Hello! I have never been very interested in PC gaming due to all of my friends being on console, but after seeing some Skyrim and BF3 videos on PC, I want to start PC gaming. I'm not the most hardware smart, but I can work a computer better than the average guy. So, I was wondering I buying a nice PC to run this game on high can cost under 1000$? I don't think I could be able to make my own unless I bought the parts and had Best Buy assemble it or something. Also, how hard is it to keep my PC up to date and make sure everything runs fine? All my computers now are Mac, and I just use it to surf the web, type documents, edit movies, and play some Portal 1 or Minecraft. So if I can buy a computer for under 1000$, can you recommended me one? Or tell me the parts I would need to build my own?

Sub 1000 for gaming. Your not going to find a place to buy one that'll treat you well in games. Best to build your own.

Ok. I guess I'll be building my own. Any suggestions on parts? Or should I just continue researching?

http://usa.asus.com/Notebooks/Gaming_Powerhouse/G73SW/ this one is about 400 dollars extra. Its one I've been considering I have an asus now that is a G50vt and its 3 years old, but I stand by asus for the gaming technology. I prefer laptops as well, and those get built.

Well I'll be hooking my PC up to my tv so I guess a laptop can be good.

When the parts are sold individually, Bet Buy has terrible prices.

The correct place to ask this question is here:

http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1297566-the-community-tech-thread-no-110/

Use newegg.com for parts. They have great prices/great deals.

2 things.

1) A budget of 1000 dollars will be able to max out any game if you build it yourself.

2) Build it yourself.

Research on each component and how to build a computer, and if you have any smarts at all, you will be able to do it. The only difficult thing about building a computer is making sure each component is compatible with the rest.

For less than $1000 you can get a great gaming PC like this:

Motherboard - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157271
CPU - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072
Video Card - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130604
PSU - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139021
Hard Drive - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136098
Case - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119197
DVD Drive - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204


Thats just kind of a general guideline of what you can get for around $1000. Those parts are what I would buy, and will max any game out there at at least 1080p resolution. Of course if you need a monitor included in that $1000 then you'll have to go with cheaper parts. Oh also prices on hard drives are crazy high right now, and some popular parts are unavailable in some places because of the whole holiday shopping rush.

need windows 7?

As said building a PC isn't hard (it's all modular design nowadays so apart from compatability it's like assembling LEGO).
Be aware PC gaming is more prone to having issues arise with games than consoles, due to it not being a fixed platform with a set software loadout.
Keeping a PC up to date can also be more costly if you want to play the newest games at top settings (my PC is ~4-5 years old and is starting to show it's age, but upgrading now would probably end with me replacing so much it would be close to a new build).
Also remember if you build your own you will need an Operating System (so remember to budget for it).