Should I build a PC?
 

Right now I have a 2012 Macbook pro, and am getting kinda tired of it. I think I want to move over to PC but I have a few questions.

1. I'm not a big gamer, Id play vanilla minecraft, Skyrim, and ESO. I'v never played any actual games on my computer so I don't know how good of specs any of that would require.

2. Should I even build a PC? Money isn't a big concern for me right now, so I'm looking a lot more at performance and longevity.

3. How hard is it? I'm pretty computer illiterate and have trouble even adding mods to my Minecraft.

4. Are there certain things I need to look out for? Compatibility issues between parts, brands that should be avoided, dumb mistakes while building?

5. Any good websites to get started? Or a good prebuilt brand?

Talking from a friend and stories ive heard, u could get a great Alienware laptop that would be able to run all of that and bigger games super well if u wanna try out ark or something down the line. Its like a portable pc and it lasts ages according to my friend whos been using it.

In Australia theyre 2000 but imo theyre worth it and it means you can properly play anything on the go.

What's your budget?

I built a PC a few years ago, and while it did improve my gaming experience, it really didn't matter when I started to play video games less. Ended up selling it and buying a MacBook Pro. If you're not interested in gaming a lot, I wouldn't make the investment.

To answer your third question, it really isn't too hard to build a PC once you have the parts.

1. You can always get a previous generation of hardware like the GTX 900 series that will run all those games really well. The 960 It just depends on whether or not you think you'll be getting into the high end games. GTX 960 would run GTA:V, Overwatch and BF1 well so it definitely would run Skyrim, ESO and Minecraft.

2. When it comes to money, I'd say in the long run it's just better in general to build your own PC if you can. Most of the PCs that are prebuilt these days allocate money where it really isn't required such as the case or ram. I got a prebuilt for $1,500 a few years back when I was new to PC hardware and mine didn't even come with an SSD.. In short, it's better off picking the parts so you get the most out of your PC.

3. PCs are different to Macs, but it won't take long for you to get use to it all. Also, you're using Forge for Minecraft mods right? Once you set that up it's as simple as dragging the mods into the mod folder :P

4. When it comes to parts, there's a few things to keep in mind. Avoid i3 at all costs (get at least an i5) for your CPU, make sure your motherboard supports the newer DDR4 rather than DDR3 and when it comes to brands I suppose it's all preference.

5. PC Partpicker is a really good website to check which parts and gives you a general idea of what the price will be. You can go to the recommended websites to buy the items but you can also buy them from a PC store. I highly recommend you building your own PC, but if you don't feel confident enough or have no one to help you build it you can always get a prebuilt but you'll have to look around to make sure you're not getting ripped off.

You're always welcome to set out what you want to buy and I'm sure people on the forum, including myself, will help you out! I've seen a few other threads relating to people buying new PCs and the community here is always willing to give a helping hand to make sure you're getting the best of the best! :)

y not man build smth nice. need ur budget tho

50 SEK is budget

that's more sex than I've ever had in my life.

I'd like to build a pc too but this stuff is too intimidating do I overclock?? Wat is a gpu chipset? How many rams do I need????? What can a $1500 build do that an $800 dollar one can't??????

When my first gaming PC was built - I just went to my local PC shop. I just provided them with the specs I wanted and they did everything from there.

But anyway, I think that it's best if you built it yourself. You might have to learn a few things a long the way, but it would be worth it since you'll have good knowledge of what to do in the future if something were to happen.

If you're really considering building/want more in depth answers, I suggest checking out Tomshardware. :D

I'm glad you mentioned the games you play because those are the games I play. My PC is not high end:
-i54690k
-Gtx 970
(obviously these aren't the only parts in the case)

Cost was around 700 pounds during the time I built it. For those games you mentioned: in vanilla minecraft FPS is 100+; Skyrim maintains 60 fps with mods on ultra graphics; ESO no lag at all at max graphics. These games are on my SSD.

I chose not to build it myself because i'm lazy. But you might not be, so it's up to you.

Add me on steam if you want. xenice.pvp

Are you just doing t for those specific games, or are you wishing to get into production of any sort?

Let fp4/crono know what ur budget is and they'll do the rest

$3000 at the most, I don't have a good idea of the price range though when it comes to PCs. I don't expect to ever need a really powerful machine so if I could get by fine spending less but sacrifice a bit of performance I'd rather go that way.

Thanks :). That site you linked looks awesome, don't understand a lot of it but it helps.

I might try out some other games, not being limited by being on a Mac. Production?

When I used that site I used it mainly as a reference, at first I didn't really understand all the bits and pieces you needed so I used other sites that were selling PC parts that showed pictures of the parts then just used them on PCPartPicker. Makes life a bit more easier :P

I think the production part was asking whether you'd be using Photoshop or editing videos :P

let em rip fp4

You don't need to spend $3k but $1k will get you a really nice machine. The only weird part about my suggested build below is that I went with a 1 TB SSD instead of a combination (smaller SSD and HDD).

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-7500 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($204.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B250M-DS3H Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($73.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport LT 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial MX300 1.1TB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($269.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: XFX Radeon RX 480 4GB RS Video Card ($189.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Source 210 Elite (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($45.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-14 DVD/CD Writer ($19.49 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($102.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $1007.38
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-01-25 10:22 EST-0500

You'll want to spend another $500 on a monitor or two and a mouse and keyboard.

I would suggest watch this guy's videos on building: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xke5Kn51vqI

not weird at all fp4, i would recommend the same thing tbh. altho dat 3 year warranty vs dat 5 year you get from samsung evos :(

Thats awesome!! Gonna look a little bit more into this all then see about getting started. Also never bought a monitor or anything so is quality of that really something that is important or could I cheap out a bit on it?

I would get something that's at least 1440p (2560x1440) personally.

http://pcpartpicker.com/products/mon...1440,256001440

is his 480 gonna drive dat 1440p when seemons gets into leet gaming?

Heyo, just wanted to give an update. I didn't go through with building a PC for awhile cause I was moving around a lot (5 diff places in the past year). Finally got settled into a new home with the wife though and my Macbook kicked the bucket after 7 years.

So I used fp4's build that he linked me with a few changes ( different case, graphics card, and power supply). Working great and really happy I went through with it. So thanks to all who posted helping me out. Moving forward with the thread, is there any adivce anyone has on using Windows (I have only ever used Apple products).

It's exciting to hear that you have your own house now :) I'm really happy for you. I'm about to sign my first apartment lease very soon which is exciting.

Is there anything specific you would like to know about PC? Honestly, I've switched from a PC to a Mac a while back for college. You shouldn't have huge problems getting used to it but there are a few things you should realize.

When I used a Mac, I never had to worry about anti-virus software. To my knowledge, I have never received a virus. On Windows, you should install one. People typically use AVG or Malwarebytes as free software, but I personally used Kaspersky when I had a PC.

There's not too much else I can tell you as I haven't used Windows in years. Since you built the PC, I also highly recommend downloading the latest drivers for your hardware. I am not sure if you've already done this, but it can help make your computer faster (especially if you want to play video games).

This is a good one. How necessary are Anti-Virus? If I'm only downloading things from reputable companies, and not going on any suspicious sites is that really something I need?

I would HIGHLY advice you build your own laptop. Working as a CTA (computer tech assistant) for 3 years, For school and as job. I can say it is the most fun I ever had, Learning the different parts which CPU is better like Intel or so on what fits better for a computer and so on.

Just finished building actually :) I agree though, it was a lot of fun. I enjoy building things in general; about to build a desk for my computer as soon as I get the time to take a trip over to Home Depot.

Yes. Get an anti-virus software. I use malwarebytes. Not too long ago malware was introduced through the windows program itself but was caught by anti-virus softwares. I'm pretty sure it only applied to non-updated Windows programs, but still you should have an anti-virus software downloaded.

Also, Windows requires you to update Windows, unlike with Mac. I recommend (though I don't do this myself) updating Windows fairly soon after it pops up saying there's an update, otherwise a few weeks after continuing to ignore the update your computer will force update when you turn it on, or while you're in the middle of something. That's my biggest issue with Windows is the force updates.

Getting anti-virus is pretty much a must. I’d say I’m pretty safe when it comes to internet browsing, yet I’ve been phished and I’ve had a virus before.

With **** like ransomwares becoming more and more prevalent nowadays if you want to keep a hold of your important files then you best invest in an anti-virus.

You can never really tell when these bastards will get you so its better to be prepared.

Windows Defender is adequate and the fall version of Windows 10 is adding explicit security features targeted at ransomware. If you actually want to protect your stuff you should worry about making sure it's backed up in multiple places and not just to a USB drive you leave plugged in all the time.

Veeam Endpoint Backup is free and probably one of the best pieces of software out there for backing up your entire machine right now.

Downloaded Veeam, going to look a little more into Anti-Virus' and sit with Windows Defender for now.

hey bud

grats on the new build, the market has changed a bit since then but still a solid build

Ya, I'm pretty content. I'm playing all my games on the highest settings pretty crisply.

congrats :D