Anyone own a gaming PC? At the moment my mate is trying to convice me to get one by buying the parts for it cheap and then let him build it (he's built several before) so we can play online. Personally I do want one eventually, i've got the money for a basic one but what I wondered was, is it it worth it to get one? What are the best bits of it?
If you want to play PC games, you pretty much either have to buy one made specifically for gaming or build your own. Regular PCs you buy at Best Buy or whatever might be able to handle old games and maybe some newer games on low graphics settings, but if you want something comparable to console experience, then yeah. It's worth it. If you budget it right and look into combo deals on sites like Newegg, Tigerdirect, Directron, etc, you can get some great parts for a pretty cheap price. :] Just have your friend look over it before you buy everything to make sure that everything is compatible & worth your cash.
I've also found that building your own pc from scratch often times in the end can come out to be -cheaper- than buying a pre-built one. Also never buy parts from places like Best-Buy, Fry's Electronics, etc They will always be far over priced. As Misty said, your best bets would be Newegg, and Tigerdirect. I prefer Newegg though, its where I buy exclusively. You'll almost always be able to find pretty good deals on most things, and if theres not an awesome deal, then it'll usually give free shipping, etc. Good luck though, hope you enjoy the pc ^^
Building your own is significantly cheaper than buying one, as most 'gaming' computers, such as Alienware, do the job, but for double the price.
Also, it's something to note that Alienware computers apparently aren't anywhere as good, when compared to what you could get for the same price. I mean, I spent just over two grand on mine and it runs like a dream. The most expensive parts are gonna be the CPU, motherboard and power supply. Putting it together is really worth it cause when you fire it up, you look at it and you go "Yeah. That's mine. All mine."
The downside is if you screw up and fry your entire system. Then you've just lost $2,000. So you have to be careful when putting it together.
If it's a gaming PC the graphics card is going to set you back a lot, as is the RAM. The CPU and the mobo aren't that bad, especially if you go with AMD. But that's kind of a personal preference, lol. But I'd really recommend going with 8GB of RAM at least, 12 or 16 if you've got the need/the money, and that'll cost you anywhere between $200 and like $400. Power supplies I cannot really see spending more than $200 if even that. And meh, as long as you use the proper antistatic equipment and know what you're doing it's not too hard imo.
Just want to throw in that you have to make sure which version of the OS you load on it too. Say you have like 8gigs of ram but using Windows 7 32bit, its only going to support about 3gigs of that. For gaming computers I would get Win 7x64 Professional or Ultimate since they can handle I believe 192 gigs in physical memory. As for graphic cards and everything else, its just a matter of how much you're willing to spend lol.
Putting some RAM into a Macbook was more than enough for me. It's a very fragile chip, worth a lot of money, and it took a bit of force to get it to go in. I can't imagine how much more stressful putting together an entire computer must be.
Its really not THAT bad putting it together tbh, and normally ram isn't hard to get in, are you sure you were using the right format? (DDR slot can't take in a DDR2 stick, etc, then again, I have no clue what macs would use, never bothered with them, personally)
Plus if it was a laptop, the parts were probably smaller/harder to access. I can't say for sure because I've only put together desktops, but it's not that bad seating the RAM. A bit tough on the first go but it's not impossible.
Don't try and upgrade a laptop. It's better to buy a new one. About gaming copmuters, there are various hardware that can do the job. They can have some differences in price or quality, but that's not gonna give you a headache if you're aware how much you are into gaming. The most important parts of a gaming computer is the graphics card, the RAM, and the processor. Gaming computers focus more on those parts than the rest. If you're building your own, then be sure to pick up a good mobo that has more capabilities than limitations. In the end you will look into the Hard disk, the PSU, the cooling system, the CD/DVD drive, and the sound card. And if you want to make it a good gaming experience, get a nice screen with a 2.1 sound system and you're good to go. And don't forget to make it so the parts are compatibible to increase performance rather than them being completely different and causing you trouble.
Better? Yes. Cheaper? Hell no. Especially when you're on a Mac, and just want the thing to run a bit faster. (Because 1GB RAM is pathetic, and now 2GB is borderline acceptable.)
I appreciate the responses, but i'll say out right I know near nothing about the technacalities of the hardware on a PC, software I can cope with, but hardware is a big no-no. Then again this is why i'm getting my mate to do it. For cheap. Actually he's building it for free, to help matters. And yes, I am going to be building the bog standard quality of a gaming PC I can. More powerful than the average computer, but not anyway near the ultimate ones. Since PC hardware advances anyway overtime (and it become obsolete fairly quickly) I'll just be upgrading the hardware over time in line with my own income. He's given me a list of what I need and I'm wondering if I'm missing anything (he's a good guy, just forgetful): Motherboard Power Supply Graphics Card Processor RAM Case I have a monitor (my tv) a surround system and a mouse and keyboard so that's all fine. And for those people who have recommended websites, i'll note that I haven't looked at them yet but I live in the UK so I'd probably prefer buying something from here, since import taxes are ridicuosly high. So if anyone can recommend a website that delivers with no extra cost, would be a bonus and i'll love you for as long as I can remember to love you.
www.ebuyer.co.uk www.dabs.com Those are the two best I could come up with, not sure how they rank alongside Newegg itself, but from what i've heard theyre pretty decent edit: Theres also www.Scan.co.uk
You forgot an optical drive and a hard drive. If you have the need for it you can add additional hard drives/optical drives or even a floppy if you want, but those are the minimum you need. Here's a few tips for specing out each component, I'm no expert but I can hold my own, haha. CPU: The first choice you should make is what sort of CPU (Central Processing Unit) you want; they are one of if not the most important part of your computer, so choose wisely. CPUs are measured in GHz, which is the speed they process data at. The higher this number is, the faster it is; you'll probably want to look for something in the 3.0 GHz range. You should also look into getting a multi-core processor; right now I think they've got octa cores out, but I doubt you need that much. Anywhere from a dual core to a hexa core should be good. If you decide to go with Intel, you probably will get slightly faster speeds, plus it's Intel, but you're going to pay for it. If you're willing to though, go with the i5 or the i7, depending on how much you want to spend. Then there's AMD, which I personally prefer. They might not match Intel speeds, but they're a heck of a lot cheaper and you probably won't notice too much of a difference, especially if you overclock (set your CPU to run at a higher speed than intended; not recommended if you don't need it, because you'll need a good heatsink & fans and may have to replace the CPU after a while). The Phenom II hexacore at 3.2 GHz is $230, which is what I personally would recommend. You can of course go higher/lower depending on your budget. Motherboard: Now it's time to look for a motherboard! The major thing you've got to pay attention to is the socket (where you put the CPU in) type. Go to the page with your CPU, and check what sort of socket it is. Off the top of my head I believe the newer Intels use an LGA 1366 (could be wrong), and most AMDs use the AM3 socket. So make sure your motherboard has the right type. Then it really just depends on what you want. Look for DDR3 RAM, maybe USB 3.0 if you plan on using peripherals, a built in sound card if you don't want to have to buy a separate one, a PCI Express 2.0/2.1 slot (as well as a few PCIe and PCI) a built in network card so you don't have to buy one, etc. Make sure it has a few SATA ports and that it's ATX. Also take note of the power connector, which will be either 20-pin or 24-pin. That'll come into play when you're buying a PSU. Also, there's onboard video, which is basically a built in video card. Since you'll be buying a separate one you should worry about this too much, but it can be nice to have in the event that your video card fails for whatever reason--then at least you won't be completely stuck without a display. But it can make the price go up. If you want you can look for one that is SLI or Crossfire ready, meaning you can have more than one graphics card at a time. A nice idea if you need it, but by no means necessary. RAM: Not too hard. How much you get really depends on your budget; I wouldn't recommend going any less than 4GB, 8GB should be plenty. If you want to be a real badass you can go for 16GB, but that really depends on your budget. Make sure it matches your motherboard--probably you'll be looking for DDR3. Graphics Card: I honestly don't know much in the way of them, so I can't really help you here. Check out user reviews though, see what people are saying and what games they're running. Look for a PCI Express 2.0 or 2.1, depending on your motherboard. If you do choose to have more than one at once though, you'll have to buy two (or more) of the same type. Case: This is pretty easy. Just make sure it comes with a sufficient number of fans (not a big deal if it doesn't have a lot, fans are pretty cheap) and that it will fit an ATX board. Most come with front IO ports (audio jacks, USB, Firewire, etc). PSU: You should do this after you pick out a motherboard and a graphics card. The motherboard will have a 20-pin or 24-pin power connector, depending on which one you get, so make sure your PSU has the appropriate one. Also, your graphics card will likely have a minimum wattage requirement. I'd say 750W should be good enough without breaking the bank, though you could get away with less. If you're willing to spend more you could also get a modular one, which makes for nice cable management. Optical Drive: Just look for one with decent read/write speed and that is SATA. You don't need to spend much here, unless you want one that reads blu-ray. Hard Drive: Depends on how much storage you need. If you've got cash left over you could try getting an SSD, but those are really expensive right now; a regular one should serve you fine. Also make sure that this one is SATA. When you think you've got all that done, post it on some computer forums, see what people say, have them check it over, etc. And most of all, have fun! :] If you need anymore help there's plenty of guides online, and I'm sure people here including myself will be willing to lend a hand.
