Hey there guys, is will be my first post on these forums.
My best friend got a gaming PC from Scan.co.uk for about £450 and he says its really good. Since I realised that gaming pcs weren't all £700 and could be very good at much cheaper prices, I've been wanting one for myself. Infant, now I am all under the PC master race belief.
Well, I have about £150 in the fund so far and should get a fair amount more at the end of November when it's my Bday. Anyway, all i know is what you can do on PC (Steam, etc) but I, quite frankly, have no idea how to get there.
I have seen these youtube videos on creating PCs with parts, but wouldn't that be really difficult. Could I get a real company to do it for me for cheap or is it super easy? How do I know what's Good? Also, what sort of cost for a graphics card to run skyrim on good graphic settings with mods?
Also, are PCs really easy to upgrade? My friend is always saving towards a better something or other so I assume it can't be that difficult. Basically, if you don't want to write out some big 'essay' for me (which I would love you for), can you at least throw me a link to somewhere that could help?
Since I am going to assume a lot of people on this board know their stuff, it shouldn't be a hard thing to answer. If you do answer, it will really help me out. Thanks
Putting together a computer is extremely simplistic, as easy as building a house of lego's, only you must take a few precautions along the way. They are extremely easy to upgrade, if you buy a quality motherboard you can upgrade, or add, a graphics card in 3-5 minutes or replace/upgrade a same socket processor in about 20 minutes.For a graphics card you are looking at around 300 dollars for a better quality card.
When you begin the process of thinking about he parts you want, visit the "Build a PC" forum located further down on the forum selection page and they will be glad to give you a hand in the best materials your money can buy!.
Could I get a real company to do it for me for cheap or is it super easy?
Well, it depends on your build and the parts you go with. A PC Company would give you options that are known for reliability and work together. Also, you may get a warranty with a company so that may be a good option for a first timer. Lest not forget support.
Putting your own box together is a lot of fun and usually a very good learning experience. If you're not a technical person then this may be nightmarish. You might save 200 - 300 bucks doing it this way but you won't have support from a company just from each individual hardware company you buy from. Each part is of your choosing so it's custom and you get to define the look you're going for. If you don't want that then stick with a company. Also you might be able to save money on specfic CPU/GPU combinations as you may not need an i7 and go with a lower end i5 and a higher end gpu.
How do I know what's Good?
Watch reviews, use tomshardware for up and coming gpu's and cpu's. They also provide a hierarchy chart for gpu/cpus.
Also, what sort of cost for a graphics card to run skyrim on good graphic settings with mods?
I've used a 6850, 7870, and now crossfire 7870's. I'd recommend 7870, 7950, and 7970. Or if you want Nvidia go for the newer 700 series. Really Depends on the Mods also. about 180.00 - 300.00 can get you a killer card that should play most everything for the next 2.5 years if you don't need to play ultra by 2015.
Also, are PCs really easy to upgrade?
In short, yes. The only difficult part would be with moving windows from one drive to another and that's really not that bad these days. The only other hang up is a new Motherboard install from a older previous board. Which in this case you would have to install windows and everything all over again.
Can you at least throw me a link to somewhere that could help?