So I'm tempted to upgrade my PC to play both of the half-way-decent games that have been released in the last four years. But I can't be bothered to understand everything about current-gen PC parts so I want someone else to work it out for me.

I guess I need:
Mobo
RAM
CPU + a quiet fan
GPU with a quiet fan
HDD (I don't want an SSD)
I guess a Windows license unless I want to really have a laugh and install Windows XP again like I did in 2008.

I think all the other parts I can keep (I have a pretty good 600W CPU and a nice case). I don't really want to spend over £500. I guess I'd be buying from Aria.co.uk or Ebuyer.

Recommend stuff.

Well, here's some general ideas how I would build a mid/high-end PC now.

CPU wise I'd go with an Ivy Bridge since they were just released and offer the newest technology out there. An i5-3570K processor should last you many years. Boxed Intel CPU coolers are quiet enough from my experience, though they won't give you much overclocking headroom (I presume that's not what you're after, anyways).

A Z77 chipset motherboard (Example: ASRock Z77 Extreme 4) to go along with that and 16GB of RAM (I'm personally fond of Corsair Vengeance ones) since it's very cheap at the moment.

GPU wise, I'd wait a little bit longer and go for the mid-end kepler cards once Nvidia releases them.

I'm not too bothered about getting 'years' from a CPU, this is the first time I've upgraded just parts of a computer and this one is 4/5 years old now, normally I replace the whole thing every 4 years. Something that is fast enough to play current games is fine. Cheaper the better, really.

as matrixi said get ivy bridge (the non hyperthreading parts) as theres really no sensible reason why you should by any other cpu
although you should probably wait a few weeks for the prices to stabilize (they officially got released just yesterday)
z77 is certainly the way to go
ram doesnt really matter much at all these days so any cheap kit of 8+ gig will do
gpu wise right now the 78 series from amd is probably the best choice if you can wait a bit longer the nvidia counterparts may or may not be a good alternative
and yes you most definitely do want an ssd

For SSD I'd recommend Samsung 830 series, Intel 520 series, Crucial m4 and OCZ Vertex 4.
For CPU, GPU etc, what Matrixi said.

Quote from Shotglass :

and yes you most definitely do want an ssd

You are such a curmudgeon these days!

I am tempted by SSDs like anybody else is, but I don't want one - I'm after a cheap enough gaming PC that can run Skyrim, BF3, Civ 5, and then I can complain that they're all the same old crap warmed up and go back to sulking.

Actually maybe I should just buy a console.

Quote from thisnameistaken :

You are such a curmudgeon these days!

I am tempted by SSDs like anybody else is, but I don't want one - I'm after a cheap enough gaming PC that can run Skyrim, BF3, Civ 5, and then I can complain that they're all the same old crap warmed up and go back to sulking.

Actually maybe I should just buy a console.

Are you only planning to use PC for gaming?
Because games don't benefit from SSDs very much, while everything else does.

Quote from thisnameistaken :

You are such a curmudgeon these days!

yay learned a new word

Quote :

I am tempted by SSDs like anybody else is, but I don't want one - I'm after a cheap enough gaming PC that can run Skyrim, BF3, Civ 5, and then I can complain that they're all the same old crap warmed up and go back to sulking.

see thats where an ssd comes into play it will boot up much faster load the games much faster and shut down much faster which will get you to the sulking phase that much quicker instead of wasting more time being disappointed by todays games (which is a bit of a foregone conclusion considering your planning on playing games which are all at least the fifth installment of dull repetition)

Quote :

Actually maybe I should just buy a console.

im almost tempted to throw all my principles over board and get an xbox just for fez

btw you seem like the kind of masochist who might genuinely enjoy super meat boy
my advice is you should check it out

Quote from Shotglass :

instead of wasting more time being disappointed by todays ______ (which is a bit of a foregone conclusion considering ______ are all at least the fifth installment of dull repetition)

a. people
b. jokes
c. people and jokes

I like Shotglass's logic on the SSD question, but I am from Yorkshire and we're not allowed to spend extra money on things that are better than other things, even if we have a decent excuse.

A quandary easily exited by opting for the cheapest one and reproving expenditure on one of higher value.

Actually the recommended strategy is to lie about how much things cost.

How about a tale of in-the-know store connections or a situation resolved by shrewdness which resulted in a half-price acquisition? Consumer heroics at their finest.

Just buy it, then say 'SORRY!'

Ivy Bridge and an i5 OC able is a no brainier choice. When it comes to a graphics card, 560 ti up is good but as new stuff is always being released then, do u want SLI/Crossfire.
How insane do u want your graphics ?

I've never bothered with running two cards before, can't see myself starting now.

Can't find anyone selling those new Intel chips, and I suspect when I do they'll be most of my budget, which is ridiculous, whose idea was this?

Well, the new CPUs were published just couple days ago, give the retailers a week or two to get the first stocks in. If you _absolutely_ must have a new PC running this week, then 2500K's should be in stock, but those are of older tech and they cost just as much as 3570K's while offering worse performance.

3570K should retail around $200, same as 2500K.

Quote from thisnameistaken :

I like Shotglass's logic on the SSD question, but I am from Yorkshire and we're not allowed to spend extra money on things that are better than other things, even if we have a decent excuse.

i noticed you used the word "upgrade" in your opening post implying that you already have a gaming capable pc further implying that youre planning to illegally spend money on something better than something you already have
if you dont refrain from pursuing your plans on a new pc i shall call someone in yorkshire and will do my best to convince them that it isnt sunday and that you are most certainly scotish and will give them directions to the nearest sports equipment shop that has archery goods in its inventory

on a tangentially related topic dont ever call me curmudgeon again

Quote from thisnameistaken :

Can't find anyone selling those new Intel chips, and I suspect when I do they'll be most of my budget, which is ridiculous, whose idea was this?

as mentuioned earlier they only got officially released a couple of days ago and it will probably take a while for prices to stabilize

Hey man, i builded a new PC for me about a month ago, and i spent 760€ on it. Its not a high-end PC , but its managing very well every thing i throw at it with flowing high FPS with all the graphics maxed out

here is the build :

CPU - Intel 2500k @3,3 + coolermaster vent --- more then enough for all the games at the moment
MOBO - MSI Z68A-G45 G3 ( military class 2, they offer 5 years warranty on it )
GPU - MSI Nvidea GTX560Ti - Twin Frozr II/OC ( 1Gb DDR5 )
RAM - Corsair Vengeance 2 , 2x4Gb @1600
PSU - OCZ 650W
CASE - Zalman Z9 Series

I know this isnt top notch, but im a very happy dude at the moment!
I run all of this games in 1902x1080, with all the graphics maxed out, with impecable FPS and low temps:
- GTA 4 , Skyrim, TDU2 , FIFA2012, Civilization 5, FSX , etc... so far no bad surprises. Highest temperature reached was 56ºC in the GPU, 47ºC on the CPU

Now, if you take off the PC case wich was about 80€ and the power suply wich was about 70€ , you get a total of 610€ wich is almost 500£

I hope this can help you .

BTW, on a side note, i made this PC based on the mid range built in Tom's Hardware webpage.

Cheers man that's very helpful info. That's more the sort of thing I was thinking about doing.

kev thats essentially what everyone here has been telling you to get just with more modern components that are priced the same

I bought myself ps3 and xbox just to get my hands on to the gt5 and forzas but also to use them to play the modern bloatware games. The hard reality for me is that I can not play with pad. I just can not do it. So a word of warning if you decide to get a console. Learning the controls may be difficult. Games like limbo and such are fine but any shooting games where you need to aim are just impossible.

When I bought my consoles I also bought half dozen other games with them but since then I've sold them all except forza and gt5 for the simple reason that they were unplayable for me with pad. So imho it is a good idea to try a console with the type of games you want to play with it. Only if consoles had mouse and keyboard support...

Quote from Hyperactive :

Only if consoles had mouse and keyboard support...

I believe they do for basic things. I think that they disabled them however in games because the keyboard and mouse are obviously superior. Anyway, consoles are a piece of junk and you shouldn't concider them unless you want to play those GT and FM games...

Just go for a nice Ivy Bridge CPU and slap a HD7000 series or GTX 560ti or something like that and you're set.

Quote from Shotglass :

kev thats essentially what everyone here has been telling you to get just with more modern components that are priced the same

I can't find any prices for the new Intel CPUs, but I guess if they're the same price...

Kev, I wouldn't give on on AMD CPU's so fast, they are pretty good for their price.
Here's something I put together quickly.

CPU: AMD Bulldozer FX-4100 - £84.95
Mobo: GIGABYTE GA-970A-DS3 - £53.99
GFX: VTX3D Radeon HD 7850 - £176.87
Memory: 8GB Exceleram Value Series LP E30113A (2x4GB) - £32.99
SSD: Intel 520 Series 60GB - £88.94
HDD: 2TB Seagate ST2000DM001 Barracuda - £83.99

Together: £521,83
A bit over the budget, but that's with SSD, if you don't want a SSD, you could probably squeeze a FX-8120 in the budget, but do you need 8 cores, most games don't actually take advantage of the 8 cores.

Not sure about the PSU u got tho, what model?

Quote from thisnameistaken :

I can't find any prices for the new Intel CPUs, but I guess if they're the same price...

http://www.tomshardware.com/ne ... ge-CPU-LGA1155,14325.html

Seems to be around the price of the Sandy bridge.

Quote from bmwe30m3 :

Kev, I wouldn't give on on AMD CPU's so fast, they are pretty good for their price.
Here's something I put together quickly.

CPU: AMD Bulldozer FX-4100 - £84.95
Mobo: GIGABYTE GA-970A-DS3 - £53.99
GFX: VTX3D Radeon HD 7850 - £176.87
Memory: 8GB Exceleram Value Series LP E30113A (2x4GB) - £32.99
SSD: Intel 520 Series 60GB - £88.94
HDD: 2TB Seagate ST2000DM001 Barracuda - £83.99

Together: £521,83
A bit over the budget, but that's with SSD, if you don't want a SSD, you could probably squeeze a FX-8120 in the budget, but do you need 8 cores, most games don't actually take advantage of the 8 cores.

Not sure about the PSU u got tho, what model?

No. Just no.