re: PC Discussion - Gaming, Performance and Enthusiasts

They survived facilitating gambling amongst minors. They'll be fine.

I come in peace. Not trolling. Serious question.

I looked up some gaming pc's and my goodness they are so expensive compared to xboxes and playstations. Is the quality of gaming that much better on a pc to justify such a disparity?

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cheaper games overall

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This really isn't the case as much as it used to be. Consoles started joining the sales market and retail stores are begging people to buy physical with their gamer programs like best buy and amazon giving 20% off.

It is if you're just getting started building your library.

More outlets for sales...humble bundle, bundle stars, gmg, etc.

Similar on consoles if you count physical.

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some of the pc's are almost $1,200! It made me wonder how awesome the graphics must be in order to justify it.

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If you do the build yourself, $1200 would get you a system capable of 1440P 60fps with mostly ultra settings on the latest games. Off-the-shelf configurations at that price point can be a little off balance (too much CPU, not enough GPU). And of course, in the process of building an expensive gaming PC, you also build a pretty powerful workstation.

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How long do you think it would take me to build a badass gaming pc?

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An afternoon unless you're an idiot or decide to do custom water cooling.

Once all the parts arrive and are in your possession, set aside a day with few distractions. It may not take you a day, but you don't want to be rushed -- i.e., doing it on a weeknight and realizing it's 2am, you're not done, and you have work in the morning. Some first-time builders might get it running in a couple of hours, but it's not a race.

Spend 43 minutes watching this NewEgg video on how to build a PC: LINK

(I linked to part 2 because that's when the assembly actually starts).

It's not a watch-once-and-understand-everything kind of video, but you'll get a sense of where things go and see that you don't need any complicated tools or skills.

As for how much, that's really up to you. As I said, $1,200 for just the tower alone will get you a badass rig for 1440P gaming (add VR/Oculus/whatever to that as well). Of course, you then have to buy the 1440P monitor and/or VR headset.

Here's something a little over the $1,200 mark but pretty much reaches the pinnacle of PC gaming before significantly diminishing returns (When you start going down the path of $1,000+ GPU configurations for maxed-out settings, 4k 60fps, etc.).

PCPartPicker part list: LINK
Price breakdown by merchant: LINK

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($329.88 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($67.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus Z170-E ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($114.88 @ OutletPC)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial MX300 525GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($124.99 @ Jet)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.78 @ OutletPC) -- I always throw in a 1TB drive by default. I'd personally opt for more capacity but it's individual preference/usage.
Video Card: PNY GeForce GTX 1070 8GB XLR8 Video Card ($379.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT H440 (Matte Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($88.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Corsair 850W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1296.48
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available


You can very easily scale some things back (i5 instead of i7, smaller SSD, cheaper motherboard and cooling) and have a $1,000 PC that uses the same video card as above. It'll perform about the same in games (you may lose a few FPS in certain games that do take advantage of hyperthreading, but not necessarily. It's a highly variable situation that would take a little longer to explain).

Scaled down even more (non-overclocking CPU, mid-range GPU, 8GB RAM), $800 would get you this:

PCPartPicker part list: LINK
Price breakdown by merchant: LINK

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($191.91 @ Jet)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($24.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H170-D3H ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($89.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Patriot Viper 4 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2800 Memory ($47.77 @ Amazon)
Storage: Crucial MX300 275GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($76.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.78 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI Radeon RX 480 8GB GAMING X Video Card ($234.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair Graphite Series 230T Black ATX Mid Tower Case ($53.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Rosewill Capstone 650W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($44.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $815.40
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

It can go down even further, but there's a certain point in terms of visual quality where you'll be asking yourself why you even spent $XXX on a gaming PC, especially if you're not interested in PC exclusives and/or you don't intend to use the PC for anything else (workstation tasks and whatnot).

Intel is looking a little flustered lately, some very bad press on Kaby Lake and now this, meanwhile Zen is looking fantastic.

Locking down games/features if not on newer i7?????

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smokeyboogs49[S] 221 points 5 hours ago
Yes there are two modes that are locked until march 2017 for those who do not have an I7 CPU

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Not just i7s: 5th, 6th and 7th gen i7s. I have an i7-2600 and would theoretically be locked out of it (don't have this game).

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Yeah this is the type of shite I will buy Zen over even if it's literally the same performance as my 6600K. That is not about to start happening more and more or Intel is going to massively frick up here.