Building a PC

Bail · Mon 18 Mar, 2013 23.06

Hello Metropol, PC's... Windows... Whats going on with them? Long time ago I made the switch to Mac, and whilst I'm not switching back I find I want a PC to play games on, because well... there aren't any on Mac and it sucks.

There was a time when I knew the best processor, graphics card and OS but now, well not so much. Any tips on what go get would be helpful. Is Windows 8 a thing that I want? What graphics are "good" now-a-days and what is Intel on now? the octcore super psu, is AMD still a thing?

Input input!

WillPS · Mon 18 Mar, 2013 23.11

AMD are great for bang-for-buck performance, Intel are still topping the charts in performance with the i7s.

It's all irrelevant though, to be honest. Your processor isn't going to bottleneck you; I'd stick to a decent AMD quad core, somewhere in the £50-100 region.

Spend some decent money on a graphics card - this site is a helpful guide to how your money is best spent with these: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gam ... ,3107.html

Also, SSDs make things load fast - might be a thing you want.

Bail · Mon 18 Mar, 2013 23.28

Yeah I'd thought as much. I've got no preference between AMD/Intel other than the i7 in my mac. I got thinking about PC's after Sim City a) Isn't on Mac and b) Runs like poo on the windows box I have here...

I also found out that this is a thing too:

Edit: That's an epic article on GFX cards, thanks for that! Big help

martindtanderson · Tue 19 Mar, 2013 00.11

You can run Windows on a Mac, just saying if you want the best of both.

Bail · Tue 19 Mar, 2013 00.55

martindtanderson wrote:You can run Windows on a Mac, just saying if you want the best of both.

I know, but the limitations of bootcamp/parallels are annoying. I've dabbled with it and never found it an eloquent solution.

Sput · Tue 19 Mar, 2013 07.23

Bail wrote:
martindtanderson wrote:You can run Windows on a Mac, just saying if you want the best of both.
I know, but the limitations of bootcamp/parallels are annoying. I've dabbled with it and never found it an eloquent solution.

Well, text to speech has never been that good...

martindtanderson · Tue 19 Mar, 2013 13.09

Bail wrote:
martindtanderson wrote:You can run Windows on a Mac, just saying if you want the best of both.
I know, but the limitations of bootcamp/parallels are annoying. I've dabbled with it and never found it an eloquent solution.

I've built my last 4 PCs, and you will no longer save as much money as you once did. But it will always be cheaper than a Mac with equivalent hardware spec, because of the Apple Tax.

If you want a gaming machine, you are looking at spending a good few hundred on it. If your heart isn't in the PC or Windows, then I would still recommend running Windows on a modern Mac to play your games.