs?

 

[sinterklaas]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPIXAtNGGCw

Excellent video tutorial on how to build your own PC. There's load of other tutorials too, shouldn't be hard to find. It'd probably be safer to let a hardware store do it for you though if you aren't techsavvy.

 

[jboking]

I could price out a similar (relatively) rig to mine, and give you a listing of compatible parts to take to a shop if you're interested.

That would be great if you would.

Really, you all are honestly some of the nicest people I've talked to about this. You all are amazing.

 

[Fayathon]

I could price out a similar (relatively) rig to mine, and give you a listing of compatible parts to take to a shop if you're interested.

That would be great if you would.

Really, you all are honestly some of the nicest people I've talked to about this. You all are amazing.

The Escapist community is one of the best I've seen on the Web, it's why I frequent here.

I've heard mixed things on hex core processors, so this is with a quad core, anyone that's got a nice hex go ahead and let me know, I might alter the build accordingly.

3.5GHz Quad core processor [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103894] Can overclock well, but not going in on this build, this baby never goes about 45-50 C when under load with the stock heatsink. (Again, not overclocked, if you want to OC talk to someone else, I don't do that.

8GB of DDR3 RAM [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231314] I'd drop two sets of these in a system just because the set is so damned cheap now, and I love mine.

Motherboard [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131631] Supports Crossfiring two vid cards to get even more bang for your buck.

Power supply [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139015] It's meaty as hell, but my Corsair dropped the internal temp of my computer by five degrees Celsius, not to mention the Gold rating means it's a more efficient supply, less wasted electricity.

I'm going to assume you don't need a hard drive, but if you do:

1TB of space [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136284] You can always add more HDDs later.

Gotta have a GPU [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102945] Ran this a little high because after I had priced everything else out I had some money to work with.

And a case [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119068] My case that I love ever so much hasn't been made for years now otherwise I'd suggest it, but I've heard nothing but good about Cooler Master products.

That build will run you about $790 (with just 8GB of RAM, tack on another $50 if you want 16GB), and if anyone can think of something I missed or could have set up better feel free to let me know. This is an AMD/ATI build like I suggested, I'm not real partial to Intel or nVidia parts.

EDIT: Durr, I forgot the OS Windows 7 Home [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116716] if you need it, but that does run the price up a bit, I forgot how much OSes are, I got mine from school, I'll count myself as lucky.

 

[Mr Jack]

An alternative to building it yourself, or getting a shop to do it, is to get a friend to do it. Do you have any friends who have the experience to build it themselves? If so, they would probably be glad to offer their assistance.

In all honesty building it yourself is quite easy with just a little self education. Picking parts is the most difficult bit, and you have ample support from here for that.

A lot of people are saying to go for AMD, and a Phenom II x4 is a perfectly fine processor, either the normal (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103809); or the Black Edition if you have any desire to overclock (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103808). For $800, that is probably the right price point.

Avoid the Llano processors for now, they are on a dead end chipset that will lead to expensive upgrades when it comes to upgrade, as you will need to get a new motherboard as well. On the subject of motherboards; if you go with a Phenom, get a AM3+ motherboard.

On graphics, get the one on this list that fits your budget: (http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/gaming-performance-radeon-geforce,review-32274.html)