Teach me how to game

"GeorgeyBoy" (georgeyboy) 07/08/2015 at 20:47 • Filed to: None

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I want to play the new GTA in first person. So I went out and almost bought an Xbox One. Then I kind of thought about a gaming PC and how I could probably use that more since I do not have a Windows machine. Next thing I know I have $2,000 worth of computer in my shopping cart, not including a monitor which might be important. Then I realized I have absolutely no clue what I’m doing. Now I’m just tempted to go back out and buy a one.

djmt1 > GeorgeyBoy 07/08/2015 at 20:54

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I almost did the same thing a couple of years ago. Then I said Fuck No, took my £1,500 and bought an Xbox One, a HTC One and a refurbished gaming PC off Amazon instead. Plus the Gaming PCs were 33% off which meant I could also buy a nice new monitor to go with my new PC.

Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras > GeorgeyBoy 07/08/2015 at 20:58

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$2000 for a gaming computer? You’re over paying.

If you have a friend/family who builds computers, you can easily run any game these days on a $800 machine like I do.

Phyrxes once again has a wagon! > GeorgeyBoy 07/08/2015 at 21:03

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I’m buying a new PC later this summer, waiting for the back to school sales. This is my scheduled buy a new PC every four years or so plan. I had middle of the road gaming rig specced out that would be about $1300 if I buy another monitor to match the one I have.

Intel I5, 16 gigs of ram, 120 GB SSD and a 2 TB HD, with whatever graphics card ibuypower was going to give me as a free upgrade (Radeon 280 I think).

I have an Asus 23” monitor and I’m debating buying a second one.

OPPOsaurus WRX > GeorgeyBoy 07/08/2015 at 21:03

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you can continuously update a gaming computer but the xbox will be replaced at some point

GeorgeyBoy > Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras 07/08/2015 at 21:07

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Wish I had friends.

I kind of wanted something more powerful than my Macbook. Seems like I need to spend 1800 or more to even get sort of the same specs.

Bman76 (no it doesn't need a WS6 hood) M. Arch > GeorgeyBoy 07/08/2015 at 21:07

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I run an AMD 8-350 in my rig, it’s a good alternative to the bigger Intel cards. Especially when liquid cooled.

GeorgeyBoy > Phyrxes once again has a wagon! 07/08/2015 at 21:08

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Do you build?

TheOnelectronic > GeorgeyBoy 07/08/2015 at 21:08

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I’m not one for preachin’, but I find myself playing games on my PC FAR more than on my Xbone.

If you do decide to look at a PC, though, there are probably quite a few people here who can help you get something very potent for not nearly that much money. My PC is just about as top of the end as you can get and even then it’s probably ~$1500 all told.

GeorgeyBoy > OPPOsaurus WRX 07/08/2015 at 21:09

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That was kind of part of my logic. All I really use my 360 for is Netflix and the occasional game. A designated computer could do the same thing while allowing me Windows for work stuff.

Greenmobile Supremo Commando, BRZ Extrordinare > GeorgeyBoy 07/08/2015 at 21:09

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Built mine for $1000 Canadian, runs everything I throw at it pretty much on ultra. GTA 5, Assetto Corsa, PCars, Far Cry 4, you name it.

If you need help and have a set budget, I can help you out.

Phyrxes once again has a wagon! > GeorgeyBoy 07/08/2015 at 21:10

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I used to build my own, now that I have a 9 month old I think I’ll just suck up the price difference of buying the parts off newegg/amazon and have ibuypower put the next one together.

Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras > GeorgeyBoy 07/08/2015 at 21:13

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That seems like a lot lot more than you’d need to run games these days.

Newegg is your friend if you’re gonna build a gaming pc on your own. My basic PC specs are 8gb of ram, an AMD Radeon 7800 series video card, 250 SSD, and a 2 TB HD. I spent a grand total of $880.

GeorgeyBoy > Greenmobile Supremo Commando, BRZ Extrordinare 07/08/2015 at 21:16

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That doesn’t sound bad at all.

How much would I save building rather than going with something like this? That said I don’t have a monitor or any other essentials.

http://www.velocitymicro.com/wizard.php?iid…

Greenmobile Supremo Commando, BRZ Extrordinare > GeorgeyBoy 07/08/2015 at 21:42

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The whole thing with pre-built PC’s is that they aren’t really properly balanced. With the one you shared specifically, you’re getting a decent processor and hard drives, but at best what I’d call an entry level enthusiasts graphics card that is also 2 years old.

Remember that when your gaming, it really isn’t all about the fancy processor, but its the graphics doing all of the work.

And at 1500? That thing is way overpriced. Yes, it’s pretty and all but when it comes down to it, it doesn’t really have anywhere close to the horsepower you can get for what your spending. If I can use vehicles as a metaphor here, imagine a prebuild as a BRZ with a full rocket-bunny kit and all of the trimmings, but a completely stock drive line. Imagine if you will now, a balanced DIY build and you have a BRZ that looks stock on the outside, but has a turbo setup and proper suspension, brakes and what not so it can properly go fast, for less cost.

To put it in perspective, my build has the same processor and similar hard drives, power supply, RAM, and other goodies, except I have a GTX 970 which runs circles around a 750ti. And I did it for 500 less. Mind you, you’re in the U.S. so the equivalent build would probably run you around 800.

EDIT: Here’s a good starting point for you: https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc/wik…

MrDakka > GeorgeyBoy 07/08/2015 at 21:49

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I highly recommend that you check out pcpartpicker. Here’s my build from about two years ago: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/6gKVwP

GeorgeyBoy > Greenmobile Supremo Commando, BRZ Extrordinare 07/08/2015 at 21:53

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Thanks, that really helped.

Greenmobile Supremo Commando, BRZ Extrordinare > GeorgeyBoy 07/08/2015 at 22:03

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No problem. If you want, here’s my build for reference.

Conan > GeorgeyBoy 07/08/2015 at 22:10

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This is a solid enough place to start:

http://www.logicalincrements.com/

Axial > Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras 07/08/2015 at 22:23

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He’s not overpaying if he’s buying the right parts and intends to keep it around for 6+ years without touching it.

Not counting my monitor, my PC was $2,000 when I built it in Q1 2011. That was an X79 motherboard with all of the bells and whistles, 16 GB of DDR3 1600 RAM, a Core i7-3820, a 128 GB SSD, and a pair of just-released Radeon HD 7970s. I game at 2560 x 1440, and I still never have to use my second GPU to maximize my game settings.

He can buy a computer that is ~33% more powerful today and be set for the duration of this console generation. It’s not a bad investment, and after you’ve upgraded an $800 PC three or four times in that same bracket, it ends up evening out anyway.

Axial > GeorgeyBoy 07/08/2015 at 22:31

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Show us your parts list. I know what I would build, but without knowing what you have and what you want, we can’t really help you.

promoted by the color red > GeorgeyBoy 07/08/2015 at 22:33

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You can’t really do desktop-laptop comparisons quite like that. The desktop will most likely kick the laptop’s ass right out the box and run well for far longer. Laptop CPUs are pretty crippled and even something as robust as my ThinkPad was literally baking itself to death when I tried to run Solidworks on the GPU while driving an external display.

I pieced together a pretty good i5 system (4690k, z87 mobo, 16GB ram, 750ti video card, and SSD+HDD) for under $1000. If you know how to budget/plan wisely, you can save tons of money. I structured my build in such a way that I would take advantage of my credit card’s bonus $200 for spending some amount in the first few months yet pay in full every month so I ended up paying $20 for a $200 motherboard.

whiskeybusiness NOW A DANGER TO CROWDS NEAR YOU > Bman76 (no it doesn't need a WS6 hood) M. Arch 07/08/2015 at 22:38

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I do the same. With a good graphics card, that setup eats games alive and is still hungry.

No Prius Needed > GeorgeyBoy 07/08/2015 at 22:41

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Simple.

http://m.newegg.com/Product/index?…

Plus

http://m.newegg.com/Product/index?…

With this

http://m.newegg.com/Product/index?…

This is pretty much my rig except I've got a 970.

Bman76 (no it doesn't need a WS6 hood) M. Arch > whiskeybusiness NOW A DANGER TO CROWDS NEAR YOU 07/08/2015 at 22:44

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4.2 Ghz for days at 26*C, and I run a 3GB Quadro since it’s a render machine.

e36Jeff now drives a ZHP > GeorgeyBoy 07/08/2015 at 22:49

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The higest spec you can get for a MBP right now is a Quad core 2.8Ghz CPU that turbos to 4.0Ghz(but in reality spends very little time up there). In a desktop, that’s equal to the cheapest i5 that Intel makes and costs a under $200. Practically anything over $120 in the GPU area will face-roll all over the GPU in an MBP. You’d have to throw some money at an SSD to match the MBP storage, but in reality, you dont need 500GB of SSD in a desktop. 120-240GB is more than enough, and you just have a standard HDD for storage of bigger stuff(you can use steam mover to move what games are on your SSD currently vs whats on the HDD). And 8GB of RAM is ~$60, I usually just recommend going for 16GB so you can turn off the page files, and its usually right around $100. I’m pretty confident that I could spec out a PC that would be far more powerful than the highest end MBP for under $700, maybe even $600.

And honestly, if you have two working hands and can figure out how to use a phillips head screwdriver, you can build your own PC and save yourself a bundle. I talked/texted my cousin in Texas through building a PC 2 years ago from MD, and she got through it with flying colors. That $2,000 PC you specc’d out is probably only $1500 worth of parts and maybe 1-2 hours of your time. In her case, I matched a $2.2k PC for about $1.2k in do-it-yourself parts.

Edited because I missed the 15” MBP section looking at apples website.