I don't know anything about gaming. The last time I regularly played video games was on my Atari. Yes, a million years ago.

  1. Basic question: I'd like to get into gaming. What's better a console or a gaming PC? My PC is super old so I have to buy a new PC anyway.

  2. I'm considering buying a renewed PC from Amazon. From what little I know - it seems like a good deal. If I buy something like a renewed Dell XPS 8940 for - I dunno up to $1,500 is that good enough for gaming? I'd prefer a boring PC case.

  3. What's the minimum I'd need to spend to get a gaming PC that plays most games?

  4. What are common mistakes people make when buying a gaming PC?

  5. Can most games be torrented?

  6. What's easier to torrent? Games for consoles or PC games? Ideally torrents will be my gaming store.

I'm giving myself until the end of the month to buy a new PC. So it's time for me to decide.

Amazon example...

Dell XPS 8940 Tower Desktop PC)

There are two PC setups on the page. Both are $1,000. Here are the specs for one of them.

[Edit: It's missing a useful graphics cad. I know I'll need the best graphics card possible because without that I'm buying a brand new car with a puny, nearly useless engine.]

  • 10th Gen Octa-core Intel i7-10700 2.9GHz Processor

  • 32GB DDR4 Memory

  • 512GB PCIe M.2 SSD +1TB SATA 7200 RPM HDD

  • DVD-RW Drive

  • Windows 10 w/ Accessories (Renewed)

Edit

I'm not interested in building one. I'd screw something up. It's just the way I am.

  • InevitableSwing [none/use name]
    ·
    1 year ago

    What are you planning on playing?

    I really don't know. I'm certainly going to start by checking out games of the past couple decades.

    • GorbinOutOverHere [comrade/them]
      ·
      1 year ago

      I use a website called igg-games for my pirating btw, because they have direct download links in addition to torrents. I've heard people say they're "shady" and have some kind of DRM tracker .dll in their files but I've literally never seen that so idk. There's other websites tho

      But definitely don't get a console, getting a console is like getting a hobbled computer that you can't upgrade

      • InevitableSwing [none/use name]
        ·
        1 year ago

        a console is like getting a hobbled computer that you can’t upgrade

        That's a bold statement. So I think it's great.

        Seriously though - I didn't know exactly why I was so fixated on getting a gaming PC. I just assumed a console would "lock me in" and annoy me. When it comes to movies and tv - torrents have me insanely demanding, impatient, and greedy.

        • GorbinOutOverHere [comrade/them]
          ·
          1 year ago

          I just assumed a console would “lock me in” and annoy me.

          I mean that's basically the problem. You can pirate stuff for consoles but it's just a lot more work and nerd stuff. People on here gripe endlessly about windows but even on a windows PC theres a lot more versatility than what you can do on a console, at least without being a super nerd lol