Looking for some advice on my first PC...

[collinjm01]

Hello! I'm hoping some of you knowledgable types might be able to help me get set up with my first gaming PC... Apart from a very cheap PC laptop I had somewhere around 1999 - 2000, all my computers have been Macs. (No judgement please!) I don't really have a clue when it comes to all the different PC components, and which are most important for gaming; I've been reading up on it as much as I can, but there's a lot of information out there to take on board.

 

What I'd really appreciate is some advice on what I should be looking to spend money on, for example, should I be spending more on a particular type of graphics card, or concentrating on something else? I have totally confused myself over whether i5 or i7 is better, or even what they really are... or whether I should be looking at something else like Ryzen. My brain is on overload from all the this vs that articles I've read that describe things in ways that assume the reader is familiar with building PCs, and then tell you to make up your own mind anyway.

 

The bottom line is that I want a PC that's capable of running games like Skyrim and Fallout 4 with mods, preferably with high fps and good quality graphics. And I want to learn to create my own mods. I'd probably just be using the computer for gaming, and some basic internetting, nothing much else, so it doesn't need to be running 50 things at once. I'd really like to get the best I can for a fairly limited budget, so if you really recommend it, I would consider saving up and spending more on particular bits. Oh, and while it would be easier to just buy a ready made PC, I have no problem with learning how to put one together myself (although I hear that there's not much difference pricewise these days).

 

As for my budget, well, it's not really fixed at the moment. Right now I have about £700 that I could technically blow on a computer, but if it's worth it, I'll save up for a little longer to increase that. Or a lot longer? I have no idea!

 

Anyway, I'd really appreciate any advice that anyone can offer, right now I'm a bit lost, and don't want to end up buying something I'll regret later!

 

Thank you!

 

I have my build here.. https://kit.com/collinjm01

I can play pretty much any game on it's best settings.

 

Just take your time and Research!

[EyMi]

Thanks so much everyone for all your help and advice, it's been invaluable. I went with the following build:

 

Intel - Core i5-8600K 3.6GHz 6-Core Processor

be quiet! - Shadow Rock Slim 67.8 CFM Rifle Bearing CPU Cooler

Asus - Prime Z370-A ATX LGA1151 Motherboard

Crucial - 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory

Samsung - 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive

Seagate - BarraCuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive

SeaSonic - 520W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply

Phanteks - Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower Case

Asus MX239H 23" IPS HD LED-backlit LCD Monitor

 

and the all important: ASUS GTX 1060 Dual OC 6GB video card. found it in a bundle with the motherboard and a 250GB SSD for about the same price I could have got the mobo and a less good card, so seemed like a good deal! Need an extra cable for the 2nd SSD, so it's not in yet, but it's nice to have an extra. Also it's good to know that games like to run from an SSD, so I'll make sure it's on one! (I do plan to mod pretty heavily...)

 

I put it all together at the weekend, made sure I followed all the precautions re static and so on, used the manuals and online guides and videos, everything went perfectly, except it won't turn on. :wallbash: It's now at the PC repair shop for them to look at because I gave up. The guy there couldn't find anything wrong with it, and had no idea why it wouldn't work, so now we're waiting for their expert to take a look. I'll let you know what happens!

 

Let's see...

 

i5, is a rly great pick.

Rock Slim, Be quiet has some damn good coolers, but wouldn't buy the cheapest bequiet for an i5k.

The asus prime is a great pick, great heatsink and a good mobo if u wanna do some oc later :smile:

Ram, well.. no, u can buy a better one, the i5 will love you if u have a dual channel setup, so if the budget is tight, buy 1x8gb now and the 2nd kit later.

Would also go with 2666 for some extra fps.

 

The Samsung ssd is good, but would also take a look at the crucial mx300, that one has 525gb.

Seagate a-o-kay, but with the size of the current games, maybe a 2tb cuda, wd gold or black.

 

Seasonic, good choice. Make sure it's the m12, the fully modular feature is nice to have, but s12 will work too.

 

Case is good too, phanteks quality. But would also check out Fractal Design series, still good quality, but a bit cheaper (+/- few bucks)

 

Screen, nothing special or crazy, Asus and ips panel, good.

 

Nvm, u alrdy own the rig, lol sry.

 

 

Well bundles are not rly a good deal, the dual is very basic..

 

But I'm wondering about the missing cable, my asus mobo had more than enough..

 

 

Not turning off, well could be anything, a faulty mobo, psu, not rly correct connected and so on.

Edited May 26, 2018 by EyMi

[EyMi]

CyberPower has decent prices, but I've heard... unflattering things about their customer support.

 

Nothing from Crappower is rly decent, low-end and cheap parts for a high price.

 

And I don't wanna start talking about their "quality" psu choices, some cheap units up to low-end basic or just low-end.. not so great.

 

Digital Storm, well nothing special (according to the parts for a custom build) but at least better than cyberpower, ibuypower and so on.

 

 

Still would build my own. :thumbsup:

Edited May 31, 2018 by EyMi

[yzerman19]

Welcome to the PC MASTER RACE!

[fftfan]

That should be pretty ideal build for 1080p! Will do great for Fallout 4, Skyrim , Witcher 3

[Total1Biscuit]

you could try that game i saw on steam. its a pc building--setting it up all that stuff and selling it simulator (dont know how far the game devs have gone into it) as i have not bought it yet and was very interesting

 

https://store.steampowered.com/app/621060/PC_Building_Simulator/

 

would certainly help you out. maybe even get the tower case you really want also. they can be a pain to find the right one you really like

Edited June 12, 2018 by Total1Biscuit

[Thandal]

Still would build my own. :thumbsup:

 

I could have built my own, (have done before) but two issues:

1. My time is more valuable (to me) doing other things.

2. If I were to do anything wrong, or even just get a bad part, it's all on me to figure it out and fix it. Buying from a custom build shop means those things are their problem, not mine! :cool:

 

BTW: I just had a technical issue that prevented my Digital Storm Slade from booting. Happened out of the blue. Turned out to be a faulty IOGear KVM, but Digital Storm's support tech rep spent an hour-and-a-half with me troubleshooting the problem and applying BIOS, Spectre and Meltdown updates. All on the same day as I submitted the ticket, all for free, four years after purchasing my rig.

[Hrishikeshnath]

How to run watch dog game on 4gb ram pc without graphics card

[HeyYou]

How to run watch dog game on 4gb ram pc without graphics card

Not gonna happen. Min spec is GTX 460..... The integrated intel graphics aren't gonna cut it.