Thinking of building/getting a PC for gaming....need help.

[padman59]

in the long run, I want to get a monitor. Looks like I'm going to have to start reading pc gaming mags and searching the internet, which is fine since it will be months out before I get anything.

Reddit is a good source. You can see users' builds (and others' opinions) and prices, and they link to some good tutorials.

http://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc/

[jms493]

[jms493]

Ryne....I watched and use these videos for my first computer build....it was pretty easy....it was fun too! I had zero experience prior to my build.

[padman59]

Also, don't forget about the operating system. I imagine you'll go with Windows 7, and you'll want to install the 64-bit version so you can have more than 3 GB of RAM. If you know a college student, see if they'll check the price at their book store and pick up a copy for you because students usually get a good discount.

[Maynard]

yeah, dont forget the OS....thats another $100. See the costs keep adding up. At the end of the day you might decide its not worth it to play a few sports games with mods and a buggy as fuck game like skyrim..i actually paid for skyrim on the PC and its got some kick ass mods, but its also a hell of a lot more buggy than the 360 version.

now if plan to be one of the torrent gamers....like padman...then you wont pay for any games

[padman59]

yeah, dont forget the OS....thats another $100. See the costs keep adding up. At the end of the day you might decide its not worth it to play a few sports games with mods and a buggy as fuck game like skyrim..i actually paid for skyrim on the PC and its got some kick ass mods, but its also a hell of a lot more buggy than the 360 version.

now if plan to be one of the torrent gamers....like padman...then you wont pay for any games

[ryne candy]

Ryne....I watched and use these videos for my first computer build....it was pretty easy....it was fun too! I had zero experience prior to my build.

I'll watch them soon.

Also, don't forget about the operating system. I imagine you'll go with Windows 7, and you'll want to install the 64-bit version so you can have more than 3 GB of RAM. If you know a college student, see if they'll check the price at their book store and pick up a copy for you because students usually get a good discount.

The wife works for a University, so she gets our Mac stuff for cheap.

[Bigpapa42]

I built a gaming PC about 18 months ago. First time build and it went smooth as hell. Haven't had a real problem with it yet. I ordered everything from Newegg. Spent a few hours one night with a couple of buddies putting it all together. They didn't have much experience either but we made it work. I ended up spending about $2k total, but that includes absolutely everything - the entire rig, OS, two 24" monitors, mechanical keyboard, decent mouse, and shipping costs for all the components. It was/is overkill for what I do, but it handles everything I throw at it without complaint and I haven't had to upgrade a thing yet.

Some tips from my experience...

-read. Read. And then read some more. Since you're doing it down the road, that gives you plenty of time to plan. Read product reviews. Check out forums. There are websites dedicated to making suggestions and helping out new builders. If you read a negative review on something, don't panic and dismiss it. Many gaming PC product are pretty specialized and that means that they may be designed to appeal to a specific demographic or work ideally for certain purposes. And sometimes the product is just crap. One bad review doesn't tell you that, though - many bad reviews does.

-as already recommended, videos are a great tool. Fantastic. I was way more comfortable with the assembly process because of the number of videos I watched. While assembling, my CPU cooler came with terrible instructions but I found a great assembly video on the manufacturer's website. Problem solved. I also found the manual for my motherboard in PDF form on the manufacturer's site and spent some time reading it before I ever got the motherboard. Due to that, I was pretty familiar with all the wiring hookups, which is probably the most complicated aspect of a build.

-when planning, be realistic about what you want to do. That can save you some money and effort. If you don't ever plan to overclock, an aftermarket CPU cooler really isn't necessary (unless you will keep the system in a really warm environment). If you change your mind, you can always install one later, but that usually means pulling out the mobo. Whereas adding additional RAM is usually drop in and very easy (unless your cooler covers the slots). Adding an additional hard drive is usually very to install so long as you space for it.