Poll: I'm considering PC gaming, but...

[Kevlar Eater]

I'll make this short.

I feel like I'm in a conundrum. Option 1: I've thought about buying a pre-built PC from either Ibuypower or Cyberpower (or another place if one can think of one that's in America), but all have long track records of poorly-built PC's, nonexistent quality assurance, bipolar customer/tech support, bait and switch tactics, etc. that's kind of scaring me away from buying from those places out of fear of being another disgruntled statistic. Plus I hate talking to people, whether over the phone or in person.

Option 2: Building a gaming PC. Many suggest taking this route because of the aforementioned, but this applies to the already tech-savvy. That I am not, nor do I know of anyone or anywhere that can help me with this option. Many internet guides on how to assemble a PC recommend not "winging it" as there is a good chance I could ruin an expensive part solely from inexperience.

I'm not in a hurry to get a new PC, but would you guys suggest?

 

[TheDude7053]

go to http://www.newegg.com if you want to build, or http://originpc.com if you want pre built

if you want to build, just remember try to keep you workplace clean, organized. and when installing parts always have a body part on the case

 

[Sleekgiant]

Build build build, if you do you can get a much better system for the money.

Go to Newegg, read reviews and pick out what you like, then post a pic here and we will tell you whether to change parts around or if its suitable.

 

[hottsaucekid]

its pretty frustrating tryin to build a computer when you have no idea what you need for it or any of that kinda stuff. so i had my friend tell me what to buy and what was essential for a gaming pc. If you cant do this though i suggest you buy a pre-built

 

[AngelicSven]

Newegg is the custom builders dream. You can actually talk to some people there, describe what level of gaming computer you want and they'll recommend the best bang for your buck.

I'd do that.

 

[Netrigan]

Building your own PC is cheap and surprisingly easy. It's been forever since I priced it, but you can make a perfectly respectable gaming rig for not a lot of money. Best advice is not cheaping anything out and reading customer reviews. Mostly a matter of making sure that all the parts you buy are compatible with each other, which is easy as long as you pay attention to basic system specs.

And take notes. Find a good motherboard and work your way out from there. Again, make sure everything you buy works with it.

And Steam is a great way to buy PC games on the cheap.

 

[GordoFreemann]

I would personally suggest building a computer.

There are many benefits:

1. Building is cheaper, hands down. The labor cost is on you.
2. You bond with your computer, it becomes yours! (Think a greaser and his car!)
3. You learn more about the system and what makes it tick
4. In relation to #3, you can also fix your own problems with your knowledge!

PC gaming is just an all around better experience too. I was on the same brink as you a year ago and I said what the heck, let's build this baby. $800 (US Dollars) and two weeks later (plus two hours to build it + install OS) I was running a mighty fine gaming machine, the only thing I really can't played maxed out is Crysis, but I'm cool with that.

 

[Riddle78]

Build it yourself. It's your best option. Know what slots your desired motherboard has,and get the best possible video card and sound card for those slots.
On a personal note,I'd stick with Windows XP in order to keep more hard drive space for games.

 

[dfphetteplace]

You don't need to be that tech savvy. It is fairly easy (not to mention there are a ton of tutorials online, and I'm sure you have some friends you could ask for help) and not that expensive when you realize that it will last at least two console generations if not more. You usually don't need to buy top of the line stuff either. My video card cost about $130 when I got it 2 years ago and there is not a game on the market that it cannot play. As long as it is over 1gig of dedicated video memory you should be good. I have 4gb of ram (had 2gb, which worked fine for gaming, upgraded for music production). You could get a lot of it pretty cheap by going on ebay, pricegrabber.com, and newegg.com. Hope some of this helped. PC gaming is awesome, and pc's can do much more then just play games, so it is well worth the investment.

 

[TheDude7053]

my order of buying parts

GRAPHICS CARD
CPU
CPU COOLER (in not included with cpu)
MOTHERBOARD
RAM
CASE
2 HARD DRIVES
RAID 0 CARD (if not onboard mobo)
OPTICAL DRIVE
15 in 1 Floppy, SD, MMC, CF drive (yes i still buy floppy drives)
POWER SUPPLY (if not included in case)
WINDOWS 7 64 bit
MONITOR (if needed)
EXTRA FANS (if needed)

let me know if im missing anything

 

[dfphetteplace]

Build it yourself. It's your best option. Know what slots your desired motherboard has,and get the best possible video card and sound card for those slots.
On a personal note,I'd stick with Windows XP in order to keep more hard drive space for games.

Any Games for Windows title will only work for Vista and 7. BS, but it is the truth. Perhaps there is a hack for it or something. I have 7 so I don't need to look. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[GordoFreemann]

Any Games for Windows title will only work for Vista and 7. BS, but it is the truth. Perhaps there is a hack for it or something. I have 7 so I don't need to look. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Fallout 3 worked for me on XP SP3. Of course that was the only Games for Windows title I had at the time...actually, wait, so did Red Faction: Guerrilla. I mean this in a nice way, you are wrong good sir.

 

[nofear220]

Option 1: I've thought about buying a pre-built PC from either Ibuypower or Cyberpower (or another place if one can think of one that's in America), but all have long track records of poorly-built PC's, nonexistent quality assurance, bipolar customer/tech support, bait and switch tactics, etc. that's kind of scaring me away from buying from those places out of fear of being another disgruntled statistic. Plus I hate talking to people, whether over the phone or in person.

Option 2: Building a gaming PC. Many suggest taking this route because of the aforementioned, but this applies to the already tech-savvy. That I am not, nor do I know of anyone or anywhere that can help me with this option. Many internet guides on how to assemble a PC recommend not "winging it" as there is a good chance I could ruin an expensive part solely from inexperience.

I'm not in a hurry to get a new PC, but would you guys suggest?

If you dont think youre capable of choosing the right parts for your application and building one yourself, ask a friend who you know has built their own computer to do it for you. Or hell, even I could build one for you if you live in North America, Im actually making a legitimate business out of it next summer.

One thing you need to know is that Gaming PC's aren't cheap, my current rig that I built and watercooled myself costs around $4000 in parts. Of course you dont have to spend that much, a nice budget build capable of running every game you could imagine costs $1000 to $1500 in parts.

 

[viranimus]

Choosing the parts for the purpose of building really isnt that difficult.

Theres just a pattern you need to follow.

Look first for your motherboard. Decide on what you want. (like how many ram slots, PCIE slots, form factor etc. From that mobo, you will find 2 vital pieces of info you need. The processor socket type,(IE: LGA 775) and the ram DIMM size.(DDR3 220 pin)

Once you have the vital core established, start filling in the blanks. Video cards are fairly simple as most are PCI-E, Powersupply, you will want something with at a bare min 500 w if not more, and you will want something with a PCIE 4 slot rail. Case.. see your mobo form factor (ATX: Micro, Mid, Tower etc)

Hard drives, Sata. Higher RPM the better in most cases.(7200 rpm is the nice balance between high capacity and high speed.)

Beyond that, the rest is fluff.

So yes, build. You will learn something that will benefit you for the rest of your life as it will have the ability to not only save you money and getting more on your return, but it will also teach you the value of PCs and what is overpriced and what isnt.

EDIT: If your afraid, and its understandable as I know i was terrified on my first build, You can start honing your chops by upgrading older computers first as practice. Changing out video cards and Ram gets you a good bearing to start. Honestly For a first build especially if your afraid, you can put a junk PC together for 200-300$ that if you get it right, might make a good gift for grandma or the like.

 

[Riddle78]

Build it yourself. It's your best option. Know what slots your desired motherboard has,and get the best possible video card and sound card for those slots.
On a personal note,I'd stick with Windows XP in order to keep more hard drive space for games.

Any Games for Windows title will only work for Vista and 7. BS, but it is the truth. Perhaps there is a hack for it or something. I have 7 so I don't need to look. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Why stick with "Games for Windows" titles? I play a metric f-tonne of games on my PC,ranging from Minecraft to Starcraft II...All on XP Home Edition. Vista and 7 simply consume too much hard drive space compared to XP for my liking,and guess what?
Not a single PC game my hardware can run didn't work because of OS differences.
To the OP,what kind of games will you play? This is a major consideration factor for how you build your machine. FPSes like Call of Duty require high endgraphics and sound,while RTSes like Command & Conquer require processor power and RAM. RPGs like Oblivion require both.

 

[Balimaar]

The problem is if you stick to Option 1 all your life you won't learn.

I don't know whether this will be of any use to you, but near where I live there is a guy running his own little IT business. With his advice I collected all the parts I needed and once all that stuff was gathered, I was able to watch him put it all together. I took quite a few notes while he was working. That was about 5 years ago and I've built my own little rig since then that's half price of what I would have had to pay for it pre-built.

In short, if there is an expert nearby that is willing to have you watch him work (personally I would hate that lol) try and do the above.

Building your own PC is quite a fun little process and if you stuff a part up in most cases you can appeal for a replacement part.

 

[phoenix352]

building your own pc isnt that difficult and you get that much more power and quality for less money.

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

I don't know whether this will be of any use to you, but near where I live there is a guy running his own little IT business. With his advice I collected all the parts I needed and once all that stuff was gathered, I was able to watch him put it all together. I took quite a few notes while he was working.

Yeah, one of my nephews is getting me to build him a monster rig at the end of the year and I'm gonna try and get him to sit in and do some of the work so he can learn a bit about the guts of a computer. Boy could do with a few skills.

 

[Skorpyo]

Build it yourself, of course. It'll cut roughly %68 of the cost doing it yourself.

Oh, and PM me if you'd like some help with parts or specs. That's what I'm here for.

 

[Hashime]

Built one, I saved about $300 on parts buying them on sale, and much much more than that compared to a similar pre-built computer.