Giantbomb, I need your help.

I've never owned a gaming PC. In fact, i've been exclusively mac since 2011. I'm still on that 2011 macbook pro, and it's treated me well despite being the worst mac model of anything they've ever done, but I digress ...

I've started a new job that required photo and video editing, and this laptop is starting to chug. I've contemplated buying a gaming PC for a few years now, so I figured I might as well kill two birds with one stone.

The other issue, and maybe someone can help me out with this, is that I need to be able to capture gaming, live tv, etc. from whatever computer I buy, and I'm assuming that I need a TV tuner to do this? Is there no other option?

Truth be told, I'd prefer to stay in the mac eco system, and put my money towards a more powerful mac, but the pull to finally buy a gaming PC, the fact that I haven't been able to find a compatible, reasonably priced Mac TV tuner, and, of course, high-end PC's being substantial cheaper ... I'm torn, to say the least.

If I'm buying a PC, it needs to be pre-built. I don't have the knowledge, time, or patience to put it together, and the stress of this new 9-5 is enough for me. I can't worry about / learn how to build a PC right now. Reintroducing myself to windows will be hard enough.

That is my situation, more or less. If you have any questions, feel free to ask - any suggestions on a mac solution to my problems would be wonderful.

Help me Giantbomb, you are my only hope.

I'm on a phone so I can't type enough to help you tons, but a Mac probably isn't going to be the best idea for games. Yes, Mac support is better than it used to be. Yes, you can find plenty to play on it. But you're still going to come across a lot of games you won't be able to play.

Also, I went looking at laptops a few days ago an, as someone who can read and understand computer specs, got sticker shock. You can buy a $500 Windows laptop and get the same specs as a Mac that costs more than twice that. If you've got the cash to afford to stay in that kind of ecosystem, a good pre-built gaming PC can't be out of your price range.

@justin258: I'd rather buy nothing :)

My price is what it is, I spend a lot of time on the computer, now my work requires it's use, so, I'm willing to spend the money.

I just wouldn't know where to start, what is a good deal, decent deal, specs to look for, etc.

Newegg?

What's your budget for the PC itself, not including any peripherals?

@mike: A big reason why I'd choose a PC is to save money, so while a mac will coast me around 2,000 when it's all said and done, I'd like to spend around 1,000 on the PC, if that is even realistic to accomplish some of the heavy editing and gaming I am trying to accomplish.

I have a below average but usable monitor already. I'm not sure how important that is.

@tubaker: It's certainly possible! I can't help with pointing you towards a company or retailer to buy a prebuilt PC from since I always build my own, but with that budget and not buying a monitor or anything you should be fine. I'm sure someone here will be able to recommend a direction to go in.

@tubaker: How comfortable do you feel putting a graphics card in a PC? It's pretty simple. I just think a lot of pre built gaming PCs are overpriced or come across as cheap.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883227627&ignorebbr=1&cm_re=PPSSBRXHCBEIXL-_-83-227-627-_-Product

Now i haven't bought a pre-built pc in over 5 years and i have NO idea how good that manufacturer is, but i would say those specs (or somewhere in the ballpark) would probably be good balance for your work and gaming.

I believe AMD processors are not anywhere close to Intel in terms of gaming(but they are way cheaper) but they are very good for things like rendering and multitasking. 16gb of ram won't do much for gaming, but won't hurt and will help running multiple programs quickly. An R9 380 would be able to handle most games fairly well at medium-high/ultra at 1080p.

Now if i were to build a pc like that, i would go for a 8350 over an 8320. You could probably go a bit more on the graphics card too, if your just looking for going under 2g's then something like this might work for you, again i don't know the manufacturer and the reviews seem poor but the specs look alright so maybe find a different maker.

Now if gaming is your main focus, then definitely go intel the top processors like the i5 6600k and the 17 6700k absolutely destroy the fx 8350 in terms of gaming (and can overclock super easy) BUT the fx 8350 actually seems to beat them out in terms of things like rendering which would be better for your work. And don't take my word on it as i could be wrong, but look those up in your search and maybe you'll find a manufacturer with a good reputation and specs you need. Now gaming will mostly depend on your graphics card, but the cpu can be a 10-20fps difference in some games but in others it may not even matter at all.

hope that helps some

@oursin_360: That is a major help, thank you. That iBuyPower one doesn't seem bad. Lots of reviews, so at least people are buying them?

Where would something like this stack up? http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00D1KWS3I?keywords=gaming%20computer&qid=1455890850&ref_=sr_1_16&sr=8-16

or this crazy looking asus? http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00OFQR38C?keywords=gaming%20pc&qid=1455891182&ref_=sr_1_17&sr=8-17

I have an amazon rewards card and prime, so that could save me a bit of money on the back end + shipping.

@tubaker: The GPUs in both of those machines are garbage. Avoid them.

I think you should be looking at a GTX 970 at an absolute minimum. Also, you may want to look at the benchmarks of AMD FX CPUs compared to Intel before buying anything. The other thing to keep in mind is that these cool small form factor PCs are either not upgradeable or are going to be very limited in terms of what you can change out or add in the future. Avoid those too unless you have your heart set on something small and cool looking.

@mike: And THIS is why I need help :) Thanks

I have some time this morning to look at stuff before work, so that is what I'm doing

This is one Neweggs 'best reviewed' right at the edge of where I'd LIKE to spend -

it's getting me up to a 950, not sure I can get higher for the price - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883230098

@tubaker: Again, GPU there is a GTX 950. That's an entry level card.

If you want a prebuilt, this deal is going around today.

HP custom desktop (i7-6700, 980Ti, 16GB Ram, 2TB HDD, 500W) for $1127 with coupon

@hmoney001: The people in that thread seem to be freaking out about it. Hmm.

What do you guys thing, worth jumping on?

@tubaker: Well that CPU and GFX card alone together on newegg is like $900+.

@tubaker YES. @hmoney001 found the unit you should buy for sure. That's miles better than the iBuyPower if you ask me - I've got a custom build with an AMD FX-8320 and while it does fine in most instances, it's not nearly as good at multitasking, rendering, and when I feel like streaming as the i7 will be - I find it hitting 90-100% utilization if doing anything in Premiere too long, or streaming. I just upgraded to an i7-4970k myself and will be installing it here after the wife and I move into our new house. The HP is something to jump on - as the first comment in the GAF forum says the only downside is the case, and if that's your "worst" component you've got a boss rig. I'd always recommend an SSD as well for some serious performance, but the $200 upgrade isn't worth it there, as there are constantly 500GB SSD's on sale for around or under $150. That build will last you a few years and the 980Ti + i7 should do nearly anything you want and run any game out there.

If you're wondering about parts and what is a good tier in your price range, I highly recommend checking out Logical Increments , they keep their charts up to date.

They even have these for certain games. Want to run Fallout 4 on ultra? Here's a recommended parts list.

I know you said you're not interested in building one, but at least knowing which parts you should be looking for when you buy a pre-built one is valuable knowledge. Also it's really easy to build PCs safely nowadays

@tubaker: For sure. Killer deal go for it immediately.

@hmoney001: Holy shit that deal is ridiculous. Over here a 980Ti alone is $1200.

@tubaker: Get on that as fast as you can if it's within your price range, because it's unlikely you'll do better anywhere else. Chuck a Samsung SSD in there and you've got the pretty much the most powerful consumer-grade PC currently available (Not including multi-GPUs or Titan X's because those are for crazy people)

@joe_mccallister: AWESOME.

Thank you, everyone. I bought that HP deal. Got another 8% off through ebates, so I'm feeling pretty good about it.

I'm weird and I play my $350 alienware alpha way more than my much more powerful tower due to it being under the TV and super quiet.

If you need to buy pre-build you want too look at companies like Maingear, Origin, Falcon Northwest, or Velocity Micro. They are 'some' other decent companies, but most of them I listed are very well known and do a good job. (Yeah, I don't include Alienware on there...their computers are ugly. Even aside from Alienware being Dell their computer are ass-looking.)

The trade off with pre-built is obviously the price of the system is "Cost of the parts" + "Few Hundred Bucks" for their work. In most cases, all the manufactures supply the same level of computer for around the same price. Most oif the choice comes down to what is being offered specifically and if you like their industrial design. (One note is all of the manufactures do have models 'shaped' like hexagons, or stars, or a giraffe's vagina....just avoid those models with the crazy shaped cases. Somewhere along the line, idiots with giraffes vagina fetishes, started wanting computers; thus all the companies offering computers that look like weird shapes - avoid them.)

This killed me - I couldn't track down the reddit post that was something along the lines of "my first build" which was insane with LED's, windows, and crazy shapes, then "my second build" which was a simple black case. I remember having a window and thinking it was the coolest shit ever about 10 years ago. My most recent build is just a black monolith that runs quietly and goes with the rest of the office well. The brightest part of my case is the blue USB 3.0 ports(I didn't dare sully my beauty with LED's like the Corsair pic).

Solid advice though, what upsets me is sites like Best Buy going away from actual gaming or performance desktops and instead putting shit like this out there so that kids can tell their moms that's what they want because: i.m.gmr.

@tubaker: Congrats my friend - hope you enjoy. This will be the worst part, the waiting :) Have fun and I just noticed the TV Tuner part of your comment - if you didn't add that to the config thing, you might check out the Elgato Game Capture HD60 Pro

I've had good luck with my Game Cap HD60 Pro and am looking this up for my own rig as soon as I throw that i7 and new board in my build.

@joe_mccallister: I found an older Hauppauge unit that I forgot I purchased on sale a couple of years ago. HD PVR model 1212. I couldn't get it to work on my mac, but hopefully this gear is good enough to use once I get the new pc.

I'm getting so excited over here. Instead of opening up another thread, is there any good resources for PC Gamer information as someone who doesn't know a lot about the platform? Like, 'getting started' type stuff, or even some good programs to run on windows, etc. I've been off windows for 5 years. I know it's changed.

PC means personal computer ergo Macs are PCs.

Have I blown your mind? I know, that commercial where they act like they are two different things confused you and millions of other people who "don't know computers that well" (that's what those people would say, I'm not trying to imply it's a lie or something). Don't worry, we got John Hodgman out of it so the trade of him for what PC means was a worthy effort in my opinion.

I'll still carry the torch, though.

(Fun Fact: Back in the day the debate was between IBMs and Apple if I recall- because both made/make PCs)

@tubaker: cool the i7 should be good for rendering because of hyperthreading and definitely good for gaming.

@tubaker: For gaming Steam, Origin, and Battlenet will be the places to start.

For setting up the computer, http://lifehacker.com/5717628/set-up-and-get-to-know-your-new-windows-pc

@hmoney001: That's an amazing list. Exactly what I was looking for. Thank you!