Need good gaming computer to ditch consoles

MainManiac

So I have a $600-800 budget to try and get a good gaming rig, and im not the best at hardware so no building from scratch, even though its the best possible solution. Id prefer buying a decent desktop maybe 2.5-3.0ghz, few gb of ram, and switching out the graphics card to something that could easily run the majority of the games out there today.

I already have a mouse, monitor, speakers, and keyboard. Monitor is 1600x900

I want to try and get the desktop and the cards from a local Best Buy for the simple fact that its readily available and I can easily return components.

So looking online this was the first computer I saw, its basically an all in one package and I wouldn't be able to pay for a new graphics card for it:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Asus+-+Essentio+Desktop+/+Intel%26%23174%3B+Core%26%23153%3B+i7+Processor+/+8GB+Memory+/+1TB+Hard+Drive/2634096.p?id=1218341074379&skuId=2634096

It comes with a GT 530, and by a quick google search it was said to be a low end card.


Heres my second finding: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/HP+-+Pavilion+Desktop+/+AMD+Athlon%26%23153%3B+II+Quad-Core+Processor+/+6GB+Memory+/+1TB+Hard+Drive/2670319.p?id=1218343206257&skuId=2670319

Id probably put in a GTX 480 (if I can, halp) or any other high graphics card.


It seems like theres SO MANY different graphics cards I am honestly lost, so please help.


For comparison, im trying to beat my old laptop http://img829.imageshack.us/img829/9769/specse.png obviously the fact that its a laptop immediately jumped the price tag, as my current laptop was $1200. But desktops are so much easier to customize and alot cheaper.

R3D

Here's a decent guide, most of these parts should be a little bit cheaper atm. It's always cheaper to buy the parts separately.

greevar

Don't buy a prebuilt PC, you'll regret it. Even if you've never built before, you'll get a better product than if you buy a complete PC. They cut corners to keep the cost down and leave you with lower quality. Buy parts and assemble it yourself. It will serve you better and last much longer. Plus, you'll know exactly what's in your machine. There are plenty of tutorials and forums where you can get information on building your own PC. If you can read, you can build it.

Habboi

I've been happy with my Dell for the past 3 years. At one point my GFX 8800 GTX died and they replaced the motherboard, GFX (285 GTX) and RAM for free. Well, as long as you count the 100 pounds a year fee which is nothing. But yeah, if you can get a friend to build you a PC then that's the best way to go.

I'm no technician either so I stick to pre-built for the sole sake of cover if it ever breaks down.

Slum

The last few times I've gotten a PC upgrade, I go with a barebones system from one of the highly rated ebay sellers. You get a case, power supply, motherboard (and CPU if you want) all hooked up and tested/guaranteed. Then I just use my own hard drive, video card, dvd drive, etc. Its cheap and easy

Ghostscape

If you've ever upgraded a PC, actually assembling one is simple. The only thing you haven't already done is seating a CPU which is actually dirt simple - everything else is just slotting something into the appropriate slot and/or plugging in the appropriate cables.

building your own PC for the first time can be daunting especially when you hear horror stories about someone fucking up their CPU but that takes a significant amount of carelessness

Two Listen

I recently built my wife a computer, prior to this she was running a 7 year old Dell. It held up well over the years but let's face it, a Radeon 9800 and DDR ram just doesn't cut it these days. I'm not a computer wiz by any stretch of the imagination, but here's what I went with:

These are the parts I bought (from Newegg):

Motherboard
Case
RAM
Hard Drive
CPU
Power Supply
DVD Drive
Video Card

The total for all that including shipping came to roughly ~$825, shipping included. You could easily save some money and get that down below $800 with a different video card, probably lower wattage PSU if you can manage it, different CPU, etc. But there's that as a general idea. Might want to look into nVidia cards if you'll be doing 3D art on the same machine.

I just wanted her to be ready for Skyrim when it came out.

Also, don't be intimidated by the sound of "building your own computer". I put my first computer together two years ago, the one I'm using now, and it's about as simple as legos. Most cases these days come with tooless drive bays and hard drive cages, literally just slide them in. The motherboard you just screw in, and the rest you just pop or plug into place. 90% of it only fits into one place, so it's pretty easy. Motherboards also usually come with VERY detailed instruction manuals, with every nook and cranny labeled and explained.

RexM

Be ready for Skyrim, eh?

That computer will be ready for Battlefield 3....


Yes, I also say to build your own computer. Here is what I want to get in the next couple of months. Before, to get the top of the line custom built computer like this, it used to cost $2000+.... now you can easily swing it at $1000 or even cheaper, and we're talking about very top of the line. Of course you can go over $1000 with SLI, an extreme edition CPU for insane overclocking, but I don't see those things as being necessary at all - unless you are doing SLI with a couple of cheaper cards that together outperform a more expensive card.

I'm all about bang for your buck.

I will be upgrading from this:

CPU: E5200 @ 2.5 Ghz
RAM: 4 GB RAM
Video Card: 8800 GTS 640 MB (G80)
60 GB HDD
80 GB HDD

To this:
CPU: i5 2500k @ 3.3 Ghz (3.7 Ghz with turbo boost)
Mobo: ASUS P8P67 PRO (REV 3.0) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX
RAM: 16 GB RAM G.Skill RipJaw Series (decided to go with this much ram for 3D apps)
Video Card: GTX 560 Ti 1 GB VRAM
Hard Drive: 1 TB
Power Supply: OCZ ModXStream Pro 700W Modular

Total for new computer: $1,004.94

Good price for something that'll max BF3.

Then I am going to top off the new computer purchase with a 40" LCD TV I am going to use as a monitor.

Habboi

I think you're also going to have to buy a sofa and a large room for a screen that big I have a friend who used to use a stupidly big monitor in a closet sized room. But damn 16 GB, does it get much better than that.

RexM

The room isn't very big, but it is a reasonably-sized bedroom. The 40" will fit perfectly in a corner I have for it.

The 16 GB of RAM is only $150 too, for DDR3. G.Skill RipJaw series with RAM sinks.

I figured that I would need that much RAM since I am also going to go dual monitor ( that 40" plus a 19") to help streamline my 3D workflows... so I can keep any program I need open all the time. The 40" will only be $400 too, and it is 1080p.

Technology rocks. Battlefield 3 on this system on the 40" screen will be NUTS. I can't wait. Then there's RAGE, Deus Ex, oh man... so many good games...

Then I will top off the experience with my 5.1 Logitech surround sound. Gonna be some insane gaming experiences in the future.

LMP

40"? I think I must have a different philosophy on monitors. I'm running a 23" (2048x1152) and a 21.5" (1080). The pixel pitch (size of the pixel) is tiny. I absolutely love the sharp picture, I can play without Anti-aliasing on at times.

greevar

LMP wrote: »

40"? I think I must have a different philosophy on monitors. I'm running a 23" (2048x1152) and a 21.5" (1080). The pixel pitch (size of the pixel) is tiny. I absolutely love the sharp picture, I can play without Anti-aliasing on at times.

More displays is always better than bigger.