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| Thread: Does anyone have any gaming computer shopping advice? |  This thread is pages long: 1 2 3 · NEXT» |
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Raelag84
Famous Hero
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posted November 14, 2013 03:36 AM |
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Does anyone have any gaming computer shopping advice?
My apologizes if this is the wrong place to discuss this, but since this is a community of gamers I thought would ask for advice on buying a gaming computer.
After many years of saving my money, and with Christmas coming I decided to "take the plunge," and get a computer specifically made for games. The problem is I don't know much about graphics cards and other requirements for the latest games. I want to get a computer that will be able to play games as long into the future as possible, but at the same time I cannot pay more then two thousand U.S. dollars. Indeed, I would like to stay under fifteen hundred dollars if possible.
There are many things I don't understand.
Is it better to get a desktop or a laptop?
How does one measure the power of a graphics card?
What kind of processor should I look for?
What is a processor?
As you can see I'm pretty helpless when it comes to computers, but if someone could assist me I would be very grateful. Thanks in advance.
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idontcare
Known Hero
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posted November 14, 2013 03:42 AM |
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buy on ebay
its saving you so much money that you dont even have to care about all the q's you'd think of. j/k
my rule is: a pc bought today should cope with the games of 2 years later
since this criterium fullfills even nonhighcost pcs, and the bottleneck is often the graphiccard i'd concentrate on that
the ram is, with 64bit(which means in reality unlimited ram) almost nothing to worrie about(because you can upgrade whenever you like), and ghz is with quadcores etc. also not thoughtworthy
just stick to ebay and avoid being ripped off
with $2k you can basicly buy a pc that can crack the davinci code 
with that kind of a budget a gaminglaptop in the range of 1k seems reasonable, maybe even a bit lower, but laptops are bad to upgrade, so i'd stick to a desktop
figuring out which is the best graphicscard takes prolly 1 search via google
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Corribus
Hero of Order
The Abyss Staring Back at You
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posted November 14, 2013 04:40 AM |
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Edited by Corribus at 05:44, 14 Nov 2013.
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Build your own. You may not save much money on your first build, but about half of the components (case, power supply, monitor, etc.) can be recycled to future rigs. In the long run it's a lot cheaper. And you can pick out exactly what you want, and you know you're getting top quality hardware.
I was a little nervous about doing it the first time, but I'm glad I did it. Newegg has lots of great bundles, as well as articles about how to do it.
EDIT: Don't get a gaming laptop. There's no such thing, as I found out the hard way.
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I'm sick of following my dreams. I'm just going to ask them where they're goin', and hook up with them later. -Mitch Hedberg
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Miru
Supreme Hero
A leaf in the river of time
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posted November 14, 2013 05:25 AM |
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Raelag84 said:
My apologizes if this is the wrong place to discuss this, but since this is a community of gamers I thought would ask for advice on buying a gaming computer.
After many years of saving my money, and with Christmas coming I decided to "take the plunge," and get a computer specifically made for games. The problem is I don't know much about graphics cards and other requirements for the latest games. I want to get a computer that will be able to play games as long into the future as possible, but at the same time I cannot pay more then two thousand U.S. dollars. Indeed, I would like to stay under fifteen hundred dollars if possible.
There are many things I don't understand.
Is it better to get a desktop or a laptop?
How does one measure the power of a graphics card?
What kind of processor should I look for?
What is a processor?
As you can see I'm pretty helpless when it comes to computers, but if someone could assist me I would be very grateful. Thanks in advance.
Unless you plan on playing video games outside of your home (eg at college) a lot, there is not much of a point in getting a laptop. Laptops costs twice as much as premade desktops, which in turn cost twice as much as hand made desktops (that is actually a very accurate approximation, I have done multiple comparisons).
Graphics cards don't have a single number which you can compare, but you can use benchmarking tools. Note that if you Google benchmarking the top results are actually owned by Intel and thus are not entirely reliable for cross company comparisons.
For your processor unless you are spending more than 1000$ you want to get a 4 core by AMD. If you are spending 1000-2000$ you want a 6 or 8 core by AMD. If you are spending more than that you need Intel.
For a 1070$ computer expect to spend roughly
250$ CPU
200$ GFX card
150$ Motherboard
90$ RAM
70$ HDD
70$ SSD
60$ Case
40$ PSU
30$ Wireless thing
20$ DVD drive
20$ Fans
100$+ tax and shipping yay
Use newegg. Buy products made by Rosewill whenever possible. Rosewill is one of few reliable honest companies that I support. They make products that are second usually only to the top-of-the-line German stuff, and are also very cheap. Every component or peripheral for my current computer that I can, I got from Rosewill. I have been buying their products for 6 years and they only once disappointed, and that was only because I grew to have insane expectations from them.
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I wish I were employed by a stupendous paragraph, with capitalized English words and expressions.
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Corribus
Hero of Order
The Abyss Staring Back at You
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posted November 14, 2013 05:45 AM |
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I could be wrong, but Rosewill is Newegg's house brand, no? When I put mine together, I bought a few of their parts, and wasn't disappointed.
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I'm sick of following my dreams. I'm just going to ask them where they're goin', and hook up with them later. -Mitch Hedberg
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JoonasTo
Responsible
Undefeatable Hero
What if Elvin was female?
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posted November 14, 2013 06:15 AM |
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R9 290 is currently so ridiculously ahead of every other card in price/performance ratio that any gaming computer above 1000 dollars should have one.
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DON'T BE A NOOB, JOIN A.D.V.E.N.T.U.R.E.
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mvassilev
Responsible
Undefeatable Hero
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posted November 14, 2013 06:28 AM |
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The 290 is nice, but apparently it's really loud, so that's worth keeping in mind.
Do you have a monitor, a keyboard, a mouse, and a Windows install disk?
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Eccentric Opinion
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Miru
Supreme Hero
A leaf in the river of time
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posted November 14, 2013 07:26 AM |
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Corribus said:
I could be wrong, but Rosewill is Newegg's house brand, no? When I put mine together, I bought a few of their parts, and wasn't disappointed.
Rosewill is technically not a brand, they are a rebrander, and yes they are for Newegg. But the products they put their name on are solid.
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I wish I were employed by a stupendous paragraph, with capitalized English words and expressions.
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DagothGares
Responsible
Undefeatable Hero
No gods or kings
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posted November 14, 2013 12:53 PM |
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I used this site.
Building your own PC is kind of stressful. Make sure to be aware of static charge, don't touch the underside of the processor chip and when applying the conductive paste, make sure you don't do too much or too little. It taught me a lot about what's exactly inside my computer and how it works, so it's something I recommend you do. Also, upgrades will go easier.
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If you have any more questions, go to Dagoth Cares.
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Raelag84
Famous Hero
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posted November 14, 2013 03:02 PM |
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mvassilev said:
The 290 is nice, but apparently it's really loud, so that's worth keeping in mind.
Do you have a monitor, a keyboard, a mouse, and a Windows install disk?
Nope, nope, nope and nope. If I got a desktop I would have to get all the parts. I've been using laptops for years now.
Anyways, the consensus seems to be that I should build my own desktop. That sounds like a frightening prospect for someone like me who knows very so little about computers.
Nevertheless I do like saving money, so at the very least I will research the links given and see what I can do.
Thanks everyone.
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JollyJoker
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
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posted November 14, 2013 03:17 PM |
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It basically depends on how much money you want to spend.
Now, the thing to keep in mind is, that the technology is advancing quite fast, while PC gaming is somewhat undergoing a massive change. If I'm not completely wrong the industry will concentrate on
a) bringing games to smartphones and tablets and
b) to your TV
If you look at TVs, for example, Amazon sold the LG 6608 for 399 € - it comes with WLAN 1920y1080 resolution a double-core processor 400 Hz rate and full 3d-technology, which may not be quite enough power to play more complex online-games RIGHT NOW, but more expensive TVs have better processors.
Bottom line is, that PCs are somewhat dying out between smartphone/tablets on one hand and your multitasking TV on the other.
That in turn means, you may not want to FULLY commit at this point.
Depending on what games you really like, if it must be a PC, you may want to buy used.
What country are you living in and what kind of money do you want to spend?
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Adrius
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
Stand and fight!
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posted November 14, 2013 03:19 PM |
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JoonasTo said:
R9 290 is currently so ridiculously ahead of every other card in price/performance ratio that any gaming computer above 1000 dollars should have one.
Damn right, Sapphire.
Hell my Sapphire Radeon HD5850 Xtreme 1GB is still doing well o___O
Shameless self advertisement but Shares and others did make very good posts on building your own rig in my thread. Worth checking out.
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JollyJoker
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
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posted November 14, 2013 03:36 PM |
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Corribus said:
EDIT: Don't get a gaming laptop. There's no such thing, as I found out the hard way.
There is. It just depends.
Take for example those beauties here
nothing for a US resident, sure, but my wife configurated herself with the 3rd generation i7s, and that baby is managing Civ 4 with Rise of Mankind mod on all card sizes, no matter the number of cities, without getting even loud.
If you like to play some when you are on vacation, there is no way round a notebook.
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Raelag84
Famous Hero
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posted November 14, 2013 05:41 PM |
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JollyJoker said:
What country are you living in and what kind of money do you want to spend?
I live in the U.S. and I am able to spend $2,000 on this computer, but I would really like to stay $1,500 or under if at all possible. I've come into some money you see, but I am not exactly rich ether.
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mvassilev
Responsible
Undefeatable Hero
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posted November 14, 2013 05:59 PM |
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He also needs to buy Windows and a monitor, and just that adds up to $300, if not more. It's not overkill to spend that much money if you'll be gaming on a nice 2560x1440 screen.
By the way, a good monitor is definitely worth it, since you'll be looking at it all the time. The consideration, besides price, is space - would you have room on your desk for a 27" screen? If so, get one, because big screens really do make a difference, assuming the quality isn't bad. Just make sure to get one with a resolution of 2560x1440 or more.
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Eccentric Opinion
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Adrius
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
Stand and fight!
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posted November 14, 2013 06:07 PM |
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Edited by Adrius at 18:07, 14 Nov 2013.
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My money conversion rates were messed up, realized it was not overkill and deleted my reply.
1000 USD was about what I spent on the rig I built.
Personally I use a 24" monitor and think it's more than enough 
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JoonasTo
Responsible
Undefeatable Hero
What if Elvin was female?
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posted November 14, 2013 06:15 PM |
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mvassilev said:
He also needs to buy Windows and a monitor, and just that adds up to $300, if not more. It's not overkill to spend that much money if you'll be gaming on a nice 2560x1440 screen.
By the way, a good monitor is definitely worth it, since you'll be looking at it all the time. The consideration, besides price, is space - would you have room on your desk for a 27" screen? If so, get one, because big screens really do make a difference, assuming the quality isn't bad. Just make sure to get one with a resolution of 2560x1440 or more.
I would advice against resolutions higher than 1920x1080. While it is really nice as Mvass said, the problem comes with the modern lcd screens still being horrible at upscaling the image. And with 2560x1440 resolution, you will find that your graphics card will be a lot shorter lived. 2560x1440 result in about 1/3rd lower performance in games.
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DON'T BE A NOOB, JOIN A.D.V.E.N.T.U.R.E.
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DieDevil
Adventuring Hero
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posted November 14, 2013 07:14 PM |
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For processor, I would go with either the current generation i5 or i3, depending on how much money you're willing to spend. Definitely not the i7 though (it's more for video rendering).
Best bang for the buck for your graphics card will be either the GTX 670 at 269$ or a GTX 770 (20% more powerful). I'd go with 770 (last longer, more powerful + only a bit more expensive).
Get at least 6 GB of memory.
Oh, and you'll want to build this computer (pretty easy after a few youtube videos)
any questions, just ask!
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Celfious
Promising
Legendary Hero
From earth
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posted November 14, 2013 07:30 PM |
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Edited by Celfious at 19:32, 14 Nov 2013.
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I would sell my laptop which has the internal properties to handle games such as WoW, Homm6, Fallout3 etc..
Toshiba Satellite L875D-S7332
AMD Vision A6
I doubt we are talking business when I say this. I dont foresee us making a transaction.
And obviously its functional but not brag worthy so I am not bragging okay lol
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What are you up to
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mvassilev
Responsible
Undefeatable Hero
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posted November 14, 2013 08:53 PM |
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Here is a suggested parts list, fitting in just under $2000. It's expensive, yes, but it comes with a really nice monitor, and a graphics card that will be able to play 2560x1440 without any problems. Speakers not included, because I don't know much about them.
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Eccentric Opinion
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