Thread preface: This is an important financial decision for me and I will greatly appreciate any and all advice that can be given, whether you're a PC or console player.

Hey folks.

I own a 360 and a laptop. Combined, these cover the majority of my gaming needs, but more demanding products like Skyrim and Battlefield 3 can't be run on my laptop with "acceptable" performance.

I own both of those titles already for my Xbox. But for Skyrim and similar games, I've always enjoyed the mods and the modding community. There's so much out there that I want to play with, but can't.


Unfortunately, new desktops aren't cheap. I am a college student with a limited budget, and if I did purchase a desktop, it would be what I call an investment purchase, or something I plan on using for at least several years.

I've read that building a PC is the cheapest and most rewarding way to go about it, but the most I've ever done in hardware is install more RAM and I'm completely overwhelmed at the prospect of building and choosing the parts for a relatively decent gaming rig.

Please say "No" or "Yes", then maybe look at my follow-up questions based on your response.

If "NO"
- No real questions here, would just like to know why.

If "YES"
- With a budget of less than 1k USD, how much should I expect to spend on a rig that can play more demanding titles like Skyrim on high or ultra? I already have a decent monitor.
- Any suggested components in particular?
- I was looking at an Intel CPU and GeForce GPU. Good idea or nay?
- Most importantly: If I built a PC, the vast majority of my gaming would migrate to it. In the long run, do you think it will have been worth the money or no? For mods and higher performance of existing games as well as good deals a la Steam for future games, is it worth plopping down several hundred smackaroos?



Thank you

I do all of my gaming on PC's these days, so I would definitely say switching to PC is a great option. For $1000 you can build a pretty nice system.

Going about building PC's is a pretty simple process. You choose the compatible components and then it's a lot like Lego's to put them together.

Do you need a keyboard and mouse or speakers/headphones to factor into the price? What resolution is your monitor?

Intel and Nvidia is a good choice (I personally use an AMD graphics card, but it all depends on who has the better price to performance ratio at any given time).

I would vote "YES" because I am in the same boat as you (and started a thread about it too). I am thinking about just using a custom built tower and connecting it to my TV, this would at least save the $$ from buying a nice monitor too.

I was browsing parts on Newegg last night and got completely stumped on picking a motherboard. The names are so long and trying to figure out which ones will be compatible with the rest of my parts is mind-boggling. I just don't know what to look for.

Max resolution of the monitor appears to be 1600x900. I have some older, "meh" speakers but also a Turtlebeach headset that is quite nice. I have a wireless mouse, the one I use for my laptop, that I *could* use, but getting a new keyboard and mouse would probably be a good idea.

*tosses an oar* Come, we will weather this storm together!

if you seriously want to spend 1k, you do not even need to build it yourself to get a proper gaming pc. building yourself can be tricky and if you have not done it before (or know someone who helps you), i would not recommend it*.

you can buy any standard desktop pc and replace the graphic card. for later expansion, what you need to check is how much ram is insideand are both slots are already taken. when you put in a new graphic card, you will most likly also need a new power supply.

i am playing on a ca. 2 year old hp (amd 2,9 GHz and 4 Gb ram) and put in an amd radeon hd 6970 graphic card latly. the graphic card is over the top, you surly do not need a such. i am playing skyrim on the best graphics and did not have any problems (so far ). what you may will appreciate (but you do not badly need) is a larger tower than the standard one. i ruined the plug of the harddisc when putting in the graphic card...

i hope that helps

edit: *the problem is not to put the stuff together but to choose the correct stuff such that the components are working together in the end as intended.

I say a big YES, because I did it a few months ago. So to date I've spent $120 on purchasing Skyrim.

That said, heck yes you can build a good computer for $1000. I bought my current computer for $498 and spent $60 on a better graphics card and was able to play Skyrim on high setting.

Okay, well I was going to link to the exact computer on Newegg but their site is apparently down. Anyways, so yes it can be done. And really, putting together the components of a computer isn't that difficult. I've installed optical drives, memory, power units, graphics cards. The only thing I have yet to do is the mobo and processor. But after watching the howto computer build videos on newegg it seems easier than I thought. Just make sure to watch videos like that and learn! There are specific details about installing a motherboard.

Do it! You'll enjoy it and for $1000 you'll have a real nice rig.

Yes, it's worth building a pc for gaming. With a pc. games can be modified unlike consoles and add longevity to the game. I was in the same boat as you years ago when I bought Morrowind for the original XBOX. I loved it, but then I saw what people could do with modding; I had to buy my first gaming pc.

Research and more research. The big thing, there are different socket types for processors and motherboard's. You have to get compatible ones (same socket). It will list that in the details. I think newegg even shows which processors are compatible with a motherboard? Maybe not. Then different boards will have different connections... hdmi or not... usb 3.0 or just usb 2.0.. options options options. Then you've got atx or micro atx. Micro is what sells in most brand name computers.

But yes... Research.

With the current trend of hardware instability among two out of the three console manufactures, I'd advise to just stick with PC gaming.

I regret having been svckered into the current gen consoles.

Here is a build I put together for just slightly over $1000. You can lower the price on that if you would like.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116992
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106289
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147153
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116504
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148840
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231416
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128543
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139020
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102986

This build would be more than enough to max games at 1600x900.

Now you can lower the price by $140 if you would like by skipping Windows 7 and downloading the Release Preview for Windows 8 http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/download/. (Some people like it, some people don't, I like it personally)

*Newegg is a bit slow today for some reason.

I've built PCs from the ground up multiple times. You could wait 6 months to a year and the cost of components to build a computer to play skyrim on the highest settings are sure to come down quite a bit. And there will be more mods out and more expansions.

I would never build a computer based on the desire to play one game, so I would say No. Having cloaks, more armor choices, faces that aren't fugly, new weapons, new areas, and women who are fully developed are all totally awesome reasons to play skyrim on PC, but I don't think its worth pouring a bunch of money into it to get these features.

Wow, thanks! Definitely going to give this a thorough read.

Oh, and one thing I'm thinking about doing. Look at an SSD for your operating system. They're a little pricey but I've read reviews where people claim that they run their operating system and most used programs on the SSD and it is incredible. Apparently you can go from On button press to web browsing in seconds. I like that idea.

I went PC about 3 months ago.

i7 overclocked, 16GB RAM, GTX680 2GB,

Downloaded Crysis 1, Crysis 2, Battlefield 3, Skyrim (modded it), Fallout 3 (modded it), GTA IV (modded it)

Will never go back to consoles, nope nope nope.

I've been considering them. Problem is that they don't seem to be in development for storage capacities that can rival HDDs for the price.

I've got an SSD.

Windows does have a weird glitch that i'm trying to work out. Basically, I turn the pc on, it gets to the windows loading logo and sometimes the little red/blue/green/yellow windows logo doesn't appear.. I have to press power and turn it back on. It then asks to start windows normally or safe mod. I start normally and 99% of the time it's absolutely fine.

Otherwise, 80% of the time, it just loads straight from boot. Power to windows in about 12-15 seconds.

Yeah I bought an OCZ Vertex back in 2009 and it wasn't that great. But they have come a long way since then. Right now, I have an Intel 520 120GB SSD and its great, especially if you have a UEFI motherboard and Windows 8 it boots nearly instantly.

I agree its not meant for mass storage, but for a boot drive with primary programs its great.

Save your money. Getting a job out of college isn't easy and that $1000 can buy you an extra couple months of non-homelessness

Yes, it really comes down to wants against needs.

On the other hand, I'm majoring in comp sci and engineering, so maybe a new rig would be beneficial there. Though simple programming and what-not can be handled by my notebook.

Edit: Because wants and desires are essentially the same thing :/

They aren't, that's why many have the SSD and a larger HDD. Thus the reason for only have windows and a couple fav programs on the SSD. It"s pricey, $74 for 64 gb.. but for me it'll be worth the quicker load times. BUT, after reading the below quote.. Perhaps requires more research before I go that route.


Huh, well I'm glad you posted this. Not to hijack Zexis0710's thread but just quickly: Do you think this is a problem you're having or is it a common glitch? Not sure the extra money will be worth it for me until it's all ironed out.

I recently bought a new PC, but since I also do youtube it was for rendering and editing videos as much as gaming and general use, I say go for it.

Building a computer even for the experience alone is a great thing. Especially if going into the IT field.

Yes its worth it.

I went from Skyrim on the PS3 to a fully built 3k alienware computer. night and day my friend and the mods are awesome.

I am sorry to say that by going with Alienware you paid way more than you should have.

I would say if you plan on playing 90% of your games on a PC then yes. I play on PS3 but am going to get a gaming laptop soon. The reason for this is because I have a lot of down time at work so I will have a lot of time to play games and I cant take my system to work. The only real reason I will even play my PS3 after that will be to play COD because that's what my friends play it on and for their exclusives. But overall it will be worth it for me. You pretty much have to think if you will make it worth it. But just for one game then no it wouldn't be. Plus you can buy a lot of games for cheap on steam so if you buy a lot of games that could make up for whatever you spend on a gaming PC.