Looking to get a Gaming PC to run Skyrim within budget of £500-£1000

[dragonmodder666]

Hey Guys, I'm new to the PC gaming scene and was wondering if it was possible to get a good gaming pc able to run Skyrim at max setting and mods within the budget of £500-£1000?

[Vindekarr]

Yeah, that shouldn't be too difficult at all, and if you're willing to design your own(something we can help with) you should be able to get a really serious piece of kit for that sort of money. The reason I say that is, buying a completed computer usually means getting smacked with a huge price premium. It's usually a few hundred quid cheaper (and waaay more fun!) to buy the parts, a screwdriver, and spend a few hours sitting on the floor building your own PC. I tried it myself for the first time today, had a blast. Building the entire system only too 3 hours, and was actually really simple. "put screw with the giant orange "1" on it through screw-hole number "1"

 

Thankfully the way PCs work, they're modular. You've got a single bit called the Motherboard, and then everything else either clips, plugs or screws onto that. You'll probably want to go with a decent mid-range motherboard, it's one part that's not worth skimping on. The more modern it is, the more modern the parts you can use. For spending, I'd prioritize the RAM and Graphics card. The new generation of consoles coming have 8 GB of RAM, so you'll need atleast that to run the next generation of games at their best. G-Skill or Corsair are your best bets, or Patriot.

 

Graphics cards are always important, they process the graphics. Better graphics card = shinier graphics, simple as that. The ideal one for this sort of machine would be an ATI Radeon 7850 or 7870, an ultra-high-end previous generation card. The 7850 is an absolute steal right now, they're dead cheap(about 70 quid from a good brand) but pack performance roughly equivalent to the current generation. MSI, Gigabyte, EVGA, Sapphire and HIS all offer excellent cards based on 7850 and 7870 for under 100 pounds.

 

Things you can skimp on? the case. Unless you're planning to move somewhere hot like the UAE, India or Australia, you don't need to bother spending big on a case, just pick something cheap and nice looking. Most parts handle their own cooling these days so a case is mostly for looks-unless you're in a country that gets over 35 degrees in the shade in summer(like where I live :sad:) The CPU isn't that important either, a good mid-range Intel i5 won't cost much and offers strong performance. CPUs don't really do much anymore and if you've got a 3GB video card, they're largely a backup system.

 

3D? don't bother. Most of the companies who were making 3D TVs are now stopping production because nobody bought them, so buying one now wouldn't be very clever. There was, as often happens, a tech war between the two possible "next generation" TV types, the 4K TV and the 3D TV and the ultra-high resolution 4K TV kicked 3D's tacky, gimmick-o-rific ass right out the door. The best thing is right now that means otherwise brilliant HD TVs which CANNOT run 3D are ultra cheap right now. Where I live there's a specialist pro-gaming monitor you can get, the 3D version costs AU $899 and the poor person's version which is identical in every way except for the 3D, only costs $170.

Edited July 26, 2013 by Vindekarr

[neomonkeus]

I recently needed to build a rig as my old one apart from being at least 9 years old by now had to stay where it was.

 

The two hardest part of any build is finding a list of comparable parts and being able to easily share your current build if looking like so ask people for advice. Probably the single most helpful site I found is http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/.

 

Getting a basic build up given your price range is probably the hard part. Once you have that you can research parts which are in the same price range as to which suit you better. The site also takes out a lot of the compatibility worries that people have when it comes to things like which chips can go with what motherboard etc. You can also get updates sent when parts become cheaper.

 

The other site I liked to use was http://www.legitreviews.com as they usually had reviews for all the parts that I was comparing, and depending on your technical understanding or what you want from the build, i.e comparisons of games, rendering, cooling, over-clocking etc.

 

Take your time and do your research, but not too long otherwise you'll always want to wait for things to get cheaper or the newer thing. The last thing is to enjoy the process, building a pc should be lots of fun

[JimboUK]

If you don't fancy putting something together yourself this lot can do it for you at a reasonable price http://www.overclockers.co.uk/

[hoofhearted4]

there are sites like CyberPowerPc.com and iBuyPower.com who will build PCs for you. however you only have a limited selection of parts. the parts they offer are good enough. but if your anal like me and need certain products and such, then thats something to consider (ie if you MUST have a Gigabyte GPU and thats not an option with that site, then your SOL)

 

 

I would also mention, invest in an SSD. a 128gb SSD is sub $100. 128gb is enough for your OS, most used applications, and even a few games. (ones that arent on Steam, as Steam + Games probably wont fit)

 

also, dont skimp on your PSU (Power Supply Unit) as well. a good PSU is necessary.

 

but yea, that pcpartpicker wesite is a good site to compile a list to post it here. (note you dont need to use that site to buy your parts, it just makes it easy to list). get a list together, and we will gladly help you out.

 

last note. dont rush it. research your product. look at reviews and benchmarks. watch YouTube videos, comparisons, etc. find stuff you like/love. dont settle for less. it took me a couple of months to finally pick a case i liked, that had everything i wanted (granted i wasnt ready to purchase when i was researching, so my parts list changed almost daily lol) and do not skimp just to save a buck. yes look for good deals. and do ask yourself, is one part worth the extra money over another. sometimes its no. sometimes its yes. this is your PC and you want to build it to your likeness. if you find something you want in it, but it costs extra, then wait an extra paycheck or two. save up the extra money. itll all be worth it in the end. building a good gaming PC can cost a handfull at first. but from there on out it only requires a fraction of that to upgrade. a PC built with good parts can last several generations (of parts) before needing an overhaul. so spend the money now, so you dont have to spend it later. and of course, money well spent on your PC will give you the best gaming device there is. (and this is coming from a PS3 fanboy)

Edited July 26, 2013 by hoofhearted4

[Vindekarr]

Oh and incase anyone forgot to mention it, good luck with the build. There's a whole site(this one right here) full of creepy, sweaty bored geeks who would just love to help if they can. :geek: :geek: :geek: :geek: :woot: :geek:

[dragonmodder666]

So the best thing to do is for me to do a custom build other than buying one which has already been built. Thanks for all the info probably will save me some money. :smile:

[wolfpack91]

i just recently finished a custom build i by no means went cheap (Thank you US ARMY and your Overseas hazzard pay) but i did notice that AMD has the cheaper parts. i have an ASUS Crosshair Formula V motherboard with a AMD 8-core "Vishera" (i think thats how you spell it) And 16 GB ram and that Total ran me bout 550-600 USD.and i hear you can get a very nice ATI graphics for less that 400 USD capable of runing Skyrim All out. that total is around 1000 USD IDK wat the current exchange rates are but that is deffinately under 1000 of your currency. then after the core components the rest should be rather cheap 800Wat Power supply should do you fine at start by all means upgrade later and any HD monitor or even a cheap HDMI tv will serve perpose (though for refresh rate sake if you plan on playing COD and Battlefeild the few milliseconds between the Monitor and TV can save your life) and belive it or not you really dont need the fancy gaming mouse and keyboard right off the bat any will do till you have enough saved up to buy them. but anyways Good luck to you. (for priceng i went off rough estimates of wat i paid for the same core components off Newegg.com)

[wolfpack91]

there are sites like CyberPowerPc.com and iBuyPower.com who will build PCs for you. however you only have a limited selection of parts. the parts they offer are good enough. but if your anal like me and need certain products and such, then thats something to consider (ie if you MUST have a Gigabyte GPU and thats not an option with that site, then your SOL)

 

 

I would also mention, invest in an SSD. a 128gb SSD is sub $100. 128gb is enough for your OS, most used applications, and even a few games. (ones that arent on Steam, as Steam + Games probably wont fit)

 

also, dont skimp on your PSU (Power Supply Unit) as well. a good PSU is necessary.

 

but yea, that pcpartpicker wesite is a good site to compile a list to post it here. (note you dont need to use that site to buy your parts, it just makes it easy to list). get a list together, and we will gladly help you out.

 

last note. dont rush it. research your product. look at reviews and benchmarks. watch YouTube videos, comparisons, etc. find stuff you like/love. dont settle for less. it took me a couple of months to finally pick a case i liked, that had everything i wanted (granted i wasnt ready to purchase when i was researching, so my parts list changed almost daily lol) and do not skimp just to save a buck. yes look for good deals. and do ask yourself, is one part worth the extra money over another. sometimes its no. sometimes its yes. this is your PC and you want to build it to your likeness. if you find something you want in it, but it costs extra, then wait an extra paycheck or two. save up the extra money. itll all be worth it in the end. building a good gaming PC can cost a handfull at first. but from there on out it only requires a fraction of that to upgrade. a PC built with good parts can last several generations (of parts) before needing an overhaul. so spend the money now, so you dont have to spend it later. and of course, money well spent on your PC will give you the best gaming device there is. (and this is coming from a PS3 fanboy)

IDK Mister PS3 fan boy The PS4 Is actually Really close to Nipping on a decent PC tail with it Lightyear step in processor, ram and graphics jump this generation made. :tongue: i have it fully paid off already and actually real excited to see just what it real processing limits are. ( ive seen a few trailers and they were amazing but they were also being ported to 360 and ps3 so....yeah) i actually cant wait for the first truly PS4 dedicated FPS/RPG game to hit shelves and see how it does.

 

but note to OP this man speaks truth its your PC it will be your BABY for many years to come. Build her to YOUR SPECS and expectations we can all recomend parts all day but in reality it comes down to what you want in the end choose wisely

[hoofhearted4]

the hardware of the PS4 will beat out most any PC in the same price range and maybe even a bit more. but a PC at the prices we are mentioning and beyond will shred any console in both graphics and processing. a PC can always have more. more graphics more ram etc but a console cannot. plus a mouse and keyboard is just the way to go. I grew up with consoles and i was one who could never do anything with a moose. but now that I'm used to it i realize how much better it is then a controller. I'm excited for the PS4. I'll get it soon after launch I'm sure but only for its exclusive titles. anything that's multi. platform that I'm interested in I'm getting it on PC.