Recommend me a gaming PC.

[Shockeruti]

My last "gaming rig" I had was years ago, when delta force 2 and half life were big. When it bit the biggie I grabbed a laptop (that I still use lol) and later picked up a ps3 for gaming. The new ps4 doesn't have me too excited and I'm looking into getting a pc to game with.

After 6-7 years of not paying attention to computers at all I'm completely lost.

My requirements :
Bf4 on high/ultra
Preferably under 1000 for tower and monitor.
Ability to run HDMI to tv for movies.
Prefer air cooled over liquid for simplicity sake.
Would rather not have to over lock to achieve performance goals.
Single monitor setup is ok with me


I'd prefer a boxed unit. But if I the performance/cost ratio for building a machine is huge like it use to be I can go that route too.

[Gargamel]

Build Your Own.

Biggest cost is probably going to be the video card\cards.....

I would check Microcenter and Newegg for specials once you figure out what parts you want to throw in it.

[Dinger]

I would say build your own if you can that way you can get Windows 7. Windows 8 on some games benchmarks higher then 7 but Windows 8 is just a terrible OS in my opinion.

As far as Items to get.

Processor AMD FX-8350 (199 on Amazon right now)
Motherboard ASUS M5A99FX (140 on Amazon)
Video Card Nvidia GTX760 or the AMD Radeon equivalent (about 260)


Then just build your system on a budget from there RAM has gotten more expensive but you can find 8GB for 70 or so. With the set up it will be hard to get under 1000 with monitor but I think its a very good set up to start with and you can always add to it with More RAM later on or even add an SSD to it.

Not much help but looking for a good gaming system on a budget AMD is the way to go

[JC316]

Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3 - $109

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128519

AMD FX6300 - $119

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819113286

AMD R280x - $299

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202046

Seasonic X650 power supply - $129

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151088

Acer 23" LED - $149

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824009481

Xigmatex Asguard - $43

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811815018

8gb G.skill Sniper DDR3 1600 - $79

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231416

Seagate 1tb - 75

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148912

Asus DVD - $20

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135305

coolermaster Hyper 212 evo - $36

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099

Total - $940

Building your own is the only way to do it and stay under budget. It's super easy to do. What I posted should be more than enough for your goals.

[Shockeruti]

Thanks for the list JC. How long do you think that machine will be good for? It seemed like back in the day you had to upgrade every 3 months to keep up with the games.

[racrguy]

Thanks for the list JC. How long do you think that machine will be good for? It seemed like back in the day you had to upgrade every 3 months to keep up with the games.

Nowadays games are limited by video cards, so you'll really only have to update those from time to time.

[JC316]

Thanks for the list JC. How long do you think that machine will be good for? It seemed like back in the day you had to upgrade every 3 months to keep up with the games.

Video card should last for at least two years, the rest of the system should be good for 3-4 years. The FX6300 CPU is the mid grade of the high end line, I have mine running at the factory turbo rating of 4.1ghz and it's fine. Starcraft 2 is very CPU intensive and it doesn't have a problem with it.

Nowadays games are limited by video cards, so you'll really only have to update those from time to time.

This. I am running on an HD7850, which is three generations old, and it's good for everything but the most graphic intensive games.

[CexMashean]

I'd swap that 280x for a gtx 770 in a heart beat.

[JC316]

I'd swap that 280x for a gtx 770 in a heart beat.

The GTX 770 is marginally faster than the 280x and it's $80 more. If you are going that high on it, get the 290 non x, which decimates the 770. In battlefield 3, the 770 is 3FPS faster than the 280 and AMD always gets faster when newer drivers come out. The cost just isn't worth it.

[CexMashean]

The GTX 770 is marginally faster than the 280x and it's $80 more. If you are going that high on it, get the 290 non x, which decimates the 770. In battlefield 3, the 770 is 3FPS faster than the 280 and AMD always gets faster when newer drivers come out. The cost just isn't worth it.

$80?
You can get them on newegg for $300-320 all day. Not to mention you won't have the headaches that come with an ati card. Every ATI card i've had has been plagued with driver issues, over and over.

[motoman]

You're better off with a Western Digital drive over a Seagate drive. That Seagate will shit the bed long before a WD will.

[JC316]

$80?
You can get them on newegg for $300-320 all day. Not to mention you won't have the headaches that come with an ati card. Every ATI card i've had has been plagued with driver issues, over and over.

Oh, you are talking about the 2gb versions. I really wouldn't recommend those, especially for battlefield 4, not enough ram to keep up.. When was the last time you had an ATI card? The drivers have been fine since the HD5xxx series.

[CexMashean]

Ran a gtx770 (2gb version http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814121770) with my 1090t and kept the settings on ultra. Ran fine. Ended up returning the card and going back to my gtx 480. I plan to do a full system update/build in the near future.

The last set i tried was two hd 7770 in crossfire. Buggy, skipping, crashing, artifact having trash. I just gave it up after that.

[JC316]

Ran a gtx770 (2gb version http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814121770) with my 1090t and kept the settings on ultra. Ran fine. Ended up returning the card and going back to my gtx 480. I plan to do a full system update/build in the near future.

The last set i tried was two hd 7770 in crossfire. Buggy, skipping, crashing, artifact having trash. I just gave it up after that.

What resolution were you running on? Yeah, crossfire is shit. More headache than it's worth.

[CexMashean]

1920x1080 on a 32 inch lcd.