So, my goal is to eventually buy a gaming desktop, preferably not costing more than $3,000. I fiddled with this idea in the past, but it never panned out and I ended up just buying another macbook pro. However, I would like to start my search for a good high-powered desktop pc. Since I am a mac person though, I have no clue what to look for when it comes to buying/upgrading/customizing a pc. So, I have a couple of questions:

1. What brand should I go for (e.g. Alienware)?
2. What are the most important upgrades/customizations that I need to focus on?
3. If you want, could you pm me some specs of a good desktop as well as a relatively reasonable price range?

Thanks very much,
~Huck

1. Not Alienware! Build you own.
2. Well there is a couple of stickies to read ;)
3.
This should get you started.

Firstly, $3000 is WAY too fucking much. Ok?
$600-650 will get you a computer that can play anything.
<$1000 will get you a computer that can play anything on extremely high / max.

I would suggest;
an i5x4 CPU (sandy bridge if you want)
4gb of RAM (upgrade to 8 if you want)
1TB HDD + 64GB SSD (upgrade the HDD if you want but the SSD should be only 64 at max, total cost should be around $80 + $80 = $160 for both)
560 Ti OR 6950 GPU (the 560 Ti could be upgraded to a 570 but the price jump is $100)
Go for a 650W PSU.

Look at the guide. You should be looking at Great - Excellent.

That should be fine.



Use the rest of the money to buy upgrades after every year so you stay in tip-top shape.
No need to drop $3k on something that will be worth $500 in a year and a half...

If you are getting an intel CPU and aren't getting Sandy Bridge then you are actually retarded. Personally, I would go for an AMD X II 955 OC'd to at least 965 levels. It's cheaper and the performance is only slightly worse.


Unless you are running intense rendering software, or feel like opening 80 tabs in your browser you will not need more than 4. Also, don't mix different types of RAM. Different brands have different timing speeds that would need to be manually adjusted to get optimum performance.


Go for the F3 Spinpoint and the OCZ Vertex 2 60 gb SSD.



If you are willing to BIOS flash the 6950 (which is perfectly harmless and really easy, just google it) then go with that. Otherwise, go with the 560.


The Antec Earthwatts is the best PSU you will get at this wattage.


Although the guide is a good place to start, it is only one resource and for a number of reasons that would take a while to get into doesn't always give the best advice. Go to multiple sites, multiple guides and buy what is best for you. Don't blindly accept the advice of people you've never met.

"This should get you started."
"Although the guide is a good place to start"

Yes