Need advice. Going to be able to switch to PC for Skyrim

[Mordred]

Hey people. I need advice. In a month or two I'm going to finally be able to go back to gaming on a PC again.
I'll be buying all current gen consoles as well but theres no way I'm not going PC for my TES/Bethesda games.

Sorry in advance for all the Txt.
Okay heres my situation: I cant build it myself because I'm heavily disabled for one thing and the other reason being I'm a tech idiot.
So I'm thinking I'll have to order it online.

Things I'll be using it for and budget:
My budget's going to be from $1000.00 dollars (u.s.) up to (if I really push my luck heh) $1500.00 or a little more....err...maybe.
I'm not a graphics over gameplay person but I do want it to look as good as I can get it without thrashing gameplay/performance etc.
That being said its main purpose is going to be gaming. Watching videos/movies and surfing. Nothing like editing or VR.
Im planning on going back to Morrowind and Oblivion as well as Skyrim and I want to be able to play around with & Dr Frankenstein in as many mods as possible, while still not making my new PC spit mushroom clouds at me and die.

I will be playing other games as well. Fallout 4,RPGs, One FPS for sure: Titanfall but probably not any other FPSs. Some RTSs and turn based as well. And open world adventure games probably alot.

Things I need advice on:
1: Where are the most knowledgeable and reputable custom build or gaming PC places available to order from/have one built at etc.

2: Being as mechanical as a doorknob myself and cluless. What are the most important things/parts to prioritize on? For example Vidcards,cpu,processor power, storage and or whatever else I know nothing about? And which parts are most important etc.

3: This will probably be the last PC I buy so being able to upgrade it later to get as much time/life out of it is a concern. Also what should I make a priority to make sure theres potential to upgrade? I'd imagine the vid card(s) would be important right? But what else?

Thats all I can think of to ask advice on but I'm sure I probable missed things I'm clueless about,so any additional advice is welcome as well.
Again, sorry for so much txt and if I didnt post in the right place.
Also thanks in advance for any help.

[Mordred]

Anyone? Did I post this in the wrong place maybe? I REALLY need advice on this and would appreciate ANY help.

[Cassandra]

You posted in the right place. It's just that most of the members who are currently active aren't very tech-minded, I'd say.

Have you tried asking in the Discord? Someone there might be able to help.

[BiggJobag]

I'm not a tech expert myself, but I can tell you what I found from buying my own PC the other year. Info updated for your budget and today's pricing. Please ask if you don't understand anything.

• With your budget, you should aim for NVidia GeForce 8000 series or better, or from AMD, Radeon 3000 series or better. Don't go cheap. This isn't just about graphics - on newer games, it's about frame-rate, even on low settings.
• RAM memory should probably be 8 GB, but don't feel the need to hunt for anything higher.
• What monitor resolution you want is up to you - bear in mind that you can see more detail on higher-definition screens. Be sure to check the max refresh rate though - this is the upper limit on your visual frame-rate.
• The very best processors aren't actually necessary for gaming. As a guideline, take 3 GHz as a minimum and don't bother over 4.5 GHz.
• If you can be arsed, and you've still got the budget, look out for an SDD instead of an HDD for data storage. SDD has higher transfer rates, reducing loading times.

[Mordred]

I'm not a tech expert myself, but I can tell you what I found from buying my own PC the other year. Info updated for your budget and today's pricing. Please ask if you don't understand anything.

• With your budget, you should aim for NVidia GeForce 8000 series or better, or from AMD, Radeon 3000 series or better. Don't go cheap. This isn't just about graphics - on newer games, it's about frame-rate, even on low settings.
• RAM memory should probably be 8 GB, but don't feel the need to hunt for anything higher.
• What monitor resolution you want is up to you - bear in mind that you can see more detail on higher-definition screens. Be sure to check the max refresh rate though - this is the upper limit on your visual frame-rate.
• The very best processors aren't actually necessary for gaming. As a guideline, take 3 GHz as a minimum and don't bother over 4.5 GHz.
• If you can be arsed, and you've still got the budget, look out for an SDD instead of an HDD for data storage. SDD has higher transfer rates, reducing loading times.

Thanks for getting back to me on this. I have a few questions if thats okay? Trying to learn as I go on with this etc.

Are there any difference or advantages/disadvantages between the Nvidia and AMD cards that I should take into consideration?

Purely for knowledges sake: why cap out the ammount of RAM memory at 8 GB?

Do you have any recommendation about good monitors/resolutions that might fit in my budget range i can look into. I don't need anthing super huge but I don't wanna go too small and not be able to read menus and what not.

For the processor range you mention, are those, or should I be looking at, multi core processors or no?

Ill definitely try for SSD storage if I can get it then. Thats solid state drive right?

Can you recommend any particular place (online retailers//gaming Pc specialists etc) that are reputable and whose systems have room for future upgrading, that I should check into first?

Again, thanks much for getting back to me and for your help.
Much appreciated.

[Unionhack]

A useful resource is the build me a PC subreddit. If you register, post your desires and budget, they will usually set you up pretty nicely.

Honestly, if you can afford to put down $1,000 on a modern machine, you're definitely going to be able to run Skyrim just fine. It's not a game you have to worry about being able to run, especially not 6 years after its release. I have a $400 laptop with integrated graphics (ie; no graphics card, just software) and it runs Skyrim on medium at about 40 frames. It's not difficult to run by today's standards whatsoever.

[Mordred]

A useful resource is the build me a PC subreddit. If you register, post your desires and budget, they will usually set you up pretty nicely.

Honestly, if you can afford to put down $1,000 on a modern machine, you're definitely going to be able to run Skyrim just fine. It's not a game you have to worry about being able to run, especially not 6 years after its release. I have a $400 laptop with integrated graphics (ie; no graphics card, just software) and it runs Skyrim on medium at about 40 frames. It's not difficult to run by today's standards whatsoever.

Ill be able to stuff in a bunch of mods and still be okay?
Been playing on the 360 since launch and now im going to want to mod skyrim to atherius and back if I can heheh

[Unionhack]

Heavily modding it graphically might put some strain but I still think $1000 is plenty to handle it if you have a good processor and graphics card.

I don't really know computer parts very well, you'd be better asking someone who knows the finer details, which is why I linked the subreddit.

[Mordred]

I appreciate all the help Union.
I joined that subreddit and posted about this on there a few days back. Haven't gotten much response yet, but I plan on keeping checking.
Yours & BigJoBags advice have been the best so far because I'm extremely tech challenged.
I keep getting things tossed my way with brand names of parts but not explanation of what those parts are.
I wish everyone took the time to be as speciific as you two have been.
Its been a great help. Thanks

[BiggJobag]

Are there any difference or advantages/disadvantages between the Nvidia and AMD cards that I should take into consideration?

Some say that NVidia's software features put them ahead, and it's what I personally use, but it's pretty negligible. If you're especially concerned about performance, you can look up benchmarks. Those are comparisons between different cards on the frame-rates they achieve on certain games at certain settings.

Purely for knowledges sake: why cap out the ammount of RAM memory at 8 GB?

For better or worse, PC-game tech requirements generally can't go far above what the major consoles can achieve. And both the XBox One and the PS4 have 8GB RAM. So don't expect to need anything more for the best part of the next ten years!

Do you have any recommendation about good monitors/resolutions that might fit in my budget range i can look into. I don't need anthing super huge but I don't wanna go too small and not be able to read menus and what not.

1440x900 or 1280x1024 are as small as I would go. I have 1920x1080 and if it were any bigger, it would feel a bit ridiculous, personally. But like I say, that's just me - some people hook up their PC to their widescreen TV and sit on the sofa!

Ill definitely try for SSD storage if I can get it then. Thats solid state drive right?

Genau!

If I didn't answer a question, I didn't know the answer, sorry! But I hope this helps. PC builds are a bit of an art. Hopefully that subreddit has people who know what they're talking about...

P. S. Forgot to mention previously: if you've got a bit left over, get yourself a proper mouse mat. That was my mistake and I suffer for it, especially in FPS's. I have made do with a snare drum muffle pad. It's not the same.