First off I would like build this as cheap as possible! And by light gaming I mean being able to run minecraft and sims 3(I game on console). It will be mostly an everyday machine for doing my online classes and surfing the web.
Should i go with dual core or quad? What parts would you recommend for something like this, what parts would I need to have it completely have this set up? And how much money will this run me? I would pretty much want some general info on building it.
Go quad core, get a good video card(maybe a 660 or a hd7770) and get a good harddrive with good speed. That's all you need
"I game on console"
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cheap as possible?
well cheapest id recommend is:
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2X7gJ
you don't need a dvd drive tbh, you can download windows and put it on a usb flash drive and activate it with a license key you may already have or one you buy. (or if you do less then legal methods)
either way, dvd drives arnt needed these days where everything is available online for streaming or downloads. If you really needed one, borrow one from an old computer. Dvd drives have not chanced since like 2001 lol.
this is a more then capable starter system. It would actually be capable of playing any games on the market easily. It would almost compare to next gen consoles (you can have it surpass next gen systems with a few small upgrades such as maybe a r9 260 or r9 260X or 7790 graphics card which are around $115-130).
pc games are cheaper, and has more exclusive titles. Its capable of playing most all older gen consoles via emulators (up to ps2, gamecube and wii).
also you never have to worry about losing your games when "upgrading to a next gen console", as they are never backwards compatible:/
and ya, better graphics, higher fps, higher resolutions, mods?
there are tons of mods for many games, which range from being able to replace textures with either high quality textures, or fun ones like adding anime characters or other game characters like maybe link from zelda, etc.
there are also mods which change or enhance gameplay, or some which create completely new stories or scenarios.
id say the biggest one is skyrim.
these are screenshots from my pc of my skyrim (i haven't fully tweaked all the enb settings and etc tho).
now i have a pretty high end pc, but its more for, why pc gaming is far better then console gaming.