Gaming PC - how/why/what?

[Delboy]

I'm thinking of getting into PC gaming in the nearish future.

With games being cheaper, generally better and with the mod community keeping them going it just seems like a win win place to be.

Trouble is, I haven't the first clue of where to start with getting one or what kind of budget is needed.

It would literally just be for gaming, nothing else. I'd also want to play it via my HD TV from the comfort of my sofa rather than being sat at a desk.

Obviously I'd like it to be a good enough spec that it can play the latest games and be a little bit future proof so I don't have to upgrade it too soon.

So people of the SXOC, what do I need?

[sideways14a]

Two important things with PC gaming.
CPu and Video system, with emphasis on the video system.

First off on the cpu side (as its easiest), just buy an intel processor - in fact just buy an i5 2600k. End of chat in this regard lol.

For the video system though it gets difficult.

There are two manufacturers of GPU on the market, AMD (ati) and Nvidia and both make multiple gpu's for different price segments, these gpus are sold by different video card manufactures.

To decide what gpu and thus cost you have to look at what games you are playing, the output device and whether you like cheese.
If you gaming on a low res panel then a 100 to 150 odd quid gpu is prob all you need, like a 7770, 7870 or a 660ti - these will provide decent detail on lower res screens with good frame rates.
IF you have a 1080p and upward resolution, want high details levels and excellent frame rates then your looking at 7970s, 670 or 680s or the best single gpu out the 7970ghz edition - Forget dual gpu cards for the time being.

Personally if i wanted excellent graphics on a big hi res panel i would get a card based on a 7970ghz edition gpu and over clock it a little.

[voodoo_melon]

To decide what gpu and thus cost you have to look at what games you are playing, the output device and whether you like cheese.

[Clouder_sx]

If you like cheese, you're likely to stay up later. Therefore, your PC will get more use, so you'll need a better GPU.

Maybe.

[Pete C]

I'm not the most knowledgeable on PC specs, but for playing from the comfort of your sofa, this is the single best purchase I have made to enhance my gaming experience: Microsoft Wireless Xbox 360 Controller for Windows

99% of games recognise it now and switch to an Xbox specific control scheme, meaning it's just like playing the console version only with better graphics

The receiver will take up to 4 controllers, so if you have others already you'll be able to use it for co-op etc too

[Pete C]

Double post FFS

[mks]

humm ok so how much do you want to spend...

I guess for a decent mid range gaming rig your looking at least £600+ you might be able to skimp down a bit but if you want a decent system your looking at around £600-£700, for a higher end one your looknig at over £1000 (including windows 7). Of course these systems will last you a good few years maybe a graphics card update after 3 years depending how much you want to keep up with things. Myself I usually do a full new system every 3 years but its really not needed these days i could just get away with doing a graphics card update.

[Clouder_sx]

Whilst I do on occasion miss PC gaming, I don't miss the costs involved

I gave it all in and bought a PS3 4 years ago for £150, and never looked back.

Just out of curiosity Sideways, why not an i7 chip?

[weiner_patrol]

I am pretty sure the 2600k is an i7 chip...

Honestly depends on your budget.

[sideways14a]

Yeah i meant the i7 2600k!
The i7 2600k is a great cpu but its debatable whether the extra hyperthreaded cores are going to be worth it over the extra cash being spent on the video system.
Personally i would take the four real cores of an i5 2500k and put the extra few pennies saved over the i7 into the GPU.

That said if you have the cash then the i7 2600k or 2700k (or the ivy bridge versions) is the ones to look at, always get the unlocked "k's" as you will want to put 400+mhz on top.

Until Piledriver comes out AMD is not an option in the high end gaming rigs, but Trinity is the only choice for those not wanting to spend a bomb on tech but still have a good gaming setup.

[weiner_patrol]

I did find this link pretty useful:

http://www.scan.co.uk/3xs-overclocked-bundles

[mks]

Most games wont really use the extra HT cores the i7 has well at least at the moment.. sooo most people say save bit of cash and go for the i5 2500k or whatever the versio of it is now. Myself I had the spare cash so picked up an i7 2700k. The i7 has more cache as well 8mb where the i5 only has 6mb.

[Ghazoobe]

Set your budget first, then we can start advising properly

Personally I only play strategy games on the pc now, everything else on the xbox. As that way I don't have to have a powerful pc, plus more of my friends play on the xbox than the pc too.

[Delboy]

Cheers all

Budget wise I don't know. This is kind of an info gathering exercise to decide what I need to save to get what I want.

I guess I want something good enough that I could whack games up to highest levels of detail etc without worrying about performance and i dont want to wish i got something better in a hear's time but equally I don't want to just throw money at it mindlessly as it is just a toy after all.

I guess comfortably less than a grand all in is a good ball park to start with, I'm not sure I could justify spending over a grand.

As for types of games, I'm not a big strategy nut. Would probably be FPS type stuff largely or things like Skyrim etc. I'm not too fussed about online multiplayer as I prefer a good single player game.

[FireStorm]

Solid state drives imo are a must.

[dow]

With a grand:
£350 cpu mobo ram http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...84&subcat=2063
£350 graphics card Should just about be able to get a 680GTX (Nvidia) on a special deal from somewhere if you look for it.
£100 power supply needs to be good as will be getting some hammer. Might be able to drop £20 or £30 here. 650w should do it but don't be tempted to skimp and buy a 650w for £40. It won't be up to the job of sustained high current with the rising temperatures that hours under these conditions will generate. Overclocking will need this power to be stable too. ***This is very important***
£100 case (ditto, gaming needs a case with good airflow for those hot components)
£100 hard drive... you really want an SSD, seen one or two 256gb drives just dip under £100 recently I think.

This doesn't leave you anything for a mouse, keyboard or soundcard though. Soundcard is nice if you're plugging into an AV system, but onboard sound is satisfactory for an awful lot of people these days anyway, or if using a graphics card with HDMI output, the sound can go out of this into a receiver or TV anyway.

Bear in mind that the input lag from a TV screen can make a slight delay, (30ms or a couple of frames lag at 60hz)noticeable more on a PC than consoles (where everyone has similar lag) but nothing that would matter if you aren't playing multiplayer online shooters. I noticed a big improvement going to a faster monitor with higher refresh rate recently, from my TV.

[Pete C]

Solid state drives imo are a must.

^^^This. For your main operating system drive anyway.

[turningjapanese]

Been reading though the thread and SSD's are recommended so any recommendations on the one to buy? The Intel 520 series good?

[Delboy]

Bit of a bump.

Parked this for a while as upgraded my tv and surround sound instead due to old one starting to die.

Now back on the case with wanting a gaming rig.

So far I think I've settled on the following spec:

Intel i5 3570 ivy bridge
8gb Corsair Vengeance DDR 3 ram
Suitable Z77 mobo
Asus Geforce GTX 670 CUII GPU
WD 1 TB sata drive for storage
256gb Corsair SSD for operating system/games any other fast access stuff
Corsair 750W PSU
Samsung BD/DVD optical drive
Cooler Master HAF case

I think that will give me all I want from it and more for around £1k (based on best prices I've found so far).

The only two things I'm struggling with are operating system and sound card.

Best I can gather, Win 8 does offer small improvements over Win 7 in benchmarking tests, plus its maybe a little more future proof and also 'consoley' for my old Xbox trained brain.

As for sound card, I'm struggling. The only reason for wanting one is I understand I won't get a Dolby Digital output for my games without it. I enjoy this with my console games so would like to have it with my PC stuff.

I think I need a Dolby Digital Live sound card, but finding one or info on which suit my specific requirements is proving difficult.

Do I need one? Or will the onboard sound be up to what I want?

I can always build without one and then add one later if I feel the need I guess.

Looking forward to getting it all together and building it to be honest

[sideways14a]

Good spec but imho that 670 would be getting swapped for the far better 7970Ghz edition.