[Fame]

Bit of a disclaimer, my tech knowledge is very low. It’s safe to assume I probably won’t know any specifics so I’m hoping that any help can come in laymen’s terms.

Simply put, I want to buy a new desktop computer that will be able to handle modern games on the highest graphic settings.

Here is what I know so far, I will need a specific graphics card, in addition to that I also need a high amount of ram, I have been told that even if those two elements of a computer are high-end, they might not live to their full potential if I have a weak hard drive. Is that true?

Another bit about that, the last desktop I bought was probably in 2003-2005. SSD ram (I’m throwin that out there, not even sure if it’s the right term) wasn’t a regular option for cheap computers at the time. Since then, the iphone/ipad memory tech evolved to something called “solid state”. My understanding of “solid state” is that there are no moving parts and that allows for better performance of the hardware. Early on I bought a macbook air when they came out, one of the perks I liked was the startup speed. You press power, a few seconds later you were in game. I would like to have that on my desktop.

Since those days, I am under the impression that “solid state” is the new way to go for anything related to gaming or multi-media.

I have a few other concerns that are non-hardware related. Marketing, bigger is better here in America and sometimes we over-do it. I don’t want to pay too much extra for memory/ram/whatever that I would not actually need.

I’m looking for suggestions on the amount and type of ram I should get the graphics card I should choose as well as the hard drive or any other parts that will help my computer run faster.

Also, are any specific places I should order from online? I would like to get a system I can take out of the box, plug in and play with minimal setup or DIY building. I plan to play FPS and MMOs mainly; might do some video editing and I would like the computer to have enough strength to stream some movies, run fraps or a similar program while having little to no effect on the performance of the game I am playing at the time.

I hope this made sense. I’m asking here because this community has drawn some of the most dedicated gamers I have ever known. My thinking is, if you want to build a computer for games, ask for advice from gamers.

Thanks