Best Starter Computer for gaming

[hemicuffs8443]

I want to start getting into computer gaming. Mostly because of 1 game. Grand Theft Auto 4, and all th mods i have see on youtube. What would be a good Computer to start out with that can easily play this game?
And is it even possible to spend under $1k for such a PC?

 

[denis280]

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...82E16883220044
this would be ok.and i belive $1K is 1000 in CDN

 

[fralexandr]

it's pretty easy to get a decent gaming computer for <$1k nowadays
assuming you're not building one:
get a decent prebuilt computer (preferably with a decent PSU) and add a GPU
you might want to look for a cheap quadcore build (the one above seems a tad pricey since it's dual core and refurb)
the one above might be okay for anything up to an ATI 6850/70, or an nvidia 460 or 560 TI
you might need to upgrade the PSU
i had weird chunking problems in GTA IV with lynnfield i7 860 + ati 5770, so a nvidia card might be safer

then (unless you already have them) you add a monitor, speakers, and maybe keyboard/mouse (although you might want to just play using an xbox 360 controller or something)

if you don't want to do any assembly at all you'll probably have to buy from ibuypower, sager/clevo or something

 

[cougar78]

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...82E16883220044
this would be ok.and i belive $1K is 1000 in CDN

Sorry but this isn't a good choice with built-in Intel video card... I would understand if you also linked a video card to go with it but buying a pc like this and expecting the onboard video to do anything more low-end games is too much.

Like I said overall not bad but you need to expect to pay another 100 bucks to get a good video card to install into this machine.

Also you can check newegg wish lists to get some ideas on building a gaming rig if you plan on building it yourself.
Here is an example I found just lose the extra cases and 2nd cpu in the wish list. The rig depending on which of the cases this person chose (or you choose a completely different one), it came out to about 820 bucks.
http://secure.newegg.ca/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=21629587

 

[random2]

If you go pre-built definitely upgrade the PSU. The PSU's in these factory made PC's are marginal at best. With a system running a 400 or 500 series nVidia card or the AMD equivalent why risk a PSU that's not just inefficient but may not even pull the power it's rated for and may take critical components with it when it goes.

Again by the time you spring for a new PSU and video card you might want to consider building your own. You'll save yourself some money, learn something in the process, and have a PC with much better spec components than a factory build.

Cheers

 

[Atheus]

Either way you'll have to get a screwdriver out - at least - for the PSU and video card. Bit more involved if you build it yourself from scratch of couse. Yea... you can get fully built up gaming rigs from people like Alienware... but they're overpriced and a waste of money. They're like those &#163;1m supercars - people buy them but they could get the same speed from a modified Nissan or something. You either want to buy something decent and get a new PSU and graphics card for it, or go ahead and build yourself one - cheaper, better quality too, and not that difficult really.

You'll save maybe 1/3 of the price building the whole thing yourself....