Pre-Built Gaming PC Assistance?

[Sneaky-Arrow22]

I'm looking into upgrading from a laptop to a gaming pc. I mostly play RPGs, but presently my laptop can only handle about 15-20 fps on the lowest settings of stuff like 7 Days to Die. Does anyone have suggestions for a good quality or brand of pre-built Gaming PCs? I'd like to keep the price reasonable (max budget about $1200) but still get a good quality pc to last for at least the next 5-8 years. I have a friend that I've helped clean his PC so that seems easy, but I'm not confident in building one. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

[The Sloth]

why not build your own? if you have to go prebuilt i suggest waiting for chrismas sale. 

[3 Lions]

You should really build your own PC. 

[NunoLava1998]

uilding your own is etter most of the time

[Sneaky-Arrow22]

Limited time, knowledge, and technical experience. The most I've accomplished was rewiring speakers from a friends ancient boom-box stereo to my alarm clock as a prank and that was just winged. I'm not confident in my ability to select the correct components to build a pc myself. Buying a pre-built just seemed the generally easier route. Could someone help direct me to a thread/guide to building a pc? Do y'all have an estimated timeframe on how long one takes to be built by someone for the first time?

[Hogblood]

I agree with the above - however - if you want to buy a prebuilt I suggest you watch Linus's videos on the ordering experience, value, and support offered by some common builders. After this, part out your PC on their sites and see if lower cost justifies a poor experience or vice versa. I might even go with an underpowered less expensive build so you can take it apart/learn about how it was built in order to do your own upgrades in the future and then build your own.

[Mira Yurizaki]

2 minutes ago, Sneaky-Arrow22 said:

Limited time, knowledge, and technical experience. The most I've accomplished was rewiring speakers from a friends ancient boom-box stereo to my alarm clock as a prank and that was just winged. I'm not confident in my ability to select the correct components to build a pc myself. Buying a pre-built just seemed the generally easier route. Could someone help direct me to a thread/guide to building a pc? Do y'all have an estimated timeframe on how long one takes to be built by someone for the first time?

PC Part Picker has build guides for a wide variety of budgets and use cases. And often times you can just buy their parts list outright. However, I would read up on build guides as to why they chose the parts, if they have something like that. This helps you understand how to find parts for your needs. Otherwise assembling the PC itself isn't that hard.

 

The real issue though is troubleshooting and fixing things when there's a problem. And that's something you have to figure out if you're comfortable dealing with.

[NunoLava1998]

 

2 minutes ago, Sneaky-Arrow22 said:

Limited time, knowledge, and technical experience. The most I've accomplished was rewiring speakers from a friends ancient boom-box stereo to my alarm clock as a prank and that was just winged. I'm not confident in my ability to select the correct components to build a pc myself. Buying a pre-built just seemed the generally easier route. Could someone help direct me to a thread/guide to building a pc? Do y'all have an estimated timeframe on how long one takes to be built by someone for the first time?

About 1-2 hours. 

However, this will not be hard, even if you have no experience. Get a prebuilt if you do not want to build one however. (It's not that hard but get a prebuilt if you dont want to I guess).

 

PCPartPicker lets you see if parts are comaptible, if anything needs to be updated and is really useful. For 1200$, here's a good build:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 7 2700 3.2 GHz 8-Core Processor  ($259.00 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: Asus - ROG STRIX X470-F Gaming ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($192.68 @ OutletPC) 
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  ($124.99 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Samsung - 860 Evo 250 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($52.99 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($44.85 @ OutletPC) 
Video Card: MSI - GeForce GTX 1070 Ti 8 GB Video Card  ($429.99 @ Newegg) 
Case: Corsair - 100R ATX Mid Tower Case  ($54.99 @ Corsair) 
Power Supply: Corsair - RMx (2018) 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($69.99 @ Newegg) 
Total: $1229.48
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-12-12 16:40 EST-0500

[ELSknutson]

16 minutes ago, Sneaky-Arrow22 said:

Limited time, knowledge, and technical experience. The most I've accomplished was rewiring speakers from a friends ancient boom-box stereo to my alarm clock as a prank and that was just winged. I'm not confident in my ability to select the correct components to build a pc myself. Buying a pre-built just seemed the generally easier route. Could someone help direct me to a thread/guide to building a pc? Do y'all have an estimated timeframe on how long one takes to be built by someone for the first time?

Thats what we are here for. Also my first PC took me about 3hrs to build with out windows and now I can do it in like 15 min if I am pushing it. 

[LukeSavenije]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD - Ryzen 5 2600 3.4 GHz 6-Core Processor	$159.99 @ Amazon
CPU Cooler	ARCTIC - Freezer 33 eSports ONE (Black/White) CPU Cooler	$32.31 @ Newegg
Motherboard	ASRock - Fatal1ty X470 Gaming K4 ATX AM4 Motherboard	$134.89 @ OutletPC
Memory	G.Skill - Aegis 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory	$104.99 @ Newegg
Storage	Samsung - 860 Evo 500 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive	$72.00 @ Amazon
Storage	Seagate - Barracuda 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive	$54.99 @ Newegg Business
Video Card	Zotac - GeForce GTX 1070 Ti 8 GB AMP Extreme Video Card	$379.99 @ Newegg
Case	Cooler Master - MasterCase H500 ATX Mid Tower Case	$99.99 @ B&H
Power Supply	Corsair - CX (2017) 650 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply	$44.99 @ Newegg
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total (before mail-in rebates)	$1134.14
	Mail-in rebates	-$50.00
	Total	$1084.14
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-12-12 16:52 EST-0500

Get something like this, and if you're really worried, some hardware shops or local tech shops offer assembley for around 100 bucks most of the times.