Building a Gaming PC

[blizack]

Okay, hypothetically speaking, let's say I wanted to get a gaming PC, and that it needed to meet these requirements (including the "recommended" ones):

Recommended:

3 Ghz Intel Pentium 4 or equivalent processor
1 GB System RAM
ATI X800 series, NVIDIA GeForce 6800 series, or higher video card

Minimum System Requirements:

Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows XP 64-bit
512MB System RAM
2 Ghz Intel Pentium 4 or equivalent processor
128MB Direct3D compatible video card
and DirectX 9.0 compatible driver;
8x DVD-ROM drive
4.6 GB free hard disk space
DirectX 9.0c (included)
DirectX 8.1 compatible sound card
Keyboard, Mouse

Assuming that I had nothing to begin with - no mouse, no keyboard, no monitor, etcetera... roughly how much would it cost me, at a minimum? And where would I be able to get such a thing (preferably online)?

Thanks.

PS - If you can't tell, I'm an absolute noob when it comes to non-console video games, and I'm a Mac user, so please be kind.

[bbcisdabomb]

Well, first of all, which game is this? A lot of games work very well on lower than reccommended processors, such as Bet on Soldier: Blood Sport (which has almost these exact requrements). You can get all the stuff online at Newegg, which is where I shop, so I'll post a wishlist soon.

EDIT: Okay, I think I got everything. I'm prone to forgetting things, but I covered my bases this time. Keep in mind that this is really just a barebones, upper-middle gaming computer, it won't play everything on max. It should do fine for most things, though. Your subtotal, not including shipping, would be $624, which is not a bad price at all. I only put in one gig of RAM, which should be enough. The video card should do you fine, but you would do well upgrading it to a 7600 or an 8600 if you want to keep this computer around for a while. I put in an IDE cable, which might come with the motherboard or case, but this way your bases are covered.
The case is going to be pretty crappy, and the price doesn't give me a lot of hope for the quality of the power supply. I quoted a 450W power supply for you, which will serve this computer quite well.
If this is going to be mainly for gaming, you won't need too much harddrive space. I put in an 80 gig harddrive, which may or may not be enough. Personally, I have 200 gigs of space, and it's enough for me, but YMMV.
I put in the 65W version of the processor, even though it is about five dollars more (I believe.) After getting the same processor myself, I honestly think it is a worthy investment. It uses less power, which means lower power bills from the computer and lower heat emissions from the computer. Believe me, you'll know the difference when your CPU is idling at 37C and your video card is higher than that.

Finally, I wouldn't recommend buying a generic keyboard and mouse over the internet. If it's a gaming mouse, fine, but for a generic? Get it from Office Depot or something and save yourself a few bucks. Even better, look for a surplus sale somewhere and buy your keyboard and monitor there. I got my monitor, keyboard, and a spare mouse for $5 at my high school's surplus sale. They work fine, even if my mouse is a ball type.

Good luck on your first move into the world of PC gaming. I hope you stay a while, come for the fun, and if you have any problems at all, drop me a PM.

EDIT EDIT: Aaand I forgot the link to the wishlist. It's here (http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2+50001028+40000343+1050717007+1302820275+105101299&Configurator=&Subcategory=343&description=&Ntk=&srchInDesc=).

[IceShadow]

You could probably get a Dell with those specs for under $500.

[CaptainOne]

I would recommend going with a Dell XPS or an Alienware computer.
bbcisdabomb did a great job above getting you the components at a great deal. I buy pretty much all of my computer stuff from NewEgg. I would assume though, from the sounds of your original post, that you would not be building this computer yourself. In that case, you don't have many options to get yourself a really good gaming machine on the cheap. The other problem you will have is warranty. It's great to build your own PC, and not really that hard, but when something goes wrong there is no easy Dell 800 number to call.
I've never bought anything from these guys, but their stuff looks pretty good and affordable.
http://www.vigorgaming.com/

Good luck!

[Eldoria]

Hi there,

You can get a lot of good deals at www.frys.com They have a fairly nice selection of desktops.

Also, if you are a Costco member, they offer free shipping with orders (and you can return it to any of their warehouses if you needed to take advantage of their return policy).

William

[blizack]

Thanks for all the info, everybody. I really appreciate the help!

[Gaming Geek]

Ok, I did this two years back.

Even if you know next to nothing about opening a computer up....let me tell you that it's VERY easy. The hardest part with the modern system is wraping the wiring around so that there's no blockage!

They went and idiot-proofed the whole thing. :p Well, until the next bigger idiot arives anyways. ;)


Ok, right off the bat...Any modern duel-core CPU will easily exceed that CPU setting. 1 gig is the LEAST YOU EVER WANT in any Windows system. Try aiming for 2 gig if you're building a system today.

You can find some decent deals at places like Frys, or at various online retailers. I had some good experiences with online parts this last time. Ok, I admit that it was annoying waiting for the parts to arrive... but when they did, everything was there.


Gaming system. Since you're starting from nothing.....there are a few things that a gamer needs for a computer.

Video

Memory

and CPU.

Seriously. Games will mainly be using your video card, so try to get a good one with a decent amount of on-board memory. I'll leave it to you if you want to get the top top end stuff, or something more affordable. If you don't want to be ungrading in the next few years, look for something that can handle the current largest game on the market.

Memory is second for your rig. Your CPU is important, but with the current models that are on the market....well, there's not much difference anymore (unless you HAVE to have the fastest overclocked thing out there). Memory on the other hand is key for your gaming experience. Try to get the fastest chip that your motherboard can handle....and try to have as much as you can afford. 1 gig is the least amount I would ever want on a gaming rig. I hear that if you have more than 2 gig you start to slow down on loadtimes...but I don't have experience with sizes that large. :p

And the last thing you'll _WANT_ is a hard drive that has a quick loadtime. Since the slowest part of any game will be loading data, if you can cut that down it'll help.



Oh, and a final note. Make sure that you have a power box that is decent. NEVER use the ones that just 'come with the case'. You can really mess up your rig if you underpower it.


Sorry if I rambled here. I'm a gamer (as my title shows) so I try to keep up with this. I'm not going to offer items or choices for you, as everyone has a different pick. I say get the best you can afford. :D

Good luck!

[JerekKruger]

Okay, hypothetically speaking, let's say I wanted to get a gaming PC, and that it needed to meet these requirements (including the "recommended" ones):

Assuming that I had nothing to begin with - no mouse, no keyboard, no monitor, etcetera... roughly how much would it cost me, at a minimum? And where would I be able to get such a thing (preferably online)?

Thanks.

PS - If you can't tell, I'm an absolute noob when it comes to non-console video games, and I'm a Mac user, so please be kind.

I recently upgraded my PC to have a AMD athlon 6000+ (dual core and 3GHz) along with the requisite motherboard and 2GB of ram. I also got myself a Radeon ATI X1950pro with 512MB GRAM. All in all this cost me ~£300 ($600) which I think was pretty cheap (when I last considered upgrading I was looking at at least £500). My computer not runs bioshock on full spec and it looks lovely.

[blizack]

I would recommend going with a Dell XPS or an Alienware computer.

Good luck!

Wow, either of those costs well over $1000. That's wayyy out of my price range. Actually, at this point it probably just makes more sense for me to buy an Xbox 360.

[IceShadow]

Wow, either of those costs well over $1000. That's wayyy out of my price range. Actually, at this point it probably just makes more sense for me to buy an Xbox 360.

If you just want to play games available currently on both, the 360 would be a better investment (unless you really want a game that allows and encourages an active mod community). If you want something to upgrade and grow with as the technology gets newer, a PC would be best.

Really it depends on the games you want to play and what platforms they're available on.

[bbcisdabomb]

Heh. I quite literally forgot that you could buy a premade desktop. You might actually get a better deal from buying a premade, like a Dell. I wouldn't go with an Emachines or a Compaq, whatever you do, as they're very low-end budget machines. Personally, I would build my own if I was going to get a gaming PC, but there's really no reason why a prebuilt computer will automatically be a lesser quality than a handmade.