Help with first gamng pc

snapple954

Hi guys, just neen some help with picking the right gaming pc for my needs. I have recently started playing Euro truck simulator 2 on my HP Pavilion laptop and while i am totally addicted to it i am at the point that i have to get a pc to take full advantage of the graphics in the game. I also have just purchased Just Cause 3 from Steam as well so my laptop can not run that at all. I have spent a couple of days online doing research and from what i can gather anyone who has a gaming pc thinks the best way to go is to build it yourself. As someone who knows nothing about computers this wouldn't be my first choice but i would not rule it out. However i did see a Dell 780 Quad core with Gtx750 on compuzone and i was wondering if it was worth bothering with, maybe with a view to upgrading in the future. But as it stands how do you think this would run Just Cause 3, Euro truck Simulator 2 and possibly The Division?

Digital Solitude

Can you post a link to the PC?

What's your budget anyways?

And where are you located?

snapple954

Digital Solitude wrote:

What's your budget anyways?

Can't post a link because boards is saying I'm new on the site. Anyway that pc was just under 300 euros. It's refurbished and comes with Windows 7 which can be upgraded to Windows 10. I know you won't get much for that money but I was just wondering if it was worth going for. I'm in Kerry by the way.

Digital Solitude

What CPU is in it?

john the one

If you could fill in the below so as to give everyone a better idea of what you need that would be great.

1. What is your budget?

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer?

3. Do you need a copy of Windows?

4. Can you use any parts from an old computer?

5. Do you need a monitor?

5a. If yes, what size do you need.

5b. If no, what resolution is your current monitor and do you plan to upgrade in the near future?

6. Do you need any of the peripherals?

7. Are you willing to try overclocking?

8. How can you pay?

9. When are you purchasing?

10. If you need help building it, where are you based?

TerrorFirmer

Quick look on CompuZone and all I can see for sub 300 are very old dual cores with very poor low-end graphics.

Their cheapest GTX750Ti/i5 combo is about 480 but even then it is a first gen i5 which is very slow by modern standards and would struggle in new games.

If you want to play games like Just Cause 3 and The Division realistically you need to significantly up your budget to at least around 500 and build yourself or buy from adverts/ebay.

snapple954

The computer would be used for gaming only as we have a laptop for browsing and everything else. I have a wireless keyboard and mouse so don't need them but i would need a monitor around "22 or "24. As for budget i think this is where world's collide because every pc gamer knows that you have to spend the money if you want a decent setup. That is why i was leaning towards self build simply because i could buy the parts i need over time, maybe a few weeks or a couple of months. I just need advice from you guys who are more knowledgeable on this than i am. Could somebody give me a shopping list of all the components needed and where i can buy them that would be great. Thanks to everyone for replying.
Just to say finally that the pc i need would ideally play titles like The Division and Just Cause 3 without breaking a sweat.
Thanks again.

Digital Solitude

If you're looking for a self build, a low end, decent PC starts at about €500, and scale upwards. We can't really recommend anything until you know what you're willing to spend

snapple954

Well for now i think the budget would be between 5 and 600 euros so that should hopefully get me something capable of playing the aforementioned games?

Eoinmc97

In terms of 'running' it, then yes this build will do. Although you won't see Ultra details at a playable frame rate, due to the Division and JC3 being heavily demanding games. (That and Gameworks games usually don't scale too well, which is why a 980Ti is only 8 FPS faster than a GTX 970)

Core i3 6100: €135
8GB DDR4 2400MHz RAM: €50
Any B150/H150 Motherboard: €70-€80
A GTX 750ti: €120-€130
A 1TB HDD: €50
A case: €70
A 500W PSU: €60
That should land you around €530 or so, just look up the stuff on Mindfactory.de, and see what you like etc. For case ideas, check some Hardware Canucks videos etc.
Let me know if you have any questions.

snapple954

Thank you very much Eoinmc97, that's just the starting point that I needed. I will have a look around for those items and I will let you know how I get on.
Thanks again for taking the time to do that.

tuxy

You can get the price down a good bit on that if you go for a Haswell build, it won't make any noticeable difference to performance.

http://www.mindfactory.de/product_info.php/ASRock-H81M-DG4-Intel-H81-So-1150-Dual-Channel-DDR-mATX-Retail_991397.html
http://www.mindfactory.de/product_info.php/Intel-Core-i3-4150-2x-3-50GHz-So-1150-BOX_960038.html
http://www.mindfactory.de/product_info.php/8GB-Crucial-Ballistix-Sport-DDR3-1600-DIMM-CL9-Dual-Kit_794504.html
http://www.mindfactory.de/product_info.php/2048MB-Gainward-GeForce-GTX-750-Ti-Aktiv-PCIe-3-0-x16--Retail-_952360.html
http://www.mindfactory.de/product_info.php/1000GB-Seagate-Desktop-HDD-ST1000DM003-64MB-3-5Zoll--8-9cm--SATA-6Gb-s_775365.html
http://www.mindfactory.de/product_info.php/350-Watt-Corsair-VS-Series-VS350-Non-Modular_974787.html

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fractal-Design-Core-1100-Micro/dp/B00KXXZS74/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1457552044&sr=8-2

That should cost around €440 including dilivery

You could replace the 750ti with a 950
http://www.mindfactory.de/product_info.php/2048MB-Asus-GeForce-GTX-950-Aktiv-PCIe-3-0-x16--Retail-_1012003.html

That would see a nice jump in performance for an extra €50

snapple954

tuxy wrote:

That would see a nice jump in performance for an extra €50

Thanks for that tuxy, I actually did the build that Eoinmc97 suggested on mindfactory and it only came to €400 so I will try your set up as well. Just another question; as a complete beginner to this, what can I expect to see on a screen when I stick all of these components together? In other words when I first boot it up. I know it won't have an operating system so I was thinking of installing Steam OS. Would that be it or would I have to install other drivers and stuff of which I know nothing about?

Digital Solitude

I'd stick with Eoins build, might as well gun for DDR4 at this stage. I know its only lately I've been speccing DDR4 builds but there's not a huge price difference

You'll have a display if you have an OS installed, you'll need to update the GPU drivers so you can game, and any USB devices will probably need them too. I'm not sure how SteamOS handles drivers so it might just take new GPU ones

grindle

snapple954 wrote: »

I know it won't have an operating system so I was thinking of installing Steam OS. Would that be it or would I have to install other drivers and stuff of which I know nothing about?

You won't be playing JC3 or The Division on SteamOS. Linux also has a large performance hit thanks to tardy GPU driver releases.

Download Windows -> Install -> Choose 'Activate Later' -> Buy key when you can afford it.

snapple954

tuxy wrote:

That would see a nice jump in performance for an extra €50

Thanks for that tuxy, I will have a look at that build as well because if I'm doing a build at all I would want the best graphics possible for the given money.
Thanks for taking the time to do that list.

snapple954

Thanks for that tuxy, I will have a look at that build as well because if I'm doing a build at all I would want the graphics to be as good as possible for the money. Just another question, when I stick all of these components together and plug it into a display what will the next step be? I know it won't have an operating system but I'm thinking of installing Steam OS, so will it be a case of downloading that OS to a USB stick and flashing it on to the new computer?

tuxy

No problem, here's a full build using the newer skylake cpu with ddr4 and a gtx 950

http://www.mindfactory.de/product_info.php/Gigabyte-GA-B150M-D2V-Intel-B150-So-1151-Dual-Channel-DDR4-mATX-Retail_1026655.html
http://www.mindfactory.de/product_info.php/Intel-Core-i3-6100-2x-3-70GHz-So-1151-BOX_1014846.html
http://www.mindfactory.de/product_info.php/8GB-G-Skill-Value-4-DDR4-2133-DIMM-CL15-Dual-Kit_1013782.html
http://www.mindfactory.de/product_info.php/1000GB-Seagate-Desktop-HDD-ST1000DM003-64MB-3-5Zoll--8-9cm--SATA-6Gb-s_775365.html
http://www.mindfactory.de/product_info.php/350-Watt-Corsair-VS-Series-VS350-Non-Modular_974787.html
http://www.mindfactory.de/product_info.php/2048MB-Gigabyte-GeForce-GTX-950-OC-Aktiv-PCIe-3-0-x16--Retail-_1011034.html

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fractal-Design-Core-1100-Micro/dp/B00KXXZS74/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1457552044&sr=8-2

tuxy

Using a laptop or other pc put steam os onto a usb stick
Plug it into your new pc and press delete on bootup to get into bios
From there I can't give you exact details as it's different for different makes of motherboards but under boot option you can select it to boot from usb the hit f10 to save.
Once Steam os is installed go back into bios and make sure you hard drive is set as first boot device.

Valve are trying to get as many games as possible onto steam os(linux) but not all of them will be available. You will have a better selection if you install windows 10. You can get a windows 10 key for €25.99
http://www.kinguin.net/category/19429/windows-10-professional-oem-key/
I've not used that site for windows keys but have got many game from there and it's always been reliable.

Digital Solitude

You'll have to use a program to make sure the USB is bootable. SteamOS probably has its own program, Linux uses pendrivelinux or wubi, and use Rufus for Windows

ibFoxer

grindle wrote: »

You won't be playing JC3 or The Division on SteamOS. Linux also has a large performance hit thanks to tardy GPU driver releases.

Download Windows -> Install -> Choose 'Activate Later' -> Buy key when you can afford it.

No real reason to not have windows though, keys can be purchased on Kinguin:

Windows 7 Home Premium €17.49

Windows 10 Professional €24.99

There may be cheaper available, but i can at least vouch for Kinguin, never any problems.

grindle

ibFoxer wrote: »

No real reason to not have windows though

Ehhh...I know - that's why I was pushing for them to use it until they can pay for it - you can actually use it for free before paying (some people might be on a budget for the month) and also that Just Cause 3 and The Division are not available on Linux, therefore SteamOS.
They glossed over/ignored that though.

ibFoxer

grindle wrote: »

Ehhh...I know - that's why I was pushing for them to use it until they can pay for it - you can actually use it for free before paying (some people might be on a budget for the month) and also that Just Cause 3 and The Division are not available on Linux, therefore SteamOS.
They glossed over/ignored that though.

Dya know, at ungodly o'clock this morning it didn't come out right- completely agreeing with you, was just highlighting how accessible it is now.

Apologies it came off wrong.

tuxy

I knew very little about steam os so I just read up on it and watched some videos. Apparently linux drivers and opengl is still very unoptimised even in games that are supported you can expect much lower frame rates. Steam os may turn first timers off pc gaming

grindle

ibFoxer wrote: »

Apologies it came off wrong.

I think it was the extra 'though'. NP, have a sexy day! :pac: (())

ibFoxer

grindle wrote: »

I think it was the extra 'though'. NP, have a sexy day! :pac: (())

FYI, my day was less than sexy.

Anyway, enough of the ruining this chaps thread :pac::D

snapple954

Just wanted to say thank you to everyone who responded to my questions. I know i will probably have a lot more when i have the build completed {or maybe in the middle of the build!} so you guys will see me back here again! I think i will get all the hardware i need from mindfactory.de, so i will let you know how it all goes.