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As the title reads. Looking to build or buy a pre-build gaming PC. Have been a long time console user. Very newb to PC gaming but I am looking for the following capabilities.

 

1. Console like play style - Essentially, I'd like to be able to plug my PC into my TV with an HDMI and just play with a remote controller wirelessly or with the keyboard/mouse from my couch which of course the game or UI will dictate/vary.

 

2. I want something that can play games at a high quality FPS with max settings or as close as possible. Games like GTA V and Skyrim for example.

 

That's about it. Budget wise I am willing to be around the $700 - $850 range.

 

Thanks

Plugging into your TV won't be a tall order at all. Almost everything comes with an HDMI port these days, and wireless accessories are pretty easy to find.

 

In terms of performance, Skyrim is easy (unless you mod the hell out of it). I bought an off-the-shelf Dell i3 box last December with 8GB of RAM, dropped a $250 2GB GTX 760ti card into it and it plays vanilla Skyrim flawlessly at the highest graphics settings. The computer itself cost me about $350, the new power supply was $50, so all told, it was about a $650 investment. That said, my vintage 2009 first-gen i7 box can still run rings around it--a testament to how good the i7 is more than anything else.

 

GTA V is a tougher order, as it's a much newer game with higher system requirements. You'd want an i5 or i7 processor--i3 probably won't cut it for this game. Again, 8GB of RAM. With an i5-4000 series or better processor, you should be ok with a 2GB graphics card of a recent generation, say a GTX 760/960 or 970, rather than going for the newer 980. With your price range, you'll have a hard time finding anything pre-built that meets the requirements in your price range, especially given that almost all off-the-shelf PCs these days come with integrated graphics, which is worth its weight in turd, and you'll have to spend extra to drop in a new power supply and graphics card. That said, hit up a few Best Buys and see what they've got on the clearance endcap. I got our TV machine for about 60% of what they were selling its successor system, with virtually identical specs, for.

 

Side note: I'm not a fan of AMD processors for gaming purposes. Even though they're generally cheaper, they don't perform as well in my experience, and I'll dish out the extra cash for an Intel every time.

 

Things will get really interesting for me once the Oculus Rift comes out. I'm already squirreling away cash for a Rift-ready PC once I see what types of games are coming out for it, what the peripherals will cost (controllers, maybe that treadmill rig) and whether it's going to be worth my money or a new Virtual Boy. That'll be a pricey PC to build, as I'm currently looking at a fifth-gen i7, at least one GTX 980 and 16GB of RAM. Could be a $2,000 computer, and that's before buying the Rift itself lol. It'll take a lot of convincing for that to happen.

Point 1 won't be any trouble at all. Any decent GPU will have HDMI output on it. Point 2 is a lot harder on your budget. You'll need a high end i5 or low end i7 to run GTAV smoothly at high FPS, for refence; I run a i7-4770 which is mid range for the i7 and it costs roughly $350, a decent i5 costs $250. Expect to pay another $150 for a decent GPU and about $75 for 8GB of RAM, that's $475 already.

 

Thankfully, there's are plenty of places to save a bit of money; if you can borrow a DVD rive of a buddy you can use that to install the OS and avoid having to pay $50. With platforms like Steam you won't need a DVD drive to install games anyway, I can't actually remember the last time I used an optical drive to install anything other than the OS. A tower can also be bought on the cheap, as can most internal wiring. A simple 500GB HDD can be a cheap as $50 and you can always get more HDD's later on.

 

Don't skimp on the PSU and mobo though. A cheap PSU can fry all your expensive part and kill them dead if it fails and buying a cheap mobo can be done but you'll be buying a new one next time you want bolt any new parts on.

Thanks for the tips so far. I've been hunting around on Ibuypower.com and youtube channels but there is just a ton of information out there and its hard to settle on something. I do favor the Intel builds I've seen so far. Does this seem like it could hit my targets/ideas?

 

Intel Z97 i5 Configurator.

Based upon what you're looking for, this is probably about as low-end as I'd go. If you're looking for a system that will stand up to the test of time, I'd look at an i7 processor and a higher-end graphics card. My vintage 2009 model was near the top of the line when I got it, it cost around $1,250, and I'm still using it as my primary gaming PC to this day. There is something to be said for spending more now so you can put off replacing it later.

Buy an Nvidia Shield.

1. Buy a cheap pc

2. Play mobas only

3. ???

4. Profit

In my mind I ask myself.  Is the best use of a PC to use it for gaming?  My answer is no.  For me personally, I would rather use a powerful piece of hardware to create something or make something better.  But that's just me.

In that price range you are better off going amd and splurging on the gpu. An amd fx6300 is the best value to performance cpu you will find. That with a Asus m5a99fx r2 motherboard. Gpu wise I would be looking at a card with minimum 3gb ram. MSI r9 290 is a pretty good gpu for 1080p gaming at 60 fps max settings


Pcpartpicker.com


A great site to build out a pc.

Quote:In my mind I ask myself.  Is the best use of a PC to use it for gaming?  My answer is no.  For me personally, I would rather use a powerful piece of hardware to create something or make something better.  But that's just me.

 

You can do both!

Quote:In my mind I ask myself.  Is the best use of a PC to use it for gaming?  My answer is no.  For me personally, I would rather use a powerful piece of hardware to create something or make something better.  But that's just me.

My desktop is used for equal parts video editing, Photoshop and gaming. That's the great thing about a PC; unlike a console, it can multi-task.

Quote:My desktop is used for equal parts video editing, Photoshop and gaming. That's the great thing about a PC; unlike a console, it can multi-task.

Speaking of multi-tasking; I have a Smart TV with a bunch of apps on it like Netflix & Youtube which is great because I can watch both those without having to hook up to my PC. But it also has Facebook on it, who the hell uses Facebook on a TV? Of all the interfaces I can think of, a TV remote control seems to be the least suited for such a thing. 

BTW; this is what I currently run:

 



 

For some reason it says I have two Samsung TV's but I assure I have only one. 

Quote:Speaking of multi-tasking; I have a Smart TV with a bunch of apps on it like Netflix & Youtube which is great because I can watch both those without having to hook up to my PC. But it also has Facebook on it, who the hell uses Facebook on a TV? Of all the interfaces I can think of, a TV remote control seems to be the least suited for such a thing. 

Ditto. I don't use Netflix directly through the TV because there's a weird glitch where only 100 episodes of a show appear, and I just find it to be faster and smoother through the PS3. My TV also has a Facebook app, and if you flip the TV remote over, there's conveniently a mini QWERTY keyboard on the back. The only Smart TV apps I use are Youtube and the Yahoo sports app (during fantasy season), but there's a pretty good selection of them out there.

 

Quote:BTW; this is what I currently run:

 



 

For some reason it says I have two Samsung TV's but I assure I have only one. 

First off, I'm drooling a bit.

 

Second, all of my PCs randomly do the same thing with peripherals. My laptop is still convinced that I have six HP Officejet printers, but I can assure you that there's only one, and no matter how many times I delete the extras, they keep coming back. It doesn't hurt anything, so I no longer care if I have six sets of identical printer drivers on my PC.

Quote:First off, I'm drooling a bit.

 

Here's a top tip to building a gaming PC: Don't have kids. 

Quote:Here's a top tip to building a gaming PC: Don't have kids. 

Well at least I've made one wise decision thus far in life.

I have a Gameboy.

Quote:I have a Gameboy.

Me too. It's one of my most prized possessions.

Quote:Ditto. I don't use Netflix directly through the TV because there's a weird glitch where only 100 episodes of a show appear, and I just find it to be faster and smoother through the PS3. My TV also has a Facebook app, and if you flip the TV remote over, there's conveniently a mini QWERTY keyboard on the back. The only Smart TV apps I use are Youtube and the Yahoo sports app (during fantasy season), but there's a pretty good selection of them out there.

 

 

 

FireTV is the greatest gift to television. 

Quote:BTW; this is what I currently run:

 



 

For some reason it says I have two Samsung TV's but I assure I have only one. 

 

That's similar to my laptop, which I mainly use when I travel.  Big differences are that I have 2 1TB hard drives in it and dual boot between Windows 7 Professional and Linux.  It has a similar graphics card in it (dedicated) though I don't remember the exact model off the top of my head.

 

I primarily use Linux for most of what I do, but I need some specific Windows applications for work.  My home desktop PC has a bit more horsepower.  I mainly do some programming and graphics work (AutoCad).

 

Quote:Here's a top tip to building a gaming PC: Don't have kids. 

 

LOL.  I've built many PC's and currently run 4 regularly on my home network.  I have three children (grown up) and 1 grandchild.