I'm kind of intrigued by the idea of PC gaming but I don't know where to start. I've been idly poking around in the PC sections of other gaming sites and  I have to say, I don't think a lot of PC heads realise how off-putting they sound to outsiders. It tends to go like this:

under 2000 bucks should be easy bro.

"I'm kind of intrigued by the idea of PC gaming but I don't know where to start. I've been idly poking around in the PC sections of other gaming sites and  I have to say, I don't think a lot of PC heads realise how off-putting they sound to outsiders. It tends to go like this:

Innocent, hopeful beginner: "I'm thinking of getting into PC gaming. I've been looking at this Dell blah blah. Do you think-"

Everyone: "Don't be a moron! Build your own rig! Pre-builts are for old ladies! You're not an old lady, are you? ARE YOU?"

I know, I know. Technically, building a PC is just snapping pieces together, but then, technically, performing a heart and lung transplant is just moving meat around. It's not a prospect that a below-average Joe like myself would relish. Don't get me wrong, I love reading about the high-end rigs that serious experts put together (and I like using the word "rig"), but I'm never going to have the nerve to try it myself. I've only ever used a hermetically-sealed Mac, so installing a new graphics card would be an adventure for me ... 

Anyway: would anyone care to recommend a reasonably priced beginner's gaming PC? Something that will make me forget there's such a thing as an Xbox 360 but won't break the bank (say <$2000)? So long as it was made by someone else and then put in a nice box, I don't have any other criteria to go by.

A much longer post than I intended - sorry for that and thanks in advance."

First, 2k your get some good, if you want to get a gaming rig start were it matter the most GPU. Do you wanted a Nvidia or ATI, Crossfire or SLI. then work you way to the CPU, Intel or AMD and so on.

You can get a great gaming rig for less than 1k easily, let alone 2k.

I'd get an Intel Core 2 Duo or Quad, running at around 3ghz (Dual) or 2,4-2,6 ghz (quad). A great affordable video card is the Geforce 8800GT. A compatible motherboard from a decent brand like Abit or Asus shouldn't cost too much either.

And yeah, assembling isn't too hard, but you can also pay a little extra and have it assembled for you, usually, if you're ordering your stuff from the same place. If you choose to assemble yourself, definitely have someone around who knows this stuff or a tutorial or something, it isn't too hard but if it's your first time you might get confused. Don't be afraid to ask questions, I didn't even know about sockets (connector between motherboard and processor) when I assembled my first PC.

Wow, this place is ferocious! So many responses so quickly. Thanks all. I'll look at all of those sites and buy some mags this very tomorrow.

People really blow the price of PC gaming WAY out of proportion. With the advice I've seen given over the internet though and brands like Alienware, I guess it's not surprising.

The biggest piece of advice I can give to you is to DO YOUR HOMEWORK and only listen to the people on forums to give you a general direction, not the end-all be all source of info. There's no way people have tried all the hardware out there so you might as well bypass them and look directly at the benchmarks they're looking at and such. Magazines are good.

And building your own computer isn't bad at all and really does save you quite a bit. I built a system that can play all the latest stuff at the beginning for around $600 after rebates (not including the periphreals like keyboard/mouse/monitor, also q6600, 2 gb ram, 9600gt before anyone asks). The only scary part is putting in the CPU (especially with intel's latest socket, CRUNCHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH like your computer's breaking when you lock it in place!) I can understand not wanting to build your own though. There are online stores that'll let you pick out the parts and will assemble it for you though, I hear.

Quad Core
8GB Ram
Dual 9800s
1TB HD

Will still be way under 2000 lol

Well you don't have to make your own, it's just cheaper.

And yeah, people get a bit too on the offense about the build-your-own thing sometimes

Thanks again. I'll do some investigating.

"Wow, this place is ferocious! So many responses so quickly. Thanks all. I'll look at all of those sites and buy some mags this very tomorrow.

I think I'm hearing that the reason everyone pushes the build-your-own idea is that it's better value for money. But that isn't my number one priority. I'm not out to waste cash, obviously, but I'm more interested in not electrocuting myself or setting fire to the house/cat/wife. Maybe I could get into building a PC further down the line but, as I say, I've never even owned a non-Mac computer, let alone built one. It's really not an option for me. 

Vinnie_PT - funnily enough, the Dell XPS 630 was a line I was looking at (for no good reason I can point to). But didn't I read somewhere that the XPSes were being phased out to avoid competing with the Alienware brand? Not that that would make much difference, I suppose, once the thing was on my desk ...

Thanks again everyone - thanks especially for the friendly tone. 

"

And just to add on to what everyone has said, if you dont want to build it yourself, then hit up www.avadirect.com

You pick all the parts out yourself, but they build it and ship it to you, and the price is gonna be FAR under that of a dell/ripoffware, etc.

Look at sites such as Cyberpowerinc or ABS computers, those are good and you can customize everything you'd like.  You can get a good cheap gaming pc with a Core 2 Duo processor, 2 gbs of ram, 250gb hard drive, and an ATI Hd4870 i would say between $1000-$1500 even cheaper.

But as they say, building your pc is the best way to go. Just get a book or online guide to direct you through every step. You'll learn a lot and appreciate your comp that much more.

If you can brush your teeth in the morning, make toast, and spread peanut butter on a peice of bread you have the motor skills required to build a PC. Even then , I don't recommend just diving into it. (Even though I learned how to build a PC when I was like 6 with Lincoln logs). You should probably ask a store like Bestbuy's Geek Squad to assemble it for you. Prebuitl rigs are super overpriced, and even though theres a nominal fee with Geek Squad, you'd still end up saving a hueg ammount of money by having them build a PC with your specs.

Was going to say the same as EntwineX. Where I live in Scotland there's a few good white box builders. Just write down the specs of a couple of high end PCs off the web (noting the cost seperately) and take the specs to them if you have any near you, tell them it has to be geared towards gaming and ask if there's anything they'd recommend changing or updating for newer (component wise).

Shop around if you can to compare advice given to you as much as to compare cost, some shady characters out there so go home and research their advice! Sorry but I have an untrusting nature sometimes :-)

You should really build your own.
I along with others can help pick out the right parts.

You can always buy the parts separately and have a computer place put it together for you. I had a friend do that

I didn't know that (that I could choose the parts myself and have someone else build it). I'll look into it. Thanks everyone.

"I didn't know that (that I could choose the parts myself and have someone else build it). I'll look into it. Thanks everyone."

theres nothing i can say that hasn't already been said already, but usual places like newegg, cyberpower, ibuypower, alienware, falcon north-west (tho those aren't cheap and really only would want one of those if your into customization stuff as their the best) in my opinion anyway.

You can find and/or build a PC and a good one really cheap these days, got 1-2k to spare on a pc and you'll be getting yourself a nice top end machine, especially if you build it yourself.... newegg as someone mentioned above really is your friend.... no matter what some of these threads say, PC gaming is awsome and you really wont be disapointed..... there are games on the pc that you just simply cant play on anything else, certainly not with the same gaming experience anyway...

good luck

This is a really good read for those trying to get into PC gaming. I would go to newegg.com, quality computers at a cheap price.

But to all Giant Bombers, new rule: no quoting large bodies of text, and I'm pretty sure I read the first post of the thread. Thank you.

you could always try build yourself a really cheap computer to get the hang of it. I find building your own is fun.

Just go to your local computer store and have them build one to your budget, they usually dont charge too much. It all depends on the store I supose.

A pre-built PC is just fine. PC gaming sometimes has elitists who like to boast off that new shiny piece of metal they stuck in the computer (zomg look at my l33t gtx280 111111), but the fact is you will not get ripped off for a fairly good pre-built Dell.

"Just go to your local computer store and have them build one to your budget, they usually dont charge too much. It all depends on the store I supose. "

alienware is amazing , you can get a very good reliable PC from them that will last a long time BUT you will be paying a very high premium for it.

Im posting on a 2005 alienware and i can STILL run some of the top games ( even though some of the graphics are turned down abit )

If you are willing to spend the money for absolutely NO hassle of putting stuff together, get an alienware!

PM me if you want more info on it.

I wouldnt try building a PC when you have no idea how despite what people on the internet may say.

*braces himself for a barrage of noob comments*

Quad Core

8 gigs is not worth it

Thanks for not flaming his ass. Lot of great comment here.

"8 gigs is not worth it "