Looking for a new PC

[justiboi]

I'm looking for a PC under $650 that can run Skyrim on medium to high settings. Anybody know of something? No, I won't build one myself. OR You could link me to a PC with a good processor around $450 and a good GPU for about $200.

 

[Robert Pankiw]

Hey Justiboi, not sure if you read the latest SBM (System Builders Marathon), it has exactly what you might be looking for. That being said, I recognize you don't want to build it yourself. Is this a confidence issue, or a 'I just don't want to' thing?

Things like screen resolution, if you even have a monitor, matter, please let us (me) know what you will be using. I will assume you are in the US (I am in Canada) so here is a newegg PC that can give you Skyrim at medium: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883227390 P.S. I spent all of 3 minutes to find that PC, so, to say a better deal exists would be total truth. Here is a second one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883229306

Pros of first:
It runs Skyrim on medium just fine
It has a Blu-Ray drive
1TB HDD is a lot of room (Not sure if 5200rpm or 7200rpm)
Comes with mouse and keyboard
USB 3.0
Cons of first:
PSU not 80+ rated
Better looking cases exist...
The mouse / keyboard are not gaming quality (might not matter to you)


Pros of Second:
Should run Skyrim better than other system
1TB HDD is a lot of room (7200rpm)
Comes with mouse and keyboard
Cons of Second:
No USB 3.0
No Blu-Ray player
PSU not 80+ rated
The mouse / keyboard are not gaming quality (might not matter to you)


Taxes is not taken into account.

 

[justiboi]

I found this, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883229285 Would this be better? (I don't know much about AMD CPU's, only Intel.

 

[Robert Pankiw]

It is hard to say if that one would be better. I've found the fx-4100 reviewed here: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/fx-4100-core-i3-2100-gaming-benchmark,3136-7.html which tells me it is equal (nearly) to the i3-2100 on skyrim. The issues with that PC that are most notible is that is has half the hard drive space (you might not care), it doesn't have blu-ray, and it doesn't say if the HD 6670 1Gb is DDR3 or GDDR5. That being said, it can likely still play Skyrim on medium - high with low/no AA.

It does, however, have the nicest looking case. By the way, if you know more about intel CPUs, do you want me to purposefully look for an intel desktop instead?

If you could tell me, what display resolution are you using. That affects thing, to a certain degree.

Edit: Corrected a spelling mistake.

The FX-4100 is OC-able, though, you might want to be modest on pre-build systems. The i3-2100 is not OC-able.

2nd Edit: Do you plan to upgrade your PC in the future? AM3+ (The FX cpu) board can be upgraded later on, though not for much longer, whereas the FM1 (the APUs) won't be upgradeable.

 

[justiboi]

Look for an intel, if you can.

 

[justiboi]

ALSO, my friend has the Cyberpower one that I linked and he says it runs 40-60 fps, so I might go with that.

 

[Robert Pankiw]

Honestly, going Intel, you are best to spend another hundred or two to get a much better desktop. I found http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883227367 with http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121442 to make the graphics decent. You would honestly not be beating the performance of the one you linked me by much with the intel one I just sent you.

In all honesty, you can save money by building it yourself, so, given the same budget, you'd get a better PC, and not need to spend another hundred or two. So, why not do that?

If you are wondering why I choose the HD 6670, it's because it is the best 75W GPU I could think of. Why 75W? Because I don't know what additional connects a store bought PC will have, if any. Since they don't list which PSU they are using, it is impossible to tell.

Lastly, if you know you can get 40-60FPS with the one you sent me, why not use that one?

 

[justiboi]

I am getting that, but I might as well try to find a better one, right?

 

[Robert Pankiw]

Well as I already said, spending a little more, even another 100-200$ and you can get a much better PC.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883229293

That one, including shipping, is only 100$ over your budget, but is in a higher tier. Frankly, there is nothing at all wrong with the one you sent me, so if you like it, then get it. But, if you want a better one, then try saving for another month or so and increase your budget.

 

[jessterman21]

The Alienware X51 with an i7-2600 and GTX 555 is on sale right now. That would play most games at 1080p very well. You can also swap out the GPU for a better one down the road.

http://www.dell.com/us/p/alienware-x51/fs