Oh master race please help a lowly peasant

[IceStar100]

I have been a console user my whole life. I?m just not feeling it this time and after seeing some of the mod for Skyrim well I want to join the master pc race. The only real problem is I am over whelmed. Just trying to keep up is enough to get a guy?s head spinning. I tried to google it but yeah now I?m even more confused.
The fact is this should I go pc and if I do will it be a major draw. I have a job and other responsibility. To me gaming is something I do to relax and the pc gaming just seems to add new stress. If I should go for the pc master race where do I even start?

 

[Orange12345]

Well that would really depend on a lot of things, how much are you willing to spend? do you want a laptop or a desktop?, would you be interested in building your own? is this primarily for gaming or will you be using it for work related things?

I built my own recently and going in I had little to no knowledge of what any parts did or meant but I had very little trouble and even some fun putting my rig together. Believe me when going into this stuff it can be overwhelming to figure out what you want/need but it will all start to make sense.

 

[Windcaler]

Well to start you can drop the whole PC gaming master race thing. At best most of us use it as a harmless joke

Theres really 2 ways to get started. The first way is to buy a prebuilt PC at an online or physical retailer. The second is to build your own but requires some knowledge and research (which sounds more intimdating then it really is). At this point we really just need to know what your budget is and what kind of games you want it to run. If you build it yourself a medicore PC, last I looked, could be built for just under $500 but a state of the art one would run around $2800-3000

 

[lacktheknack]

Budget, pls.

If it's really small, don't worry. This $400 laptop can run Skyrim (with optimization mods). Still, giving us a budget would really help us target a good computer for you.

 

[T_ConX]

I built my first gaming PC a year and a half ago. I love it. I haven't had a single new game recommend anything less than very high settings. I'm looking forward to pulling off a major sometime around the time Watch_Doges come out.

But that wonderful experience was also preceded by a lot of stress. Picking parts is a nightmare. You never know what the sweet spot is. Are you buying too little power? Too much? Are these parts compatible?

And then there's the four hours I spent putting it all together.

PCGamer Magazine puts out a pretty good quarterly special called 'Build Your Own Gaming PC'. It documents just about everything you need to know, from part recommendations for various price ranges and a complete guide for putting it together. I had this thing right next to me for those four long hours.

Trust me man, it's worth the effort.

 

[scorptatious]

I'm in the same boat right now and thinking about making my own PC.

I'm currently using this guide:

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.409043-An-introductory-guide-to-the-world-of-PC-gaming-including-DIY-and-maintenance-with-usergroup

Hope this helps!

 

[IceStar100]

The budgets not really a thing to me. worst-case scenario I'll save up. I have to discipline tell when I really want something not to get the impulse buying. I thought about doing something like Alienware but I've also been told it's really not worthwhile I prefer to do a desktop so I can hook it up to a TV like a console also this is going to be just a gaming PC I have my laptop for work The main thing I don't have is a lot of free time If it comes down to it like a sad rather just go ahead and get a people one but like I said I don't want something. That I might as well get an Xbox or PlayStation. I like to access steam of course and I take a real interest in the India market you have any other questions feel free to ask and I'll do my best to answer

I just Lohart understand but this is being done on the phone so

 

[SeventhSigil]

Definitely understand the feeling, I'm planning to jump to PC gaming as well- although I'll probably get a PS4 for the exclusives- but it's not a terribly immediate plan. Mostly what's driving it right now is Star Citizen, and it's going to be over a year or so before that even comes close to leaving Beta. Because there's no solid idea of the ideal system requirements for it, I figured that there is probably a lot of sense in waiting, not only to have a better idea of what specs SC will work with, but also because there's always a chance that PC parts will drop a bit further in price in the year or so involved.

I've definitely decided I'm going to build my own rig though, and fortunately I know a couple of people with experience who will be able to help me get through the thorny parts.

 

[aozgolo]

While some PC Gamers like to remain current, many many of them only upgrade their machines with about the same frequency that console makers release new systems, making the price point of new hardware somewhat null between the PC and Console market to be honest. The thing about PC Hardware, the quality difference gets shallower as the prices rocket upwards. If you just want a PC to be comparable with modern new consoles you shouldn't need to spend very much more than those new consoles to get it (they're basically pre-configured PCs now anyways).

Building yourself does take some know-how of what each part is and how it works, and of course making sure you get EVERYTHING ahead of time, it sucks to have everything ready to go only to find out you're missing a CPU Fan or some other small detail. As far as putting it together... well really the ONLY tool needed at all is a small phillips screw-driver, the rest is just knowing which part connects to what. That's not rocket science though, it's similar to hooking up a home entertainment center, except on a small scale inside a box.

You can buy pre-fab PCs but you WILL be paying a pricetag for assembly on those, plus in some cases you pay a premium for a namebrand (Alienware computers look amazing but you can build one yourself for like $1,000 less than what they charge).

The big bonus of PC Gaming though is you can often find waaay better deals for PC Games than console ones, and if you don't mind digital distribution, you have even MORE options.

 

[Amaror]

http://pcpartpicker.com/

This helps a lot with picking parts if you want to build your own one.
The parts were you need to look for compatability is cpu, mainboard and ram.
It's best to first look for a cpu you want to have, remember the slot kind it has. Then pick a mainboard that supports that cpu, then pick up some ram that supports that mainboard. Just look out a bit that you don't get a powerthingie, don't know the english word right now, that's too weak to support your stuff, mostly the gpu. Luckily the gpu should fit into any modern mainboard, so you don't have to worry about compatability there.

 

[Raioken18]

Yeah very few PC gamers think of themselves as a master race, and quite a few own consoles as well as a PC.

The thing about PC's is...

Sure there's the graphics running insane types, but there are other benefits. Also maxing out graphics is only usually something that will come into effect for larger titles.

You'll have access to a lot of indie titles, and all your games are compatible, you don't have to re-buy them for each generation. (This really got to me when I went PS2 to PS3...).

Generally for a half decent computer built for you it's going to be around $800-1000 (I live in Australia the prices are a bit inflated unless you import parts yourself). Mind you for that price you can get a rig that will see you on medium settings for at least the next generation.

Steam! Despite what a lot of people say Steam is pretty brilliant for gamers. It's backup and restore allows you to get friends to transfer games they already have or to download them for you. It keeps a record of all the games you own and that record follows you between devices. One piece of advice, avoid buying AAA titles off steam, for some weird reason the pricing is insane like $20 more than if you just bought retail. If you give it a few months it simmers down.

Judging by your post you aren't really going to be able to get into the MMO scene, but there are plenty of arcade and unwindey titles on steam and the like.

 

[Neonsilver]

Well, first thing, I would advice to build your own pc. It was already mentioned that the needed research isn't as bad as it sounds. My advice for that would be look up some prebuilt pcs and research the components of it. Even if you just copy a prebuilt system you could already save money, but it also provides you a base for your pc that you can modify to suit your needs. For possible modifications look at older or newer components than those in the built. The price rises often with relative minor improvements to the hardware. Alternatively to using a prebuilt pc as base, look in different pc magazines. There are sometimes guides for selfbuilt pcs.

Once you got the hardware install the os, current drivers and whatever else you need.

If you have errors look them up with google, it's surprising for how many problems you can find quick solutions this way.

 

[AnthrSolidSnake]

I want to help! (based off my experience, please feel free to politely correct me if anything I say seems wrong)

1. Try to stay away from Alienware stuff. My friend bought one for well over $1200, and I built a very similar system for around $800. (using some lesser brand RAM though)

2. Graphics card is very important. Don't misunderstand, a good CPU is important too, especially for games that use the CPU more, but overall, a graphics card is something you DO NOT want to go cheap on. That i7 or AMD 8350 can only go so far on its own.

3. Also don't go cheap on a power supply. If you don't plan on building the computer yourself, rest assured that most prebuilt machines will already contain a very decent quality PSU. However, if you do build it yourself, whether now or later on, a cheap power supply could potentially ruin your day. I've made that mistake at least twice, with power supplies dying, and even destroying my GTX 480 a few years ago.

4. Compatibility is very important. Not just any CPU can go into any motherboard. Some people would consider this to be PC building fundamentals, but when I first started building, I made this mistake and wasted a bit of money I didn't need to. An AMD CPU won't fit into an Intel motherboard, and vice versa. Simply check the socket of the CPU you want first, for example, an AMD with AM3+ will only go into a motherboard with a AM3+ socket on it.

5. You will not always need to keep 100% current with your computer in order to get a great gaming experience. I hate people who misunderstand this. I had one friend completely convinced that you needed to spend at least $600 on a new graphics card every year. This is completely wrong. If you buy a high end, or even mid range card to begin with, you'll potentially won't need to upgrade for a couple years. If I still had my GTX 480, it would STILL be able to play games today at probably their max settings, though not guranteed 60FPS.


That's all I can really think of off the top of my head...it's family time today, so I can't sit here forever thinking of this stuff. The rest if pretty much just stuff you can Google, and then just play giant Legos putting everything in. I'm sure everyone else here could help you more than I can right now.

 

[Phrozenflame500]

Alright, here's what you do.

1. Build don't buy.
2. Build don't buy, no really the savings is worth the trouble and it'll familiarize yourself with the computer.
3. Get a budget. Even if it's arbitrary, it will help you pick parts better.
4. Read guides online to get a sense on what each part does and what you want. <a href=http://www.logicalincrements.com>This guide is one of the best out there, you can also ask in the <a href=http://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc>Build a PC subreddit.
5. <a href=http://PCpartpicker.com>PCpartpicker will help you pick parts after you know what's good for you.
6. Pray to GabeN, then brag to all your dirty console peasant friends how superior you are to them.

Misc Tips:
You won't need more then 8gb of RAM for gaming.

GPU>all for gaming, although don't cheap out too much on the CPU/Mobo.

Get a good PSU, leave plenty of headroom. Corsair and SeaSonic are good brands.

As a general rule, AMD makes the less powerful CPU/GPUs but with a higher price/performance, while Intel/Nvidia is vice-versa.

 

[JUMBO PALACE]

I recently made a thread about my new found woes after building a Pc. but you know what? I just bought a new graphics card from newegg because despite the new (minor) headaches, the PC is just awesome. It looks prettier, there's so much more functionality, sales on steam are amazing, and it's fun to take pride in my rig and make it my own. I had a friend who knew about computers help me build mine and yeah it was a little stressful, but there's plenty of walk-througs online, especially on youtube, that are incredibly helpful. Honestly, if you want to get on the PC bandwagon I say do it. You get a much more powerful, open gaming platform that you can take pride in building/customizing. Post up a budget and we can help you.

My setup:
gtx 770 (just ordered)
i5-4670k OC to 4.0 ghz
16gb RAM

 

[Gennadios]

I say don't bother building unless saving ~$150 will make or break you. It's your first time and system spec pissing contests won't do anything but turn you away.

Point is, an $800-$1,000 dollar tower will run games at high settings for 3-4 years and then you may need to start playing around with video settings to get a decent framerate.

Stay away from Dellienware.

Get a system with an Nvidia card. ATI has been... meh.

Install Steam and start your PC gaming experience with that. It'll have awesome sales up to the new year so you have a month window to get a PC. Installation is piss easy, buy the game, choose install, wait an hour for it to download. Press play.

Be prepared to ditch CD's completely and rely mostly on digital distribution. I haven't seen a decent PC game display at any stores for close to a decade now. A few months ago I found out my CD Rom drive doesn't work. I've had my laptop for two years and that was the first time I tried to use a CD:-/

Them's the basics.

 

[IceStar100]

First off I want to say thank you to everybody who's been helpful also I hope this helps others in the future but as I said before I don't have the time or the patience to build one and money is not an object for me mainly a bike telling me to stay away from Dell Alienware so I'm not quite sure where to find prebuilt gaming Rigs why I'm saying yes money is an object I've never been one to buy a Rolex when a timeX will do the same thing

 

[AnthrSolidSnake]

First off I want to say thank you to everybody who's been helpful also I hope this helps others in the future but as I said before I don't have the time or the patience to build one and money is not an object for me mainly a bike telling me to stay away from Dell Alienware so I'm not quite sure where to find prebuilt gaming Rigs why I'm saying yes money is an object I've never been one to buy a Rolex when a timeX will do the same thing

Since you're going prebuilt, I'd recommend IBuyPower.com
My friend has bought a great PC from there and you simply pick the parts you want and they build it for you, ship it nicely, and you're good to go. As far as prebuilt machines go, they seem to be the best as far as price is concerned, plus they can potentially give you a lot of free games.