Gaming PC recommendations...

[dreadedcandiru99]

Yes, I realize that by posting this, I run the risk of having this thread degenerate into yet another PCs-versus-consoles clusterfuck within hours. Well, whatever; I guess I'll just have to stop reading before that happens.

Anyway, I play the occasional PC indie game or point-and-clicker, but I've pretty much been a console gamer forever. I've never had a computer capable of handling the really big games, I have no idea how to build them--the entirety of my computer knowledge, in short, can be summed up as "bigger numbers = better." Well, maybe it's because I wasn't exactly wowed by the PS4, or maybe it's because I've been listening to TotalBiscuit and his Wacky Friends pontificate about the awesomeness of PCs every time they get the chance, but I'm kind of tempted to save up and get a decent gaming rig.

So here's what I'm wondering: can you get something at least console-quality for under $1000, and where's a good place to look? (I thought Alienware used to be the place to go, for reasons that escape me, but lately I've heard that they suck, for other reasons that escape me.)

EDIT: Or, now that I think of it, would it be better to hold on to my money and see how this Steam Box thing turns out? I just remembered that.

 

[thesilentman]

Yes, I realize that by posting this, I run the risk of having this thread degenerate into yet another PCs-versus-consoles clusterfuck within hours. Well, whatever; I guess I'll just have to stop reading before that happens.

Anyway, I play the occasional PC indie game or point-and-clicker, but I've pretty much been a console gamer forever. I've never had a computer capable of handling the really big games, I have no idea how to build them--the entirety of my computer knowledge, in short, can be summed up as "bigger numbers = better." Well, maybe it's because I wasn't exactly wowed by the PS4, or maybe it's because I've been listening to TotalBiscuit and his Wacky Friends pontificate about the awesomeness of PCs every time they get the chance, but I'm kind of tempted to save up and get a decent gaming rig.

So here's what I'm wondering: can you get something at least console-quality for under $1000, and where's a good place to look? (I thought Alienware used to be the place to go, for reasons that escape me, but lately I've heard that they suck, for other reasons that escape me.)

EDIT: Or, now that I think of it, would it be better to hold on to my money and see how this Steam Box thing turns out? I just remembered that.

A thousand USD is more than enough to make an awesome gaming PC that will max out everything today. No kidding. As for Alienware, I believe that they're overpriced, which is an issue for some people.

What I think you should do is look for the parts and build it yourself. It's like Legoes at this point, provided people have the proper reading skills. I think that you'll be fine though, so would you like some suggestions for parts to put in your PC? I'm more than ready to help. Just list what you'd like in your PC and we can help from there.

EDIT- Just read about the Steambox, and no. That's overpriced too. There are better ways to spend 1000 USD than on something you can't upgrade, which is a strength of the PC platform. That way, you don't have to replace the whole PC when it comes time to upgrade, you only need to upgrade one part.

 

[dreadedcandiru99]

(snip)

A thousand USD is more than enough to make an awesome gaming PC that will max out everything today. No kidding. As for Alienware, I believe that they're overpriced, which is an issue for some people.

What I think you should do is look for the parts and build it yourself. It's like Legoes at this point, provided people have the proper reading skills. I think that you'll be fine though, so would you like some suggestions for parts to put in your PC? I'm more than ready to help. Just list what you'd like in your PC and we can help from there.

EDIT- Just read about the Steambox, and no. That's overpriced too. There are better ways to spend 1000 USD than on something you can't upgrade, which is a strength of the PC platform. That way, you don't have to replace the whole PC when it comes time to upgrade, you only need to upgrade one part.

Well, I guess I could try putting it together. I've never done that before, but I know how a screwdriver works, and I changed a graphics card once. As for what I'd like...um, not sure. I think I've heard PC guys find out the PS4's stats and go "meh, my computer can do better than that now." I know TotalBiscuit has often said that PC games aren't usually allowed to get too far beyond consoles graphics-wise, if only because devs want to port them, and I'd rather not have to buy a new bucket of parts every six months, so I guess "just above the PS4" would be a reasonable target to aim for...

 

[AnthrSolidSnake]

XD at least you got A reply...I posted a topic titled pretty much the EXACT same thing and got nothing. Anyway, try IBuyPower.com It's a build your own PC type thing, and I've done a few price comparisons, and it's actually a very nice deal. I built a very powerful rig for around $1100, which would cost me about $1200-1300 getting parts myself. You also get the convenience of it being pre-installed with all the parts.

 

[Savagezion]

I'll second IBuyPower.com. It is honestly my preferred store if wanting to "build a rig". You could ask around on here if you are unsure of certain parts you want to swap in or out. The rig I am typing on now is from IBuyPower and it costed $800 but later I swapped out the graphics card for more power. (I skimped to save money on it when I got the rig.) Haven't ran into anything it can't run yet.

 

[thesilentman]

(snip)

A thousand USD is more than enough to make an awesome gaming PC that will max out everything today. No kidding. As for Alienware, I believe that they're overpriced, which is an issue for some people.

What I think you should do is look for the parts and build it yourself. It's like Legoes at this point, provided people have the proper reading skills. I think that you'll be fine though, so would you like some suggestions for parts to put in your PC? I'm more than ready to help. Just list what you'd like in your PC and we can help from there.

EDIT- Just read about the Steambox, and no. That's overpriced too. There are better ways to spend 1000 USD than on something you can't upgrade, which is a strength of the PC platform. That way, you don't have to replace the whole PC when it comes time to upgrade, you only need to upgrade one part.

Well, I guess I could try putting it together. I've never done that before, but I know how a screwdriver works, and I changed a graphics card once. As for what I'd like...um, not sure. I think I've heard PC guys find out the PS4's stats and go "meh, my computer can do better than that now." I know TotalBiscuit has often said that PC games aren't usually allowed to get too far beyond consoles graphics-wise, if only because devs want to port them, and I'd rather not have to buy a new bucket of parts every six months, so I guess "just above the PS4" would be a reasonable target to aim for...

Well, depending on what parts you have, this won't be an issue. Not all of us are interested in playing Crysis on ultra. I use a rig that was pre built in 2007 and it runs everything just fine today on medium. My only bottleneck is my GPU from 2010, as it only has 512 MBs of video memory, rather than 1 gig or more. I probably spent only 200 on it, partly to swap out the original GPU after it died and an OS upgrade. It's still going strong.

Many of the PCs are also quite powerful today, so there's no issue in grabbing a laptop that may max out a recent PC game, depending on how demanding the game is. That's a laptop, mind you. Imagine a desktop that you can build for cheaper. So I don't see the steep upgrade costs as a concern.

 

[SadisticFire]

The reason why alienware computers 'suck' is because they're flat out too expensive for whats in them. They mark up the price like, 100%, then put it in a fancy case and call it good. So I would recommend staying away from them. Toshiba i've had decent experiences with, so I recommend starting there if you want a decent gaming laptop. Though the best price is usually to build your own rig.

 

[dreadedcandiru99]

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Got it. Do you suppose there's any difference between AMD and Intel? IBuyPower.com seems to think there is...

The reason why alienware computers 'suck' is because they're flat out too expensive for whats in them. They mark up the price like, 100%, then put it in a fancy case and call it good. So I would recommend staying away from them. Toshiba i've had decent experiences with, so I recommend starting there if you want a decent gaming laptop. Though the best price is usually to build your own rig.

I might do that, if it looks like a better idea than getting one from IBuyPower.com. I've heard there are websites where you can find, like, parts lists and step-by-step instructions to do it, though I'm not sure where. And yeah, I'm leaning towards a proper desktop.

 

[thesilentman]

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Got it. Do you suppose there's any difference between AMD and Intel? IBuyPower.com seems to think there is...

Yep. AMD is better for multithreaded applications, which are CPU intensive like video editing, while Intel has better CPUs for singlethreading, which is games. That and Intel CPUs have been beating AMD for a while now if you're only interested in the pure power. Most of everything can be brute-forced in the computer world anyway, so I say go Intel. I only recommend AMD if you're going for a budget build, but since you have a 1000 USD budget, you clearly have the money to get a nice Intel CPU.

CPU Benchmarks by Passmark [http://www.cpubenchmark.net/]

GPU Benchmarks by the same guys [http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/GPU Benchmarks by the same guys]

These two sites give, respectively, rankings for CPUs and GPUs. I recommend you go look in the high end CPUs and GPUs to get an idea of what you might like. I myself lean towards an Intel i5-3570 (the K version is for overclocking, which is something I don't do) CPU and the NVidia GTX 670 for my GPU. I helped someone build that and I have a rig with those too, it's only for developer work though, so from my experience, I know it's a good value for the money.

Right there that gets you those two components for less than 600 USD, which could be even less if you looked around on sites like Newegg for deals. Everything else can comfortably fit in the remaining 400 USD, depending on your storage, RAM, case, wireless/sound cards, speakers, a monitor, etc if you know where to look.

I'll be here if you need some answers, so don't be afraid to ask.

EDIT- I asked the mods to move this thread into the Advice Forum due to what you asked. Just giving a heads up.