New Computer Time! (Advice Needed)

As the title indicates, I've decided its time to retire my dinosaur of a computer and upgrade to something a little ... gamier.

I honestly have no idea where to start. I want to build my own both for cost reasons, as I've heard building your own is cheaper, and for performance reasons. Where do I start? Where do I look? I'm afraid I have leaped into the rabbit hole while blind-folded.

I'm not necessarily looking for top of the line, by the way. Cost is a pretty big issue.

If you are still looking to build a computer, check out sites like Anand Tech and Tom's Hardware. They will have recommendations on hardware depending on your budget and you can also find build guides.

For good advice, you really have to pick a budget. Not including the monitor, OS, peripherals (mouse, keyboard), you can build good gaming P Cs for less than $900. There is a sweet spot so getting the cheapest hardware won't save you that much and getting the best hardware won't improve your performance at the same rate as the cost.

Always build your computer. Yes it's difficult but most prefab computers are either A. Expensive or B. Not very good.

Also I suggest Tiger Direct and New egg for purchasing.

This thread has a ton of really useful advice for those looking to build a new PC (and you should, since it's a lot cheaper than buying pre-built). In general, you need to work out:

• Your budget
• Whether you want to leave room for future expansion
• Whether you want to overclock (which isn't as scary as it used to be; these days, the BIOS in "overclocking" motherboards will probably have settings you can use to do it automagically)
• What you mainly use/want to use your PC for
• Whether you're AMD or nVidia, and whether you want to install more than one video card (which can get you comparable or better performance at a lower cost than a single top-of the range card, but if you have more cash than common sense...)

If you want something a little gamier then you may want to go for a prebuild due to the maintenance packages that most companies offer. A lot of the additional cost actually covers being able to just send the machine to the nearest center for servicing.

On the other hand, as gamy as possible pretty much requires a DIY to avoid the ripoffs that earlier posters mentioned. You'll also need to do a lot more homework to keep it running unless you have no qualms about using independent repair shops.

I found parts for some guys around here for as little as $450 total, so don't think you have to bust bank with $900, although the stuff I found was decidedly mid-range-gamey for not-current things. Although we'll have to wait and see what those guys end up running and at what settings because I might have steered them wrong, but then again, the stats on the gfx card I gave them were better than my current 4 year old one which can run Mass Effect 2 and Assassin's Creed 2 at maximum settings.

Anyway, yeah, give a budget and what kind of games you'd like to run and at what settings, and I'm sure people can make suggestions on parts.

PS. I highly recommend having a friend who knows what's what over when you do the actual building.

We are assuming that the monitor, peripherals, and OS are not part of that $450, right?

Though if you want games, you have to spend a bit more.

edited 22nd Aug '11 9:14:21 AM by revolution11

yeah.