PC Decisions

Hey guys, I'm starting to think I might become dedicated to PC gaming instead of Console.
So I was wondering, what are the best PC's to buy?
I want as many opinions as you can give.
Best gaming PC obviously.
All of your opinions would be greatly appreciated.
Best priced, or best period would be fine too.
Worrying about the price is not a problem, but it would be a cool addition if you did.

 

Basically what woody said. Also are you looking for a desktop or a laptop?

 

Desktop, and I have no clue how to build it ._.
I'd be willing to pay to have a custom built one though, if its gonna be a good one.

 

First - especially if you've got little experience building PCs / with IT related stuff - define what you want the PC to do for you. Do you want a PC that you won't have to upgrade for the next 3 or 4 years and still be able to play every game coming out? And do you wanna be able to have every graphical setting high then? Or is it ok for you to have to turn all graphics down fully to crank out a workable fps?

Along with that, if you want a decent gameplay experience, I'd also look at my monitor's refresh rate. If it's only 60 hz, it'd be worth considering a new monitor as part of your investment for a new PC. Get one with minimum 80 hz, and if it's an LCD or TFT, one with low ghosting (fast response rate); that way your new PC running games at 80 fps or higher won't suffer from visual tearing or mouselag and the like.

 

This.. this is why I can't have nice things.

 

Eh? How does that even make sense? I'm simply asking for more input before I bother trying to suggest anything or advise you.

 

The human brain and eye can only usually perceive about a 30fps rate. 60Hz is more than fine, but do get a fast a pixel rate to avoid smearing (what some call ghosting, but ghosting is actually a term originally for a weaker second image caused by reception of additional reflected TV signals).

Some might wonder why high FPS rates are so important on graphics cards... well, they aren't! But yet, they are in a way. Ideally the card only needs to be able to put out the 30 or 60fps. The trick is having a card that is powerful enough to output those minimum rates during the heaviest loads, even when the resolution is way up, the eye candy is cranked etc. If your card can handle 60fps under the most intense pressure, it likely is capable of much higher rates the rest of the time.

In order to avoid something called "tearing", I suggest that people generally enable vsync (vertical synchronization). I think it is enabled by default for most cards and games. It does no good at all for your graphics card to change the contents of a frame if the monitor is not going to show all of the complete changes. In fact when the monitor draws a frame and part way through it the card decides to modify the contents of that frame, tearing results.

So the best anyone needs is 60Hz, vsync, fast pixels resistent to smearing (on CRTs this was a characteristic of the phosphors called persistence, but with LCD is related to electrical timing), and a card that can consistently deliver 60Hz even at the most difficult times. After these specs are met, monitors almost need to be judged in person for the rest of their value, because it is how it works for yo that matters most.

By the way, movie film and most Blueray content is delivered at 24fps.