tech.gadgets.video.geekculture.gaming.kittens.
I need a gaming PC
I’m a Mac gamer, which means I end up hearing the following quite a bit:
“zomg, as if it wasn’t lame enough that you play WoW, you play it on a Mac which means you suck even that much more.”
Yes. Well. I’ve decided that I need to broaden my horizons a little and try some other games, but the problem is that my MacBook Pro is running low on space, so I don’t really feel like partitioning my hard drive to run Bootcamp for games that only run on Windows. Therefore, I need to decide what to do:
1. Buy a new Mac, install Bootcamp / Windows
2. Buy a PC
3. Build a gaming PC
Right now I’m leaning towards the “build a PC” side of things, but my experience in that area is weak. What is the best gear (without going into insane, $3000-priced things)? What are the best sites to buy from? Help me out, this copy of Tabula Rasa isn’t getting any younger.
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about 2 years ago
Honestly? I’d say buy a Dell XPS or similar and then add the necessary components, but if you just want to build a PC for kicks…
The best place to buy most items is probably NewEgg. Do not buy any of these components at Fry’s…don’t do it! If I were to build a PC right now, this is what I would grab.
Case: Antec P182
Power Supply: Corsair HX520
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3R
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 (2.66 GHz)
RAM: YMMV, I tend to skimp here and buy whatever is within spec and has good reviews on NewEgg. Low latency DDR2-1066 in this case.
Video: GeForce 8800 GT or Radeon 3850 for less
Audio: SoundBlaster X-Fi XtremeGamer
HDD: Any brand, 500 GB is the sweetspot in terms of price/capacity.
Optical: Samsung SH-S183L DVD burner
Misc: Get a nice beefy heatsink like the Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme and maybe one or two extra 120mm fans from Nexus or Scythe.
I’m sure Ryan knows how to slap a PC together in case you run into a snag…it’s not that hard really.
about 2 years ago
I would look at a system that has room to go, especially if you do not want to pony-up $3K right off the bat.
Check out: CyberPower Gamer Ultra 8500 SE
* Processor Family: AMD Athlon 64 X2
* RAM: 1 GB
* Storage Capacity: 320 GB
* RAID: No
* Graphics Card: nVidia GeForce 8600 GT
* Primary Optical Drive: Dual-Layer DVD+/-RW
* Monitor Type: LCD Widescreen
* Screen Size: 19 inches
* Notes: $849 direct, $999 with 19-inch widescreen LCD monitor
Also, VISTA is not ready yet for serious gamers, IMHO. I’m a Mac user as well but if you want to get a PC that can be upgraded to your liking, this would be my choice…
You could easily upgrade to 2 GB’s of Ram, a top-notch sound card and a great set of speakers for a few more bucks! Top it off with another 320GB HD in a Raid configuration.
about 2 years ago
Here’s another vote for sticking with one machine. Why not just have the best Mac possible?
about 2 years ago
whatever you do, dont let anyone talk you into buying an ageia physx card until they have at least more games working with it and really have proven that it is worth the space in your machine and the money you spend on it. i will get one with my new gaming laptop and i am already really upset about it, because i wanted 1 gig of video ram instead but alienware doesnt offer financing yet so i had to go with dell and they think ageia is awesome and put it in and even give you ghost recon advanced warfighter 2 with the thing which is one of 4 games actually taking advantage of the freaking card at the moment and i am not even gonna play that game… best idea would probably be giving your money to someone who really knows what to do and have that person build the new machine. i wasted some ram when i first experimented with adding components to my system because the pc was still turned on. the ram block smelled funny though
about 2 years ago
In my opinion… I’d get a mainstream(non-extreme) Windows gaming machine. To do that you can go one of 2 ways, the-screwdriver-do-it-yourself route… or you can get one from a reputable vendor.
A couple opinions to keep in mind with either choice. I’d stick with an Intel Core2Duo processor, and a Nvidia 8800 series video card. I know there are fanboys and haters of both of those selections, but benchmarks don’t lie. The next thing I’d figure out early on is a budget. Decide how much you can spend on a gaming machine and stick to it. It’s ever so easy to skip down the yellow-brick road of gaming power, starting out with a 1500 budget and finishing with 2800.
As far as SLI or Crossfire, unless you’re driving a 30inch display, I think it’s a waste of money. Besides, you get 2 8800′s or 2900xt’s, and you also need the more expense motherboard, more expensive power supply, maybe water-cooling, etc.
Better to buy one 8800GTX than two 8600GTS’s. Last consideration, figure out what you can use from a previous PC or what you have now. Already got a monitor? leftover harddrive? 5.1 speakers from the last rig? Anything that you can reuse or that you don’t have to buy can be factored into your budget.
Now, the two paths in the road.
DIY option
Pros: Can save quite a bit of money, can pick EXACTLY the components you want, confidence builder, geek merit badge
Cons: Time consuming (depends how much a day of your life is worth), can be frustrating at times especially when you get a DOA part
I wouldn’t really go much over 1800 or so on a DIY system to get the best bang for the buck. You can go into it with a sky high budget and get a really killer rig, but with the frequency that upgrades come out and the fact that gaming rigs have half-life (pun intended) of about 3yrs before they become boat anchors and won’t play the ‘hot new games’… I think more than 1800 would start to go into diminishing returns.
Vista or XP on a DIY rig? Take your pick. Some will cry foul and say ‘Vista sucks’, okay… so what exactly are you Vista haters gonna run when Bill no longer supports XP? I still run XP myself, but eventually I know Vista is in my future. You might as well pick components that you know have Vista drivers and make the jump, especially since SP1 is now in Beta.
Some sites that have great lists of components/advice/example builds are
Ars Techinica’s latest Hot-Rod machine
http://arstechnica.com/guides/buyer/guide-200708.ars/3
$1500 with no OS
Anandtech’s latest Mid-Range buyers guide
http://www.anandtech.com/guides/showdoc.aspx?i=3125
The Intel Mid-Range would be my pick, about $1500 with Vista
Tom’s Hardware Mid-Range system build
http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/09/18/sbm_mid_cost_system/
Nice QuadCore machine with plenty of Nvidia GTX power for only $1500
One last piece of advice on a DIY rig….
cheap PC case = shredded fingers when building
don’t skimp on the case.
There’s only one place I buy my parts anymore… Newegg
The Retail/PreBuilt option
Pros: How much is a day of your life worth?, you open the box and it just works (most of the time), If you go retail you can get it NOW
Cons: More expensive than building, sometimes you have to settle for a part you’d like to swap out, some online vendors have several week leadtimes
Ahhh .. the boutique builders. When I say it’s more expensive, I mean it. At a site like Alienware or FalconNW you can really ramp up the dollars fast. I know what some people would say, “just get a cheap Dell/HP and put a 8600GT card in it”, and I think they’re wrong. I’ve done that and I know that a cheapo generic PC limits you in upgrading later. Just remember, cheap means exactly that… cheap. You get what you pay for. Pricewise you’ll be paying about a two to five hundred dollar premium over building yourself.
Some vendors that have gotten great reviews and have reasonable prices are
Maingear
http://www.maingear.com
Their ‘Prelude’ system is very affordable and built with great parts.
Velocity Micro
http://www.velocitymicro.com/
The ‘Gamer’s Edge’ machine is nice, they even have some systems available in BestBuy.
AVA Direct
http://www.avadirect.com/
The give you the freedom to build your machine with EXACTLY the parts you want. It’s like buying at Newegg but with an assembling fee.
and finally some more vendors I’d look at, but only if I was going to spend more than 3k
Alienware
http://www.alienware.com
Some people have been saying that since being bought out by Dell, their quality has gone downhill somewhat
Falcon Northwest
http://www.falcon-nw.com/
Legendary. Their custom paint jobs are a gorgeous.
Voodoo PC
http://www.voodoopc.com/
If you wanna drop 15k on a PC, I’d probably do it here.
so … in summary ….
Figure out how much you have to spend, and what you can use from a leftover system.
Decide between building it yourself, or buying direct/retail.
Pick out what you want, then buy it.
Fire up a game and enjoy!
about 2 years ago
Eric, she’s probably in the same position I am. The iMac doesn’t begin to cut it for the latest games, and the Mac Pro is more of a “workstation” than gaming machine. I don’t need a two dual-core CPUs for games. I don’t need fully-buffered RAM. The Mac Pro’s current high end gaming card is the X1900 XT, a 2 year old product… The next Mac Pro update is probably 2 months away.
about 2 years ago
newegg.com is great I’ve used them for years and never been let down on the video card side go for nvidias new 8800 GT they are so sweet
about 2 years ago
You just want to focus mainly on a great video card and ram. The rest doesnt matter much.
Use Newegg, I’ve been using it for years and havent found a better alternative.
about 2 years ago
eh..wtf…aren’t you dating that guy from engadget?
why dont you ask him???
is he too busy for you? if so, i’m always available
about 2 years ago
I can’t really add to what has been said, but I would point out that you the Mac queen,building a PC on camera (perhaps with a peanut gallery made up of TWIT.TV types) could be a good Mahalo segment since it would be different from the run of the mill type build a PC type stories.
about 2 years ago
Building a PC from scratch, it’s as easy as ABC. I thought you own PS and an XBOX. Why do you need a PC then?
about 2 years ago
@Davor – because there are games I’d like to play that AREN’T on consoles.
about 2 years ago
buy it. Even though it may be cheaper to build it, it was too much of a hassle my first time. Try Dell XPS desktops, and if you’re looking for a laptop, the Dell Vostro is nice, cheap (nice gaming setup (2.0 core 2 duo, 2 gigs ram, good gfx for around a 1000-1100), and has good graphics card (nvidia GeForce 8600M GT). And it is really sturdy, Mine fell twice from about a meter high, and nothing. If you’re going to build it, buy parts from newegg.com
about 2 years ago
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,2144892,00.asp
article on current state-of the-art components for building. from digg a few weeks ago. building a PC is cake. what’s hard is deciding what to put in. i like NewEgg and Fry’s for parts. also, many net sites where you can buy assembled motherboard/chip/fan. good luck.
about 2 years ago
I try the practice of null. I sell my older tech items, and purchase my future tech within or just slightly above that limit. i.e. I sold my Laptop, and built my personal PC, by buying things on newegg piece by piece reading the reviews for each item. LOL, even for the fans I put in my case hehe.
about 2 years ago
Your best bet is to buy from newegg.com. I have built/assembled four gaming PCs in the past few years, and I have come across a liking for certain brands. First though, I want to say that if you are just learning about PC parts, Newegg is the perfect site. They have in depth “what you need to know” guides for every computer part, including what you should get for what you need. Back to brands– well, the most important choices you will come across are Intel/AMD for processor and NVIDIA and ATI Radeon for video card. I recommend the first on both, Intel and NVIDIA are currently the best of the two on price, compatibility, and power.
You can assemble a perfect gaming machine for ~900 not including monitor, I see a good amount of these comments have perfect suggestions. I’m sure if you do read one, you’ll read one of theirs. :p
2GB Ram = $80-$90
500 GB HD = $90-$110
600W PS = $50
Decent Intel Processor = $115
Motherboard with all attachments = $100
Video card = $100 for an NVIDIA 7800, $300 for NVIDIA 8800 GTS
DVD/CD Drive = $10
Fans/Case = $30 – $40
Good luck!
about 2 years ago
mmm i would totally build a rig myself but i think the blackbird 002 by voodoo and hp is really purty… http://h20435.www2.hp.com/ if you’re going to build a computer go all out =D i wish i had money to go towards a new computer
about 2 years ago
Don’t forget to add physical, fun activities to life! Remember rock climbing and other fun stuff. So, with that, I would try to pull myself from the computer as much as possible. Not easy.
about 2 years ago
Killer, a 600W PSU is overkill. You could probably run a pair of Geforce 8800GTs or Radeon 3870s on a decent 500W, and I really don’t think Veronica needs a two video card set-up.
A heavy-duty PSU is just going to add a couple of dollars to the utilities bill every month in addition to be louder and hotter.
about 2 years ago
Okay, don’t listen to me on that one! I just posted what I have, but if you don’t use a sound card (not truly needed, most motherboards have built-in) or multiple HDD that much isn’t needed. My apologies on that one.
If you do self-assemble your own, I would highly recommend Corsair RAM, an ASUS motherboard, and EVGA XFX for an NVIDIA Video Card.
about 2 years ago
V, I’ve still got this box laying around not being used: http://www.robotskirts.com/?p=607
Just add the video card of your choice (it has a cheapy in it). It’s in LA so I can have it dropped off at Mahalo. Make me any reasonable offer and it’s yours.
about 2 years ago
I have to throw my support behind buying a new Mac Desktop and Bootcamp, I do play my occasional PC Game, and Windows on Bootcamp runs fine on my 24″ iMac. If you want a dedicated Gaming Machine, you are better of building your own PC, you can build a better machine than buying one from Dell.
about 2 years ago
I use Mwave.com to build my computer. You can buy a Bare Bones system with case, MB, memory, and they will test the unit. Or you can get a motherboard/CPU combo, and you can even add memory. This is what I do. I pay a little extra for the assemble and test service.
You can pick the MB, then choose the CPU and choose from a wide selection of memory. I am fond of the ASUS Motherboards.
about 2 years ago
But putting it together is half the fun! There really is no way to fry anything, but all you have to do is sit down with your socks off if you’re edgy. Just don’t strip the screws on your case.
about 2 years ago
If you are going to build you own Gaming PC, I recommend buying from NewEgg.com of Mwave.com, I have bought most of my off the shelf components from both of them, I have had great service so far.
about 2 years ago
If you are going to build you own Gaming PC, I recommend buying from NewEgg.com or Mwave.com, I have bought most of my off the shelf components from both of them, I have had great service so far.
about 2 years ago
Hi – I think one of the best Windows PC’s available right now is the Mac Pro… look at the price of a comparably spec’d PC and you’re right up there costwise. Plus, you don’t -have- to be in Windows except when you unavoidably must play a Windows-only game. And with you being involved in video you can do real work on it in OS-X also…
about 2 years ago
Veronica,
I didn’t read everyone else’s comments, so this may have already been presented to you.
My advice, don’t bother building a gaming pc. Its a terrible investment all things considered. I built one almost two years ago, and it just sits around. Aside from my growing personal preference to play games on console, the whole experience of “building a gaming pc” is a downward spiral of disappointment.
If you’re like the majority of people who set out to do this, you’ll say you want to build something “not quite top of the line”, in an effort to save money. Then the time sink of researching begins. Slowly you decide to raise the bar of how you want to spec your machine. Eventually you’re spending at least 25% more than you originally set out to… only to find that 4 months later there is a better graphics card or cpu that u start thinking maybe you should upgrade to.
And worst of all, the value of your computer is less than half of what you paid for it in about a year. Hopefully in a year you’re still playing it and getting your moneys worth, but i’d hate to see you end up like me… just walking past your gaming PC all the time on the way to either your Mac or your gaming console.
Especially as an existing Mac user, I think you’d get more satisfaction from getting a Mac Pro to dual boot for games… That way even if you don’t game on it all the time: a) it is still a super powerful & very useful computer that you could enjoy using for something other than games b) as time goes on it will hold its value at least twice as well as a similar PC.
Cheers & keep up the good work.
+if u end up sticking with the mac, you should call on one of your friends at apple… or email me and make a friend at apple
about 2 years ago
I bought a gaming PC from Cyberpower about two years ago — I use it strictly for playing games with my Macs handling all other computing tasks. My gaming PC is starting to show its age — struggling to play Crysis (Athlon-64-4400, 2GB RAM, Dual 7800GT). Thanks to Intel Macs, I never have to buy another PC. My next desktop Mac will also be my gaming PC. Until then, I’ll limp along with the aging gaming PC and use my MBP for LAN parties.
If you do decide to get a dedicated gaming PC, I recommend looking into the custom build outfits like CyberPower. Back when I was shopping around, it was definitely worth going to them instead of doing it myself. I didn’t want to be the system warranter on a system I put together!
about 2 years ago
I vote for number 1, but if not, I suggest number 2.5. Get a fairly inexpensive factory made but then get another graphics card. That’s the most expensive part of a build-it-yourself anyway.
But still, I’d just get a new mac and use bootcamp until vmware fusion is able to play games right from os x. It kinda sorta almost can now, so hopefully it won’t be long!
That’s what I’m doing anyway…
about 2 years ago
So, you’ve gotten a ton of responses and I’m sure theres some good insights there, but I’ll try to give an ultimate response.
You can always continue to wait “just a little bit longer” trying to get the newest hardware that is going to come out, but no one wants to wait forever. The fact is, Nvidia and Intel are just about to release their latest “uber high-end” products, so if you want to have the “latest and greatest” for at least a few months, then you should wait for Intel’s latest penryns, and Nvidia’s latest 8950gx2 (or whatever the next gen equivalent of the 7950gx2 is).
OK, so now that you have that background, I’ll give you two main scenarios – Balance, and High-Spec.
Balance – 8800 gt ($200) + Q6600 ($300) + 2x2GB DDR2 PC6400 RAM ($200) + basic mobo, case, cd/dvd drives, etc. ($200) + 1tb HD ($300) = $1200
High-Spec – In this case, it would be best to wait because the latest highest-end Nvidia cards are not much better than the mid-range.
QX9770 ($1200) + 8950gx2 ($600) + 2x2GB DDR2 PC6400 RAM ($200) + mobo, case, blu-ray drives drives, etc. ($600) + 1tb HD ($300) = $2900
The CPU is largely just about how much power you think you need (and you should only choose the quad Q6600 over the dual E6850 if the games you plan to be playing will be utilizing multiple cores), but you shouldn’t skimp on the ram and the video card is crucial to the actual gaming performance since 99% of the games you will be playing will be bottlenecked by the graphics card at high resolution.
Hope that helps, free feel to contact for further insights.
about 2 years ago
I did this sort of thing around this time last year, but with a box that would do all of my video encoding work. My older workhorse is slowly turning into a media server|HTPC|Interweb box it makes life very easy over the one box for all route, and once they are all networked its like you are working within them all at one time anyway.
As for the hardware I am a ‘get the best of 6~12 months ago’ builder so I built a rock solid encoding AMD dual core (£120 in Nov 2006) around a DFI board (RDX200 £30 new) Corsair HX 620 PSU x1650 Radeon 24 pipe (£85) 2GB G.Skill HZ’s (£100) with about a TB of HDD’s all in for about £600 with a supadupa Akasa case that did cost ~£95.
All that rig would need is a faster Gpx card if that is not up to it x1950XTX’s can be had for cheap money. Do yourself a favour an build a second box game PC.
about 2 years ago
I’d say if you know how to build a computer, go to Frys, buy all the parts and build a Gaming PC yourself. Or if you know someone who can build computers, then have them do it for you, if you ask nicely. hehe.
It’s lot cheaper, and you get what you paid for. Several months back I finally upgraded and I can run most any PC game(except for Crysis that is, but that really is the only exception) and the final price was a little over $600.
Or you can just buy a Gaming PC from Costco or elsewhere: http://tinyurl.com/2jzr2y – My friend just bought this Gaming PC and he says it’s amazing. The price is kind of steep, but what you get is well worth the price tag.
Anyways, give it some thought about what you want to do, because after all I’m sure you’ll be sticking with this Gaming PC for along while.
about 2 years ago
Hi Veronica,
If you’re looking at building, or even buying… you may want to check out the latest system guide at Ars. They’ve been doing this for years, and while I’ve never built one exactly to their specs, I have used their specs as a good starting point.
http://arstechnica.com/guides/buyer/guide-200711.ars
Jason
about 2 years ago
Maybe I’m late to the party, but I wanted to chime in by suggesting the possibility of not only staying with a Mac, as many have already stated, but also staying in OS X!
There are a few Mac-focused game companies out there that are putting out some great titles, and some exclusives just for the Mac as well. Companies like Aspyr, Ambrosia, and *ahem* Freeverse.
(yup, I work for Freeverse!)
about 2 years ago
find the cheapest quad 4 you can find, with rebate i got one for 600 for my son , add 2 gigs of ram to what ever it comes with, add a middle of the road $200 buck card pci express card and you are set. thats just what i did for my son who’s heading off to college and his puter smokes all his current games. its better that my custom build puter.
about 2 years ago
$600 for a quad-core (sounds dirty!)? Do you mean an extreme? I think a plain old Core 2 Duo is plenty, and you can get a decent 2.13 GHz for a little over $180 (Intel Core 2 Duo E6420 2.13GHz 775) via newegg.
about 2 years ago
Nice template and blog design, although the text is a bit small for a fast reading.
Talking about Gaming PCs I think that it is better to stay with a vendor-made than a self-made computer.
Someone gave me this link once:
http://www.alienware.com/product_pages/desktop_all_default.aspx
Good luck gaming girl
about 2 years ago
I’m sure you’ve heard about the XPS M1730 World of Warcraft Edition already, but for your readers who haven’t:
http://www.dell.com/content/topics/segtopic.aspx/m1730_wow?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&dgc=EM&cid=26383&lid=601037
about 2 years ago
u know wat u should do?
buy HP’s Blackbird 002…
dats just amazing…
about 2 years ago
If you’d rather buy a gaming pc than assembling one, but don’t mind spending over $1,000, then I recommend getting an Alienware pc (alienware.com), a Voodoo pc (voodoopc.com), or an HP Blackbird (hp.com/blackbird).
The alienware desktops range from $1,399 to $3,999. Alienware laptops go from $1,699 to $2,799.
VoodooPC desktops go from $3,940.32 to $5,824.10. VoodooPC notebooks range from 3,000 to 5,000 dollars.
The HP Blackbird starts at $2,399.
If you want a cheap gaming pc, you’d be best off building one yourself. Here are some good site: http://www.newegg.com and tigerdirect.com.
Tiger Direct is the best and cheapest, because instead of having to buy a whole bunch of expensive parts you can buy a bare bones kit that comes with a case, power supply and all the other neccessary things including cpu. The only thing is that you have to assemble some of the parts.
Since you said that your not too good with building PCs, I recommend that you buy a static wrist guard (around 5 bucks or so at a crafts shop). It prevents electric damage to parts when your building. As for putting it all together, you should be fine as long as you have manuals.
about 2 years ago
don’t buy from ibuypower.com my pc is crap ibuypower.com sucks
about 2 years ago
Yea newegg pretty much owns as far as buying computer parts go. They usually have some really nice prices. You can usually find some good parts just by browsing and seeing what other people rated them.
But seriously, if you only get two things, get the Antec 900 case and one or two nvidia 8800 GTs. They’re cheap and totally amazing. Unless of course you want to wait for nvidia’s new cards (probably the only way crysis will ever run on very high settings with out insane triple sli).
Finally of course, if you have a lot (like seriously a lot) of spare cash that HP Blackbird 2 looks really sexy and it runs quiet as a whisper
The best thing about it though is that its motherboard is compatible with nvidia’s sli AND ati’s crossfire so tons of upgrade options down the road.