Help me build a gaming PC

[LuFins Dad]

1. Don’t… Between the Crypto mining craze and the shipping issues you can’t buy a graphics card for under 125% of retail. You can buy better prebuilt rigs cheaper than building your own right now…

[xenon]

That is the case unfortunately.

If you're set on building - work backwards from the GPU. Get stock alerts on current and last-gen mid-to-high range GPUs at newegg.com.

If you can get one for retail, you're (relatively) good.

[jon-nyc]

If I went pre-built, where should I shop? What should I get?

[Doctor Phibes]

@jon-nyc said in Help me build a gaming PC:

If I went pre-built, where should I shop? What should I get?

If there's a Micro Center near you, get one of theirs. Their 'Powerspec' range. I did a ton of research on pre-builts before finally buying one a couple of months ago, and theirs got the best reviews by what I considered the most knowledgeable reviewers on YouTube. They don't ship, so you have to go and pick it up. The systems aren't flashy, but they use good components, and are as good value as anywhere else. If you get a credit card with them, they'll give you 5% off up to $2K.

https://www.microcenter.com/

Then click on computers, then gaming PC's.

There's a store in Yonkers - is that reasonably close?

[jon-nyc]

@doctor-phibes said in Help me build a gaming PC:

@jon-nyc said in Help me build a gaming PC:

If I went pre-built, where should I shop? What should I get?

There's a store in Yonkers - is that reasonably close?

Yeah like 3 miles.

[Doctor Phibes]

@jon-nyc said in Help me build a gaming PC:

@doctor-phibes said in Help me build a gaming PC:

@jon-nyc said in Help me build a gaming PC:

If I went pre-built, where should I shop? What should I get?

There's a store in Yonkers - is that reasonably close?

Yeah like 3 miles.

You should go and take a look at least. The stores are geek heaven. If you don't want one of their brands, they sell Alienware stuff as well - some reviewers give those decent ratings, some don't.

[mark]

Bunch of pussies.

Build it!

Avoid Alienware (Dell) like the plague!

We should talk. Don't buy a pre-built. The education you and your son will get is well worth it.

[Doctor Phibes]

The concern with building your own at the moment is video card availability. Make sure you can get one at reasonable price before you spend any money on other stuff

[George K]

Get a ....

Never mind.

What, exactly, qualifies a PC as a "gaming PC?"

Better video card?
Most processors are pretty similar, if you're up-to-date, aren't they?

[Doctor Phibes]

@george-k said in Help me build a gaming PC:

What, exactly, qualifies a PC as a "gaming PC?"
Better video card?

Pretty much. You'd expect at least an i5 processor or AMD equivalent and 16 gig of RAM. Frequently it's marketing gimicry such as lots of LED bling and what-have-you, but really it's the GPU that's important. I guess you also want a decent number of USB ports and a motherboard that supports overclocking the processor, although I must admit I never overclock.

[Aqua Letifer]

@doctor-phibes said in Help me build a gaming PC:

@george-k said in Help me build a gaming PC:

What, exactly, qualifies a PC as a "gaming PC?"
Better video card?

Pretty much. You'd expect at least an i5 processor or AMD equivalent and 16 gig of RAM. Frequently it's marketing gimicry such as lots of LED bling and what-have-you, but really it's the GPU that's important. I guess you also want a decent number of USB ports and a motherboard that supports overclocking the processor, although I must admit I never overclock.

Also, shouldn't be a mac.

[George K]

@aqua-letifer said in Help me build a gaming PC:

Also, shouldn't be a mac.

I've heard the M1s are pretty good in terms of graphics.

Are online games cross-platform?

[Aqua Letifer]

@george-k said in Help me build a gaming PC:

@aqua-letifer said in Help me build a gaming PC:

Also, shouldn't be a mac.

I've heard the M1s are pretty good in terms of graphics.

Are online games cross-platform?

Very many are not.

[Klaus]

@george-k said in Help me build a gaming PC:

@aqua-letifer said in Help me build a gaming PC:

Also, shouldn't be a mac.

I've heard the M1s are pretty good in terms of graphics.

Are online games cross-platform?

Some are, and I assume in the near future most of them will be - due to the advent of modern JavaScript and HTML5 they'll run in your browser.

[Doctor Phibes]

@aqua-letifer said in Help me build a gaming PC:

@george-k said in Help me build a gaming PC:

@aqua-letifer said in Help me build a gaming PC:

Also, shouldn't be a mac.

I've heard the M1s are pretty good in terms of graphics.

Are online games cross-platform?

Very many are not.

Also, even if they're compatible, the game designers are unlikely to optimise for Apple's GPU's, and looking at them, they don't look as though the ventilation is really designed around gaming. Modern video cards often take a fair amount of cooling.

I think a better answer for gaming if you don't want a PC is probably a Playstation or Xbox.

[Aqua Letifer]

@klaus said in Help me build a gaming PC:

@george-k said in Help me build a gaming PC:

@aqua-letifer said in Help me build a gaming PC:

Also, shouldn't be a mac.

I've heard the M1s are pretty good in terms of graphics.

Are online games cross-platform?

Some are, and I assume in the near future most of them will be - due to the advent of modern JavaScript and HTML5 they'll run in your browser.

Jon should not buy a mac for gaming.

[Doctor Phibes]

@aqua-letifer said in Help me build a gaming PC:

@klaus said in Help me build a gaming PC:

@george-k said in Help me build a gaming PC:

@aqua-letifer said in Help me build a gaming PC:

Also, shouldn't be a mac.

I've heard the M1s are pretty good in terms of graphics.

Are online games cross-platform?

Some are, and I assume in the near future most of them will be - due to the advent of modern JavaScript and HTML5 they'll run in your browser.

Jon should not buy a mac for gaming.

Indeed, pay no attention to the German with his lame browser-based gaming solutions! You need, and what's more DESERVE freaking ray-tracing and DLSS.

[Klaus]

@doctor-phibes said in Help me build a gaming PC:

@aqua-letifer said in Help me build a gaming PC:

@klaus said in Help me build a gaming PC:

@george-k said in Help me build a gaming PC:

@aqua-letifer said in Help me build a gaming PC:

Also, shouldn't be a mac.

I've heard the M1s are pretty good in terms of graphics.

Are online games cross-platform?

Some are, and I assume in the near future most of them will be - due to the advent of modern JavaScript and HTML5 they'll run in your browser.

Jon should not buy a mac for gaming.

Indeed, pay no attention to the German with his lame browser-based gaming solutions! You need, and what's more DESERVE freaking ray-tracing and DLSS.

Did you ever take a look at Google Stadia and the like? You can get all the ray-tracing and 4K resolution and whatnot, and all you need is a $5 processor that can turn a network video stream into an HDMI signal. They even have an impressive handle on the latency issue.

But in any case, there's a lot of evidence that the future of gaming is cloud-based and the clients will be lightweight JavaScript frontends.

[Aqua Letifer]

@klaus said in Help me build a gaming PC:

But in any case, there's a lot of evidence that the future of gaming is cloud-based and the clients will be lightweight JavaScript frontends.

Yes because everyone knows you buy gaming gear based on where the future of the technology is probably going, not at all based on games you want to play right now. Do you even play, Klaus?

[Klaus]

No. Whenever I try, I'm bored to death after 20 minutes. But I know the technology and have an informed opinion about the engineering and marketing considerations of game design.

I'm not talking about Jon's specific needs right now - I'm sure he'll get a good number of concrete suggestions from the usual suspects - but about the future of computer games in general.