Oh boy. I haven't been gaming or even paying attention to hardware since Pentium 4's and 256mb graphics cards were a thing. Last few years have been spent with a netbook which is showing it's age and slowly breaking. Looking to come back to the promised land with a decent desktop that I can upgrade as need be instead of replacing. Don't game much now but with a decent system that will change. I have a copy of Skyrim laying around so lets use that as a benchmark for what this system needs to handle. I've read the System Build marathons and priced out the recent $600 one with the i5-3350P and it came out to around $720 with everything I looked at (http://pcpartpicker.com/user/rymill/saved/1B41). Not familiar enough with current technology to know where to trim costs.
Sorry for the lengthy intro. Without further ado, my summary:
Approximate Purchase Date: e.g.: This week or next, depending on price and awesome deals available
Budget Range: $500-550 after rebates, hopefully with low shipping costs. Somewhat flexible but don't want to stray over $600 for sure.
System Usage from Most to Least Important: Watching movies, internet and some gaming. Likely to be more gaming in six months after I realize I have the power to do so.
Are you buying a monitor: Yes, but I am not factoring that in to build budget. Will likely pick up whatever is on sale locally. Lots of options, always on sale, no risk of shipping damage or returns for DOA monitor.
Parts to Upgrade: I have nothing right now. Will need case, PSU, even thermal compound. Oh I have a mouse... somewhere. Will likely pick up keyboard & mouse set locally with monitor.
Do you need to buy OS: Yes. Windows 7 Premium, please.
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg would be preferable. Prices usually seem decent. I would like to not have to order from 5 different sites and am willing to pay a little more to consolidate order to one to two sites. Amazing deals may convince me otherwise.
Location: Oregon, USA
Parts Preferences: Intel CPU but I suppose AMD would be okay. Everyone seems to be saying the AMD's are getting a little dated though. I don't want to get an a-series APU since I feel more comfortable with the older separate CPU/GPU system.
Overclocking: Maybe
SLI or Crossfire: Probably not.
Your Monitor Resolution: Whatever the standard seems to be these days. Won't be skimping on monitor so I'll get whatever need be to work with system.
Additional Comments: I like cleaner cases that don't look like transformers. But whatever works. I mostly need help figuring out my hardware and budget woes.
And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: I've been living off my netbook for three years since my old laptop crashed. Anything will be amazing compared to this. Looking to re-enter the desktop world with something decent enough to do a little gaming and certainly something to upgrade later on to stay current.
Sorry for the lengthy intro. Without further ado, my summary:
Approximate Purchase Date: e.g.: This week or next, depending on price and awesome deals available
Budget Range: $500-550 after rebates, hopefully with low shipping costs. Somewhat flexible but don't want to stray over $600 for sure.
System Usage from Most to Least Important: Watching movies, internet and some gaming. Likely to be more gaming in six months after I realize I have the power to do so.
Are you buying a monitor: Yes, but I am not factoring that in to build budget. Will likely pick up whatever is on sale locally. Lots of options, always on sale, no risk of shipping damage or returns for DOA monitor.
Parts to Upgrade: I have nothing right now. Will need case, PSU, even thermal compound. Oh I have a mouse... somewhere. Will likely pick up keyboard & mouse set locally with monitor.
Do you need to buy OS: Yes. Windows 7 Premium, please.
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg would be preferable. Prices usually seem decent. I would like to not have to order from 5 different sites and am willing to pay a little more to consolidate order to one to two sites. Amazing deals may convince me otherwise.
Location: Oregon, USA
Parts Preferences: Intel CPU but I suppose AMD would be okay. Everyone seems to be saying the AMD's are getting a little dated though. I don't want to get an a-series APU since I feel more comfortable with the older separate CPU/GPU system.
Overclocking: Maybe
SLI or Crossfire: Probably not.
Your Monitor Resolution: Whatever the standard seems to be these days. Won't be skimping on monitor so I'll get whatever need be to work with system.
Additional Comments: I like cleaner cases that don't look like transformers. But whatever works. I mostly need help figuring out my hardware and budget woes.
And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: I've been living off my netbook for three years since my old laptop crashed. Anything will be amazing compared to this. Looking to re-enter the desktop world with something decent enough to do a little gaming and certainly something to upgrade later on to stay current.