Looking for a good Pre-built Gaming PC

As someone who has been modding skyrim for quite some time now I can help tell what you would need to look for in a system. I'm going to assume you would want to play it on ultra with hi res texture replacers installed also.

At least a dual core with 3.0+ (a quad would be better but a dual will work)

6gb+ of ram (8gb+ would be better but you could get by with 6gb)

A gpu equivalant or better to the ATI radeon 6850 or the Nvidia GTX 550 ti. But here is the key with playing skyrim with hi res textures. Its going to be a life saver to have 2gb+ of vram.

$750 may not be enough to get you there so you may have to start off with a lesser GPU (thats what I would recomend) and then upgrade it at a later date.

I think there is no such thing as a good pre-built pc if your main priority is best bang for the buck..its better to build one yourself and its not very difficult..

edit: and you can build a pretty good gaming rig for $750.

if you fill this out it will make things easier
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/353572-31-build-upgra...

ok...see I get lost when it comes to graphics cards and gpu's and all that stuff lol...they all have different numbers and some that have lower numbers are better then higher numbers so thats where it all gets confusing to me lol...sorry for being such a newb but I just dont want to waste my money on something that doesnt do what I want it to do...I know everyone says to build one myself but to be honest...it kind of scares me to even think about it because I'm afraid of messing it up or ruining parts...if I were to buy one already built for gaming...would you have any suggestions? Thanks!

Approximate Purchase Date: Feb. or March. 2013

Budget Range: $700-$750 (max)

System Usage: Gaming/Movies/Photoshop/Internet

Not Buying a monitor

Parts to upgrade: ?

OS: Yes I'll need one

Preferred Websites: Newegg ...iBuypower ...CyberpowerPC

My Location: NY

Parts Preferences: none specific

Overclocking: honestly not sure what this does  

SLI or Crossfire: again not sure

My Monitor: my 32" HDTV

Additional Comments: Just want to play Skyrim and other games on High/Ultra with no problems or even medium if it helps with pricing...Skyrim would also have to be able to run mods and higher res textures if possible

Reason I'm upgrading is so that my kids can have a pc to play on(the pc I'm using now). Figured I'd buy a new gaming pc for myself  

would either of these be fine?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Not really, but I used to be in the same situation your in. I spent months researching and studying how to build a pc and I finally did. I plan on upgrading it too in about a month or two.

http://www.hwcompare.com/category/gpu-comparisons/

I used that sight to figure out what cards were comparable or better than others. Just pick what two cards you want to compare and read the stats. It also gives some explanation on what those stats mean. Some combinations even have benchmarks between the two cards.

yea that site doesnt help me lol...as I said...i'm completely stupid when it comes to this stuff...there has to be a prebuilt pc out there that can handle what I'm looking for that ranges around $750...i dunno...i'm almost ready to stop looking and asking...been at it for a few weeks now...everyones advice is making me not even want to invest in it because I dont even know what they are talking about or suggesting lol...what to do ...what to do...

alright what about this pc? http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00335832000P?v...

well most people here will probably recommend you build your on because knowing how your computer is built and having at least a basic understanding of how it functions will help you take better care of it.

That one is pretty good, but it has no video card. It will be running your video off the integrated graphics in the processor. So on a scale of 1-10 for graphics your probably looking at a 4. Everything else though looks pretty good.

I understand that...it's just I have no idea what parts I need or should get...I'm completely clueless to all of this stuff...If someone wanted to gather all the parts up that I would need that are in my budget and also show me a guide on building it myself then I would try it...I'm just nervous on breaking something and wasting my money is all  

It's actually not hard once you get familiar with it. Honestly 90% of what I learned on building a computer I found on Youtube.

That computer would run skyrim no problem but you going to have to turn the graphics down in game. Later you would have to install a new GPU if you want to get better visuals.

what do you think the max would be that I could run Skyrim on with Mods? and how much would a new GPU cost me down the road and are they easy to install? Also could I put a video card in that or do I have to stay with the built in stuff?

I was also looking at this pc...any thoughts? http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/system/Gamer_Scorpius_8000/

That one would be slightly better because it comes with a video card, a low end one but better than the integrated. Something else I noticed is the power supplies on them are rather low. To get a better GPU you'll have to get a higher voltage PSU (power supply unit). A good quality GPU that will run skyrim with hi res texutres will cost $200+ a PSU to run that card will probably run $150+.

Building a quality gaming computer that will run a modded skyrim maxed out is not cheap. Now if you dont mind playing with lower quality graphics then you can get a cheaper card.

This will give you a general idea of what you can get for 750$..

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/vapM
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/vapM/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/vapM/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i5-3470 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($149.99 @ Microcenter)
Motherboard: Biostar H77MU3 Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Mushkin Blackline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($35.57 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7870 2GB Video Card ($239.99 @ Newegg)
Case: BitFenix Merc Alpha (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 500W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Sony AD-7280S-0B DVD/CD Writer ($18.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $724.48
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-12-31 13:16 EST-0500)

lol he's missing something to house all that in

not really..

So he has a case to put all that in?

I have included a case.

Will this do what I'm looking for? Or come close at least? and thanks for taking the time to get all this

..... lol srry i missed that  






yes actually, but youd have to build it.

OK thanks...does building this involve soldering or anything like that or is it just screws and wire clips? lol...that sounds so stupid . Are there any guides on here that would walk me through to process of it all as far was what to install first and what not?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPIXAtNGGCw

Watch this series of videos from New Egg as I found pretty informative.

No there is no soldering involved. Mainly just screwing parts into apropriate places and connection cables to where they should plug in at, all of which is done by plastic clips and fittings. It's all very easy, you just have to know what connects where.

thanks charon! and thanks nix!

The link Charon gave you will give you a good idea of how to build a pc yourself..i am not really comfortable suggesting a biostar motherboard..its not bad but its not the most reliable..the $49 price is the reason i suggested it..but i'd have liked to include an asrock h77 pro intead..but to do that you will have to get the processor from microcenter..also if you order the parts from newegg alone its going to exceed your budget..it you want to make any changes let us know..

You can find plenty of articles and videos on choosing parts and building a pc..this would be a good place to start
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/355046-31-guide-choos...

and also watch the video that Charon posted..cheers  

Watch these three videos that's how i do it pretty much http://pcwizkidstechtalk.com/index.php/buildapc.html

Most important thing is to make sure you don't forget the motherboard standoffs

While its still beter to build your own Pc of the three pre system you posted this one seems the best remove the "liquid cooling" and go with AMD fan for $20 less.

Try this one, it's 540 dollars and decent GPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Theres also always room for upgrade. I