Getting a gaming PC, by the end of this week.

[BBP: Baka.Bonkura.Ponkstu]

Hello nice people. I'm about to get a new gaming PC by the end of this week. Of course this is my first time doing that, also my first time switching to PC gaming. My best friend is the one whom is building my PC, and overall we have a budget of $600-$700 (without peripherals). He's a programmer, software engineer, and coder. Basically, he knows what to get me in terms of: RAM, GPU, CPU, MotherBoard & OS (Win7:64 Bit). But we're a bit confused if we should get an AMD graphic card or Nividia?
He got his brother a Nivida graphic card a year ago, and he says everything is well. My best friend himself is not a gamer; therefore, I felt it's better if we double-check.


-I have been reading on loads of sites that had loads of debates; you can build an amazing High-End gaming PC that run every game on Maximum/Ultimate settings with my said budget... and if it doesn't run on highest settings, it will be most likely from the game itself having a poor port or not being well-optimised for the highest settings.
I plan to play all games on Maximum settings, as long as they handle it.

Would you kindly tell&educate me with details, if we should get an AMD Graphic Card or Nividia, and anything else in terms of hardware? I'd greatly appreciate it.

-It seems that Steam store and AMD are going hand-in-hand... just an observation.

Please be nice and detailed. Be easy on me with all the numbers and jargon, as I'm a beginner and trying my best to learn about these details.

[Rove]

What is your budget for GPU?

On your $600-700 budget for tower, not including OS, I recommend:
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1nUjU

If you need Windows 8 64bit along with it you could drop down to a HD 7870 GE GPU and or or a cheaper PSU, 500w continuous 80 Plus Bronze at minimum. That should be able to save more than enough $ to afford a copy of WIndows 8 64fbit.

[Dutchgamer1982]

moving to pc gaming = good.

but to wake you from your dream :
600-900 euro is a LOW end gaming pc
1200-1500 euro is a MEDIUM gaming pc
1800-2400 euro is a HIGH END gaming pc
4000+ euro is Top segment Gaming pc

at 600-700 usD you will get a low end gaming pc.

it is a matter of taste..
Nvidea cards are more powerfull but expensive
Radeon cards are slighly less powerfull, but cheaper.

at your low budget a radeon card will most likely give you most bang for bucks.

[Pixels]

I have always used nvidia and have never had a problem.From what I have read they do better with gaming out of the box, but I've heard amd is better for overclocking, if that's your thing. Most of the people who use Steam also use nvidia http://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey . I can't say much about amd since I've never used one of their cards but I can say I've never read anything or had an experience that made me want to switch from nvidia cards.

Also, don't expect a high end pc to be built with such a low budget. That budget might buy you a high end video card... but then you have the rest of the pc to consider lol

[BBP: Baka.Bonkura.Ponkstu]

Rove님이 먼저 게시:

What is your budget for GPU?

On your $600-700 budget for tower, not including OS, I recommend:
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1nUjU

If you need Windows 8 64bit along with it you could drop down to a HD 7870 GE GPU and or or a cheaper PSU, 500w continuous 80 Plus Bronze at minimum. That should be able to save more than enough $ to afford a copy of WIndows 8 64fbit.

Hmm.. I'm not sure of the specified budget of the GPU, but I'll ask him and check my "wallet" :P. Please, take the freedom to describe the great ones, with no worry. Once I'll know my exact budget for the GPU, I'll pick up the suited one.

I'm going with Windows7 64 Bit; I have it ready with my friend, so no worries on that part. I don't want to have Windows8, since I didn't like it, and It doesn't support Controllers whatsoever. I have a disease that disables me to play on a keyboard for longer than 30 minutes.

One more question: What's the difference between a 6 core-processor and a 7-core-processor?

[BBP: Baka.Bonkura.Ponkstu]

Dutchgamer1982님이 먼저 게시:

moving to pc gaming = good.

but to wake you from your dream :
600-900 euro is a LOW end gaming pc
1200-1500 euro is a MEDIUM gaming pc
1800-2400 euro is a HIGH END gaming pc
4000+ euro is Top segment Gaming pc

at 600-700 usD you will get a low end gaming pc.

it is a matter of taste..
Nvidea cards are more powerfull but expensive
Radeon cards are slighly less powerfull, but cheaper.

at your low budget a radeon card will most likely give you most bang for bucks.

Aha thank you, sir. Well, I didn't mean the highest as the most ultimate; bad choice of words, on my end. Hmm... I saw videos of Bioshock:Infinite on Ultimate settings, and the people who posted the specs on the comments, said that their budget wasn't over $700, and they have an amazing PC.

EDIT: I just remembered; two weeks ago, I read an article that had comparison of gaming PC of 600 Euros Vs gaming PC of 3500 Euros, and at the end the 600 Euros won the comparison, in terms of performance and enjoying a clean and vivid gaming experince. The article's goal was to remove the myth of believing that PC gaming is expensive or at least more expensive than consoles.

EDIT 2: At least for now, I want something very wonderful (where I feel that I did a great change from consoles; current gen/next gen), where I can enjoy 1080p, textures, shadows etc... on all games. I cannot wait to play loads of games that I played on consoles, on PC and experience them differently.

[BBP: Baka.Bonkura.Ponkstu]

edWAD_님이 먼저 게시:

I have always used nvidia and have never had a problem.From what I have read they do better with gaming out of the box, but I've heard amd is better for overclocking, if that's your thing. Most of the people who use Steam also use nvidia http://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey . I can't say much about amd since I've never used one of their cards but I can say I've never read anything or had an experience that made me want to switch from nvidia cards.

edWAD_님이 먼저 게시:

Also, don't expect a high end pc to be built with such a low budget. That budget might buy you a high end video card... but then you have the rest of the pc to consider lol

Thank you. Question: What does overclocking do?

I suppose on the long run, as years go by, I'll have a higher budget, and can have that "high" end gaming PC. But for now, I want something very wonderful (where I feel that I did a great change from consoles; current gen/next gen), where I can enjoy 1080p, textures, shadows etc... on all games. I cannot wait to play loads of games that I played on consoles, on PC and experience them differently.

[Pixels]

Overclocking forces the gpu(or cpu) to perform at a higher clock speed than it was intended. This also creates more heat and can cause other stability issues and potentially damage your hardware if you don't know what you are doing. Since you aren't even sure what it is I don't recommend you get in to it. It's a lot of work to get a stable overclock (not to mention you have to buy aftermarket cooling for everything) and for me, it's just not worth the effort. I don't OC anything anymore, I just use the factory clock speeds.

You will be able to build something that can outperform todays consoles and be great for current games with that budget. I just wanted to be sure that you knew it wasn't going to be a future proof beast of a machine.

[BBP: Baka.Bonkura.Ponkstu]

edWAD_님이 먼저 게시:

Overclocking forces the gpu(or cpu) to perform at a higher clock speed than it was intended. This also creates more heat and can cause other stability issues and potentially damage your hardware if you don't know what you are doing. Since you aren't even sure what it is I don't recommend you get in to it. It's a lot of work to get a stable overclock (not to mention you have to buy aftermarket cooling for everything) and for me, it's just not worth the effort. I don't OC anything anymore, I just use the factory clock speeds.

You will be able to build something that can outperform todays consoles and be great for current games with that budget. I just wanted to be sure that you knew it wasn't going to be a future proof beast of a machine.

Thank you very much edWad, I appreciate that you took responsibility of letting me know, the important things. With "Today's consoles" do you mean current gen&next gen?

[Pixels]

Current gen.

Next gen consoles will have todays mid end pc hardware but because game devs will be making games specifically for the hardware set-ups (highly optimized for the systems) they will perform like very high end pcs.

If the graphics are what are most important to you then you may want to consider just waiting to buy a next gen console. It will be far cheaper and look much nicer than a low-mid range pc. Not to mention you don't have to deal with the possibility of having trouble running games with your specific hardware set up as the games are designed for the specific hardware in the consoles.

If you are getting into PC gaming for the modding and better community of gamers. Then get your gaming rig :D

[BBP: Baka.Bonkura.Ponkstu]

edWAD_님이 먼저 게시:

Current gen.

Next gen consoles will have todays mid end pc hardware but because game devs will be making games specifically for the hardware set-ups (highly optimized for the systems) they will perform like very high end pcs.

If the graphics are what are most important to you then you may want to consider just waiting to buy a next gen console. It will be far cheaper and look much nicer than a low-mid range pc. Not to mention you don't have to deal with the possibility of having trouble running games with your specific hardware set up as the games are designed for the specific hardware in the consoles.

If you are getting into PC gaming for the modding and better community of gamers. Then get your gaming rig :D

I suppose the things I have been hearing/watching on YouTube and reading on articles are false or misleading. Again, thank you.

As time goes by, when I upgrade; I'll sell my "current" GPU I'm using, and buy the next-great-one, right? I think that will be cheaper than the first time of building a PC. In the long run, I'll have something greater. It's not just graphics, it's loads of things that PC gamers get to experience and console gamers don't. Also, on the long run, PC gaming is cheaper than Console gaming... Honestly, look at the Steam, GMG, GG prices, discounts, and special offers.

[Pixels]

Kyanti4869님이 먼저 게시:

edWAD_님이 먼저 게시:

Current gen.

Next gen consoles will have todays mid end pc hardware but because game devs will be making games specifically for the hardware set-ups (highly optimized for the systems) they will perform like very high end pcs.

If the graphics are what are most important to you then you may want to consider just waiting to buy a next gen console. It will be far cheaper and look much nicer than a low-mid range pc. Not to mention you don't have to deal with the possibility of having trouble running games with your specific hardware set up as the games are designed for the specific hardware in the consoles.

If you are getting into PC gaming for the modding and better community of gamers. Then get your gaming rig :D

I suppose the things I have been hearing/watching on YouTube and reading on articles are false or misleading. Again, thank you.

As time goes by, when I upgrade; I'll sell my "current" GPU I'm using, and buy the next-great-one, right? I think that will be cheaper than the first time of building a PC. In the long run, I'll have something greater. It's not just graphics, it's loads of things that PC gamers get to experience and console gamers don't. Also, on the long run, PC gaming is cheaper than Console gaming... Honestly, look at the Steam, GMG, GG prices, discounts, and special offers.

People see the hardware specs of next gen consoles and see that they are not all that impressive but they don't account for the fact that those machines are made for gaming and gaming only, and that game developers will be making their games to perform on that specific hardware. Whereas a PC can have any number of different hardware configurations which can make performance unpredictable. That's why you can see in a lot of game forums people with good PC's who can't get a game to run properly or sometimes at all.

Well, yeah the games are cheaper if you have the patience to wait a long time for the sales.

I primarily game on PC and I have been lucky enough to not have any problems with any games with my set up, but sometimes PC gaming can be a pain...and the temptation to buy that new video card that just came out even though you just bought a new one 6 months ago will always be there taunting your wallet lol

[BBP: Baka.Bonkura.Ponkstu]

edWAD_님이 먼저 게시:

Kyanti4869님이 먼저 게시:

I suppose the things I have been hearing/watching on YouTube and reading on articles are false or misleading. Again, thank you.

As time goes by, when I upgrade; I'll sell my "current" GPU I'm using, and buy the next-great-one, right? I think that will be cheaper than the first time of building a PC. In the long run, I'll have something greater. It's not just graphics, it's loads of things that PC gamers get to experience and console gamers don't. Also, on the long run, PC gaming is cheaper than Console gaming... Honestly, look at the Steam, GMG, GG prices, discounts, and special offers.

People see the hardware specs of next gen consoles and see that they are not all that impressive but they don't account for the fact that those machines are made for gaming and gaming only, and that game developers will be making their games to perform on that specific hardware. Whereas a PC can have any number of different hardware configurations which can make performance unpredictable. That's why you can see in a lot of game forums people with good PC's who can't get a game to run properly or sometimes at all.

Well, yeah the games are cheaper if you have the patience to wait a long time for the sales.

I primarily game on PC and I have been lucky enough to not have any problems with any games with my set up, but sometimes PC gaming can be a pain...and the temptation to buy that new video card that just came out even though you just bought a new one 6 months ago will always be there taunting your wallet lol

I understand. I appreciate your help.
I appreciate Rove's&Dutchgamer1982's help as well.

[Pixels]

No problem.

When you think you have all of your parts picked out (or even before) I recommend you stop by
GeeksToGo ( http://www.geekstogo.com/forum/forum/9-hardware-components-and-peripherals/ )
and Tom's Hardware ( http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/forum-31.html )
and ask for opinions and suggestions on your build. They both have a lot of knowledgable and helpful people who can help you get the best bang for your buck and even help guide you through building your pc and getting it running.

[BBP: Baka.Bonkura.Ponkstu]

edWAD_님이 먼저 게시:

No problem.

When you think you have all of your parts picked out (or even before) I recommend you stop by
GeeksToGo ( http://www.geekstogo.com/forum/forum/9-hardware-components-and-peripherals/ )
and Tom's Hardware ( http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/forum-31.html )
and ask for opinions and suggestions on your build. They both have a lot of knowledgable and helpful people who can help you get the best bang for your buck and even help guide you through building your pc and getting it running.

My plan now, is to get the best value of my budget, and overtime, I'll have my "dream" PC, since the more you upgrade over time, the cheaper you will have to pay, considering you already have more money saved for a desired singular spec, and you can sell your used one and get money out of it; per say: GPU. :).

The first mod I'll use is: The Utlimate diffcuilty in Dishonored. I finished the main campaign 9 times, and the Knife of Dunwall DLC 6 times. I cannot wait to get more :).

[Lancewielder]

Tell us what games you want to play. What is your screen res? BTW, you CAN do well with a small budget, as a Radeon HD 7770 does pretty well at BF3 at 1680*1050 and will be playable at 1920*1080. 2560*1600 is out though.