New to PC Gaming, I feel completely lost on how to start.

[GSXR1000]

Any advice concerning on getting my first gaming PC would be greatly appreciated here. First of all to preface, I'm not a hardcore gamer and probably most of the games I'm looking at getting in to are outdated by most people's standards. I'm specifically looking to try out games like Fallout 4, Starfield, Elite Dangerous, Generation Zero, etc. I may take a look at more modern games with more demanding requirements in the future, time will tell.

Basically the advice I'm looking for is whether or not to buy a gaming PC out of the box or build one. My knowledge of computers is functional, yet still pretty basic. The computer I'm using now is one I picked up for free and threw together by cannibalizing parts from others and cobbling it together with pirated operating systems and programs. So in essence, I'm not completely foreign to tinkering around with this stuff, but am not an expert by any stretch of the word.

As I said, Fallout 4 will be me dipping my toes into the PC gaming hobby so I can't imagine I'll need the best tech out there. I'd like to find or build a gaming PC that has enough power to run the aforementioned games with perhaps a bit extra umph so that it's not immediately outdated should I decide to branch out. I'm not terribly concerned about running games at their peak performance settings but would like to run higher frame rates, resolutions, etc. than the standard, especially if I decide to upgrade to better monitors and peripheral equipment to create a more immersive experience.

As it sits right now I've set aside about 1000 dollars I'm willing to throw at this. Is this a realistic price cap for my expectations or do I need to up my funds I'm willing to sink into this? So any recommendations on computers to buy, parts you'd recommend, or even just general suggestions on any aspect of this will be gladly received. Additionally, I tried to give all the pertinent information as to what I want, but if I need to elaborate on anything further, just let me know.

Thanks in advance for any guidance.

 

[Alm]

As it's black friday, there are a few deals on the main site:

https://www.pcgamer.com/black-friday-pc-gaming-deals/

The CyberPower one looks decent to me for under $1000 but I haven't got experience with them so might be best to wait for some feedback from others.

I think with that budget you are looking at 1080p gaming. Is that what you were expecting? Do you have a good monitor already?

The benefits of building your own PC are that you get to choose every part and save a bit of cash. But tbh I think I'm going to get a prebuilt on my next PC. You are only saving 10-15% by building your own. I guess it depends if you enjoy the process.
A lot of people do and swear by building your own.

 

[Inspireless Llama]

Do you need a monitor, speakers / headset, mouse & keyboard as well? Looking at your post I assume you already have them but just making sure here.

If it's just for the PC, I think you can get a fine PC for that budget. Maybe you'll go slightly over it (like @Alm 's suggest PC is €30 over budget), but it doesn't have to be much more.

Now since I'm not in the US I can't really recommend any specific PC's, but do you want to be able to upgrade your PC yourself at some point?
From looking at some reviews, prebuilt PC's surely can work, but it depends on the manufacturer if they have any upgradability. Especially brands that make their own PC's (Dell / HP) make it very difficult to upgrade if you wish to.
If you go for a custom built PC (like CyberPower if I'm correct) it's much easier to upgrade. I'm basing myself on the LTT Secret Shopper here

When talking about building your own PC vs a prebuilt I usually think about the following:
Building your own might be slightly cheaper, and for some of us it's fun. The disadvantage for me comes with warranty. If something doesn't work, every item has it's seperate warranty, terms etc. That's also the advantage (and disadvantage) of a prebuilt PC: If something doesn't work, you can just ship the entire PC back and let them figure it out. But then you're out of a PC for x amount of time.

 

[ZedClampet]

Any advice concerning on getting my first gaming PC would be greatly appreciated here. First of all to preface, I'm not a hardcore gamer and probably most of the games I'm looking at getting in to are outdated by most people's standards. I'm specifically looking to try out games like Fallout 4, Starfield, Elite Dangerous, Generation Zero, etc. I may take a look at more modern games with more demanding requirements in the future, time will tell.

Basically the advice I'm looking for is whether or not to buy a gaming PC out of the box or build one. My knowledge of computers is functional, yet still pretty basic. The computer I'm using now is one I picked up for free and threw together by cannibalizing parts from others and cobbling it together with pirated operating systems and programs. So in essence, I'm not completely foreign to tinkering around with this stuff, but am not an expert by any stretch of the word.

As I said, Fallout 4 will be me dipping my toes into the PC gaming hobby so I can't imagine I'll need the best tech out there. I'd like to find or build a gaming PC that has enough power to run the aforementioned games with perhaps a bit extra umph so that it's not immediately outdated should I decide to branch out. I'm not terribly concerned about running games at their peak performance settings but would like to run higher frame rates, resolutions, etc. than the standard, especially if I decide to upgrade to better monitors and peripheral equipment to create a more immersive experience.

As it sits right now I've set aside about 1000 dollars I'm willing to throw at this. Is this a realistic price cap for my expectations or do I need to up my funds I'm willing to sink into this? So any recommendations on computers to buy, parts you'd recommend, or even just general suggestions on any aspect of this will be gladly received. Additionally, I tried to give all the pertinent information as to what I want, but if I need to elaborate on anything further, just let me know.

Thanks in advance for any guidance.

Honestly, if you find a really good sale, prebuilt could be cheaper than building it yourself. Since this is Black Friday/Cyber Monday, it's probably one of the few times you can say that. But just go to your favorite store's website and search for "RTX 4060 desktop" or "4050". Pick something out and link to it, and we'll take a look.

Actually, I like this one with the 3070 probably better than anything with a 4060 in it. But the 4060ti linked above may be better.