Ask Dr LJ - what's a good gaming PC these days?

[drwex]

I don't need the latest and greatest, but I am thinking about buying myself a new gaming machine (thus, PC) so I can pass my current one down to the kids.

I loathe do-it-yourselfing things; I just want to spec out a box then have someone build it and make it work. The less I have to frob with the hardware and software myself the happier I am.

ETA: I like playing reasonably graphics-rich games. I play Warcrack now, and am looking longingly at Skyrim. I don't tend to play FPS, so complex input devices and twitch-level control aren't necessary.

My budget for this is probably around $1k. Less is always better. I seem to buy a new machine every 3-4 years so if this one was reasonably capable of lasting that long before becoming hopelessly outdated that'd be good.

Comments

[chienne-folle.livejournal.com]

In the back of PC Gamer magazine every month, they have a list of recommended components for three kinds of gaming machines:

1. A basic, budget gaming rig ($678)
2. A middle-of-the-road gaming rig ($1482)
3. A top of the line gaming rig. ($4200)

You might want to get a copy of the magazine and check out the list, which they call "Hard Stuff Trinity." Or, if you have no interest in the magazine, let me know which of the three you want specs for, and I'll transcribe them. (I subscribe to it, in print form, even.)

I'm probably a middle guy

[drwex]

No way I'm spending 4K on a game machine unless I win the lottery, and maybe not even then.

Re: I'm probably a middle guy

[chienne-folle.livejournal.com]

No, I was pretty sure you weren't a $4200 guy. Me, neither. :-) What I didn't know was if you'd prefer the specs for the $678 or $1482 rig.

Okay, so here's what they recommend for what they call a mid-range system:

Case and PSU: Corsair 800D; Corsair TX 750W PSU $395

Processor: Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4 GHz $315

Motherboard: Asus P8P67 Deluxe LGA 1155 $230

Memory: 8GB Patriot Gamer 2 Series DDR3-1600 $100

Optical Drive: Samsung Black SH-S223L LightScribe $20

Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 1.5TB $70

Soundcard: Creative X-Fi Sound Blaster Titanium $87

Videocard: Gigabyte Super Overclock Series GeForce GTX 560 Ti $265


Prices are the best found at press time, usually from NewEgg.

P. S.

[chienne-folle.livejournal.com]

The academic in me compels me to add this:

This list is from the Holiday, 2011 issue of PC Gamer magazine (the one with Diablo III on the cover), Issue 221, page 94. The editor of the magazine is Logan Decker; the "Hard Stuff Trinity" list has no specific author listed.