Help me get back into PC gaming!

[mr.hanky]

Hi. It has been a long time since I have been on these forums or have otherwise played project reality. College and the death of my gaming computer has put me on a 2 year leave from PC games. I have since taken up console gaming and I is not the same. BF3 is ok on the PS3, and the visuals simply cannot keep up.

I have run into money and I want to get a PC. The problem is that idk where to start. I don't know how to build a PC so I will try to get a good deal in a store. Because I haven't been around PC gaming, idk what hardware is new nowadays.

What are the latest GPU and CPU loadouts. What are people running nowadays?
How many gigs of ram do people get nowadays?
What motherboards should I look out for?
Is there anything I should avoid?

I'm looking to pay big money for this PC, so don't hold back guys!

[Microwaife]

As a cpu i would get an i5 or i7. The i5 3570k is a really good choice. You could also get an AMD, but i dont know anything about them.
If you want to overclock, get an asrock extreme4 if not then just google for a mainboard with 1155 (when 3570k)
Graphic card really depends on your budget...
High end gtx 680 /7970/ gtx 670
Middle class 7870/gtx 560ti/7950
Low end have not really a clue about those one.
If you want to play BF3 i would get 2x4gb vengeance low profile ram.

Please tell us/me what amount you excactly want to spend.
An building a pc is pretty easy, did it for the first time a werk ago. Just get a friend who knows something about pc's and start building, beforehand just watch youtube videos on it.
And online shop normally builds your pc also for 50$.

[LITOralis.nMd]

You need to give an exact price range,
also helpful if you list the specific games you want to play, both now and any upcoming releases.

Do you need a new monitor/keyboard/mouse/mic/headset/speakers/DVD drive/mediacenter remote control/etc?

Plenty of people here will chime in with advise if you give that info.

[mr.hanky]

Sorry I just realized my post lacked detail.

I'm looking to spend 1500-2000 dollars (I can increase to 2500 but I think that is a bit much for a computer), but I want the entire computer (mouse, keyboard, computer screen, etc). I really do not want to spend another 60 bucks on BF3 for the PC lol I want to be able to run very high end games very well. I want to be able to run ArmA 2/3, Crysis, and etc. I want a computer where I can play any game I want and not worry about frame rates. Microwaife that idea about building the PC for 50 bucks sounds appealing, because all my real life friends either quit games or play PS3. Ty guys I really miss PC gaming :/

[Microwaife]

Okay all prices are from newegg, huge american hardware reseller!

Graphicscard: http://m.newegg.com/Product?itemNumber=N82E16814121634

CPU:
http://m.newegg.com/Product?itemNumber=N82E16819116501

CPU cooler:
http://m.newegg.com/Product?itemNumber=N82E16835103055

Case:
http://m.newegg.com/Product?itemNumber=N82E16811119245

Powersupply:
http://m.newegg.com/Product?itemNumber=N82E16817139011

SSD:
http://m.newegg.com/Product?itemNumber=N82E16820227791

HDD:
http://m.newegg.com/Product?itemNumber=N82E16822148910

Blueray drive:
http://m.newegg.com/Product?itemNumber=N82E16827135252

RAM:
http://m.newegg.com/Product?itemNumber=N82E16820233186

Price:
1773.90$ without building it together..
But i think you can tell them to build it at newegg.

Have a pretty similar setup and you can play bf3 on max on 60-100fps. Crysis 3 and Far Cry 3 and so on wont be a problem either.
If you want to save money change this:
Graphicscard: Asus gtx 670 dc2t
Processor: intel i5 3570k

You can also get a cheaper or better case, would go with a big tower though.

Hope this helps!

Micro

[LITOralis.nMd]

My general reply to those in the US asking for websites:
Quote:
My suggestion is based upon finding the best prices, not on specific hardware...

start checking online deals websites daily:
my personal preferred bargain hunting websites:
slickdeals.net
fatwallet.com
bensbargains.net
dell.com outlet deals in conjunction with coupons I find on the web.
amazon.com Gold box deals
email subscription to newegg.com for their daily deals
email subscription to us.ncix.com for their weekly deals

others I check from time to time:
techbargains.com
subscribe to tigerdirect.com email daily deals.
subscribe to buy.com email daily deals.

Sign up for accounts on slickdeals.net and fatwallet.com
You can create keyword searches that are instantly emailed to your email address you sign up with,
set up email deals alerts for "Radeon" "gtx" "psu" "i5-2500k" "ssd"
set up a filter in your email to put all those alert emails to a single folder.
you'll get some desktops and notebooks mixed in the emails, but it's a pretty good otherwise.

depending on where you live,
microcenter.com
frys.com
hhgregg.com
ncix.com
All run deals for brick and mortar retail stores. Micrcocenter is the best in the country for pricing.

I'd suggest going to the Build Log forums of various websites, I generally use this one:
Intel Build Logs

and sorting through what looks good to you,

Currently I'd suggest this build:
Workshop: build water cooling into a mini-ITX gaming PC | Hardware.Info United Kingdom
either with or without the liquid cooling.

Also, look into the 120Mhz refresh rate 1440p monitors. That will be the next big thing in PC gaming.

Easiest way to start now is to decide how many monitors you want to have, and what size.
That is the easiest component to quote, and then subtract that from total build budget and fit the rest into the budget from there.

[Microwaife]

Just realized that i forgot about monitor, keyboard and mouse...

Edit:
Screen 24 inch lg W2486L
Keyboard and mouse really depends on your preference...