Hi everyone. I've been a console player my whole life, but it's clear that consoles aren't what they used to be. I've dabbled a bit in PC gaming over the years, but I've never owned a gaming PC.

I'm someone who appreciates the simplicity of consoles, so I'm a little concerned I'll be in over my head by diving into PC gaming. I have pretty limited knowledge of PC hardware/components and software/compatibility troubleshooting. I'm also pretty unfamiliar with the longevity of gaming PC builds (i.e. when upgrades are needed). With that said, my fear is dropping $1k+ on a build and having something go wrong with hardware or simply not getting the most out of it because of my lack of knowledge. I'm not really concerned with bleeding-edge technology or even really high end performance for that matter - just a smooth experience.

Does anyone have any advice on a first time build? Or any decent resources to learn more about PC gaming in depth?

Thanks in advance!

If you're not certain you'll like PC gaming, then don't bother building anything for it at this time. Whatever PC you're posting on now, it is capable of playing a whole mess of games available from this store.

Once you get hooked, THEN look into hardware upgrades. : ) But yeah, I would try various game genres first in order to figure out what sorts of games you would be building the PC to play. Hardware requirements can be vastly different depending on which game types you like.

Edit: Maybe I misunderstood, since it appears you've been here a while. What genres do you want to play? Any examples of specific games that you're targeting?

Thanks for the response!

Yea I should have elaborated more. I feel like I have already taken your advice in a way. I've been playing some PC games for a few years - some here, some on steam. I feel like I've decided already that PC gaming is what I want to invest in. Another reason is because I'm using a laptop, and even with decent specs, it just overheats when I play anything slightly demanding. I like a little bit of everything, point and clicks, platformers, indie games, and older games you can get here at GoG. Now I'd really like to play some newer/upcoming games like Observer, Agony, & Scorn.

I'd really just like the option of playing whatever comes out, even if it's not at super high settings. I'm not really someone hung up on visuals.

Up until recently I was in a very similar spot. What I did was talking to freinds who are more involved in the PC building scene and getting tips from them, as well as reading tech forums, going on Youtube and searching for demonstrations of builds as well as comparisons (for example, type something like i3 GTX 1060 pc gaming) and such. If you get someone who knows what they're doing to help you, try to be clear with what you want. For instance, the clearest I was able to be was: I'd like to play modern games with my PC, I don't care much about graphics, but since I'm coming from the current XBOX One gen, I'd like the graphics to be at least on that level. Also, I'm willing to spend X moneys on this.

However, think about the games you wish to play. If you're into old games only, then you don't need a powerful PC, but if you wanna play something like The Witcher 3, then you're gonna have to buy a more powerful machine than what would be necessary to run something like Blood, Outlaws, the old Tomb Raider games, etc.

Unfortunately all of my close friends are console gamers. I really wish I knew someone who could show me in person. I definitely want something powerful enough to play modern games.

How powerful we talking? Powerful enough to play at 1080p with all settings maxed at a maximum refresh rate? Capable of playing FFXV at ultimate settings (req's TBD but I would bet cash ultimate at 1080p will require a 1080 ti or better to put all the nvidia effects on and THAT is going to bust your budget on just 1 part) or capable of playing Overwatch maxed. That can probably be done with a Nvidia 1070 or 1080 but you need to check the GPU's temp while playing. Whatever you do, if you wanna play something like GTAV in fullscreen, you need more than 4 GB VRAM so don't go looking at an AMD GPU or a GTX 970.

Welcome to the Glorious PC Master Race. :D

I think the new AMD Ryzen 5 2400G APU, which will be launched next month, is the perfect start for you. Later you can easily add a more powerful graphics card, or even change the CPU in 2-3 years with whatever new Ryzen will be then. Join this thread if you like.

As for building the PC yourself, just start watching some youtube videos on that subject.

the best advice??
Do some research, every game page on any server GOG, Steam, Humble, etc will list the minimum and recommended requirements to play a specific game, look at new releases like ELEX

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
MINIMUM:
OS: 64-bit Windows 7, Windows 8.1, Windows 10
Processor: Intel Core i5 3570, AMD FX-6350
Memory: 8 GB RAM
Graphics: NVIDIA GTX 660 2GB, AMD Radeon 7850 2GB
DirectX: Version 11
Storage: 35 GB available space
Sound Card: DirectX compatible Sound card

RECOMMENDED:

OS: 64-bit Windows 7, Windows 8.1, Windows 10
Processor: Intel Core i7-4790, AMD FX-8350
Memory: 16 GB RAM
Graphics: NVIDIA GTX 1060 3GB, AMD RX 480 4GB
DirectX: Version 11
Storage: 35 GB available space
Sound Card: DirectX compatible Sound card

for your 1st machine look into premade versions first, usualy you can yet the recommended for around 1000-1200, then look into modular components to build your own system I went far above recommended for all games and spent 2800 for the kit, but then I knew I could keep this system for about 12 years before I would have to upgrade. So what am I saying? Research, research, research, only you know what you want your new pc to do and in the end it's going to be your decision that you live with.
1st page to look at for research:
Newegg best selling gaming pc's

Google is your friend, that's how I've learn most of the stuff I need to know (also related to PCs, and administering/using e.g. Linux), ever since Google was a thing. If you have a question in your mind, just write the question, maybe in a simplified format, to Google. It is quite probable you are not the first person in the world asking about it. When you are not happy with how smoothly and fast your games are running, then it is a time to upgrade.

What is different from consoles is that you can also change all kinds of options for games' graphics and such, from within game options, in order to make them either look better (and run faster), or run faster (but look worse), to better suit your specific PC configuration and your own tastes (some games you might want to run smoother with less impressive graphics, while some others you want to run with best possible graphics, even if they ran somewhat slower then). On consoles you don't have to care for such options as everyone has the same machine configuration, and hence I guess console games don't even give you different graphics options much.

For instance, if I try to run a demanding new-ish AAA game on my 5 years old gaming laptop which I know is by now struggling with newest heavy games, first I usually switch graphics resolution to 1280x720 (instead of full HD 1920x1080), and maybe disable some eye candy from graphics that I know are demanding and not that important, to see how well it runs. The graphics card/chip (GPU) is usually the component that you need to ponder a bit, rest of the stuff (including the CPU) is pretty generic. At this point I'd personally just go with some mid-level, popular NVidia Geforce GPU which is common among PC gamers.

As for the rest of the components (if I was looking at a desktop PC), I guess I'd try to make sure the power unit (PSU) has enough power, in case I feel I might be using lots of power-hungry peripherals with the PC. It is better to have a "too powerful" PSU than one which is operating near its limits.

Then again since I personally nowadays buy only (gaming) laptops, I have to care less about the components besides the GPU, as I can't choose nor change e.g. the PSU on a laptop. It is what it is.

EDIT: Oh and the amount of RAM... I guess 8GB is still barely enough even for new games at this point, but I'd personally go with 16GB RAM right away, just to be more future-proof. When I think of my old and ancient PCs that I want to use for some purpose, like install Linux on them etc., the first thing that usually occurs to me is "I wish it had more RAM". Like that very old Pentium desktop PC I have, I wish it had 2GB RAM instead of the current 1GB, I'm pretty sure it would run Linux and web surfing smoother then. To elaborate: only as far as load times go, not e.g. the game graphics or such. And on the flipside you can install and keep much less stuff on a SSD than on a HDD, or then pay an arm and a leg for a big SSD.

So yeah, when I was playing Team Fortress 2 with my friend side by side (I have a laptop with slower HDD, and he has a laptop with SSD), yeah he could enter the match a bit earlier than me because the level loaded faster for him, but that's all. Otherwise the game ran identically for us.

Admittedly, with online games like Team Fortress 2 it is not only the hard drive speed that decides how fast a level loads, I guess it has to download and send some server data for both of us as well...

If you really don't know what you're doing then the way I often do things is to choose the most demanding game you'll likely want to play, check the minimum and recommended specs for it and then find a system that meets them (or exceeds them if you want to be on the safe side and future proof a little).

I've been PC gaming for at least 18 years and never built my own PC, so don't worry about that if you want to buy something 'off the shelf' as it were. Though there are a lot of sites these days where you can choose all the parts and they will build it for you which is probably the best of both worlds, more freedom without the stress of doing it yourself.

And while gaming on a laptop, get yourself a laptop cooling mat. It will really help with any overheating issues.

Maybe you already do this but I game on a laptop and have definitely noticed since I started using one 5 years ago it made a huge difference cleaning it and re pasting the cpu once a year. I bet it will make a bit of difference until you get a new system.

https://choosemypc.net/ A powerful first stop in building your PC.
https://pcpartpicker.com/ The best way to buy parts
https://patchmypc.net/ The best way to install and update software

https://www.reddit.com/r/pcgamingtechsupport/ decent comminity, very helpful

For controller I highly suggest an Xbox controller, $50 but worth it, might need a Bluetooth dongle (very cheap)
For a flight stick the Thrustmaster T-Flight is very nice, if you can find a decent Logitech then thats it but they are cheaply made now... but with an Xbox controller you dont need a flightstick really.

For mouse and keyboard thats up to you.

I suggest going no higher then 1080p gaming, and getting only a 1080 monitor to start

with that Ryzen chips are the cheapest at the moment. for CPU
Since your a GOG gamer it is IMPERATIVE you go Nvidia as AMD Graphics just disabled Directx9 support. a 970 or 1060 would be fine for you to start

you do not need more than 16GB or ram, get the lowest CAS you can afford

You do not need an SSD, but I recommend 2 hard drives if you can afford it, one for OS and working apps the other as game installs and archives. I personally have 3 plus a massive 4TB offline backup system.

If you want to learn about computers then here are some resources:
https://www.youtube.com/user/professormesser/playlists This guy will teach you everything you need to know.

Best AV thats free is Bitdefender, best paid for AV is ESET.
Microsoft Office Alternative is OnlyOffice (Libreoffice if your into linux and ODt formats)
Photoshop alternative is Krita or Inkscape

Anymore questions shoot me a PM and remind me I said this, I have 20 years in the field training newbies and educating users on current and new tech :p

That's simply NOT true. It was just a bug and an alpha driver is already released to fix the issue.