Begginer PC

[Tonyribeye]

Hey guys. I’m very new to PC’s and I was wanting to start off with a relatively cheap gaming PC. I don’t want to spend terribly much on it but I want to be able to run games at a consistant 100fps ish, maybe more. I’m completely open to ideas of what to do although I do want something that has some upgradability in the future without having to buy all new, higher end parts. For prices, I would like to keep it under $650-$750 so I still have some room to buy a monitor, mouse, and keyboard while staying around $1k. Thanks

[Bruce]

while I won’t tell you what you should get, as it’s too subjective and budget constrained, I’ll help fill in the minimum requirement you should be aiming at the very least.
[ul]
[li]Intel Core i5, preferably i7 (I have no experience with AMD so can’t say what their equivalent is)[/li][li]16GB memory[/li][li]512GB solid state drive for Windows and software[/li][li]2TB HDD for storage, backups, docs, pics, music etc.[/li][li]750watt, 10 year warranty, 80+ Gold power supply[/li][/ul]
other components like graphics card, motherboard, DVD unit, speakers, keyboard/mouse, monitor etc, all come down to personal choice, budget, hell even colour!

[Tonyribeye]

Do you have a good place to buy PC parts?

[Bruce]

yeah, www.umart.com.au - very cheap, they work on volume of sales rather than markup per part.
but that’s not going to help you much in Canada!

I also think your $1K overall limit may need expanding.
for something decent now and into the future, I’d be budgeting around $1500 Canadian dollars.
of course it all depends on what your current and future needs will be (who can crystal ball anyway).

it is always a kick in the guts to build (or buy) a new PC only to have it ‘sluggish’ right from the get-go.

[Tonyribeye]

Thanks. Well I was just wanting to start with something less expensive and see how I liked it. Cause I could always upgrade from there???

[Bruce]

true, and you can certainly do that for, say memory, like only getting 8TGB for now instead of say 16GB - but you will then be playing with a 8GB machine and saying “hmmm… seems a bit slow”

same for a graphics card, or SSD vs HDD.

plus, why buy a ‘cheaper’ graphics card now, only to upgrade it later on.

some things are what I call foundation components - these are the motherboard and processor, simply due to the fact that if you get these right and buy big, everything else, now and later, simply hang off those components and plus, are easy to add on.
like more memory, bigger drive, better graphics.

the trouble with graphics cards is their price, so while not a gamer and don’t need them, I’d put them down in my foundation components list too.

[Tonyribeye]

RAM was one of those things that I didn’t mind buying more of at the start because it’s not too expensive. But holy cow! Graphics cards are expensive. I was thinking of just starting with an integrated graphics card and then buying a graphics card later on when I felt ready to spend a lot of money again lol. But then I’m playing on a slow computer til then.

Maybe I’ll buy used, as long as it still runs good

[phillpower2]

I want to be able to run games at a consistant 100fps ish

That stipulation is where you must start then, write down a list of the games that you want to be able to play, put them in order so that the most demanding game is at the top and the least demanding game is at the bottom, once you have done that go to systemrequirementslab here enter the most demanding game name and you will get feedback advising you of the minimum and the recommended hardware requirements, always follow the recommended suggestion else you will end up disappointed and wanting to upgrade to get better FPS.

Make allowances for online games, no good having a high spec PC if a poor internet service is going to limit online gaming.

Never buy used, second hand hardware seldom lasts and especially gaming rigs and those belonging to an overclocker.

The budget suggested by Bruce is more realistic than Can $750, included in the $1500 can be a decent i5 and appropriate MB, an RTX 2060, 2 Xs 8GB sticks of RAM, an SSD + a HDD, a good quality brand Gold efficiency rated PSU and last but not least something that often gets forgotten a legitimate Windows product key.

The case, keyboard and monitor are all easy to source and are most often best left to the individual to choose.

[Bruce]

if I can throw out there one more piece of advice, don’t go down the RGB path ‘because it looks good’.
OK, yes it does, but it’s slippery slope, expensive, and does nothing for performance.

if this will be your first build, forget about RGB memory, and fans, and case lights, and even see-through side panels. they’ll just bog you down in flashy components, more cables, and getting the aesthetics ‘just right’.

I’d even suggest, for now, also staying away from water cooling, and sticking with the supplied stock heatsink and fan. but go for a case with an intake AND exhaust fan.

full disclosure, I lashed out and got a RGB, mechanical keyboard, and Yes, looks friggin awesome.
so hey, what do I know. :LOL:

[Tonyribeye]

Alright, thanks for the help guys

[Bruce]

good luck with the build.
let’s close this thread now and you can always PM a staff member to have it re-opened, or of course, start a new thread for the new build!