Looking to buy a gaming PC

Comments

• Old Banned Corporal Rasmus H. Svenson

  May 2017

  If you want to save a lot of money, I'd advise trying to simply replace some parts in your current PC instead of replacing it.

  The parts you want to go for here are the:

  • RAM
  • Processor
  • Graphics Card
  • Potentially the power supply

  RAM

  When it comes to RAM, you want AT LEAST 8 GB. Any more is typically overkill, especially for FPS games, but more never hurts if you can afford it. For ARMA 3 however, which can potentially have a lot of objects loaded at the same time, it might be worth it.

  CPU

  Processors are a bit secondary with a gaming computer like the one I imagine you want, and are a lot more relevant for heavy processing such as encryption, encoding and recording. As long as you as a minimum get a Intel I5 or equivalent AMD processor, you'll be fine on that front.

  GPU

  Graphics cards however, are the name of the game for this kind of thing. In this case, the more expensive, the better, but the price rises exponentially then newer the cards are, so try to find a bit of an older model. For reference, I run an old GTX 670, and the best it can do is Witcher 3, medium graphics at a stable 60 FPS, which is quite good considering the age of the computer.

  For ARMA 3 however, you might actually want more, as ARMA 3 can be very intensive on the GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), especially if you want higher rendering distances. My good old 670 can run ARMA 3 at max at about 45 FPS, dropping when there's action. If you want a very stable 60 at max graphics, you're gonna want a GTX 780 or higher. If you're running a 1920x1200 resulotion screen or something along those lines, you'll need to go even higher, and go for something like a Titan to get stable 60 FPS.

  There are a lot of websites you can look up where they benchmark the game with a lot of different cards, and you can see which one will fit best for you and your graphics.

  PSU

  Power supply units are an often overlooked piece of hardware that gets people a lot of first-time DIY IT guys in trouble, however it's really not that hard to work with if you know what to look for.

  Basically you want to look at all the parts in your computer, which you can do by going into the Device Manager window in Windows. Then you look up all the parts in your computer, and add up the MAXIMUM amount of power that they all use, and use that as the MINIMUM for your Power Supply.

  Also, this goes for all parts but especially your PSU: DON'T BUY THEM CHEAP.
  The PSU is probably the most used part of your computer, and getting it from a good manufacturer with good reviews can mean a world of difference when it comes to the lifetime of your computer. Get one with a good warranty and solid reviews.

  Misc.

  If you want to, you can go the extra mile and replace your motherboard as well. They are not particularly expensive, and it might be a good idea, depending on the age of your PC.

  If your PC has a very small cabinet, this entire guide might be useless. A lot of newer GPUs and PSUs are VERY large and might not fit inside older computer cabinets. Before you buy ANYTHING, make sure that the size specified in the description of the product fits inside your computer, not to mention that there is actually a valid slot for it on the motherboard (GPU slots are almost always universal, so this usually isn't a problem).

  TL;DR

  Don't buy a ready-made PC from a store. You get so much less for your money, and a lot of times the warranty for individual parts is actually longer than a complete PC. Especially if you only need to upgrade a few parts, simply doing it yourself can save you thousand of dollars, and it'll only cost you maybe half a day of studying and assembling.

  I hope this was useful to you.
• PFC Welker

  May 2017 edited May 2017

  Very much appreciated PFC! Guided me in the right direction thank you.