Gaming PC

[itsallyellow]

I have decided I want to start PC gaming..... I have no knowledge when it comes to computers etc so will have to learn as I go.

The only games I will pay are racing games. Assetto corsa, Grand Prix legends and maybe iracing. The PC will be used for nothing else other than this.
I have looked around a quite like the idea of having a Pc built by one of these online companies rather than buying somthing from pc world. Any recommendations on who to use? Also a few tips on spec would be appreciated!

Thanks
Mike

[ben5732]

Building it yourself will be a lot cheaper for the same spec and its pretty straight forward...

[Altrezia]

GPL can be a bh to get working and looks awfully dated now. It's a great game (or was) but it's not even worth bothering with now I'd say (I'm sure some will disagree!).

Buying a PC online is a good idea, as they can be cheap. You could go with someone like OverClockers, Mesh, Scan or Novatech for a start. There are loads of places offering good gaming PCs though - and some high budget ones if you're fancy (Alienware etc).

[Malx]

I just got a new one from Overclockers and can't fault them, customer service on their forums was decent. Though about building it myself but I would have saved about £50 which wasn't worth the effort if anything went wrong.

[trashbat]

What's the budget?

Don't forget to include a steering wheel, which is the only way to experience Assetto Corsa. I recommend a Logitech G27.

Are you competent at physically assembling things?

How about setting up basic software?

[itsallyellow]

I allready have a G27 and have a fanatec V2 on order. So I'm sorted in the wheel department. Have been gaming on Gran Turismo for years.

I don't have a clue how to do anything with software although I'm a pretty quick learner. With my lack of computer knowledge I can't imagine building one myself would be a good idea!

I wouldn't really want to spend more than £1000 however I don't know if that's realistic??

[OllieC]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

by this you mean a grand is the point where you would make savings DIYing, or that its not worth buying a PC for less than a grand with the intention of gaming ?

I was hoping something nearer £500 would do a job, again with the same kind of racing titles + RF2

[JBR Kiwi]

This is slightly more than your budget but would run everything for many years (or so ive been told)

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/p4JnCJ

or there is this one for around £700

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/BnjnCJ


Note that neither of these come with the other peripherals (keyboard, monitor etc) but at least you can have a play around and spec something that you like.

Also dont be afraid to build a PC yourself! Nowadays it is almost like putting together a small lego model with only a few tricky bits. Read a few books/tutorials or youtube videos and you will be good to go!

Oh and please dont buy an Alienware PC! It is incredibly overpriced for what you are getting!

[trashbat]

As a reference, I'm refreshing my PC this year, and currently looking at a set of components a notch or two down from the top.

Intel® Core™ i7 4790K
MSI Z97 Gaming 7 Intel Z97 motherboard
16GB Kingston HyperX Savage RAM
GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 970 G1 GAMING SOC 4GB GDDR5
i30 CPU cooler

That comes to £800.

If you didn't have anything to start with, you would need to add hard drives - an SSD and at least one large mechanical drive for storage - a case, a power supply, mouse and keyboard, and a monitor (or you may use a TV). You would also need to add a bit of software - Windows in particular.

Monitor aside, it probably adds up to about £1200. That ought to let you run Assetto Corsa at highest settings, and remain reasonably capable in terms of the latest games for the next four years or so. Remember that the contemporary Playstation and XBox are quite new, and as their hardware is static for the product lifetime, many games are aimed at the lowest common denominator.

The above costs are self-build, but a pre-built package should cost similar. Just a question of finding something close enough to what you want.

[trashbat]

JBR Kiwi said:

This is slightly more than your budget but would run everything for many years (or so ive been told)

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/p4JnCJ

This is a good shout to be fair, similar to what I'm doing. My only criticism is the SSD is uncomfortably small for apps and user profiles once you've covered Windows and all its overhead (swap files etc). I upgraded to 512GB for this reason.

[OllieC]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Thanks for the advice, I've previously spent in the region of £1000 on the previous machines, and they have lasted me well... last purchase was 2007 though and its in desperate need of replacement !

[itsallyellow]

Thanks for the help guys. I do like the look of pc specialist website.

Any issues running this through my 60" TV?? Via HDMI I guess?

Mike

[MissChief]

HDMI will be fine, the card will have a HDMI port.