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Decent Computer for Gaming


SecretSanta

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Hey y’all,

Wondering if anyone had any ideas on decent gaming PCs.

My daughter is really into playing Overwatch and has been looking into getting a gaming computer. It will be a Christmas present if she can decide on one. 

I don’t know if she even needs a gaming computer or just a decent/better computer than she has now.

I don’t want to spend thousands. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks!

Edited by SecretSanta
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Have one custom built like my son's. There is plenty of good techs out there. 

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If she already has a decent processor and the rig works okay otherwise, then you could save money by buying just ram and a really good graphics card.

Ask her the PC specs and post them here.

Edited by ExpandMyMind
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24 minutes ago, SecretSanta said:

I don’t know if she even needs a gaming computer or just a decent/better computer than she has now.

Yup, can't say until more is known about the current rig there is now ...

~

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Let’s just say that her current computer is crap...it’s a old Dell. She’s getting a new computer I just didn’t know if a gaming computer was necessary or just a decent pc. Basically starting from scratch. 

She get overwhelmed when she’s searching and I’m clueless. 

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2 minutes ago, SecretSanta said:

Let’s just say that her current computer is crap...it’s a old Dell. She’s getting a new computer I just didn’t know if a gaming computer was necessary or just a decent pc. Basically starting from scratch. 

She get overwhelmed when she’s searching and I’m clueless. 

Well ... if gaming is the priority then I guess the best way forward will be to look at the kind of games most liked and what the specs requirements are for those games, best get a good foundation on OS running knowledge along with it as it will be the most help in the long run, most times what I see is a lot of pointless purchases or upgrades made when just a little tweaking of the OS defaults and settings would have solved.

Good Luck ...

~

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If she's just an average gamer who doesn't need elite graphics then get a PC with (at the very least) a quad-core i5 processor. 8GB of ram should be enough and if she eventually needs more then you can buy more cheaply. Those are the main components of the PC that affect gaming and you can get a custom built PC online for not a lot of money.

The problem is that you'll need to buy a good graphics card (£100-£250) to go with whichever PC you end up buying. You might end up paying as much for the graphics card as the actual PC. This is why PC gaming is so expensive, but it still shouldn't cost you $1000. 

A few years ago I bought a PC with an i5 processor with 4gb ram for around £300. I then bought a cheap graphics card because I only wanted the PC to play one game (World of Warcraft) that is pretty easy on computer resources. So I was up and running for £400ish. I'd be surprised if it ends up costing much more than that if you go through a US site that custom builds PCs.

And if you're looking to save some pennies then you could probably just buy the parts you need second hand and upgrade your current PC with a new motherboard, processor and ram, while keeping the hard drive, disk player and whatever else the PC has. 

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What kind of budget are we looking at for the PC? $1500? $1000? You could build a solid gaming PC that would last a good number of years if you spent ~$1000 - $1500 on it. While it would take doing a bit of research, you would get a much better bang for your buck if you went ahead and bought the parts, and built the system yourself.

I would be more than willing to take the time for you and get you a robust gaming PC (which would be sufficient for about three to five years) sorted on pcpartpicker.com... I'd just need to know the budget.

:)

Edited by Nuclear Wessel
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20 minutes ago, Nuclear Wessel said:

What kind of budget are we looking at for the PC? $1500? $1000? You could build a solid gaming PC that would last a good number of years if you spent ~$1000 - $1500 on it. While it would take doing a bit of research, you would get a much better bang for your buck if you went ahead and bought the parts, and built the system yourself.

I would be more than willing to take the time for you and get you a robust gaming PC (which would be sufficient for about three to five years) sorted on pcpartpicker.com... I'd just need to know the budget.

:)

$1500? Holy crap, her daughter's only playing Overwatch, not editing videos for Marvel :D I think I've found one of them PC elitists!

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2 hours ago, ExpandMyMind said:

I then bought a cheap graphics card because I only wanted the PC to play one game (World of Warcraft) that is pretty easy on computer resources.

Horde or Alliance?

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39 minutes ago, ExpandMyMind said:

$1500? Holy crap, her daughter's only playing Overwatch, not editing videos for Marvel :D I think I've found one of them PC elitists!

She plays Overwatch now, but perhaps she will get tired of it and find an interest in something else which is more demanding. I don't see a point in skimping out on a decent PC simply because of the now, it's always good to future proof. Plus, she'd get a lot more out of Overwatch (in terms of graphics and overall performance). It would probably be like a whole new experience for her. I already have my eyes on a PC that costs close to $1100 CAD (which would actually be less than $1000 USD). I can point you in the right direction if you're interested.

At least with the PC I have in mind she would have the freedom to branch out and explore new games without any problems on high settings (minimum).

EDIT:
Check this out... it's $835.39 USD. All you'd need to do is assemble it yourself, which would probably take two hours maximum if you're brand new to PC building (checking out YouTube vids, etc.)

https://pcpartpicker.com/guide/2gmPxr/modest-gaming-build

I think it'd be a wonderful experience to build that... maybe even build it WITH your daughter.

 

 

Edited by Nuclear Wessel
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I don't really have any advice on what to build.. Been close to a decade since I stopped playing WoW (Alliance and Horde)- at the time had a PC tower that the hubby added or upgraded some guts.

But a couple links that might be helpful with. Been a while since I checked out games in general, but back when I did a lot of games had similar basic requirements- folks here can probably tell you if this is still the case or not. First is Blizzards site on system requirements for the game itself. https://us.battle.net/support/en/article/65159

So you are looking for a computer with those requirements or add on's to meet that. Might not tell you much, that stuff always went over my head. The second site is about building the best PC to play Overwatch- not necessarily that you want to build an Overwatch machine, I personally wouldn't build a one-game machine again. But it has a lot of good information that goes into detail about what you get and what it means and tweaks and settings can be best used to play the game. http://www.logicalincrements.com/games/overwatch

 

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Now I know why she gets overwhelmed! This is so foreign to me. 

My daughter changes her mind like I change my underwear so I don’t want to put a ton of money into it.  Understand? 

This may be something she saves her own money to get. 

 

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34 minutes ago, SecretSanta said:

My daughter changes her mind like I change my underwear 

Fortnightly is it then? ;):D

Edited by ExpandMyMind
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Geek Overdrive ... its irresistible ... :lol:

~

I agree with setting the budget part and then take a deep breath ... one thing I hold fast is that the whole extreme Graphics specs part is mostly false, you don't need the utmost peak performance graphics to enjoy any game, its only for the eye candy and on most games it becomes a 'distraction' and on more games, the action goes on so fast its almost unnoticeable or seen long enough to be appreciably enjoyed.

Most times the settings for max 'effects' and full screen full res effects actually slows and over burden the entire process unnecessarily, chokes and skips just to see fountains of blood spewing from kills rather than a split splash of red here and there ( I actually broke out laughing during the testing of the game, I don't remember which game it was, but it was hilarious, the higher settings actually made kills looks like ruddy fountains)

Forget those 'gameplay' videos ... looks great only if you are not the one playing, you'd be engrossed with other things during gameplay ... on top of which its mainly those High Res with HDMI monitors plus a great sound system set up that can pull it off ... you will need the whole shebang for that kind of build, anything wanting in one or either of the set up is just a waste of time. If you wanna go for it leave room for all the components involved. I've seen crazy money tossed into this building that perfect gamer rig, its almost an institution unto itself. :lol:

~

I am not saying 'minimum' specs mind you, high but not that high is what I'm saying ... doesn't have to be. Somewhere a notch or two above Recommended works more than well enough these days.

~

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5 hours ago, SecretSanta said:

Hey y’all,

Wondering if anyone had any ideas on decent gaming PCs.

My daughter is really into playing Overwatch and has been looking into getting a gaming computer. It will be a Christmas present if she can decide on one. 

I don’t know if she even needs a gaming computer or just a decent/better computer than she has now.

I don’t want to spend thousands. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks!

How much are you looking to spend?

 

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She’s still researching. She’s driving me nuts. Personally I didn’t want to spend over $700-800. Might wait until she saves up some money (she just got a job) and she can contribute to the fund. 

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7 minutes ago, SecretSanta said:

She’s still researching. She’s driving me nuts. Personally I didn’t want to spend over $700-800. Might wait until she saves up some money (she just got a job) and she can contribute to the fund. 

If you follow the advice given then you should be able to get a rig set up with a decent graphics card. Personally though I'd go second-hand. You'll get way more for your money and I've never had trouble with refurbished electronics (except chargers). The thing about computers that a lot of people don't realise is that if something goes wrong then you can just replace the broken part.

After about 10 years it'll be like this:

 

 

 

Edited by ExpandMyMind
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20 hours ago, SecretSanta said:

She’s still researching. She’s driving me nuts. Personally I didn’t want to spend over $700-800. Might wait until she saves up some money (she just got a job) and she can contribute to the fund. 

If you buy a pre-built pc online from a reliable supplier such as Newegg you can get yourself a decent gaming pc for that budget. Here is the cheapest I can find today on that site -https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883221356 which is $600.

If she needs a monitor buy a HDTV instead (they are cheaper and she wont notice any difference in her gaming experience) and you can get one for under $100.00. For example - https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16889522046&cm_re=hdtv-_-89-522-046-_-Product but just make sure that you remember a HDMI 2.0 cable if your household doesnt have a spare one.

That i5 will keep her going for most likely 4-5 years before she needs to upgrade it. With the memory and graphics card that would most likely need to be done in 2-3 years. A newer graphics card brought that ends in 60 along with doubling her memory would most likely be about $160.00 then. She will need to watch the power consumption of the future graphics card upgrade because the wattage out of the one linked above is cutting it close to the bone. A bronze rated 500w supply would be about $40.00 if she needs it later.

If you can get someone with experience of building pcs who is prepared to order the components and assemble them for you then you can get far more for your money. Again stick with a new i5 but I would go for more memory, a 500w power supply, and a 1070 graphics card. It will still come to about $600 due to the self assembly.

And finally.... ignore anybody telling you a decent pc needs you to spend $1000 or even $1500. Those people have no clue what they are doing or going on about. i5s are made for gaming, i7s and i9s are not. They are made for graphics design studios and video editing. With the graphics cards most people are playing games on typical single 1080p HDTVs so you don`t need a state of the art graphics card capable of displaying graphics to multiple screens or in 4k. GeForce 960, 1060, 1160 (when its out), basically anything ending in 60 from 960 onwards is what you need. 60 = good graphics for the normal computer gamer.

Edited by RabidMongoose
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14 hours ago, RabidMongoose said:

If she needs a monitor buy a HDTV instead (they are cheaper and she wont notice any difference in her gaming experience) and you can get one for under $100.00. For example - https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16889522046&cm_re=hdtv-_-89-522-046-_-Product but just make sure that you remember a HDMI 2.0 cable if your household doesnt have a spare one.

 

I wouldn't go with that TV. There's no point in buying a gaming rig then being limited by 720p screen resolution. 

The rest of that post though was excellent advice.

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2 hours ago, likwidlite said:

What about a ps4 or Xbox for the gaming and a cheapish laptop for the pc side of things?

I actually thought this would be the best option by far, but, considering her daughter already plays Overwatch on the PC, I'd guess that she's part of some sort of gaming group or community that she'd rather stay with.

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On ‎23‎/‎11‎/‎2017 at 11:03 AM, ExpandMyMind said:

I wouldn't go with that TV. There's no point in buying a gaming rig then being limited by 720p screen resolution. 

The rest of that post though was excellent advice.

So it was, well spotted. I didnt notice that lol.

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If you are going I5 and on a budget use a motherboard with graphics. I have been using onboard graphics for 3 years now and it runs games just fine, even mmos. I also do cad design and 3d modeling with it so its not light use. Just give it plenty of ram. You can always buy a graphics card later if needed.  

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9 hours ago, BorizBadinov said:

If you are going I5 and on a budget use a motherboard with graphics. I have been using onboard graphics for 3 years now and it runs games just fine, even mmos. I also do cad design and 3d modeling with it so its not light use. Just give it plenty of ram. You can always buy a graphics card later if needed.  

If it is a gaming computer settling for integrated graphics is bad advice. She needs a proper dedicated graphics card or she will playing new games on bare minimum graphics settings (and losing out on wonderful visual experiences).

I certainly dont know how you can claim you are doing CAD and 3D modelling not only on an i5 but with integrated graphics too. You probably dont realise that what you are rendering is taking 20x longer than it needs too. You need to go i7 and get a 1080 if thats what your pc is mainly used for. Even better a AMD Thread Ripper. My God, you will be giving Autodesk a stroke. Integrated graphics are for laptops and workplace PCs, they are for watching HD films and surfing the internet, etc. They arent for gaming or, my God, CAD and 3D modelling. Talk about a severe bottleneck.

Edited by RabidMongoose
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