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ornery

Member

• Nov 18, 2017

• #1

Been seriously thinking about getting back into PC gaming, but I've been out of the loop for what seems like forever. I been working enterprise IT for about 10 years, so I haven't kept up with current gaming technology at all


Where do I even start? Any good places to check out to get my feet wet!?

 

Kadayi

Banned

• Nov 18, 2017

• #2

For tech, build your own is definitely the way to go. I recommend this site for helping you figure out a build: -

https://pcpartpicker.com

Lots of guides there, and you can save your builds and adjust, etc

Gameswise there's a bunch of digital platforms, Steam being the biggest: -

www.Steampowered.com (run by Valve)

Though there is also: -

www.gog.com (old classics, but new titles these days as well)

www.origin.com (EAs platform, though they sell 3rd party games)

www.uplay.com (Ubisoft's platform though they sell 3rd party games, though they also sell on Steam)

https://www.blizzard.com/en-us/apps/battle.net/desktop (Blizzards platform)

There are always bargains to be had with PC games, so keep an eye out on sites like this: -

https://isthereanydeal.com

Also, there will be generally seasonal sales in December on most of the digital platforms, with substantive price cuts on titles.

Gamewise...there's more choice than could fill a thousand lifetimes. I'd recommend Firaxis XCOM games (XCOM Enemy unknown/enemy within and XCOM2) though.

 

llien

Member

• Nov 18, 2017

• #3

If you like or don't mind trying real time strategy genre, Blizzard just made most of SC2 free.

 

Soodanim

Gold Member

• Nov 18, 2017

• #4

Steam now has a curator section, where people create lists of some description with short explanations of why they chose it. They range from port quality ratings to lesser known gems and anything else, really. GOG has similar lists.

Controller support on PC is fantastic now, especially in Steam. Maybe look into the Steam Controller, which allows keyboard/mouse bindings to give everything controller support. Two trackpads, community shared profiles, and updates that keep giving us more and more options and control. Outside of that, you can plug in most controllers and have it work in Steam. Xbox 360/One work natively in Windows, and Dual Shock 4 can be had outside of Steam using DS4Windows. Has some advantages over Steam, which has flaws here and there (Fallout 4 reads inputs both as DirectInput and XInput controller making it unplayable, for example).

 

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SkateorDi3

Member

• Nov 18, 2017

• #5

old linus tech tips videos

 

Silvawuff

Member

• Nov 18, 2017

• #6

Once you get your rig set up...always buy games on sale, never full price. There are bundle sites like HumbleBundle that sell a lot of games on the cheap. Invest in a nice controller, keyboard, mouse, screen, speakers, and chair. I know it kinda goes without saying, but you should go for higher quality on things you use heavily or daily. It might seem steep for what it is, but it will be so worth it when you're not having to replace things as often and you can enjoy strong controls, builds, and comfort for your hard-earned money.

I would avoid any Razer products like the plague; they've got a myriad of hardware issues and aren't worth your time. You can get a Xbox for Windows controller and it's compatible with everything natively, and it's not that expensive. Don't forget you can SteamLink to stream your PC games to your television, if your connection is good!

 

Soodanim

Gold Member

• Nov 18, 2017

• #7

Monitor technology is pretty much the following:
16:9 60hz is the standard, with 1080p being the baseline going up to 1440p and 2160p (aka 4k).

Then you have ultrawide, aka 21:9. There's a rare wider one that's basically 2 widescreens together, I assume it's 32:9.

Refresh rates have also gone up, with 144hz monitors being more common now. To help with this, there have been advances in variable refresh rate technologies that in short remove tearing. NVidia brought out G-Sync first, which is the best one at the moment but it's limited to their GPUs. AMD have Freesync which just had it's 2nd version (looks to be about equal to G-Sync) and the HDMI standard itself is adding VRR in future versions so it could be a lot more widespread in future.