Here we go... What computer

[74elko]

Getting bored with playing consoles. Looking at getting into computer gaming. Any recommendations on what computer to go with for modern day gaming? Looking to stream games on steam.
Should I go pre built or is there a simple website that breaks down everything that I need? Never built a computer so talk to me like a newb

[arrix]

If you're a newb, I would not build a computer unless you like troubleshooting hardware. You'll likely get a spend less overall by buying off the shelf. Do your homework though. Research what's the latest and greatest in gaming systems, then try to price out a similar system on your own with parts. Time is money too, so do you want to spend weeks ordering hardware and troubleshooting or do you want to just turn it on and get playing?

[Mute]

Your budget is going to dicated what kind of gaming you're going to be doing. Do you want to go full 4k or just 2k or even less? Right now, the big budget burner is the graphics card. Prices on these are at an absurd level. Generally, you can build cheaper than a pre-built system but most system integrators can get the graphics card cheaper than anything you can find on your own and will be able to give a pretty competitive price compared to building yourself. But that's with the companies that focus on competing on price. The premium builders won't save you much money. If you want to build yourself, checkout PC Part Picker to help you find the best prices on components.

[Dan_Eastvale]

A used one in great condition off the local classified rag

[sonofeugene]

I bought a used, top of the line, Mac tower with 128 GB of RAM the previous owner used for gaming. I don’t game, though. It cost me $1000.

[SactoDoug]

Everyone starts somewhere when building their own computer. Here is a great play list of many different levels of gaming systems. All you have to do is pick the one you like.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_au4JnSoKw&list=PL30pfjH1BVN908ZV3QJRAakq-4mANnInm&index=1

Here is a great site for picking the parts you want. It automatically checks compatibility for you. I would go through the list and double check the parts, especially the motherboard, cpu and memory compatibility. You can usually download the user manual for motherboards on the maker's site. That will tell you what is compatible with the motherboard.

There are also many build guides on this site too.

https://pcpartpicker.com/

Finally, watch videos and do searches. There are lots of resources out there. Use them.

[Skip_Dog]

Buy off the shelf. Take note of what you don't like about and start a spreadsheet of parts to buy to build one. Should take 3 months to get all info.

Note: I am not a gamer, just built a lot of them.

[weiser09]

Check out the build kits from Corsair.

[sigstroker]

Alienware?

[74elko]

Yeah I think I will be buying off the shelf. Already have too many hobbies and I'm not prepared to research and learn about various graphic cards, motherboards, and CPUs.

[Mute]

Bang for the buck, I'd say take a look at NZXT or Cyberpower PC.

[Dragunov]

Getting bored with playing consoles. Looking at getting into computer gaming. Any recommendations on what computer to go with for modern day gaming? Looking to stream games on steam.
Should I go pre built or is there a simple website that breaks down everything that I need? Never built a computer so talk to me like a newb

MSI, or Acer Predator.

[Iknownot]

We can’t give you any real advice unless we know :

What is your max budget ?

What resolution are you planning on gaming at ? (Pc generally games at 1080p, 1440p or 4k and the choice you make on your monitor / TV / Display will affect which graphics cards you will need to consider ).

If you want all in one simple you could spend about $600-700 on a steam deck (looks like a fat Nintendo switch but can also be hooked up to monitors ). Or there have been some really good sales on gaming laptops with rtx 4060 cards in them which should last you just fine for pretty much anything you’d want to play the next 4 or so years as long as you are ok adjusting in game settings a bit as time progresses. Check out, this for example, which is reasonably equivalent to what it would cost to build a similar desktop if you include a monitor:

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/msi-cyborg-15-6-144hz-gaming-laptop-intel-core-i7-nvidia-geforce-rtx-4060-with-8gb-ram-and-512gb-ssd-black/6532164.p?skuId=6532164