Alright folks, this is it. I finally am about to start playing this so called godly game. I am very excited and already loving the main menu. I did not start the game yet. But oh booyyy... the menu was awesome, the background sound is just beautiful. I can already tell I am gonna have a huge blast.

Now tell me, are there any mods that you guys recommend or should I just play vanilla? Should I download mods that improve graphics? Or nah?

And any general tips/advices before I get started?

This really depends on how many games you plan on buying/own and when. Consoles would actually be much more expensive if you plan on owning more than let's say 10 games because 10 times 60 is what? 600 bucks. That's pretty high. Console games are more expensive than PC games. Steam, humble bundle, and other sites offer amazing deals that no other can beat. For example, I bought 4-5 big budget games from humble bundle for a... DOLLAR. Yeah, you heard it folks, for a DOLLAR. Just one sexy shiny little dollar for 4-5 big games. The games were Dead Space, Burnout Paradise, Crysis 2, Dead space 3, medal of honor, Mirror's Edge, Battlefield 3, Command & Conquer:Red Alert 3, and Populous. Sorry i cannot exactly remember, I either spent 5 dollars or just a dollar for all of that. Regardless, it still beats anything that consoles have to offer BY FARRRR.... I still did buy bunch of other bundles for only a dollar that includes 4 big budget games ;)

Console games are much more expensive. So yeah, this really depends on how smart you wanna be about it when buying games and if you're a patient/conservative person, PC gaming is actually really a lot cheaper in the long run if you plan on buying more than 10 games no matter the initial costs.

No wonder why I have like about 250-300 pc games.... And paid no more than a grand or less for them for sure...... LOL.

You console peasants got OWNED!

/thread

@KHAndAnime: Lol this is why I bought Windows 7 instead of 8 for my PC gaming build.

In addition to those problems mentioned, I was having a very hard time to get the Sims 3 working on my step sister's computer which she had windows 8 on. I have tried all the solutions found on the web and the game still kept crashing. So, we got her windows 7 instead with the same computer specs... and bingo, everything works.

Windows 7 >>>>>>>>>>>> windows 8 for gaming.

Sure, you can try and fix the games... but it's TIME CONSUMING.... Not worth it. It took me hooourrrsss... to try and get that sims 3 to work.

EDIT: Oh you say it can happen on any operating system... well what I said is still somewhat relevant. And not to mention there are far more solutions on 7 than 8 on the web.

*looks at names* *looks at number of posts*

LOL.

Maybe you can find a mod that does that. But I never seen such thing.

There is also ALOT of good quality free games out there, including free-to-play. Although some free-to-play titles are pay-to-win.

@Weird_Jerk: Ok cool thanks man.

What you guys think about the latest build? I will order some parts today.

About the monitor, what specs should I only care about besides the screen size? Does contrast ratio and any response time less than 7ms matter? What about brightness ratio? Any noticeable differences between 250 or 300 cd/m^2 brightness or 50,000,000:1 or 80,000,000:1 ratio?? And I gotta look for a different monitor. The promo code and the price changed, it is now 199.99. Too much.

You guys know any good after market cooler for R9 280??

Do motherboards come with drive cages? Is it a must to put GPU in a drive cage? And if I get an aftermarket cooler, will it also fit in the drive cage along with the GPU?

EDIT: Lol sorry about double posts... I didn't notice that my messages went on to the next page.

And about the Rosewill case. I don't care much about having a frontal USB 3.0 port. Just as long as I at least have one in the rear, i'll be ok. And if cases don't come with usb 3.0, can't ya just make up for it by having a mobo that comes with USB 3.0??

EDIT: Alright guys... this should be finally it... hopefully.

Sapphire Dual-X R9 280

I5-4460

G. Skill Ripjaws X (2x4GB) 2400 or Cosair Vengeance (2x4GB) 1600 Not sure which one to get but I should go with the ripjaws because of higher memory?

MSI Z97 MATE ATX

Rosewill CHALLENGER ATX Mid Tower Case

Corsair Builder 750W

Western Digital 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM

Asus VN248H-P 23.8" Monitor

Asus DRW-24F1ST DVD/CD Writer

Ok... am I missing anything else besides Windows 7 and possibly an aftermarket cooler for the GPU? And ultimately, what do you guys think of this build?

All of this accumulates up to $990.73. Which is ok. Definitely do not want to spend over 1k. That is the maximum.

What is a drive cage and is this necessary? Is it a must to fit the GPU in it?