- Feb 19, 2013
- 1,638
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Like the subject line says, I am a console gamer that is looking to switch to the PC side. I am looking to spend under $1000. I want a gaming PC that can easily eclipse the PS3 and 360 it is replacing. I also want it to be at least as powerful as the next gen systems. I want to be able to play AAA next gen games with settings at least equivalent to next game consoles. I want it to be upgradeable if I choose to but I don't want to be forced to upgrade every year or two. I almost pulled the trigger already but I found lots of helpful information here during my search so I decided to check in first. This system will only be used for games from my couch. I will be playing on a 46" 1080p TV. I also want 5.1 surround sound to my HDMI compatible Onkyo receiver.
I plan to use it almost exclusively with an XBox 360 wireless controller. I know that is frowned upon by PC gamers but I grew up with controllers and I have a hard time with a mouse and keyboard. Seeing the Steam Big Picture mode video a couple months ago is what finally convinced me that this is doable for me.
I am a little nervous about building my own PC. I have never done it before. My first response was to check out the Alienware x51 and the Maingear Shift options. I like the console style looks of the Alienware and the customization options and upgradeability of the Maingear. The problem is that by the time I was satisfied that this PC will be able to stay ahead of the next gen consoles I was close to $1500. Even though I didn't want to build my own PC I decided to take the spec list of my customer Maingear and try to match it as closely as possible using parts from Amazon. I did this because I had literally no idea where to start. I prefer to stick with Amazon. I have a store card with them and I can get 0% interest for a year on all my parts.
Here is where I am at so far but I would like to make sure I'm not missing any parts I need to make it run or paying more than I need to when there are equivalent parts available.
Cooler Master HAF Mid Tower Case $59.99.
I don't want anything that sticks out to much. This will be a living room console replacement PC. No flashing lights or windows required.
Corsair Builder Series 600w power supply $66.24.
Segate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB HD $78.78.
I don't plan on installing an optical drive so all my games will come from Steam, Origin, etc... I want to make sure I have enough space for them. I will also use this PC as an airplay music server to an Apple TV.
ASUS M5A97 motherboard $89.99.
I know nothing about these. I just copied it from the Maingear spec sheet.
AMD FX-4300 3.8Ghz processor $123.79.
I don't know much about these either. I wanted the rough equivalent of the i5. I can also get the 6300 version for about $15 more. That version was only 3.5Ghz though and from what I have heard here the amount of cores isn't that important for gaming.
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO $32.98.
I didn't even know I needed to buy an additional CPU cooler. I found this unit from reading another thread on this site.
Gigabyte AMD Radeon HD 7850 2GB $194.99.
I didn't know what I was doing here. I basically got to this card by picking the closest one on the Maingear spec sheet to $200 from Amazon. I don't know if I should be using Nvida or AMD here. I went with an AMD option partially because I was using an AMD processor. I don't know if that makes a difference. I am definitely open to suggestions here and with every other item on my list.
Corsair Vengeance 8GB 1600 Mhz 240 pin RAM $47.69.
Finally I can get either Windows 7 Home Premium for $91.17 or or Windows 8 for $95.88. I almost blindly bought Windows 8 because it was newer but everything I have read said to steer clear of Windows 8 for gaming.
There is my list. Sorry my first post is so long. I have an external USB DVD drive if I need it to instal windows or any games in disk form. I don't plan to instal an optical disk drive. Besides that I plan to mostly just use Steam and other services to buy and play games. I may also need additional software so I can use my 360 controller if most games don't support that by default.
Please help if you can. I tried to do my homework but I am pretty much clueless here.
I plan to use it almost exclusively with an XBox 360 wireless controller. I know that is frowned upon by PC gamers but I grew up with controllers and I have a hard time with a mouse and keyboard. Seeing the Steam Big Picture mode video a couple months ago is what finally convinced me that this is doable for me.
I am a little nervous about building my own PC. I have never done it before. My first response was to check out the Alienware x51 and the Maingear Shift options. I like the console style looks of the Alienware and the customization options and upgradeability of the Maingear. The problem is that by the time I was satisfied that this PC will be able to stay ahead of the next gen consoles I was close to $1500. Even though I didn't want to build my own PC I decided to take the spec list of my customer Maingear and try to match it as closely as possible using parts from Amazon. I did this because I had literally no idea where to start. I prefer to stick with Amazon. I have a store card with them and I can get 0% interest for a year on all my parts.
Here is where I am at so far but I would like to make sure I'm not missing any parts I need to make it run or paying more than I need to when there are equivalent parts available.
Cooler Master HAF Mid Tower Case $59.99.
I don't want anything that sticks out to much. This will be a living room console replacement PC. No flashing lights or windows required.
Corsair Builder Series 600w power supply $66.24.
Segate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB HD $78.78.
I don't plan on installing an optical drive so all my games will come from Steam, Origin, etc... I want to make sure I have enough space for them. I will also use this PC as an airplay music server to an Apple TV.
ASUS M5A97 motherboard $89.99.
I know nothing about these. I just copied it from the Maingear spec sheet.
AMD FX-4300 3.8Ghz processor $123.79.
I don't know much about these either. I wanted the rough equivalent of the i5. I can also get the 6300 version for about $15 more. That version was only 3.5Ghz though and from what I have heard here the amount of cores isn't that important for gaming.
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO $32.98.
I didn't even know I needed to buy an additional CPU cooler. I found this unit from reading another thread on this site.
Gigabyte AMD Radeon HD 7850 2GB $194.99.
I didn't know what I was doing here. I basically got to this card by picking the closest one on the Maingear spec sheet to $200 from Amazon. I don't know if I should be using Nvida or AMD here. I went with an AMD option partially because I was using an AMD processor. I don't know if that makes a difference. I am definitely open to suggestions here and with every other item on my list.
Corsair Vengeance 8GB 1600 Mhz 240 pin RAM $47.69.
Finally I can get either Windows 7 Home Premium for $91.17 or or Windows 8 for $95.88. I almost blindly bought Windows 8 because it was newer but everything I have read said to steer clear of Windows 8 for gaming.
There is my list. Sorry my first post is so long. I have an external USB DVD drive if I need it to instal windows or any games in disk form. I don't plan to instal an optical disk drive. Besides that I plan to mostly just use Steam and other services to buy and play games. I may also need additional software so I can use my 360 controller if most games don't support that by default.
Please help if you can. I tried to do my homework but I am pretty much clueless here.
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