Tech Help Looking for a new gaming PC

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Full Grizzly

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What's up, guys. I'm currently running CS:GO and all the other Valve games on my Macbook. Yes... My Macbook. It's old and slow, and I'm not quite sure if merely a new SSD would do the trick. It will definitely not increase my FPS (right?).

Either way, I'm thinking of going for a proper gaming PC that can run CS:GO on high without any problems. Or at least a PC that can run it on 60-100 FPS. Eventually I would like to be able to play the PLAYER'S UNKOWN Battleground game.

I'm a poor student, so I'll need to save up a while before I can purchase a powerful gaming PC.

What would you guys recommend to start with? I have absolutely no knowledge regarding PCs. Well, I know a few things but not enough to build a good PC.

Thanks in advance!
 
What's your budget? You can PM me if you're not comfortable posting it here.
 
I bought my current laptop (an Asus) at a little over $1k, and it plays every game pretty damn well. I get 60fps with games like BF4 and GTA V.
 
Falco_GL said:
I bought my current laptop (an Asus) at a little over $1k, and it plays every game pretty damn well. I get 60fps with games like BF4 and GTA V.
Click to expand...

You'll want to be more specific about your model as there's dozens of different kinds of ASUS laptops and setups.

Something that would be good to buy or look into is go to your local Barnes and Noble (or similar bookstore) and check out their PC magazines. PC Gamer and MaximumPC (if availble) both have issues out specifically talking about how to build a desktop computer, step by step. Other times they give general advice on things, such as debugging, OS installation, backing up data, etc. That's a good, no-cost start to learning how to build a PC, and what you want to do.

Online website to check out for general tech news and guides:
www.maximumpc.com
www.tomshardware.com
www.anandtech.com
www.pcmag.com
www.pcgamer.com
www.engadget.com

These are the sites I mostly frequent to get my latest news, reviews, and guides.

Finally, based on what you said, I wouldn't worry too much about parts and such as prices fluctuate, especially with AMD releasing its new Ryzen CPUs, and other, future developments waiting to occur. When you're getting close to pulling the trigger on making a purchase, re-approach this question at that time. For now, I think your time is better off used understanding and learning how to build a PC, understanding hardware reviews, and building up a general knowledge base.
 
My suggestion is usually to start with a budget and have the money ready. Hardware changes quickly so what we suggest now might change in 6 months when you actually go to build it.

Also avoid pre built. Computers are big lego and easy to build one now, there are so many guides. Let's start with a budget and then work from there :) Let me know.
 
Thanks for the replies guys!

My budget is around the 700/800 I think. First, I would like to create a basis to work from. If that makes any sense.

Understanding how PCs work sure is a good idea, which I'll look into! That way I know what I'm buying, haha.

Thanks, Simon! It's around 700. I mainly play WoW/CS:GO on my computer, but that's because those are the games it can run smoothly (sort of...). So first I'd like a pc that can run those game really well before I expand to other games.
 
Satan said:
This doesn't really help this guy though. There's also no reason to spend $100 on thermal paste
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Plus, there's 3 32" monitors for $500 apiece... Not everyone has +$5,000 to spend on a computer build.
 
Full Grizzly said:
Thanks for the replies guys!

My budget is around the 700/800 I think. First, I would like to create a basis to work from. If that makes any sense.

Understanding how PCs work sure is a good idea, which I'll look into! That way I know what I'm buying, haha.

Thanks, Simon! It's around 700. I mainly play WoW/CS:GO on my computer, but that's because those are the games it can run smoothly (sort of...). So first I'd like a pc that can run those game really well before I expand to other games.
Click to expand...

I did a budget build on my PC. In total, I spent just under $500 on my tower (parts were on sale) and got my monitor for $150. I will admit, it's outdated now and needs new parts put in it, but I'll try to find some free time to throw something together tomorrow.
 
Thanks, Michael Bolton! A friend of mine found this https://tweakers.net/reviews/5253/3/desktop-best-buy-guide-maart-2017-budgetgamesysteem.html It's in Dutch, but I assume the productnames are the same. Would this be a good build?

A little over, or a little under 500 would be amazing. That way I can upgrade it with more expensive parts each half year ( or whenever it is due). I don't mind spending 200 euro on something, if it's worth the money.

And yeah, 5.000 for a pc with 3 monitors is way out of my budget, haha. Appreciate the potential build though, Trevorfenlon007.
 
Full Grizzly said:
Thanks, Michael Bolton! A friend of mine found this https://tweakers.net/reviews/5253/3/desktop-best-buy-guide-maart-2017-budgetgamesysteem.html It's in Dutch, but I assume the productnames are the same. Would this be a good build?

A little over, or a little under 500 would be amazing. That way I can upgrade it with more expensive parts each half year ( or whenever it is due). I don't mind spending 200 euro on something, if it's worth the money.

And yeah, 5.000 for a pc with 3 monitors is way out of my budget, haha. Appreciate the potential build though, Trevorfenlon007.
Click to expand...

For a budget build, it's not bad. I'm sorry I haven't gotten back to you til now. Been a touch busy. That build though would last for a while though. At least long enough until you get a chance to upgrade the parts.
 
Michael Bolton said:
For a budget build, it's not bad. I'm sorry I haven't gotten back to you til now. Been a touch busy. That build though would last for a while though. At least long enough until you get a chance to upgrade the parts.
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No problem, at all! Thanks for the help! I'll check that build out, and perhaps buy it next month.

I would like to thank the rest as well for their input :)
 
if youre in college then a laptop would be good but if you game at home buy a decent pc and look for a decent graphics card i bought a 300 dollar pc and bought a 100 dollar card and ran csgo at around 300 fps on dust 2 pm if you want more specific help
 
Full Grizzly said:
My budget is around the 700/800 I think. First, I would like to create a basis to work from. If that makes any sense.
Click to expand...

If you are comfortable or wanting to build from scratch, I would look at building PC from the ground up with one of the new Ryzen CPUs. I just built a new PC using the Ryzen 1800X, but that would over your budget. So, a 1600x or 1500x (6 or 4 core) would be a good place to start. Now, you can get their last generation 8 core for less than a comparable Ryzen, in terms of speed, but you would be stuck on an old CPU architecture, with slower memory, so I would avoid that. Motherboard, not going for the gaming motherboard (I didn't) so one based on the B350 chipset would work fine. Nothing fancy on the memory, just 2 x 8 GB DDR4 DIMMs. I will fill in the rest with good, but fairly safe suggestions, and does not include keyboard/mouse/monitor. All prices are NewEgg.

AMD Ryzen 1600X $250
GIGABYTE GA-AB350M MB $90
G.SKILL Ripjaws V 2 x 8 GB $114
Rosewill - Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower $50
Cooler Master Hyper T2 $17
Arctic Silver $5
PNY CS1311 2.5" 240GB SSD $90
Seagate BarraCuda STBD2000101 2TB $80

Video card is tough, because you didn't specify what resolution you will be targeting. I am going to assume 1920 x 1080.
XFX Radeon RX 460 4GB $140

that puts you over your $800 budget by about $40. You can cut your costs by removing the SSD, and booting from the 2 TB drive, and get the R1500X CPU. That would cut about $150, and maybe allow for a faster video card.

If you intended for the $800 to cover KB/Mouse and Monitor, you can start with what I provided, and check this out: http://www.logicalincrements.com/games/csgo

FMH
 
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