I need a new PC to replace the old one I'm writing this with. It's mostly for work/school purposes or so I'm telling myself. I actually need this new PC to play XCOM 2, the long dark, gang beast and the 2-3 other interesting, semi-demanding PC exclusives that come out every year.

On the one hand I'm lucky these games are not demanding because PC exclusive devs have learned their lesson (*cough* crysis *cough*), on the other hand I don't actually know what to buy to not end up playing XCOM 2: slide show edition.

Any suggestions? I need everything except a screen, a keyboard and a mouse. Keep in mind I have no intention of buying multi platform games on PC.

Well you need a CPU, RAM memory, motherboard, storage device, graphicscard, Power supply and computer case. Probably you will have to buy a Windowslicense aswell. Whats your budget, with $1000 you can get a nice gamingrig with a GTX970 graphics card and an SSD disc which are the vital gamingcomponents. Do you wanna build it yourself?

edit: You will have to find some local store to get the correct prices but something along the line of this would run the games you wanna play.

CPU - Intel Core i5 4460 3.2 GHz 6MB

Motherboard - MSI Z97 PC Mate MSI Z97 PC Mate

SSD storage drive - OCZ Trion 100 240GB

RAM memory - Crucial 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 CL9 1600Mhz Ballistix Sport

Power supply - Corsair CX500 500W

Graphicscard - EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB ACX 2.0

Computer case - Fractal Design Define S

Recommendations will depend on your price range and what resolution you're playing at.

Looking at XCOM 2's recommended specs, you're probably looking at: a Core i5 with 3.0GHz or better, 8GB RAM, decent sized SSD (240GB - 500GB), and for graphics card options: GTX 960 or R9 380 (low end), R9 380X (mid), R9 390 or GTX 970 (higher end). This link shows the 960 and 380 will struggle on max settings at 1080p. Probably looking at around $700-$1000, including Windows license.

Figure out a budget and go nuts.

http://pcpartpicker.com/guide/

i'll suggest if you have a microcenter near you, hit that place up and jump on their open box deals. lots of times you can find GPUs that have been returned or exchanged from people wanting a promo code for a game or just want to upgrade to a higher tier of card. Also if you want to get your money's worth, don't get anything less powerful than a gtx 960/r9 380, 16gb of ram is nice to have and provides nice overhead for some games and an SSD is amazing and not that expensive if you get a 250GB or less.

@oldmanlight said:

and an SSD is amazing and not that expensive if you get a 250GB or less.

For a Windows gaming PC, don't get an SSD smaller than 240GB. Even if you have an HDD for game installs/storage. A 120GB drive will fill up surprisingly fast. The price difference is not that much, maybe 25 bucks (going from 120GB to 240GB). Unless you are on a super bare bones budget, it's absolutely worth having some extra room to work with.

If your on a budget i would suggest not getting an ssd, save wherever you can. For games an ssd decreases load times and thats it. A fast hdd is perfectly fine for gaming and will get more space for way less money.

@pyrodactyl: I'm closing this topic since it's been over five days and you haven't responded to anything such as questions about your budget or if you are going to build it yourself or have it built. When you create a topic asking for help, at least be around to participate when people actually take the time to try and help you.