Build Gaming Computer - recommendations needed

B

brueggma1

Joined
Sep 15, 2017
Messages
15
Location
Chicago
Greetings BITGO,

My nephew was asking for some help building his first gaming computer (12yrs old). But, he didn't provide any requirements..
frown.gif
I'd like to ask my fellow computer nerds if you have any suggestions (build sheets) of any recent gaming builds you've done recently.

I was thinking a midtower of some kind with at least 32Gb of RAM, and a 512Mb SSD Drive.. I know video card is important but not sure what the current standard is (NVidia was big, last I remember) Cost-wise I was thinking somewhere around $500 - $750 total.
 
Not going to find a great gamer for that money. You are on the right track with a large SSD and plenty of RAM. Processor with an unlocked clock, extra cooling, top notch video card/cards. You could get a laptop with SSD a mid level Intel processor and onboard graphics card around that $500 mark and it will be serviceable but not truly a gaming computer. Spend the extra money and try to move to an i7 and more RAM. I haven't built a computer in a few years so maybe AMD or someone else other than intel has some good gaming processors at less cost.
 
32GB of RAM would be unnecessary in a $750 computer, that money could be used somewhere else useful and 16GB would be more than enough for a 12 year old.

Are you going to be needing everything including things like OS, Keyboard/mice, monitors?
 
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/qXpWzN

You can absolutely build a great PC for that amount of money. IT pro speaking here and I built for a living some years ago as well. 32GB of RAM is a waste. Just go with 16GB. If you click on my link, it will show you the build I setup for you.
 
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i5 is a good gaming cpu, not the top of the line, but good enough, 16GB ram is more than enough. 512 SSD and a 5 TB main storage drive at 7200 RPM. gforce 1070 is great card and affordable now.
get the best, you can afford.
fastest i5 and ram you can get. the rest is EH, what ever. i like asus, mother boards, and gigabyte., all else just shop around newegg is a good place to start looking.
does he need a monitor also? 750 is cutting it low, it should only last him 3-5 years.
if you can step to a i7, modern grafix card it could be a good gamer for 5-8 years.
 
If you don't need monitor, keyboard, mouse, speakers, etc. 750 is enough for some real power. Even 500 can get you into something really nice thanks to AMD's value.
 
The gamer's I know spend thousand's on their gear. Graphic cards alone exceed the OP's cost range. For a first timer everyone is right in going the cheap but adequate route. When the kid steps up he will have needed to saved a couple grand to get into true gaming computer territory imo.
 
Originally Posted by sloinker
The gamer's I know spend thousand's on their gear. Graphic cards alone exceed the OP's cost range. For a first timer everyone is right in going the cheap but adequate route. When the kid steps up he will have needed to saved a couple grand to get into true gaming computer territory imo.

You couldn't be more wrong. I work in the industry and stay very much in touch with cutting edge hardware. For $700 the OP could easily build his nephew a beast rig. The link I posted above is $625 and gives the system absolutely everything he needs to game at 1080P and even 1440P if he wanted.
 
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OP, go to MicroCenter for your parts. There are two stores in greater Chicago. They've got stupid cheap prices in-store, and if you pair mobo+processor+video card+SSD on the same purchase you'll get around another $90 in savings. While you're there, pick up a MaximumPC mag and flip to the last two pages, they have the "Best of the Budget" parts to hit certain targets, and the cheapest one is around $640... that will give you a good start, and modify from there as you need.

Then put the magazine back on the rack before you check out.
lol.gif


I built mine about a year ago (fuzzy) and ended up with a 3700X, 32GB of Corsair 3200 MHz RAM, two older Samsung 850 Pro 256GB SSDs, and an Asus Strix 470 motherboard, along with a "Golden Sample" RX580... I'm not really "into gaming" other than playing Forza 4 Horizon online with my son on his Xbox, but it runs everything at Ultra settings and never drops below 60fps. I think I had about $750-800 total wrapped up in it, but again at the time the 580 was the newest card so that tells you I'm a couple gens behind there.
 
jay, that's a decent setup with the 3600. Nice recommendations.

OP, if the focus is all gaming, I would feel comfortable building with jay's list, with the caveat that every dollar you put over the Nvidia 1660 will just prolong the usefulness of the system. For gaming systems, you should basically budget 50-60% of your total build to the video card, and that's after price-checking and watching for sales. Below is a chart from Tom's Hardware to give you an idea about the performance, and power requirements of a card. Any extra money you spend over jay's ~$625 list should be spent on the graphics card alone, and make sure you're moving up tiers over the 1660 as you spend more.
[Linked Image]
 
Originally Posted by jayjr1105
Originally Posted by Skippy722
I'd go Ryzen CPU, a mid range Nvidia GPU, 16gb of ram is plenty for gaming, and a decent SSD.

https://pcpartpicker.com/guide/G4V323/modest-amd-gaming-build

Check my link out above. It's nearly identical to the link you just posted just $150 cheaper.


I had opened the page, forgot about it for a few minutes, and then posted mine without refreshing the page lol! But yeah... follow jayjr's link!
 
The GPU is one of the most important aspects. Sometimes it's cheaper to get a used desktop and just put a GPU in it. That said you can definitely build a great gaming PC for $700.
 
Thank you everyone! This is perfect!

One last dumb question: could he use an existing LCD/LED TV for graphics temporarily?

I love the pcpartpicket.com guide as it give you a good break down of cost / performance. The categories are great!
 
Originally Posted by brueggma1

Thank you everyone! This is perfect!

One last dumb question: could he use an existing LCD/LED TV for graphics temporarily?

I love the pcpartpicket.com guide as it give you a good break down of cost / performance. The categories are great!



Not ideal (usually) but doable. My Samsung wouldn't exactly play nice, my pc would throw a graphic error while trying to access the BIOS till I figured out the TV needed to be set to game/PC mode.
 
Originally Posted by brueggma1

Thank you everyone! This is perfect!

One last dumb question: could he use an existing LCD/LED TV for graphics temporarily?

I love the pcpartpicket.com guide as it give you a good break down of cost / performance. The categories are great!



With gaming rigs it's primarily about FPS (frames per second) generated by the video card and the refresh rate (Hz) of the video display. They track 1:1 and will be limited by whichever is lower. For example, if the videocard can render at 144fps @1080p but the 1080p display is fixed at 120Hz then 120fps is theoretical max of what he'll get. For a serious first-person-shooter gamer it's annoying because he will occasionally get beat because his opponent is running at higher FPS but he'll also beat others who are stuck at lower fps.

144Hz @ 1440p on 27" monitor seems to be the sweet spot for avid first-person-shooters today. Prices will drop eventually, and as they say Rome wasn't built in a day.
 
Computer monitors (even new) are dirt cheap anymore. Check Craigslist and FB marketplace. Try and shoot for 1080P and 75Hz, most will be 60Hz however.
 
That budget is plenty. pcpartpicker really helps you piece it together.
The prices on monitors and GPU's escalate quickly, so you need to decide how much you want and go from there. A solid GPU keeping a solid 60fps is plenty and can easily be had to get the build into that price range.
The two builds under "Desktop/Gaming" on the main pcpartpicker would work well. The $784.90 would get under $750 if you just went down to a 1660 from the 1660ti. Yeah, you lose some performance, but it gets you into your budget.
Honestly, that "entry" AMD isn't that bad of a build. A lot of people are playing inferior setups.
 
IMO, a 750 budget, provided it's just for the PC itself, should be more than enough for a very good gaming PC. But you have to prioritize things that will boost gaming performance.
So forget the fastest CPU, best motherboard or the most amount of ram. The best GPU for the budget should be priority number one.

gtx 1660 or 1660ti were mentioned. If OP is going to look into this GPU, look closely at GTX 1660 Super. It's something like 2% slower than the ti version but is about 20% cheaper.
 
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