Tips for a gaming PC

[Itisnotlogical]

Is there anybody out there who can recommend a decent gaming PC for under $2000? I don't want it to play the most recent games at the highest level, just to be fairly up-to-date. I suppose the upper limit should be somewhere around Starcraft 2 with the graphics settings at medium.

Just for frame of reference, my computer staggers and jerks on games as old as Resident Evil 4, so just about anything above that would seem fan-freaking-tacular to me

 

[Jadzia]

SC2 is not a high demanding game. You should be able to build a computer for $700 that runs SC2 on Ultra Settings.

 

[archeryguy1701]

Under $2000? Go with Alienware.... I was able to custom-build a very good desktop machine for under $1500. It's successfully handled everything I've thrown at it thus far.

 

[Magellan]

For 2k you should have plenty of options to build a pretty top of the line PC. Are you willing to build yourself? If not iBuypower seems to have good options but I have never used their services.

Whats your components now? You may be able to upgrade your existing PC to play SC pretty well. As for other tips I believe SC2 is one of the few games where you could be CPU limited, so usually I'd recommend all the money into the graphics but here you want at least a quad core.

 

[clint g]

If you have the time I would suggest taking that 2 grand and building your own comp. You can build a very nice gaming PC with that amount of cash.

 

[Kelthaz]

By $2,000 I assume you mean yen, right? Cause if you're talking about US dollars you're going to rip yourself off. I suppose you can spend $2k on a computer, but if all you want to do is run SC2 on medium settings you could probably get half a dozen computers for that price.

 

[Itisnotlogical]

^^

It's been a while since I went computer shopping, so I was guessing that computers have quadrupled in price recently. When I posted this thread it did seem like a bit much, though.

 

[Skywalker]

You could put together a solid gaming rig for half the price you're asking. Probably even less, if you're buying the parts and building it yourself.

 

[clint g]

Indeed. I built my current rig for about 700 bucks and it can handle most games fairly well.

 

[Hoser]

I built mine for just above 500 and it handles fine on high settings. A decent cheap gaming PC is easy, 2K could build you a monster.

 

[Cutter John]

Problem is, building your own can be scary for a first timer. But you can save a lot by reusing stuf flike your case and monitor. So tell us the specs on your current rig Itsnotlogical. That would help. Maybe all you need is a better video card.

I'm basically using the same machine I put together back in '07. I walked into a computer shop, told them what I needed, and how much I had, and they set me up.
$600 got me a 2.8 Gb dual core, new motherboard, Sata drive, 4 Gb of ram, and a Nvidia 7600GS video card. I'm still using the same machine, apart from a newer OS, and a 9800GT vid card. Runs stuff like the two L4D games, Elder Scrolls: Oblivion, and Minecraft just fine.

 

[Jadzia]

Problem is, building your own can be scary for a first timer. But you can save a lot by reusing stuff like your case and monitor.

I built my new computer myself. All those wires and screws and things were a bit intimidating, but it's very logical how it all fitted together. Fear is the greatest obstacle. If I can do it then anyone can.

 

[Cutter John]

I built my new computer myself. All those wires and screws and things were a bit intimidating, but it's very logical how it all fitted together. Fear is the greatest obstacle. If I can do it then anyone can.

Too true. I was lucky and had a computer geek of a roomie who showed me how it was done. I imagine figuring out what hardware is compatible can be pretty intimidating as well.

 

[Jadzia]

figuring out what hardware is compatible can be pretty intimidating as well.

I'd say that part is tiresome and boring but not really intimidating. It takes time to find out what bits you actually need or what bits don't go with other bits, but that's where forum communities like this are a godsend.

So, itisnotlogical, do you intend to spend $2000? If so we can help to design you a system that costs that much.

Or do you have a more specific goal such as playing SC2 on ultra settings? and being capable of playing 99% of new games for the next 3 years or so, in which case we can help to design you a system for that.

Do you have any other computing needs besides playing games?

 

[Itisnotlogical]

^^

I figured I'd set the budget kind of high. I hadn't realized how cheap (well, not cheap, but less expensive than I'd figured) a decent gaming computer could be made for. I'm not especially demanding when it comes to graphics, but if under 1k can net me the best of the best I'll go for it. Aside from gaming, all I really need it to do is the basic stuff, like checking Facebook, watching Youtube, etc.

When I said that it should be able to play SC2 on medium settings, that was the average I'd envisioned- I didn't specifically have SC2 in mind, just kind of that level in terms of graphical quality. But again, if I can achieve more than that for less that 1k I'll do it.

Also, would it be at all possible to do this as a laptop?

 

[clint g]

^^

I figured I'd set the budget kind of high. I hadn't realized how cheap (well, not cheap, but less expensive than I'd figured) a decent gaming computer could be made for. I'm not especially demanding when it comes to graphics, but if under 1k can net me the best of the best I'll go for it. Aside from gaming, all I really need it to do is the basic stuff, like checking Facebook, watching Youtube, etc.

When I said that it should be able to play SC2 on medium settings, that was the average I'd envisioned- I didn't specifically have SC2 in mind, just kind of that level in terms of graphical quality. But again, if I can achieve more than that for less that 1k I'll do it.

Also, would it be at all possible to do this as a laptop?

You can get a decent gaming laptop for cheap but a general rule of thumb is that laptops will cost a bit more with a less power. The gap is closing in that regard though.

I built my new computer myself. All those wires and screws and things were a bit intimidating, but it's very logical how it all fitted together. Fear is the greatest obstacle. If I can do it then anyone can.

Too true. I was lucky and had a computer geek of a roomie who showed me how it was done. I imagine figuring out what hardware is compatible can be pretty intimidating as well.

Yeah I was scared my first time as well. I eased myself into it though. I started out by simply upgrading my hard-drives. Then I upgraded my ram and my DVD drives. Over time I got comfortable enough where I was willing to do the whole thing from scratch.

I'm still a tad nervous when it comes to messing with the CPU but other then that it's a piece of cake.

 

[Cutter John]

Thats true actually. Easing your way into it by switching out harddrives, upgrading the GPU and addign RAM is the best way to ease your way into thew world of build-your-own. I've done all these things plenty of times to keep my machine up to date.

Honestly though, its been my experience that most games, except maybe Crysis tend to stay pretty far behindf the curve when it comes to recomended specs. Keeping a good video card in your machine goes a long way towards keeping your machine current.