After getting a nice little tax rebate (thank you Mr. Taxman) I have decided that after I pay off a few bills I want to buy a PC just for gaming. I love TES loads but annoyed about playing them on the consoles (PS3). I know nothing about PC's I never use them (Mac only), I look at PC's to buy and all the numbers mean nothing to me, they look like specs for the Millenium Falcon. Also I don't know that many PC gamers personally so I thought I'd come on here and ask for some advice.

I did a quick search on Amazon and found these http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_9?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=gaming+pc&x=0&y=0&sprefix=gaming+pc%2Caps%2C247

But I don't know if there are any good. Help would be appreciated and thanks in advance.

well i don't own a Good quality PC, but if you want an amazing PC for just gaming well then you would want to spend as much money as possible bcuz wen you major PC game it is amazing!!!

In the UK?

http://www.overclockers.co.uk

Their pre-built systems are built with performance in mind and are generally quite reasonably priced. You could make cheaper if you're willing to build it yourself though. The forums there are also full of PC building knowledge.

http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/computers/intel-sandy-bridge-pc/


Minimum Suggestion: ￡645 inc VAT and Delivery [If I was to upgrade, first upgrade the CPU to the i5 2400 or better. Secondly, a 2nd GPU same as the 1st In Crossfire, which the mobo handles [this can be done later] and 3rd upgrade to 8GB RAM.]


Case COOLERMASTER ELITE 310 BLUE CASE [img]http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/images/categories/1.gif[/img]
Processor (CPU) Intel? Core?i3-2120 Dual Core (3.30GHz, 3MB Cache) + HD Graphics [img]http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/images/categories/73.gif[/img]
Motherboard ASUS? P8Z68-V LX: USB 3.0, SATA 6GBs, ATI?CrossFireX [img]http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/images/categories/2.gif[/img]
Memory (RAM) 4GB SAMSUNG DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 2GB) [img]http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/images/categories/11.gif[/img]
Graphics Card 1GB AMD RADEON? HD6850 - 2 DVI,HDMI, DP - DX? 11, Eyefinity 3 Capable [img]http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/images/categories/5.gif[/img]
Memory - 1^st Hard Disk 500GB SEAGATE Barracuda SATA-III 6Gb/s HDD, 32MB Cache (7200rpm) [img]http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/images/categories/8.gif[/img]
1^st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive 24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM [img]http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/images/categories/17.gif[/img]
Memory Card Reader INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT [img]http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/images/categories/19.gif[/img]
Power Supply CORSAIR 650W ENTHUSIAST SERIES? TX650 V2-80 PLUS? BRONZE (￡69) [img]http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/images/categories/83.gif[/img]
Processor Cooling INTEL SOCKET LGA1155 STANDARD CPU COOLER [img]http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/images/categories/13.gif[/img]
Sound Card ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD) [img]http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/images/categories/15.gif[/img]
Network Facilities 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs [img]http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/images/categories/4.gif[/img]
USB Options 6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD [img]http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/images/categories/20.gif[/img]
Operating System Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (￡79) [img]http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/images/categories/28.gif[/img]
Office Software FREE Microsoft? Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel) [img]http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/images/categories/27.gif[/img]
Anti-Virus BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL [img]http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/images/categories/30.gif[/img]
Warranty 3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (￡5) [img]http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/images/categories/34.gif[/img]
Delivery STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI) [img]http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/images/categories/99.gif[/img]
Build Time Standard Build - Approximately 10 to 12 working days

If it was me I would just print off the Recommended PC specs for the game and then walk into a PC store and say "Beat this".

The HD DLC by itself has taught me that you MUST have 4GB of RAM and at least 2GB of VRAM, and you MUST have a 64-bit system. Add in the best card you can get and processor. Be sure your power supply can handle it all. Be sure the PC has a good cooling system in place cause Skyrim will cook it if it doesn't.

Don't do this. Spending as much money as possible usually just means buying some useless overpriced junk.

I won't. Been looking at some of the links above and building a PC means I need to know what everything means, which I don't. I feel like I'm in that Not The 9 O'Clock News sketch where I'm the one buying the Gramophone.

It's all just over whelming so I'll may go for a already built one or pop into PC world at the weekend.

2 GBs of VRAM? Why? I have a ATI I get 55 FPS in forests with the HD DLC. My system is 64bit though. Anyway to the original post, you're UK based? I think there some excellent articles on rockpapershotgun,com on PC hardware for gaming.

Yeah UK.

While I imagine I know enough to get me by, I didn't attempt to build my own PC either. I bought a premade one from Dell that had a decent power supply unit and the necessary ports, but it was not a gaming PC really.

I then bought a 2GB RAM stick, and later, an ATI 5670 card. They were pretty easly to install, justa matter of slotting them into place in the PCi slots on the motherboard.

It wasn't as cheap as making one from scratch, but it was a lot cheaper than buying the parts preinstalled in a gaming PC. And it lets me play Skyrim on medium-high.

It's just a matter of reading about these things and researching them, if you want to save money.

It's better to invest in a good CPU and motherboard because a videocard and RAM is easily upgraded.

If in the UK, the best place that I know of to buy a prebuilt PC is Chillblast. I have suggested them several times to UK folks here and they've been quite happy with their services. Check out the Fusion Elixir:
http://www.chillblast.com/pconf.php?productid=18109


-2500K
-8GB of RAM
-Radeon 6850

Only thing you have to change for sure is the power supply to the OCZ StealthXstream 2 600W. And preferably the case to the Coolermaster Elite 370. Everything else can be left as default selection.

Cost: ￡659.00 inc VAT

So everything that has been selected is good enough to run Skyrim very well?

Yes.

Cool.