PC games recommendations 2019

[TrashyMG]

May want to check Newegg, often they have sales that would drop a more expensive laptop down to the price range you're looking for. Their search page is good to find what you want, but then you may want to check amazon if they have the same thing for cheaper.

https://www.newegg.com/p/pl?Submit=...Id=1&cm_sp=Cat_Laptops_2-_-VisNav-_-15.6-Inch

 

[Chip]

You don't. If you're determined to get a laptop and you have to shop at best buy, then it is what it is. You can build a halfway decent gaming PC for $500, but you can't get a decent gaming laptop for that kind of money. Either save more, build a desktop (seriously, it's not hard), or settle for a laptop with integrated graphics. Those are your choices.

You should be able to get a ryzen 5 laptop for around $500, and that will be nearly as good as whatever discrete GPU a <$800 gaming laptop comes with these days.

 

[Grench]

I only tried the Diamond Edition (that should work correctly on the Pyra indeed), not the Enhanced Edition (that I don't own). No idea how different they can be (probably quite different).

The Diamond Edition (1.6) was pretty much where Bioware got to when they decided to stop supporting the game. Then a few years ago the online world/game listing included in the DE went down - leaving the NWN community in a lurch. Direct IP connect still worked and the community made workarounds. This is a dead end fork of the game now. There are still a few worlds out there on this older version, but most I know of are actively trying to move to EE.

More recently, though, Beamdog has taken over the updating, care and maintenance of Neverwinter Nights and released 1.7X (Neverwinter Nights Enhanced Eddition or NWN:EE). Lots of bug fixes, ported to Windows, Linux, Mac and now Android (playable-ish on a Planet Computers Gemini). This fork of the game is alive and supported - and played. This is the one I linked above from Steam. The $12 for NWN:EE is a great price to upgrade from the Diamond Edition.

Mechanically - and likely CPU overhead - they're going to be pretty much identical from a 'will it run on pyra?' perspective. NWN:EE is simply a better and more stable and updated version with the multiplayer functions returned.

 

[kuru]

What's great about a proper PC's modularity is that you can get used parts. I bought a used rx 570 for 80€ yesterday.
Edit: Also much easier to keep clean. And repair.

 

[Chip]

I want a laptop with dedicated graphics though,

...

And before anyone asks: I don't even wanna discuss buying parts online and assembling them. I would even need someone to explain that stuff to me before I could do it.

Is there a legitimate reason you need a laptop, or do you just kinda want one because they look cool? I'm not trying to tell you haw to spend your money (or what I'm inferring is probably your parents' money), but "gaming laptops" are always an unpleasant compromise. An entry-level gaming laptop will cost at least twice as much as an equivalent desktop, and you're going to be stuck with entry-level hardware for the life of the device. A desktop can be upgraded as funds allow.

Building a PC is incredibly easy. It's not like in the bad old days where you had to fiddle with jumpers and suss out com ports and fiddle with config files for ages just to get up and running. Everything is plug-and-play and dead simple to assemble. There are less than a dozen components and it's nearly impossible to get it so wrong that you break something.

I don't think we can help you convince your parents to spend more on a gaming laptop, because honestly, it's not a good idea. What they might be convinced of is that if they allowed you to buy parts online at stores other than best buy, you would not only get a much better value, but would learn how to build a PC - and that's actually a useful skill. There are literally hundreds of tutorials on youtube, and you can basically just pick any of them at random, watch it once, and you'll be fine.



Here's a fairly respectable gaming build that is within your budget and will run rings around any laptop at twice the price:

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 3 2200G 3.5 GHz Quad-Core Processor ($86.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock - B450M-HDV R4.0 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($59.89 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Team - T-FORCE VULCAN Z 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($60.97 @ Newegg)
Storage: Patriot - Burst 480 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($48.13 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1650 4 GB XC ULTRA GAMING Video Card ($175.17 @ Newegg)
Case: Deepcool - MATREXX 30 MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($32.08 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA - BT 450 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($32.08 @ Amazon)
Total: $495.21
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-06-28 09:04 EDT-0400

 

[JDTAY]

It's not my parents' money. I do live on my own, but I'm high functioning developmentally disabled, so I get disability income and live in an apartment where there's staff during the daytime, and they help with stuff like my finances. I'm supposed to keep my bank account, which they're a representative on, under $3000 in order to stay on Medicaid, though I do also have Medicare. My account, after paying this month's bills, was around $1500. So after next month's deposit and bills, I'll have at least that much to spare.

That said, I guess I don't need the laptop form factor... Plus, they do want me to get some new clothes and stuff the same day I get the computer. But convincing them to do online parts shopping would be hard. They wanted to go to Best Buy so I could walk out same day with a working computer. Hmmm, I guess I'll try seeing what their desktops go for.

 

[Chip]

Then to be honest, you're probably hosed. Pre-builts are almost as big a ripoff as laptops - especially at best buy. It's a shame you're not within driving distance of a microcenter.

If I were in your shoes, I'd spend $500 on a normal desktop PC and upgrade to a discrete GPU later as funds allow.

 

[pmprog]

Building a PC is incredibly easy. It's not like in the bad old days where you had to fiddle with jumpers and suss out com ports and fiddle with config files for ages just to get up and running. Everything is plug-and-play and dead simple to assemble. There are less than a dozen components and it's nearly impossible to get it so wrong that you break something.

Really, last time i built one, i had a choice of several CPUs, all with different sockets, which meant having to find the right motherboard to fit, then there was the memory, was it ddr2, ddr3, lddr3, 1333 or 1800 (my numbers might be inaccurate, because it was a whole ago). I always remember some boards required memory slots to be filled in twos, don't know if this is still the case... But there was plenty of caveats to keep me looking...

... That said though, the physical build was straightforward

 

[ible]

PC part picker helps with ensuring you'll get components that match (e.g. CPU socket to correct motherboard, RAM specs, etc.).

i'm a bit strange in that i don't need a full discrete GPU to make my life better (e.g. with gaming). i tend to just code or watch youtube on my laptop, though i did up some specs (probably unnecessarily).

 

[JDTAY]

Guys, some good news. It turns out we're going to go shopping around at more places than just Best Buy. Specifically, I was told Sam's Club will be on the list too. Do they have good stuff?

 

[levi]

Yeah, I don't run GPUs these days normally. Even the two machines I run now, one with an Atom N280 and one with a 64-bit Penitum D E2220 I find the in-built graphics can handle OpenGL 2.0, and that's enough to run VVVVVV and Mednafen if the mood takes me. But like you I mainly watch games on youtube these days. If I were to buy a modern computer (other than a Pyra) at any point, I wouldn't spec up a GPU and just live with only being able to play slightly older games.

 

[pmprog]

Never used it, but sounds useful

 

[JDTAY]

Having that older, but still in-box, Nitro 5 model for $579 this week would've been pretty sweet, and it sounded like my finance person would've let me go up to that price, but they really wanted to make me wait until July for my laptop. Welp.

It's just that the week before, the lowest offer on an in-box Nitro 5 at Best Buy was well over $600, so there's no telling what next week's offer will be. I'm patiently awaiting their Sunday ad.

Sorry about derailing my own thread...

 

[spud42]

Here's a fairly respectable gaming build that is within your budget and will run rings around any laptop at twice the price:

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 3 2200G 3.5 GHz Quad-Core Processor ($86.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock - B450M-HDV R4.0 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($59.89 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Team - T-FORCE VULCAN Z 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($60.97 @ Newegg)
Storage: Patriot - Burst 480 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($48.13 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1650 4 GB XC ULTRA GAMING Video Card ($175.17 @ Newegg)
Case: Deepcool - MATREXX 30 MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($32.08 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA - BT 450 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($32.08 @ Amazon)
Total: $495.21
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-06-28 09:04 EDT-0400

yes it is easy to build your own, but what you have failed to account for in this pick list is a monitor a keyboard and a mouse.
a PC is pretty useless without these three things. i am assuming that as he was looking for a laptop he does not have a functioning monitor at least.
unless you were expecting the PC to be hooked up to the TV?? but still need keyboard and mouse.

 

[JDTAY]

Well, that $579 Nitro 5 sold out between the last time I checked Best Buy's website and now. Good thing too, I was considering annoying my finance person on their day off, but now there's no point.

Well, they do also have a $575 Nitro 5 in stock now, but it has no SSD. Hopefully next week's deal is better.
[doublepost=1561833043,1561818929][/doublepost]I heard various retailers might have a good sale the week of July 15th and 16th, because that's when Amazon is doing Prime Day sales. Is it worth holding my breath on that for computer shopping? It wouldn't even start until after my birthday.

Knowing my patience, I won't even make it to the end of next week. The sooner I get something and shut up though, the better, probably.

 

[spud42]

review on the nitro 5 and nitro 7

 

[FaeMinx]

Honestly, I see no reason why you cannot go to your finance person and tell them an 'IT professional' has offered to help you pick out components and to further assist in the actual building of the computer (via online assistance here)...
Tell them that this person is very knowledgeable, and that they are helping to make your money go much further than it would via any other route.

Further more, they (this IT Professional) have strongly suggested this route as it will save you lots of money many years down the line (from incremental upgrades over having to buy a whole new computer).

You can go even further and say that this person has kindly offered to help you as an act of compassion (as they are aware of your disability, and your financial situation), and that normally this service would cost significant money (the selection of components and building of a computer).

And as has been suggested earlier, you can *correctly* state that as they are assisting you and not doing it entirely for you, that you yourself will be learning a great deal in the process.

The next step for you to do, and you should do anyway... Is to determine for yourself the components you need within your budget.

So if I were in your shoes, I would hit YouTube and *research*... It may seem tedious, but you will both learn and be kept occupied... And trust me, the sense of satisfaction you will feel after building your own computer will far outweigh any joy you could feel from just taking home some inferior machine from the store shelves.

Just remember to check back here once you think you have a build. Don't impulse buy. Check, check, and check again. It's really easy to build a computer if you've chosen the right components... It's the choosing of components that can be tricky... But I have no doubt you will be able to do it (with a little assistance from us).

I was completely green when I built my computer years ago, and I didn't have any assistance. I was completely boggled when I began, but all that was really required was a lot of reading.

The only mistake I made was to buy a 'factory overclocked' graphics card.... Which ended up burning out a few years later. It seemed like a good deal, but based on experience, I wouldn't trust 'factory overclocked'....
... And on that note.... Each and every component you choose, you should read a number of reviews on. I failed to do that on the graphics card.

Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

 

[JDTAY]

I'm really sorry, but PC building just scares me... Plus, I've kinda settled on the Nitro 5 at Best Buy now, they really aren't that bad of a deal when on sale.

Still no computer as of yet. They want to go shopping on Friday the 12th as of now, but I think I'd rather go this Sunday or Monday, closer to when Best Buy's deals refresh. The way my finance person's schedule is this week though, I'll have to wait until this Saturday to talk to them again about it.

I held off on asking to get a Nitro 5 this week because the one on sale has no SSD and isn't in the store here. There are three Nitro 5 models with SSDs in stock here, so I'll see if any of them go on sale for under $600 this Sunday. They did say they would let me go up to $600 last time I asked, so that's good.

 

[ClockworkCoder]

I'm really sorry, but PC building just scares me

I think that's wise. Building your own can become addictive, and there's always the chance that something may not work as expected (without experience) - both of which can turn out to be expensive in the long run.

On the flipside, building your own also means you can maintain and upgrade as and when yourself (but therein lies the addiction)

 

[JDTAY]

I'm kinda bored sitting around until next week's Best Buy deals come out, and this is a PC games recommendation thread. Did anyone get anything good from that Steam summer sale?

Hoping I can get my computer on Sunday or Monday so I can catch the tail end of the Steam sale. I'll have like $11 on my prepaid debit card, so I was thinking about Stellaris. Kinda sad that I had to be the first person in this thread to mention a Paradox Interactive game, but oh well. Anyone know what Stellaris is like?