Current Events > What am I looking for from a gaming PC?

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I've never used a PC to game before, but I want to give it a try. What should I be looking for?

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This is the worst time to be looking for a gaming pc as everything is inflated.

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Realforce posted...

This is the worst time to be looking for a gaming pc as everything is inflated.

this doesnt help. also, i love the irony that it's from someone who lists parts in their signature that are the absolutely most inflated of them all. Because, i think, you're just listing them. nothing beyond that. :}

anyways, look for something that performs recent games at 60fps @ 1080p. that should be a starting point. And that'll run you probably 1500 CAD, whatever that is in USD.

I suggest hopping over to youtube and watching a tutorial from linus tech tips. Bitwit and hardwarecanucks is decent too. gamersnexus is probably a bit too technical, and theres some others mixed in there too.

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Realforce posted...

This is the worst time to be looking for a gaming pc as everything is inflated.

To be fair the next 3 years is going to be the same

What's your budget? A prebuilt is your best option at this time

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#1 is making sure that everything is actually compatible as it would be a bit silly to buy a rig and then find out that you're making a non-functioning brick. It isn't hard to make sure, mind you, but it still needs to be done. Basically just look at your mobo and make sure that it's compatible with your CPU and RAM (or go the reverse and pick the motherboard first), and make sure that your power supply has enough juice (or just go ham and get one that is way over what you'd need).

Otherwise it depends on what type of games you're going to be playing/how much you are willing to pay. The main two to really look at are your CPU and GPU as they are the parts that will represent the largest amount of your budget and you either want to go lower if you aren't wanting to play anything modern/graphically intensive and higher if you are. And other than just listing a ton of potentials on that front the best way to go about it would be to look at something like Newegg and see what is currently popular within what you'd be willing to pay. This works even if you plan on getting a pre-built as the same sort of chipsets and cards will show up on both and it can serve as a good baseline for recognizing builds that are better than others. Outside of that RAM will be important, but more in the "you need this much to be happy" rather than a particular brand/type of RAM.

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Realforce posted...

This is the worst time to be looking for a gaming pc as everything is inflated.

wtf 12900k exists now? also weird seeing DDR5 now and 5.2 ghz wtf!

WTF so much changed in 3 years!

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Naysaspace posted...

this doesnt help. also, i love the irony that it's from someone who lists parts in their signature that are the absolutely most inflated of them all. Because, i think, you're just listing them. nothing beyond that. :}

anyways, look for something that performs recent games at 60fps @ 1080p. that should be a starting point. And that'll run you probably 1500 CAD, whatever that is in USD.

I suggest hopping over to youtube and watching a tutorial from linus tech tips. Bitwit and hardwarecanucks is decent too. gamersnexus is probably a bit too technical, and theres some others mixed in there too.

https://imgur.com/RRO0UIe

Here's my PC as it currently is (currently have the 5950x and Asus Dark Hero VIII crosshair installed alongside the Corsair Dominator RGB DDR4 32gb ram kit at 3600MHz CL16, have the 12900k as that was easy enough to obtain, ddr5 5200MHz + mobo ordered off of ebay from a scalper which cost me dearly, though not as bad as a guy I saw purchase a G.Skill Z DDR5 5600MHz ram kit for $2000)

Aim for 1440p at the very least and not 1080p. Just be prepared to spend double on older hardware that was released prior to the pandemic. If you want more of the current gen stuff at some better prices than the scalpers off of Ebay, I use the hardware swap subreddit.

If you have spare computer parts lying around like I did, you can make a decent bit of dough to jumpstart your build. Prebuilts are also another option.

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I would suggest looking into a pre-built. Much less stressful than tracking stock for the gpu you want. From there, it just depends on what your budget is.

Something like this can handle 1440 pretty well (won't be able to max every game)

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/6481360.p?skuId=6481360

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Your question is kinda worthless without some basic wants and a budget. Also ask on the PC board, there are too many low hanging fruit here who will not be able to post their stupid thoughts unchecked over there.

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Realforce posted...

This is the worst time to be looking for a gaming pc as everything is inflated.

I disagree.

Now is a great time to find a decent pre-made gaming machine.

I bought mine on discount and saved around $700.

Though there's never been a worst time to build your own machine (on the cheap, at least).

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Yeah, I'd just get a prebuilt at this point. So set a budget and try to get the most bang for your buck with that.

Main specs to look at are video card, CPU, RAM amount, and SSD that's large enough

https://www.userbenchmark.com is my go-to site to compare video cards and CPUs

RAM I would get at least 16 GB
SSD at least 1 TB

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Pitlord_Special posted...

Yeah, I'd just get a prebuilt at this point. So set a budget and try to get the most bang for your buck with that.

Main specs to look at are video card, CPU, RAM amount, and SSD that's large enough

https://www.userbenchmark.com is my go-to site to compare video cards and CPUs

RAM I would get at least 16 GB
SSD at least 1 TB

This site is objectively biased beyond belief for comparing products because of the overt bias in favor of certain vendors and they even change their metrics and formulas in order to show slower products from their favorite brand as faster than the competitors better product, anyone still using it is dumb.

Go to the PC board.

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