What to look for in a good gaming PC

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copenracing

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Oct 12, 2017
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Hi, I am looking to purchase my son a desktop computer for Christmas, but have no clue what i am looking for... He wants a gaming PC. He typically plays COD and GTA on XBOX, and i am assuming those would be the same type of games he would be playing on the PC. He would also be doing some virtual schooling on it, so he would need some storage for assignment files... but i would presume anything capable of gaming would be able to handle that. Any help on what a good gaming pc entails, would be greatly appreciated!! :)
 
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smorizio
to use the newer bluetooth xbox controller on a pc you need a usb bluetooth adaptor. there not costly on newegg or amazon. if you find a good black friday deal on a dell or hp make sure the pc using a standard hight case and power supply. the newer dells are now using custom micro cases and sfx power supply. there hard to upgrade and the sfx power supply are low wattage units you can put a gaming gpu in them. standard power supply would be 550w-650w unit for a gaming pc. if your son in high school or going to be in high school in a year or two going with and i5 intel or amd cpu will give the pc life through collage with few upgrades..ie newer gpu if needed for gaming. have you and him sit down and go to part picker for computer parts...
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Rustycarrot

Rustycarrot

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Jan 20, 2015
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Hello!
To start with, are you looking for a pre-built system or are you looking to build your own PC? If you are looking to build your own, then a budget would be very helpful. I cannot recommend going to build your own enough, it would be a very cool thing for your son to learn. With that said, I can understand why you would want to buy one pre-built. Below, I will attach links to 2 popular system builders [1]. These are builders that build computers specifically for gaming. You can also buy gaming computers from the well known PC manufacturers (Dell, Asus, etc.) Here [2] is one such option and here [3] is another.

Now, to go into a little detail on what sorts of hardware you are looking for that is good for gaming.
- Processors (CPU): the two manufacturers are Intel and AMD. On the Intel side, the i3 processor will work for gaming but it is as low as I would go. I would recommend going for an i5 CPU, such as an i5 7600k. If you are looking to go all out, you could go for an i7 CPU such as an i7 7700k.
On the AMD side, the best options are the AMD Ryzen 3, Ryzen 5, and Ryzen 7. These are similar to the Intel i3, i5, and i7 respectively.
- Graphics Card (GPU): Your options here are AMD and Nvidia. This heavily depends on price range. I will attach below some examples from multiple price points from Nvidia and AMD [4].
- Storage: Two options here are HDD (Hard Disk Drives) and SSD (Solid State Drives). SSDs are significantly faster than HDDs however they are more expensive. Here are a few brands I would recommend for storage: Seagate, Western Digital, Crucial, Samsung. This once again depends on how much you want to spend.
- RAM: For gaming, I would recommend 16 GBs. Here are few options [5].

I hope this was able to shed some light (and not make things more confusing)! I would also recommend going to a local computer store such as Microcenter or Fry's. They can show you specific systems for specific price ranges. If you have more questions, please respond back and I can answer some more!


[1]
https://www.ibuypower.com/Site/Computer/Desktops
https://www.cyberpowerpc.com/category/gaming-pcs/

[2]
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883164006&ignorebbr=1&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-PC&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-PC-_-pla-_-Desktop+PC-_-N82E16883164006&gclid=CjwKCAjwpfzOBRA5EiwAU0ccN_gTQpkAEmpLPORh8tCpOMPannZMsEfmdreT82YG9Zb18E1LXu2a5BoCZP4QAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

[3]
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883221432&ignorebbr=1&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-PC&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-PC-_-pla-_-Desktop+PC-_-N82E16883221432&gclid=CjwKCAjwpfzOBRA5EiwAU0ccN4SQbbU2Daxhew2sVYU264I7_X6kpgoN3hsnN2HA1zWHUiA-BpPeCxoCbCUQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

[4]
Nvidia:
$200 https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125906&ignorebbr=1&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-PC&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-PC-_-pla-_-Video+Card+-+Nvidia-_-N82E16814125906&gclid=CjwKCAjwpfzOBRA5EiwAU0ccN5w0vLon9Q7OsNsV6xZbzn8jEoZOPDJKVtpWcjdfbSABIdf8n9zBHxoCyU8QAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

$400 https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125871&ignorebbr=1&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-PC&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-PC-_-pla-_-Video+Card+-+Nvidia-_-N82E16814125871&gclid=CjwKCAjwpfzOBRA5EiwAU0ccNzpYJzXrRLc_LoxirRHUm8eFLuTbvC0Y_2_hlC5wlu6qms2n7euuuRoCn98QAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

$750 https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125871&ignorebbr=1&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-PC&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-PC-_-pla-_-Video+Card+-+Nvidia-_-N82E16814125871&gclid=CjwKCAjwpfzOBRA5EiwAU0ccNzpYJzXrRLc_LoxirRHUm8eFLuTbvC0Y_2_hlC5wlu6qms2n7euuuRoCn98QAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

AMD:
$100 https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202288&ignorebbr=1&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-PC&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-PC-_-pla-_-Video+Cards+-+AMD%2FATI-_-N82E16814202288&gclid=CjwKCAjwpfzOBRA5EiwAU0ccNwz0Ms7xUy4IRL948B2faOrH05CIpErUNEfjBingBSI7rYlMu5BpyRoC6dwQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

$250 https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814126196&ignorebbr=1&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-PC&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-PC-_-pla-_-Video+Cards+-+AMD%2FATI-_-N82E16814126196&gclid=CjwKCAjwpfzOBRA5EiwAU0ccN8XZgy8rZgXoA5IWFPuxRtRTxYnQvGg48WuGQeS4uB6cQVXsQai7dBoCEs4QAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

[5]
https://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Description=ddr4&Submit=ENE


 
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smorizio

smorizio

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Jan 22, 2010
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to use the newer bluetooth xbox controller on a pc you need a usb bluetooth adaptor. there not costly on newegg or amazon. if you find a good black friday deal on a dell or hp make sure the pc using a standard hight case and power supply. the newer dells are now using custom micro cases and sfx power supply. there hard to upgrade and the sfx power supply are low wattage units you can put a gaming gpu in them. standard power supply would be 550w-650w unit for a gaming pc. if your son in high school or going to be in high school in a year or two going with and i5 intel or amd cpu will give the pc life through collage with few upgrades..ie newer gpu if needed for gaming. have you and him sit down and go to part picker for computer parts. and sites like micro center and new egg and amazon. start with a list of parts and see what he likes or is looking for. if you and him are going to build the pc..go with full size or tall micro atx case. the smaller atx cases can be hard to clean wire. if the build funds get to large go with ssd first then add a hard drive latter. it can be a pain to try and move windows files from one drive to another. if you have a local computer store have him look at monitors. a cheap unit can ruin a day of gaming with eye strain. with gaming pc look for good set headphones if he going to be playing late. look for mb that have digitial audio port you be able to use sound bar or good set of pc speakers. i would make one rule not food or drinks near the pc. most new cases the top have fans...as a poster here i seen more then one post where a drink has fallen into the top of a high end gaming pc and shorting it out.
 
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