Hi community,

You guys are the best. This is going to be (obscenely) long-winded, but I need help buying a pc.

Firstly, though, I have a whole bunch of gift codes from Insomnia. I don't anticipate trading games actively. (I just completed my first trade for my final Sam & Max that I missed when I called it quits during pid last night.) I mostly bought them for gifting.

I will select TWO people, at random, that give actual answers or thoughts regarding my questions in this thread and gift them their choice of one game from the following Insomnia entries:

Betrayal at Krondor Pack
Blitzkrieg Anthology
Gobliiins Pack
Gomo
Hammerwatch
Last Express, The
Long Live the Queen
Pid
Pirates! Gold Plus
Ring Runner: Flight of the Sages
Rise of the Triad (2013)
Riven: The Sequel to Myst
Seven Kingdoms: Ancient Adversaries
Shelter
Theme Park
Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness
Trine 2: Complete Story

If you already have or don't want any of those, but want to help out anyway, let me know in your post and I will not enter you into the drawing. Deadline for drawing: I will cut off entries for the giveaway at 11:59pm local this coming Wednesday, May 21. I live in Seattle, USA, currently on Pacific Daylight Saving Time. Any answers or thoughts re: pcs after that are welcome as well. :)

Once I determine the winners, at random, I will PM. Once you reply with your choice of game via PM (and once I notice it), I will send you the codes. No restrictions on who can win, but a comment such as "agree with above post" probably isn't going to garner an entry. Helpful ideas and discussion! If both winners want the same game, the first one to respond via PM will get it and the other will have her/his choice from the remaining list. You can decide once you have won - no need to choose in your response.

I realize, with this community, I'm going to get all the helpful answers I need even without a giveaway, but I wanted to spice up my first forum topic just a little bit. Plus, if you make it through this wall of text, you DESERVE a chance at a free game. :)

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I've been a Mac guy since I worked for my friend's small indie Mac repair shop in Austin, TX in 2009-2010. I used a white MacBook for years, but I currently have a MacBook Pro. OS 10.7, 2.4 GHz i5, 4GB RAM, Intel HD3000 graphics w/ 384MB vRAM. For the last year, I've been set on buying a 27" iMac for my apartment. With my newfound addiction to gog and (re)addiction to gaming, however, I have decided within the last few months to go PC. My favorite genres are strategy and rpg, so I'm leaving a bunch of holes in my collection only being able to buy from the gog Mac catalog. Despite how cool it was that the D&Ds showed up for Mac recently.

I need a new computer. The MBP is a really nice machine and can handle a lot of the mac games here, but there is a release on the horizon that goes way above and beyond instabuy for me: Cyberpunk 2077. I'm sure it will be available for mac and would run fine on an imac, but I do want access to those pc only games.

Thus my dilemma.

I want something that will last a few years and give me the power for a AAA option if I ever desire to play a new game. I'm currently gog only and will likely remain that way, but I could see myself some day buying a new entry to Elder Scrolls or something like that.

Though I can swap out a HDD on a 15" pre-unibody MacBook Pro way faster than you can, I'm really a pc hardware noob, in relation to modern (and good old) gaming. So I want to buy something complete from a major manufacturer. Ready to go out of the box. Dell is my likely choice - have them at work, spent a lot of the 90s in Austin, have owned several. I DO NOT want to build something or learn linux or anything like that. Baby steps.

All the background probably wasn't necessary, but there is likely a bit of insight for you in there. :)

Dell makes the gaming "alienware" line, but I also don't want to own a computer that looks like it is marketed only to 14 year old boys. (Nothing against 14 year old boys - I once was one.) They seem a bit overpriced, anyway.

What specs matter?
-processor
-RAM
-graphics card

I guess those are the main ones, aside from things like monitors or hard drives which I won't burden you with.

The build I'm looking at online has:
-processor: 4th Generation Intel Core i7-4790 processor (8M Cache, up to 4.0 GHz)
-RAM: 12 GB Dual Channel DDR3 1600MHz - 4 DIMMs
-graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 745 4GB DDR3 (upgrade from GeForce GT 720 1GB)

EDIT: I quickly realized that "GTX 745" is one of the most offensive things ever uttered on this forum. :) I will be focusing my attention on the 760 & 770.

How's that?

Processor - Is that good enough? It's what's offered throughout the line of products I'm perusing. Is most gaming more about memory? I'm sure there are chips with better performance, but is this going to hold me back?

RAM - Is 12GB going to hold for a while? RAM should be easy to upgrade over time, but is that going to work off the shelf?

Graphics - 4GB vRAM seems pretty solid to me, based on requirements I have looked at on various game cards here. I couldn't make a movie for Pixar or anything, but is there anything out there or on the horizon that is going to require more? Are there any issues with this specific card? I'm sure it's a cinch to replace them as well, but if I'm throwing money around for a new machine I don't want to have to replace stuff for a while.

Further important question - This thing ships with Windows 8. Doesn't offer a downgrade, but hopefully I could work that out. I haven't paid much attention to Windows talk around here, but it seems that I've heard rumblings about some games being incompatible with Windows 8. Should I seek out 7? Approach this question related ONLY to the gog catalog. I'll still use my MBP and this machine will be for gaming.

Game controllers - I'll probably think about getting one some day. Do you have a preference? Is there a clear cut best out there? I don't know anything about these as attached to pcs...

What am I forgetting to discuss?

Many thanks, guys. It was a real pleasure to meet you all this week - though I've lurked and occasionally posted since the middle of February.

Good luck in the giveaway!

Edit 1: above, re: graphics cards

Edit 2: Monday AM. I need to make a couple of small changes to the giveaway - which shouldn't affect much at all.

-I don't have internet yet at my new apartment and may not by the time I planned to end the sale. I will push back my deadline by 12 hours to THURSDAY MARCH 22 at NOON Pacific.

-As it is my first giveaway, with two different winners, I think I set things up a bit weird to have the first person to PM me after I notify winners to get the game of their choice. So - I am going to draw a Winner #1 and a Winner #2. #1 will have their choice of the lot. Once I know what that is (after receiving a PM or if it is listed in their post), Winner #2 will have their choice of the remaining lot.

-Don't be totally shocked and disappointed if a Winner #3 somehow gets their name pulled at the end...

Have you won the lottery? If not, then Macs are overpriced. Now down to business:
If you don't want to overclock, then the processor you've selected is pretty good.
Memory: 2x4GB sticks should be enough (I don't see the point of 12GB yet, but that might change). Also 16GB would be nicer (because as far I know there are no 3GB sticks), thus taking advantage of Dual Channel, just as with 2x4GB.
For video cards video ram is just a marketing gimmick than anything else. What matters is: number of shaders, memory bus width and clock speed. Now instead the GTX 745 I would get some better bang for the buck. Like a GTX 760.
Remember for gaming a good GPU is much more important than the CPU.
Forgotten about the OS: I hate windows 8. But you could always dual-boot to linux and most games on GOG work pretty well with WINE.
As for a game controller, I never had one, but probably that's the reason why I suck at platformers :)
Thank you and in for Blitzkrieg Anthology if I may.

That looks a like a perfectly fine setup, but... don't forget an important part... the cooling system. Make absolutely certain to buy a high quality fan / heatsink / arctic silver etc. Otherwise this expensive build could turn out to be an overheating reactor that is as loud as a jet engine! lol

Bump the RAM to 16GB.

If you intend to buy Cyberpunk you will need a better graphic card and the extra memory. GeForce 750 will allow you to be on the minimum/ medium settings, but the safest bet is a 770. AMD offers better performance in the graphics area and cheaper, but their drivers....especially with the old games, are not exactly stellar. AMD is great for the modern games, not so great with the old ones.

Make sure you grab a good Power Supply ( 850W would be recommended, preferably modular )

Windows 8/8.1/8.1+Update1 are not exactly great for older games. Win7 is still solid on that area.

Controllers - you can go with the popular choice: XBox 360 controller for PC.

A motherboard on Z87 Intel chipset does wonders. A proper case ( Thermaltake, Antec, Cooler Master are some of the better offers on the market - see which one of their cases suits your taste ).

Display - 24" or 27", but if you still have an analog display ( 14", 15") , keep it for the older games.

Big hard - drive ( somewhere between 1 to 3TB). I'm pretty sure i'm still missing something, but i'm too tired to think properly now.

Bought one recently, with the help of other goglodites, may it'll help :



http://www.gog.com/forum/general/buying_a_new_pc_giveaway



For the record, the setup that I bought runs everything perfectly .

You're buying a laptop or a desktop? And what's your budget? Probably high if you buy macs regularly.

Thanks everyone so far! This is all terribly terribly helpful. These are good questions -

Desktop

I don't know, probably $1500ish, with some wiggle room. Less than $2k for sure. This budget includes a 27" monitor.

Edit: I've only bought one Mac, this MBP. The white MacBook was a spill job at the shop that we revived 2 years after it died. :)

Seeing as I too recently bought a new computer that had Windows 8 shipped out on it, I can give some advice in that area. I really, really recommend sticking with Win7. Far less problems with games. And those specs seem fine to me, (Though others might have some better recommendations). I can play almost any game, new or otherwise, at max specs, and my computer is not as good as that.

Edit: In for Betrayal at Krondor Pack

Choose a good monitor, some have bad latency and ghosting.. that totally kills games or movies with action, for me!

I agree that the GTX745 is terrible, but I'm not sure if the GTX770 would be enough for next gen..

EDIT: ah well, I'm in for Seven Kingdoms, I think

Not in.

For gaming purposes, you don't need the i7. The i5 is perfectly acceptable and will save you a few bucks which you should then funnel back into your graphics card. The reason that the i5 is fine is that for top of the line games, your GPU is your bottleneck almost always, so a current-gen i5 will last you years without being a *significant* bottleneck. If you're actually going to run something that needs the i7 (busy file server, network simulator, AutoCAD or Adobe) then you may want to scale back on the GPU for price purposes. Make sure your motherboard supports upgrading the CPU (don't get some bargain-bin $50 thing).

You're really going to want to go with like a GeForce GTX 770 if you can. It will still be your bottleneck for a year or so, until you scrape together enough money to buy another one and run them in SLI, when your CPU will become your bottleneck. A 4gig 770 will outperform two 750s in SLI.

12 gigs of RAM is fine. Windows 8 likes to use 2-3 gigs so that leaves you with plenty of RAM. Anything over 16 won't be useful to you, and with good GPU you'd actually do ok with 8, but why bother when RAM is so cheap?

Get Windows 8. You're buying a desktop so you're probably going to have this rig for a while. May as well buy the operating system that will be supported longer. Plus, to be honest, Windows 8.1 has a better backend than 7 so you'll make better use of your system resources - especially should you decide at some point to scale up your RAM to 32 gigs or more, or upgrade the processor to something ridiculous like a hex core (or two if your mobo supports it)

For buying on a budget, you really can't beat piecing a computer together yourself. Unfortunately, if you're going to want watercooling or something, and you've never built a PC by yourself, you're taking a risk. The best way to offload that risk for cheap is to go to a Fry's or something and pick up a floor model that has *most* of what you want. Don't sweat the details. The advantage to a cheap floor model is that you basically get the OS for free. Then go to NewEgg or Amazon or Walmart of whatever you like and buy the pieces you need to make the computer into what you want. If you're feeling like having someone else build and test the system, check out cyberpowerpc. They make good systems for a great price - but not great systems for any price, as far as I can tell. Since your budget is on the low end for a gaming rig, they might be worth a look.

Don't buy a Dell or an HP. Their motherboard problems aren't just a one-off. It's just not worth it.

EDIT: D'oh. Power supplies. If you're planning on ever running two good graphics cards at once, you're looking at a substantial power draw. I'm sure you can do the arithmetic yourself to figure out what wattage you'll need, but also make sure to get a power supply that's rated 80PLUS gold or platinum. With large power draws and a less-efficient power supply your waste heat becomes monstrous. I've got a CoolerMaster HAF XB (ugly behemoth of a case) with watercooling and even with all the texture upgrades and mods I can throw at it, I don't break 65C playing Dishonored, Skyrim, Witcher 2, or anything else, on max. With the cheap, crappy 850W I had before the 80PLUS platinum I was breaking 80C all the time. I don't overclock, so if you do, your numbers will be even higher - an overclocked setup touching 90C starts to get unstable, and you don't really want your machine crashing all the time.

Well, aside from what Windows will do for you for free, ofc. ^_^

At that range you could get something like:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA3PC1GA8660 ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5YXWqhL9ik )

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125505

That, and work around a budget 4k gaming setup. Though it might be cutting it close. :P

The AMD R9 series has recently gotten price drops (it was inflated due to miners), so you'll likely end up with one. That's if you're looking at the top experience for the buck. RAM is more expensive these days and squeezing in an SSD + buying the OS could probably push you to the $1,700 range. Should be free shipping at least.

But if you're happy with your current monitor and it has a smaller resolution, then...you should tell us what that resolution is and if you're happy with single/dual monitors. :>

CPU : it's quite difficult to promise that a given CPU will be future proof. However, the rythm of evolution of CPUs has slowed down in the last 5 years or so. I still run a 1st gen i7 (870) and, while I doubled its ram, added an SSD and a large storage HDDn and changed its GPU, it sill runs everything I want.

The 4790 is very similar to the 4770. Unless you want to overclock ( then a k series cpu is what you want ), it's a good choice, it has a much better performance / price ratio than anything that could outgun it ( the extreme series , overpriced ) . Checking the type / brand / features of the motherboard wouldn't be a bad idea. imho , the top of the range i5's are a good choice too. If your budget is tight, a better GPU with an i5 4670 or the forthcoming 4690 is probably the sweettest spot.

For the RAM, you may want to check if the MB wouldn't accomodate faster ram. 16gb ram coyuld be a good idea too
Anyway, RAM is easy to upgrade at a later stage

Be very carefull to have both a good case, with well thought airflows ( an i7 4790 has a 84W tdp and while not one AMD's thermal nightmares, that's not that low +, good GPUs tend to generate heat ) and a PSU from a reliable brand. certified, modular PSUs are not a luxury. No-one wants a second rate PSU to fry the MB ...

For the CPU, most gamers go for Nvidia. I don't, but anyway, the issue is imho the same : The top range is overpriced, but if you want a good performance, you have to aim at the range just below. A GTX 760, or even better a GTX 770 will be solid components. If too expensive for your budget, check ATI ( fi a HD 7970 ) . Be warned, it's the component that you're likely to change when your rig gets its midlife update;-)

4 gb of VRAM is already a lot. For gaming , 2Gb is fine. 4gb starts to be usefull if you plan using resolutions like 2560×1600 or above, or multiple wide screens

No opinion on Win 8, as I use Win 7 and Linux...

As for the game, Long Live the Queen is the one I'd be curious about.

Very generous of you! I can't give any advice that would help you, but hopefully one of the other wonderful Goglodytes can! +1

I'm going to pass on the giveaway but I do want to add:

http://www.pcpowercooling.com/

these guys have always done me solid. My PSU is probably going to outlive me! when they name something Silencer, they aint joking! if I had no power light on my case, I wouldn't even know if the thing was on!

Not timely, unless you must have that new computer now.

The 4790 is the first of a whole lot of updated Haswell CPUs Intel is releasing. and it will not be the best of the Haswell updates.

Better to wait for the "Devils Canyon" CPUs ("mid-year 2014"), which will be the K-series Haswell updates with better thermal design and overclocking support, or "Haswell-E" ("second-half 2014") with DDR4 support.

Buying now is locking yourself in a "can't upgrade" position. And others have said that that graphics setup is junk. It is.