Pre-built (hopefully), high-spec, low-to-medium price gaming computer?

Illinois44

Commendable
Jun 19, 2016
5
0
1,510
A computer like this seems like only a dream, and it probably is. I figured, however, I would ask the experts before completely giving up hope.

Hi, and Happy Thanksgiving! Black Friday and Cyber Monday are just around the corner and you know what that means: last-minute decisions.

I've been wanting a gaming computer for a few years now (I even made a similar post a few months ago, but postponed the idea until Christmas), but I haven't had the money nor knowledge to buy one. But with Christmas here... I still don't have either of those, but I figure I will try once again.

So, I'm looking for a computer to kinda fit this description:

-Pre-built (and/or easy-to-build. I have no knowledge whatsoever in computers, building them or maintaining them. I'd prefer to just buy a pre-built, and maybe accessorize and upgrade later on as I understand more (I don't really plan on this so don't rule out any ideas if it's not "customizeable"). If not that, a package-type deal with all of the necessary components in one easy purchase, that I can assemble at home with the help of some friends and YouTube, would be perfect as well).

-High-performance (I know this is probably the least possible given the other two circumstances, but I'm a big fan of milsim games like ArmA III, and fast FPS games like CS:GO and Overwatch, which are most enjoyable at max settings. I can always settle for that 'high' or 'medium' settings range as well, considering I've been playing at 'low' and 20-30 FPS for the past few years. 40-60 would perfectly suffice).

-Low-medium price (Given the first two, this is also pretty difficult. I'm looking max $500-$600 range, which I know is quite low if you want the quality mentioned above. Anything less is of course accepted, but not if it can't run anything less than listed in the previous point. I'd also prefer just to avoid any untrustworthy brands; I'll leave it up to you guys not to suggest any low-quality items, which I fully trust you wouldn't in the first place).

So, that's a lot, a very difficult blend. If something is maybe a little more expensive than the range or a teenie bit more difficult to put together, that's okay and I'd still appreciate the suggestion. My main goal is to finally get away from this low-performance gaming I've bit the bullet on for three plus years.

I appreciate all the potential suggestions, and remember, it can be ordered online, be store-bought, whatever. Black Friday/Cyber Monday deals are also appreciated ;)

Again, much appreciated, and Happy Thanksgiving!
 
Solution
the choice you have to make is do you want a much better computer that will require a little bit of work to put together vs a prebuilt for the same price that is significantly lesser quality. You always gain a lot by building it yourself. There is a huge difference in requirements between Arma 3 compared to Overwatch or CSGO.

Putting a computer together is about as easy as doing a simple logic puzzle. Things are labeled and can typically only go one way. You really can't mess anything up either. Prebuilt gaming PCs in the 5-700$ range come with crappy video cards. You can expect to find an I-5 paired with something like a gtx 950 for the 750$ range. A FX 6300 & RX 460 for almost 600$. These are both horrible options for gaming when...
Should be able to handle most of todays games at high settings...

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($190.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H110M-A Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($41.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: GeIL EVO POTENZA 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($48.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 1060 3GB 3GB Mini Video Card ($194.02 @ Amazon)
Case: Rosewill REDBONE U3 ATX Mid Tower Case ($19.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair CXM 550W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $595.86
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-11-24 17:55 EST-0500
 

t99

Honorable
Jul 16, 2014
756
1
11,215
the choice you have to make is do you want a much better computer that will require a little bit of work to put together vs a prebuilt for the same price that is significantly lesser quality. You always gain a lot by building it yourself. There is a huge difference in requirements between Arma 3 compared to Overwatch or CSGO.

Putting a computer together is about as easy as doing a simple logic puzzle. Things are labeled and can typically only go one way. You really can't mess anything up either. Prebuilt gaming PCs in the 5-700$ range come with crappy video cards. You can expect to find an I-5 paired with something like a gtx 950 for the 750$ range. A FX 6300 & RX 460 for almost 600$. These are both horrible options for gaming when you can spend the same amount and get a killer maching with an i5 & RX 480 or GTX 1060 while also adding an SSD.

The above listed build is a good choice, but note that it does not include an operating system... Some key things that are must haves in my opinion are an i5 processor and an RX 480 or GTX 1060 GPU. As long as you have both of those in the build you will be set up for a while.. Finding a build under 600 with both of those and an OS is a bit tough. The first one posted is good if you can find a cheap os..

The one I am posting is a great solution if you don't want to build, but you want better than what pre built has to offer. It is an Acer desktop with an i5-4460 and 8gb of ram. It also has 1tb HDD and windows 10. Installing the other parts from here is extremely simple. You would only need to swap out the power supply and then put in the video card. The total would fall right under 600$. I personally would recommend going with building it yourself because you could get a newer cpu. you would be able to get an i5 6500 w/ ddr4 ram which is a bit more future proof. This acer option however is a great choice for gaming and will run pretty much everything at 60+ fps maxed out.

The Acer desktop

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883101481

The other 2 parts to add.

http://pcpartpicker.com/list/

Everything will fit and work if you go this route. The gpu is one of the better 1060s and also has a single fan which will fit into that case w/o a problem. If you do this then you will be a little limited with future cpu upgrades. You can only go up to 5th gen processors. The i5-4460 is still a really good cpu for gaming, but in a few years you couldn't simply upgrade it to whatever the newest is at the time. It would require replacing the motherboard and ram to change the cpu. It would be a good 3 years before you would reach that road. Just something to consider. I still think this option would be much better than a newer prebuilt cpu with a piece of junk gpu that cost even more.
 
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