Gaming PC's these days, constantly advancing, new technology being built for them every day. It almost seems hard to keep up with, doesn't it? For most gamers these days, the idea of having a gaming PC that needs to be constantly upgraded to keep up with the times seems like too much of a hassle, so must gamers stray away from the aspect.
So, my question for the day is, Is it really that hard to create a gaming PC?
I have a laptop, which runs a few nice games, but I yearn for a high-end desktop PC that could display my games with the highest graphics, without spending thousands of dollars to acheive it, and then when you add on the expenses of upgrading your rig every year to keep up, it seems to get expensive. It almost seems like that may be some of the reason that PC gaming seems to be dying just a little.
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The PC is a great platform, it has real advantages, but those advantages are a bit too hard to obtain for most games. So most people just tent to gravitate towards console games.
Most important rule of em all is keep yourself grounded. Other than that if you see a square hole and have a square plug you know it fits. Its really that simple. The biggest curve is just learning what components are compatible with what... and even that just requires being able to READ 3 words most of the time.
As for cost, its really not even that costly, you can build a damn good gaming rig for about $500-$600 and run all of the games that are out today cranked up. Again.. pc gaming is not that hard to keep up with. Most people give it a bad wrap because they are too damn lazy to learn it themselvs..and really there's not that much there to learn.
But yeah, building a gaming PC isn't that tough. The first hurdle is making sure everything you buy is compatible, i.e., make sure your motherboard has the same connector as your power supply, will take your RAM, has the right SATA / IDE connectors, etc. Get enough power to keep your CPU+GPU happy and stable.
The second hurdle is making sure you attach everything in the right place on the motherboard. As in, don't forget to plug in your CPU fan, and read the diagrams very carefully when connecting front-side USB pins, SPDIF connectors, etc. You're probably more likely to buy a wrong piece than you are to be unable to assemble the parts once you have them. Also invest in a $5 grounding strap, and a mechanic's tweezers and a flexible flashlight if you're building in a tight case.
So, no, it is not that hard at all.
No, go do it.
1) Prep the case (Front panel / Mobo screw mounts).
2) Install the heavy stuff (Power supply / hard drives / disk drives).
3) Then install the motherboard and CPU. I usually like to put the CPU on the motherboard before putting it into the case just because the 775 Socket Intel fan design is terrible.
4) Wire most of the components. Power connections to the motherboard, power connections to hard drives / disk drives, motherboard to disk / hard drive sata connections, case inputs (Power switch / LEDs / USB / etc) to the motherboard. Technically wiring can be done last but it's just easier to get it done with more space before the video card / ram are installed.
5) Install the RAM.
6) Install any cards devices last. If it's a video card that requires a PCI-E power connection make sure to plug it in.
7) Double check everything.
Fairly simple. Should take 1-3 hours depending on how fast you are.
I had been gaming on a laptop with an Nvidia GeForce Go 7600 card. In comparison my new desktop has an ATi Radeon 4850 HD.
As an example of how much better that is; I could just barely play Mass Effect on my laptop and it was terrible to do so. On my new computer I have every setting maxed out at 1650x1080.
You don't have to upgrade it every year.
God, console manufacturers couldn't get better marketing if they paid for it. I love the baseless assumptions make about PC gaming because they haven't got a clue.
Worst advise ever. Buy an overpriced DELL? No thanks. And what something goes wrong and call some shittastic customer support line in india so they can read troubleshooting shit off a computer? Your better off googling for answers. Building your own computer is the only way to go. It saves your hundreds sometimes thousands of dollars over buying a prebuilt.
Could anyone make a list possibly, with a maximum price of around $800?
Here's What I had so far...
Hardware Required
PC Case - $50.00
(http://www.xoxide.com/xoxide-alien-x-case.html)
Floppy Disk Drive - NOT NEEEDED
Hard Drive - WD Velociraptor ($200?) (http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.asp?driveid=499)
CD-ROM Drive- ($22.98) (http://www.outletpc.com/c1276.html)
But if dyslixec hadn't made me a part list (thank you, the shit COMES IN TODAY) I would have just given up. They need to simplify computer parts so the masses can understand. We don't all work in IT or something. I've been a console gamer since I was six, make the transition a little smoother.
I'll be 16 in a month, and my parents refuse to let me get a job.
I gotta call in favors for cash man.
All under $700. This of course is not including a keyboard, mouse, or monitor. But that shouldn't add but another $150 unless you want some huge monitor. Or you can just use your existing one if you have one.
direct link for lazy people.
and I apparently fail at bbcode.
I fail at links as well.
I'll use it if I can get the money.
I'm running:
CPU: AMD 6000+ X2 (3.1GHz)
RAM: 3GB DDR2 667MHZ Ram
Video: EVGA 8800GTS 512MB
Harddrive: 500GB 7200RPM
Power: 650Watt Coolmax
Monitor: 19'' 1440x900 Viewsonic (Built-in speakers)
Logitech Wireless keyboard and mouse.
I don't plan on upgrading for at least the next 3-years. My recommendation for building the cheapest computer is a combination of Ebay and Newegg.com.
That rig is similar to mine, not as good as the one I just listed though.
That's an almost identical setup to mine, except that I have the 640MB version of the 8800GTS. I have yet to run into a game that this system can't handle. The 8800GTS is a beast of a card. (No, I don't have or want Crysis, so don't ask. :P )