Switching to PC!

[OmarSoudaniYR]

Hello everyone, I've been a console player for the past 15 years! I've decided to switch to PC, can anyone recommend me the specifications I should go for to be able to play every game at high settings? Also, any games recommendations that don't exist in consoles would be appreciated. 

[Xahid]

This is probably not a good time for switching, due to mining craze and for gaming, your major budget will be spend on Graphic Card, so either you should wait for price drop or chose Xbox One X, which has great hardware for it cost.

[Danielx64]

Yeah I would be waiting for the time being, the cost of hardware is nuts, even in Australia it is bad for some things.

[+Mirumir Subscriber¹]

You guys...what if the OP is a Saudi prince.

 

1 hour ago, OmarSoudaniYR said:

Hello everyone, I've been a console player for the past 15 years! I've decided to switch to PC, can anyone recommend me the specifications I should go for to be able to play every game at high settings? Also, any games recommendations that don't exist in consoles would be appreciated. 

Hello and welcome!

 

What's your budget if you don't mind me asking?

 

 

[Xahid]

10 minutes ago, Mirumir said:

You guys...what if the OP is a Saudi prince.

 

Hello and welcome!

 

What's your budget if you don't mind me asking?

 

 

Saudi Prince won't ask for advice "online" ...

[+Zagadka Subscriber²]

If you are just dipping your toes in early, I would avoid something like a GeForce 1080 and stick with a 9xx. It will still play all but the most demanding games at good quality. Once you get more into PC gaming, move on to other hardware like gaming mice (a standard Logitech mouse works fine. I have gotten a ton of use from my Performance MX and never had the need to get an actual (expensive) gaming mouse)

 

It is also hard to suggest things, since we don't know what genres you like. Most common on PCs over consoles is RPGs, strategy games (4x and realtime), etc. And FPS. Keyboard+mouse is a different deal in FPS games. One could also add MMOs, but that is a picky taste. While games like Cities: Skylines have been released on console, they are better on PC.

 

The biggest draw of PC gaming is mods. Most major titles are modable to some extent - Skyrim and Fallout are insanely modded. Before purchasing a game, check a site like https://www.nexusmods.com/ to see if you can get more out of the game than vanilla.

 

It is pretty common these days to see like 90% of games on Steam as Early Access that never quite get an actual release, but are playable. The library is extensive, since there is no licensing for the console. Sometimes you get burned, but there are gems.

 

Another suggestion - get a controller. If you're used to console controls, you can get a controller exactly like the console versions. This can help you transfer, especially adventure type games. You can, say, start Assassin's Creed Origins (or games like it) on a controller and migrate to WASD. Some games I use both keyboard+mouse and controller... like GTA or FarCry, I use controller for drive/fly and keyboard for shooting.

 

If you have the budget, I'd suggest getting a dual monitor setup, especially for slower paced strategy games like Civilization. I cringe at single monitor systems.

 

Oh, and make sure you get a decent chair. Worth the investment.

[OmarSoudaniYR]

Thank you all for your inputs; as advised I'm gonna stick to console and wait for the prices to drop. My budget is 1200$ without monitors (already have gaming monitors connected to my console). 

[OmarSoudaniYR]

1 hour ago, Mirumir said:

You guys...what if the OP is a Saudi prince.

 

Hello and welcome!

 

What's your budget if you don't mind me asking?

 

 

I'm not a Saudi prince

[Daedroth]

As others have said, I would wait a while, until the mining craze dies down. An example of the crazy costs, I bought a GTX 1070 in January 2017. I could sell that now, after over a year of use and still make a profit, as second hand cards are currently more expensive than what I paid brand new.

 

You mentioned you already have gaming monitors...what resolution/spec are they? I only ask because they can determine what type of graphics card to go far. As the GPU is the biggest cost in a gaming PC, it can have a massive impact on the setup spec/cost.

 

If the monitors are 1080p up to 144Hz, I would recommend a GTX 1070.

If the monitors are 1440p up to 144Hz, I would recommend a GTX 1080.

If the monitors are 4K, I would recommend a GTX 1080 Ti.

If the monitors support G-Sync, go for a Nvidia card.

If the monitors support FreeSync, go for an AMD card.

[OmarSoudaniYR]

7 minutes ago, Daedroth said:

As others have said, I would wait a while, until the mining craze dies down. An example of the crazy costs, I bought a GTX 1070 in January 2017. I could sell that now, after over a year of use and still make a profit, as second hand cards are currently more expensive than what I paid brand new.

 

You mentioned you already have gaming monitors...what resolution/spec are they? I only ask because they can determine what type of graphics card to go far. As the GPU is the biggest cost in a gaming PC, it can have a massive impact on the setup spec/cost.

 

If the monitors are 1080p up to 144Hz, I would recommend a GTX 1070.

If the monitors are 1440p up to 144Hz, I would recommend a GTX 1080.

If the monitors are 4K, I would recommend a GTX 1080 Ti.

If the monitors support G-Sync, go for a Nvidia card.

If the monitors support FreeSync, go for an AMD card.

The monitors are BenQ 1080p up tp 144Hz, 1ms response time. I found this one on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01HDUVJ1I/ref=psdc_284822_t1_B01GLRX81I 599.99$ I believe this is the cheapest? That's exactly half my budget! lol 

[patseguin Global Moderator]

Do you plan on PC gaming at 4K or 1440p? For your budget, you could easily build an 8700k based system with a 1070 card and be able to throw everything at it with max settings. Like everyone else has been saying though, the miners have ruined the graphics card market so you're going to have to wait. Unless I suppose you can find a prebuilt system with a good video card, but building your own is the best way to go.

[satukoro]

I built a Ryzen 7 1700 build with the following specs for $993. I can run everything at 1080p maxed out at 60fps. I bought and built it in late November / early December 2017 during this lovely gpu price hike.

 

- Ryzen 7 1700

- RX580 8GB

- 16GB ddr4

- 500gb solid state

- asrock ab350 mobo, case, fans, etc.

 

Also I spent $30 on a wired xb1 controller to play emulated PS2 and GC games.

[LaP]

On 2018-03-05 at 3:33 AM, Xahid said:

This is probably not a good time for switching, due to mining craze and for gaming, your major budget will be spend on Graphic Card, so either you should wait for price drop or chose Xbox One X, which has great hardware for it cost.

Price are not dropping anytime soon sadly.

[LaP]

On 2018-03-05 at 3:24 AM, OmarSoudaniYR said:

Hello everyone, I've been a console player for the past 15 years! I've decided to switch to PC, can anyone recommend me the specifications I should go for to be able to play every game at high settings? Also, any games recommendations that don't exist in consoles would be appreciated. 

It depends at which resolution you want to play.

 

1080p a 1070 or a 980 (probably even a 970) coupled with any current mid range cpu (core i5 or Ryzen 5 1600) will play pretty much everything at max settings and at least MSAA 4x. If you aim at 4k i would wait it's not there yet (don't be fooled by the 4k native resolution of consoles most games are probably just upscaled from 2k or at least use dynamic resolutions).

 

But before doing the switch you should ask yourself why you are doing it. PC gaming improved at lot in the last 10 years. You don't need to upgrade every 2 years like you used to. In fact i just upgraded my 10 years old Core i5 750 and it was still doing an okay job despite its age. Steam, GOG or any other clients make buying, installing and updating games a lot easier. But PC gaming is still a little bit more expensive than console gaming. A good PC will still cost you lot of money. It's easier to find deals on games though imo. You still need to know the ins and outs of PC gaming though and you'll have to do some research to know what terms like MSAA, SSAA, TXAA, MLAA, FXAA, GXAEAAAE 2000 mean.

 

PC gaming makes sense if you are using your PC for something else or if you don't care about spending lot of money for the very best experience but if you're just looking to casually play games and don't need a PC for others things than browsing the web then i'm not so sure it's worth the investment in money and time.

 

Anyway if you buy a PC check the free games thread i still have games to give lol

[LaP]

On 2018-03-05 at 6:48 AM, OmarSoudaniYR said:

The monitors are BenQ 1080p up tp 144Hz, 1ms response time. I found this one on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01HDUVJ1I/ref=psdc_284822_t1_B01GLRX81I 599.99$ I believe this is the cheapest? That's exactly half my budget! lol 

If your budget is 1200$ US it will be hard to build a good PC while spending 600$ US on the monitor. In fact with a 600$ US PC the 144Mhz of this monitor will probably be wasted cause the PC will more than likely not reach this fps.

 

Honestly over 60 fps is not really that useful if you're not a competitive online gamer. For single player offline games or casual multiplayer sessions 60Hz is perfectly fine imo. Should maybe spend a little bit less on the monitor if the budget is 1200$ US. I mean the gpu alone is around 400$. Add a good 150$ for the cpu and another 100 the the mb and at least one for the ram. That's already 750$. You still don't have a case, a power supply, a kb and a mouse.

 

[edit] OMG i just watched the price on Amazon.com and WTF i bought a 1070 last December for 570$ CAD and now they are all over 600$ US on amazon? nVidia and AMD really need to do something about this it's not normal that a bunch of miners alone can drive price up like this. Why they don't make more cards? It's incredible the card i bought last December for 570$ CAD (in fact 550$ since i had a 20$ postal rebate) is now 800$ CAD that's ridiculous imo there should even be a FBI investigation to see if there's not something illegal going on. I've never ever seen something like that in any market ever and i'm over 40. Demands never ever drove price that high companies just make more of them.

 

You will have to find a used gpu with those price ...

[Kentuckynerd]

Sell your Xbox One X and join up. 

[TrumanMills]

It has a been a while now since you have asked your question. But the prices of GTX 1080 and GTX 1080Ti are good now because of the release of the new RTX Series. So if you have't switched yet, it's about time. Because gaming is a totally new level of gaming.