Hardware In the market for a good gaming desktop, suggestions?

[DDTarZan]

I'm looking to get well-performing gaming desktop since my old one finally pretty much died. I'm just looking for suggestions since I'm illiterate when it comes to newer computer hardware. I plan on using the desktop almost exclusively for smooth gaming, including emulation. I want to be able to run up to PS2 games without too much of a hassle. Other games that will probably be played on it include every single version of the Sims, and most likely Minecraft.

So I think I want to aim for 8GB RAM, but I know it doesn't mean shit without a good video card. My budget is roughly $700. What else should I look for? Anyone know any decent video cards I should look out for?

 

[TotalInsanity4]

I'm looking to get well-performing gaming desktop since my old one finally pretty much died. I'm just looking for suggestions since I'm illiterate when it comes to newer computer hardware. I plan on using the desktop almost exclusively for smooth gaming, including emulation. I want to be able to run up to PS2 games without too much of a hassle. Other games that will probably be played on it include every single version of the Sims, and most likely Minecraft.

So I think I want to aim for 8GB RAM, but I know it doesn't mean shit without a good video card. My budget is roughly $700. What else should I look for? Anyone know any decent video cards I should look out for?

So are you looking to get a prebuilt system or are you wanting to build your own?

 

[raystriker]

It's a great time to be a gamer.
You must look out for atleast an i5 6400, 8GB RAM, A 1TB HDD, a SSD for boot, a RX480(either 4 or 8GB would be good enough), A good compatible motherboard with the best feature/price, a 500W PSU.

 

[DDTarZan]

So are you looking to get a prebuilt system or are you wanting to build your own?

Prebuilt. I know it's not the cheapest route but it's going to have to do with my work schedule.

It's a great time to be a gamer.
You must look out for atleast an i5 6400, 8GB RAM, A 1TB HDD, a SSD for boot, a RX480(either 4 or 8GB would be good enough), A good compatible motherboard with the best feature/price, a 500W PSU.

1tb hdd is also a must. All the rest I'm pretty unfamiliar with. Wishing I had built a pc from scratch before. :/

 

[raystriker]

Prebuilt. I know it's not the cheapest route but it's going to have to do with my work schedule.


1tb hdd is also a must. All the rest I'm pretty unfamiliar with. Wishing I had built a pc from scratch before. :/

Pick your parts, pay the local techie to assembly them for you for a small fee

 

[raystriker]

http://pcpartpicker.com/guide/DND48d/modest-gaming-build

This would be a great build.
Obviously you could cut down the costs by opting for the i5 6400 instead of the 6500 and choosing a 1TB HDD instead of the 2TB one. And also reusing your old case for the whole build.(Provided it can house the new components)

 

[DDTarZan]

http://pcpartpicker.com/guide/DND48d/modest-gaming-build

This would be a great build.
Obviously you could cut down the costs by opting for the i5 6400 instead of the 6500 and choosing a 1TB HDD instead of the 2TB one. And also reusing your old case for the whole build.(Provided it can house the new components)

It actually does seem like a solid build to me. I agree with you, about the 1 TB HDD and the 6400, but I wouldn't mind paying the little extra for that. As for a case I think I might want something new anyway. My old case is from an Dell Dimension 5150, idk if everything will fit or be compatible.

 

[raystriker]

It actually does seem like a solid build to me. I agree with you, about the 1 TB HDD and the 6400, but I wouldn't mind paying the little extra for that. As for a case I think I might want something new anyway. My old case is from an Dell Dimension 5150, idk if everything will fit or be compatible.

Great! Order your components and get an experienced friend to help you out with the build. Could make for a fun project and you'd learn a thing or two
Happy Gaming!

 

[DDTarZan]

Great! Order your components and get an experienced friend to help you out with the build. Could make for a fun project and you'd learn a thing or two
Happy Gaming!

There wouldn't be a massive performance drop-off between the 6400 and the 6500 will there? I'm only asking because those few extra bucks may matter.

 

[TotalInsanity4]

Pick your parts, pay the local techie to assembly them for you for a small fee

This is exactly what I was going to suggest. The person is probably going to charge either an hourly or flat fee, but generally (at least if they're like me and the computer technicians I've talked to) it will be a pretty reasonable price for the services they give. Especially if it's solidly built.

http://pcpartpicker.com/guide/DND48d/modest-gaming-build

This would be a great build.
Obviously you could cut down the costs by opting for the i5 6400 instead of the 6500 and choosing a 1TB HDD instead of the 2TB one. And also reusing your old case for the whole build.(Provided it can house the new components)

This is a very good build, I absolutely adore PCPPs build guides as they generally do a very good job at targeting a specific use case. However, this one in particular, I have a couple of recommendations (as a lot of things in that list were chosen by a parametric filter and subject to change).

• I personally would opt for an 80+ Gold rated PSU, as opposed to the Bronze one on the list. You can choose a semi-modular one to keep costs low if you don't want to break the bank (just make sure you read reviews and you should be fine choosing the PSU)
• You could theoretically shave a bit of cost off of the case by getting a cheaper one, but you typically get what you pay for. That one in particular is actually very good for it's price point, though, so I'd leave it unless you're looking to save every dollar you can
• Do yourself a solid and leave the 6500, especially since you're looking into emulation. Trust me, it's worth it.
• You can save quite a bit on the hard drive by getting what's called a Solid State Hybrid Drive (SSHD). There's been a lot of skepticism about them but I personally love them. They're essentially hard drives with either 8 or 32 GB of on-board flash memory that it will automatically shuffle the most frequently accessed files to (read: OS and most frequent programs). It cheap storage of a HDD with all the speed benefits of a SSD, and you get one drive instead of two

 

[raystriker]

There wouldn't be a massive performance drop-off between the 6400 and the 6500 will there? I'm only asking because those few extra bucks may matter.

An i5 6500 is basically a 6400 with a higher clockspeed. Not much difference to be honest.

@TotalInsanity4 I completely agree with you.
I made a quick and dirty build based on your suggestions.
The i5 6402P is essentially a higher clocked 6400 traded off with a lesser iGPU
http://pcpartpicker.com/list/ywv6RG

 

[DDTarZan]

I freaking love how you guys are helping me. I like that different components are suggested, while keeping in mind cost savings.

An i5 6500 is basically a 6400 with a higher clockspeed. Not much difference to be honest.

@TotalInsanity4 I completely agree with you.
I made a quick and dirty build based on your suggestions.
The i5 6402P is essentially a higher clocked 6400 traded off with a lesser iGPU
http://pcpartpicker.com/list/ywv6RG

Also I'm loving that tower case. I dunno what it is but I like when my computer can breathe.

 

[TotalInsanity4]

An i5 6500 is basically a 6400 with a higher clockspeed. Not much difference to be honest.

@TotalInsanity4 I completely agree with you.
I made a quick and dirty build based on your suggestions.
The i5 6402P is essentially a higher clocked 6400 traded off with a lesser iGPU
http://pcpartpicker.com/list/ywv6RG

Looks good. I have no experience with the CPU, so I can't say anything on that, but I think you're going to want to trade the PSU out for this one: http://pcpartpicker.com/product/Xgwqqs/rosewill-power-supply-capstoneg550

That's not saying anything about either @DDTarZan or the person building his rig's ability to use non-modular power supplies, I just personally think that the end result of at least semi-modular PSUs looks a lot cleaner

 

[raystriker]

@DDTarZan If there is anything else you need to know or decide on before taking an informed decision, feel free to contact me or TotalInsanity4 (I'm sure he wouldn't mind, would you? )

 

[DDTarZan]

I really thank you guys for all of the help. Right now I'm in an uphill struggle trying to tell my girlfriend that I'm building our computer. Girls are really not easy to reason with.

 

[raystriker]

I know that feeling, best of luck

 

[TotalInsanity4]

@DDTarZan If there is anything else you need to know or decide on before taking an informed decision, feel free to contact me or TotalInsanity4 (I'm sure he wouldn't mind, would you? )

Of course, this is where I'm in my element