Wants A Gaming PC! Needs Help!

[Talon_strikes]

Hello, SWTOR community forum-goers! Whales here, and I really need your assistance at the moment with computers and technical tech-talk!

 

I'm a gaming nerd and am looking for a gaming desktop build because my dad is gonna buy me a great gaming computer next month! I'm really excited, but I'm such a noob at this and I don't even know where to start. I've told him that building your own computer can be really affordable, and can cost much less than $2000, but I am looking for a great gaming machine. So let's get started!

 

Currently, the only MMO I play is this one—Star Wars: The Old Republic. My laptop can just barely handle it, but gladly it can. So basically, I'm looking for an affordable (I'm not rich), (pseudo-)beast, gaming desktop that can run settings really high. I'd like it to have a great video card and a really high CPU (since that's what I heard SWTOR mostly requires), a lot of RAM, and I'd like for those parts and other notable ones to be great and at a price my dad will accept cause we aren't rich. I plan to show him this thread when I see him next month and see what he thinks.

 

We don't know how to build a computer and might not know where to start to get someone to build it for us, so I'm looking at you guys for help.

 

If you have more than one option that'll help me, please feel free to throw it at us and even PM me if you have to. I'm also looking forward to buying new-gen games in the future, so I'm just letting you know that SWTOR isn't the only beast game that will be in my inventory.

 

Btw, the only things I know as of now are:

• Newegg and TigerDirect are affordable.
  
• Alienware is expensive and I've heard many say it sucks and to go to Newegg and TD.
  
• Gaming PCs can be affordable and still beasts!
  
• That you guys can help me in this predicament.

 

Oh, and I would also like for the desktop to be able to run these games at great FPS to handle these games, because I heard MMOs do take a lot of power. I'm a PvPer, so please let my desktop run Open World PvP smoothly when I'm in an area with over 30 players attacking each other!

 

So for those of you who discuss this with me and help, thank you!

[Colecjc]

I threw this together very quickly at work. Despite that this would run SW:TOR easily at highest settings.

The 2500K i5 overclocks easily to 4.5Ghz or even 5Ghz if you would be interested in doing some OCing down the road.

 

Processor- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072 The i5-2500K

 

Graphics- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125423 Gigabyte GTX 670

 

MOBO- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157293 Just picked one, could be better options than this.

 

RAM- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226191 2X4 8Gbs Mushkin

 

Storage (SSD)- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148442 Once you use a PC with the OS and games on an SSD you won't want to go back to a HDD.

 

Case- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021 I have built a PC in this case for someone, nice case- great for the price.

 

PSU- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139020

 

CD Drive- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204

 

I'm assuming you want Windows 7- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116992

 

I put this together in less than ten minutes so I may have left something out or messed up somewhere. Hopefully you can use this as a starting point. The price for this ends up being around $1300

 

EDIT: Forgot to add- Definitely build your PC. It is a great learning experience, lots of fun, and you will end up happier than if you bought an Alienware or other gaming branded desktop.

Edited July 13, 2012 by Colecjc
Forgot something

[MetallicaDan]

You could build your own PC... Or you could just walk into a computer store you trust and just throw money at them so they can do it for you.

 

I live in Canada so I went to Canada Computers, told them I wanted a system that could play SWTOR and I got something for less than $1000 with taxes that runs any current games beautifully (including SWTOR). All I had to do is bring my PC home, plug it in and boom I was all set. To me that's worth the extra money because of the convenience.

[Talon_strikes]

You could build your own PC... Or you could just walk into a computer store you trust and just throw money at them so they can do it for you.

 

I live in Canada so I went to Canada Computers, told them I wanted a system that could play SWTOR and I got something for less than $1000 with taxes that runs any current games beautifully (including SWTOR). All I had to do is bring my PC home, plug it in and boom I was all set. To me that's worth the extra money because of the convenience.

I guess it has to do with affordability vs. convenience.

 

I have to say, I'd might just would get it preferably online and shipped because it seems to me like their systems may be better than those offered at stores, but I think building one my own by buying the separate pieces with give me a sense of accomplishment and achievement in getting a reliable, powerful gaming computer.

 

It'll come down to my dad thinks, but I'm sure he'll agree with all of what I'll tell him.

[Talon_strikes]

Still looking for more help if anyone can!

[Talon_strikes]

If anyone can help with the current build the friendly player gave above, please do!

[Captain_Zone]

You could build your own PC... Or you could just walk into a computer store you trust and just throw money at them so they can do it for you.

 

I live in Canada so I went to Canada Computers, told them I wanted a system that could play SWTOR and I got something for less than $1000 with taxes that runs any current games beautifully (including SWTOR). All I had to do is bring my PC home, plug it in and boom I was all set. To me that's worth the extra money because of the convenience.

 

Or with a little technical know-how, you can build one for just over half that. About $600 - $700 dollars can have you up and running with a system that blows Alienware out of the water. We have Fry's Electronics here in the States. My favorite place to shop.

[Raidalg]

The best advice I can give would be to go to http://www.Hardforum.com to either the General Hardware or Motherboards forums and ask the same question. The people who frequent those forums are VERY helpful and can do a great job of recommending a system you can build. I built my system several years ago and have not kept up on cost vs. performance in the current generation of hardware or I'd have advice myself for you.

 

When I built my current system, I haunted these forums to get the best information for each piece of my PC.

 

I can give some general advice for building any system:

1. Never skimp on a well reviewed quality power supply that meets you're hardware needs. A cheap or inadequate power supply is the cause of more people's computer woes and they rarely know it.

2. Never skimp on quality RAM. My personal favorite brand is Mushkin for reliability and support.

3. Research every component. Forums, especially HardForums are your friend.

4. Buy from Newegg or Amazon if you have a prime membership. Both have great customer service and their reviews are handy.

5. A well recommended motherboard is key to a good system.

6. If you can afford to get 8 or more GB RAM, do so . The RAM disk forum post in these forums will explain how to utilize this VERY well for this game..

7. If you can afford an SSD for installing games and Windows, get it. I added an Intel 320 120GB and it made a noticeable improvement in everything I do on the PC.

8. See if you can find a friend who lives near you who has built a PC before and get their help. (If you live near Tampa FL, PM me.)

[Raidalg]

I threw this together very quickly at work. Despite that this would run SW:TOR easily at highest settings.

The 2500K i5 overclocks easily to 4.5Ghz or even 5Ghz if you would be interested in doing some OCing down the road.

 

Processor- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072 The i5-2500K

 

Graphics- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125423 Gigabyte GTX 670

 

MOBO- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157293 Just picked one, could be better options than this.

 

RAM- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226191 2X4 8Gbs Mushkin

 

Storage (SSD)- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148442 Once you use a PC with the OS and games on an SSD you won't want to go back to a HDD.

 

Case- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021 I have built a PC in this case for someone, nice case- great for the price.

 

PSU- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139020

 

CD Drive- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204

 

I'm assuming you want Windows 7- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116992

 

I put this together in less than ten minutes so I may have left something out or messed up somewhere. Hopefully you can use this as a starting point. The price for this ends up being around $1300

 

EDIT: Forgot to add- Definitely build your PC. It is a great learning experience, lots of fun, and you will end up happier than if you bought an Alienware or other gaming branded desktop.

 

I just looked over this list and this system would do VERY nicely. I am partial to ASus motherboards, and Intel SSD's, but if that Asrock mobo is well reviewed, then you have a solid gaming system here.

 

What I haven't seen mentioned is a monitor. If you won't be doing any photo editing that requires accurate color, I can recommend this monitor. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824254052

 

It looks freakin' awesome in SWTOR having a monitor this big. The video card this person recommended will easily play the game at 1900:1200 resolution.

[Talon_strikes]

Thank you so much! I will head to that form and am glad of the advice given already!

[MetallicaDan]

You can also check out this thread, which has an insane amount of info:

 

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=3898

 

 

This one might be more helpful:

 

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=101662

Edited July 18, 2012 by MetallicaDan

[Quantum]

Bit of advice, don't look at just Newegg and Tigerdirect, they've acquired so much market share they can hedge their profits a bit higher due to lack of recognizable competition.

 

Best bet is to use Newegg and Tiger to find the part you want then search for it on Google and click the Shopping link on the sidebar. Look at various vendors, often one will be cheaper than either of those two. Doing that I managed to build a PC from the ground up for about $450, the only parts I moved from my old one were the HDD, Powersupply and DVD/CD R/W since they were fairly new, and I've had no issues running the game at all with this build.

[bethanylilly]

I definitely agree that building is the way to go. My former husband, also a former HP tech, built his desktop for under $800 and it blows my laptop out of the water (yes I overpaid for an Alienware M14x w/ Intel I7 processor and 8GB of RAM etc. etc.) I will ask him exactly what he put in it and where he bought the parts. I know he ordered them online and had them delivered, I am just not sure where and it was definitely not Amazon, he works for them, therefore he hates them. Give me 48 hours to get a response from him and I will post his suggestions. Good luck and happy gaming.

[Deffklok]

http://www.cyberpowerpc.com

 

if you want a cheap, yet good gaming PC check out CyberPower.

 

just messing around for a couple of mins and i put this together and its a beast and still under your budget by a few hundred $$$

 

Custom Gamer Scorpius 8000 - $1675

Case: Thermaltake Commander Mid-Tower Gaming Case (Black Color)

Extra Case Fan Upgrade: Maximum 120MM Case Cooling Fans for your selected case [+9]

Noise Reduction Technology: Anti-Vibration Fan Mounts [+9]

CPU: AMD FX-8150 3.60 GHz Eight-Core AM3+ CPU 8MB L2 Cache & Turbo Core Technology [+70]

Cooling Fan: Asetek 510LC Liquid Cooling System 120MM Radiator & Fan (Enhanced Cooling Performance + Extreme Silent at 20dBA) (Single Standard 120MM Fan)

Coolant for Cyberpower Xtreme Hydro Water Cooling Kits: Standard Coolant

Motherboard: [CrossFireX/SLI] ASUS Sabertooth AMD 990FX Socket AM3+ ATX Mainboard w/ UEFI Bios, TUF Thermal Radar & 7.1 HD Audio, GbLAN, USB 3.0, SATA-III RAID, 4 Gen2 PCIe X16, 1 PCIe X1 & 1 PCI [+124]

Memory: 32GB (8GBx4) DDR3/1333MHz Dual Channel Memory [+301] (Corsair or Major Brand)

Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti 2GB 16X PCIe Video Card [+191] (Major Brand Powered by NVIDIA)

Power Supply Upgrade: 700 Watts - Standard Power Supply - SLI/CrossFireX Ready [-14]

Hard Drive: 2TB (2TBx1) SATA-III 6.0Gb/s 64MB Cache 7200RPM HDD [+25] (Single Drive)

External Hard Drive (USB3.0/2.0/eSATA): None

Optical Drive: 24X Double Layer Dual Format DVD+-R/+-RW + CD-R/RW Drive (BLACK COLOR)

Sound: Creative Labs SB X-Fi Xtreme Audio 24-BIT PCI Sound Card [+48]

LCD Monitor: 24" Widescreen 1920x1080 ASUS VS247H-P LCD [+157]

Speakers: Creative Inspire T3130 2.1 Speakers System [+26]

Keyboard: AZZA Multimedia USB Gaming Keyboard

Mouse: AZZA Optical 1600dpi Gaming Mouse with Weight Adjustable Cartridge

Internal USB Port: Built-in USB 2.0 Ports

Operating System: Microsoft® Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit Edition)

 

so thats an 8 core, with 32 gigs of ram and 2 gigs of ram on the video card with 2 terrabyte hard drives, for under 2 grand AND its LIQUID COOLED...

Edited July 19, 2012 by Deffklok

[Talon_strikes]

http://www.cyberpowerpc.com

 

if you want a cheap, yet good gaming PC check out CyberPower.

 

just messing around for a couple of mins and i put this together and its a beast and still under your budget by a few hundred $$$

 

Custom Gamer Scorpius 8000 - $1675

Case: Thermaltake Commander Mid-Tower Gaming Case (Black Color)

Extra Case Fan Upgrade: Maximum 120MM Case Cooling Fans for your selected case [+9]

Noise Reduction Technology: Anti-Vibration Fan Mounts [+9]

CPU: AMD FX-8150 3.60 GHz Eight-Core AM3+ CPU 8MB L2 Cache & Turbo Core Technology [+70]

Cooling Fan: Asetek 510LC Liquid Cooling System 120MM Radiator & Fan (Enhanced Cooling Performance + Extreme Silent at 20dBA) (Single Standard 120MM Fan)

Coolant for Cyberpower Xtreme Hydro Water Cooling Kits: Standard Coolant

Motherboard: [CrossFireX/SLI] ASUS Sabertooth AMD 990FX Socket AM3+ ATX Mainboard w/ UEFI Bios, TUF Thermal Radar & 7.1 HD Audio, GbLAN, USB 3.0, SATA-III RAID, 4 Gen2 PCIe X16, 1 PCIe X1 & 1 PCI [+124]

Memory: 32GB (8GBx4) DDR3/1333MHz Dual Channel Memory [+301] (Corsair or Major Brand)

Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti 2GB 16X PCIe Video Card [+191] (Major Brand Powered by NVIDIA)

Power Supply Upgrade: 700 Watts - Standard Power Supply - SLI/CrossFireX Ready [-14]

Hard Drive: 2TB (2TBx1) SATA-III 6.0Gb/s 64MB Cache 7200RPM HDD [+25] (Single Drive)

External Hard Drive (USB3.0/2.0/eSATA): None

Optical Drive: 24X Double Layer Dual Format DVD+-R/+-RW + CD-R/RW Drive (BLACK COLOR)

Sound: Creative Labs SB X-Fi Xtreme Audio 24-BIT PCI Sound Card [+48]

LCD Monitor: 24" Widescreen 1920x1080 ASUS VS247H-P LCD [+157]

Speakers: Creative Inspire T3130 2.1 Speakers System [+26]

Keyboard: AZZA Multimedia USB Gaming Keyboard

Mouse: AZZA Optical 1600dpi Gaming Mouse with Weight Adjustable Cartridge

Internal USB Port: Built-in USB 2.0 Ports

Operating System: Microsoft® Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit Edition)

 

so thats an 8 core, with 32 gigs of ram and 2 gigs of ram on the video card with 2 terrabyte hard drives, for under 2 grand AND its LIQUID COOLED...

Sadly, I heard CyberPower was one of the sites to build PCs to not be trusted. I've heard from reliable sources that they have terrible build quality and CS.

[Deffklok]

this is my second cyberpower pc and i have not had issues with them. their CS can be reached by email if they cannot be reached by phone (phone can be hit or miss sometimes).

[Talon_strikes]

this is my second cyberpower pc and i have not had issues with them. their CS can be reached by email if they cannot be reached by phone (phone can be hit or miss sometimes).

Ah, alright. Well thank you! I will look more into it before making CyberPower talk to my hand. I guess what I saw last time was just that the person, had a terrible experience, I dunno. Was a reliable source, though.

 

Btw, the build you gave me... was certainly more than I bargained for.

[Deffklok]

they have tech people you can chat with while building your PC online so that you can make sure all of your parts work together well. plus they have some nifty features that tell you what FPS you will run at certain settings on certain games (this is pretty limited at the moment for game selection).