Gaming PC Advise

[rb1998]

Should I build my own pc?($500 budget)
Or
Should I buy a Desktop Pc (~$300) and but a nice GPU for it?
Thanks!

 

[James Mason]

Build it yourself. The $300PC is gonna be like $200 worth of hardware.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: *Intel Core i3-6100 3.7GHz Dual-Core Processor ($110.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: *MSI H110M Pro-VD Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($47.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: *Kingston HyperX Fury Black 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($21.98 @ PCM)
Storage: *Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($47.49 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 950 2GB Video Card ($126.00 @ Newegg)
Case: *DIYPC MA08-BK MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($30.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: *EVGA 430W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply ($29.99 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: *Lite-On iHAS124-14 DVD/CD Writer ($13.89 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: *Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($84.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $514.29
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-06-06 10:40 EDT-0400

Building your own computer is easy. Building it takes 2-3 hours, and installing windows takes about 30mins to 45mins, and after that downloading and installing drivers takes another 30-45 mins. After all that, have it download windows updates at night, it may take a 2-4 passes to get them all.

Building a PC:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIF43-0mDk4
Installing Windows:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zAdwedmj1M

Protip for installing drivers safely, install them one at a time and restart the computer after each install to avoid breaking the OS, which can happen if you try to install them all at once.

 

[geofelt]

Build your own.
A pre built will come with minimal budget parts that are not suitable for future upgrades.
Typically with a cheap psu that will not support a good graphics card.
Here is a post I made on a "budget" build.
Take from it what you will; prices and products will have changed.


------------------------------ budget skylake build ---------------------------
For a budget gaming build, I like to recommend that one builds for future expandability.
That means paying a bit more up front for some parts that allow for an easier future upgrade.
A good rule of thumb is to budget twice as much for the graphics card than for the cpu.

Let me start where you might not expect:

1. Buy a good 500w psu or better. 500w will run a card as good as a GTX970. 600w will run a GTX980ti.
Future graphics cards will be built on smaller 14nm so they should not need more power than today.
I would normally suggest Seasonic 620w: Expect to pay around $65.
Look for a tier 1 or 2 quality unit on a list such as this:
https://community.newegg.com/eggxpert/computer_hardware/f/135081/t/45344.aspx?Redirected=true

2. Buy a Z170 based motherboard. Z170 will allow you to install a overclockable cpu and even permit a future Kaby lake processor upgrade.
You should find one for under $100. Lesser lga1151 chipsets will work for the truly budget constrained but at the expense of future upgrade optiions.
Here is a M-ATX example: ASRock Z170M Pro4S for $99:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157637

3. I suggest a I3-6100 @3.7. About $130. If you are truly budget limited, you can buy a g4400 dual core for $60.
In time, you can upgrade to any I3/I5/I7 cpu that you want and market theoriginal processor.

4. The intel stock cooler will do the job. Skylake runs cool.
If you want, you can use a cryorig H7 cooler with a 120mm fan. $35. It will be quieter.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA4UF2DZ6565
One can always add a cpu cooler later.

5. For ram, speed is not important. Buy a 8gb kit of 2 x 4gb DDR4 1.2v 2133 speed ram.
About $40 for this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148858
Heat spreaders are marketing and generally useless.
Faster ram is not worth it for skylake:
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article1478-page1.html

6. Cases are a personal thing. Buy one you love. Most will do the job for <$50.
Here is a silverstone PS08 for $35; It fits a smallar M-ATX motherboard.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163223

7. The graphics card is the most important component for gaming.
I like the GTX750ti and EVGA as a brand.
Here is a superclock version:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
You could go stronger in the video card if your budget permits and your games need it.
On the other hand, you could build using the integrated 530 graphics which is quite good and see how you do.
By deferring on the graphics card, you will get a better idea of what you really need.
Integrated is fine for sims, but not fast action games.
8. Lastly, I will never build again without a SSD for the "C" drive. It makes everything you do so much quicker. 120gb will hold the OS and a handful of games.
With 240gb you may never need a hard drive at all. Defer on a hard drive until your ssd approaches 90% full.
Currently, I like samsung 850 EVO best.

-------------good luck------------


And... the experience is priceless.

 

[zadoria]

I would recommend at least 8gb of RAM, today's minimum ram requirements are at least 6gb. Even though you can play for example witcher 3 with 4gb of ram, once you enter a major city, it's going to stutter...a lot. I speak from personal experience