Hello all, I'm considering fully switching from console gaming to PC gaming. I have an outdated PC a friend helped me build from exactly 10 years ago, and it has never been upgraded. I currently have a Nintendo Switch and Xbox (360, One, and most recently Series X). I did this mainly because I liked physical games, such that I have kept boxes, manuals, and discs for my games. However, I have been getting more and more frustrated with console gaming as the years progress and am thinking of switching to fully PC, including emulation up to Switch of older game systems. I know nothing about building a PC, the one I had in college was for games technically but was not top of the line even then, and I mostly used it for torrenting, CAD modeling, and old emulation (up to Nintendo 64 at the time). I'm thinking of transitioning that fully to a NAS if possible as I build out my media library, and build a new one from scratch for gaming. Any advice on what a price range would be and components to look for would be appreciated! I see secondhand builds on Facebook marketplace or similar but don't have a good feel for if they are even good deals or not. For what it's worth, I will probably need new everything (hardware, case, and peripherals like mouse, keyboard, and monitors). So, if anyone could help guide to me what a good price I should be expecting would be and some benchmark specifications that I could keep an eye out, that would be lovely.
Edit: for what it's worth, I generally play games a few years after release when they go on sale, unless they came up on Xbox game pass or I received it as a gift to play. Additionally, I had an Oculus Rift hooked up to my PC but it struggled with many things on it, so I plan to upgrade that at some point with maybe the Valve Index system. That doesn't need to be an immediate buy as I'd rather my money go into the computer hardware itself first.
You can build an entry level PC (all new parts) for about 600 USD. That will play most games at decent frame rates at 1080p. From there there's almost no upper limit. So it's best to first set your budget and then see what you can get for that. I'd recommend budgeting at least 1000-1500 USD, if that's possible. That should buy you something pretty decent.
I think that budget sounds reasonable. What does that extra amount get me if the entry level is already playing most games?
Higher frame rates and higher resolutions and better settings. The better your machine, the higher settings you can use, which looks nicer. For $1000-1500 you should be able to go up to 1440p. It depends on what kinds of games you play. If you play competitive shooters, a higher frame rate will be a real advantage. For pretty much everything else it's all about the eye candy.
Edit: here's a video with a few build examples. This channel is pretty good for choosing components to get the best performance for your money.
https://youtu.be/oICZZrVmlzk?si=DpbRmWdNWJIqEE5k
Thank you! I almost exclusively play single player games. Some recent favorites were Elden Ring, Lies of P, Super Mario Wonder, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. How intensive is Nintendo Switch emulation? I imagine it's taxing on the machine but I'm not sure how intensive to get decent performance.
Switch emulation seems rather easy these days and any entry level machine should do it just fine. I don't have any experience in that, though. Elden Ring and the like will definitely benefit from a more powerful machine. I'd recommend at least an RX 7700 XT or RX 7800 XT and pick the rest of the components to go with that.
Okay will do. Thank you!