First PC Build Help

NarNar · May 1, 2018

Hello! I am pretty new to PC gaming, having only swapped over from Xbox a few years ago. I have been running on this laptop: https://www.amazon.com/Dell-15-6-Inch-Quad-Core-i5-6300HQ-Processor/dp/B015PYYDMQ

for about two years now. I originally bought it as a compromise for school, as I commute and needed a laptop to take with me. I have been wanting to upgrade for a while now as my laptop is not really able to keep up with a lot of games. Putting all settings to low on games like PUBG still destroys my laptop, barely pulling 30FPS. I am struggling to figure out how to proceed. I can choose to up my RAM to 16GB and hope that it helps, but in a lot of games my CPU and graphics are still unable to keep up. I am considering building a PC to allow for upgrades in the future, but I have no experience building PCs. I also have gotten a lot of advice to just buy a prebuilt, as I won't be finding an affordable GPU anytime soon. If I were to build a PC, my current situation is as follows:

Budget: 500-700 USD. I could go up a bit, but want to keep it below 700 if possible.

Aim: primarily gaming. I play mostly CSGO, Overwatch, PUBG, R6 Siege, and have been getting into Escape from Tarkov.

Monitors: I plan on only using one monitor for the foreseeable future. As I currently use a laptop, I would still need to find a monitor to use.

Peripherals: I have a Logitech G602, but still need all peripherals besides a mouse and headset. I think I need to buy windows, too.

Why: I am not happy with using a laptop to game anymore. I originally got my laptop as a compromise between gaming and productivity, but it suffers due to that. the keyboard gets uncomfortably hot, it runs uncomfortably loud, and there is little to no space for upgrading. I could make my laptop work for probably another year or so, but at this point I am just unhappy with using a laptop for games and want to step up to a full PC.

So, if anyone has any advice to give, that would be much appreciated. I don't really know what I would need to consider when trying to make a more budget friendly PC, especially when it comes to ensuring compatibility between the parts. I also don't know how good of parts I really need, as I just want to be able to run my games at a decent framerate on decent settings. I don't need to be pulling 120FPS on ultra settings, just something playable on settings higher than "potato." Thanks.

VEXICUS · May 1, 2018

8 minutes ago, NarNar said:

Hello! I am pretty new to PC gaming, having only swapped over from Xbox a few years ago. I have been running on this laptop: https://www.amazon.com/Dell-15-6-Inch-Quad-Core-i5-6300HQ-Processor/dp/B015PYYDMQ

for about two years now. I originally bought it as a compromise for school, as I commute and needed a laptop to take with me. I have been wanting to upgrade for a while now as my laptop is not really able to keep up with a lot of games. Putting all settings to low on games like PUBG still destroys my laptop, barely pulling 30FPS. I am struggling to figure out how to proceed. I can choose to up my RAM to 16GB and hope that it helps, but in a lot of games my CPU and graphics are still unable to keep up. I am considering building a PC to allow for upgrades in the future, but I have no experience building PCs. I also have gotten a lot of advice to just buy a prebuilt, as I won't be finding an affordable GPU anytime soon. If I were to build a PC, my current situation is as follows:

Budget: 500-700 USD. I could go up a bit, but want to keep it below 700 if possible.

Aim: primarily gaming. I play mostly CSGO, Overwatch, PUBG, R6 Siege, and have been getting into Escape from Tarkov.

Monitors: I plan on only using one monitor for the foreseeable future. As I currently use a laptop, I would still need to find a monitor to use.

Peripherals: I have a Logitech G602, but still need all peripherals besides a mouse and headset. I think I need to buy windows, too.

Why: I am not happy with using a laptop to game anymore. I originally got my laptop as a compromise between gaming and productivity, but it suffers due to that. the keyboard gets uncomfortably hot, it runs uncomfortably loud, and there is little to no space for upgrading. I could make my laptop work for probably another year or so, but at this point I am just unhappy with using a laptop for games and want to step up to a full PC.

So, if anyone has any advice to give, that would be much appreciated. I don't really know what I would need to consider when trying to make a more budget friendly PC, especially when it comes to ensuring compatibility between the parts. I also don't know how good of parts I really need, as I just want to be able to run my games at a decent framerate on decent settings. I don't need to be pulling 120FPS on ultra settings, just something playable on settings higher than "potato." Thanks.