What do I compromise when I get a gaming PC instead of a normal to high-spec desktop PC?

Also, say I had found a nice PC that I was seriously contemplating on buying, how easy would it be to components of similar/same quality and have someone custom build me a PC? Would it be cheaper? More expensive?

(I'm sorry, I'm new here and so don't have a wealth of knowledge, hence why I chose to seek advise here)

Thanks. =]

EDIT:


I'm from the UK but I'd be most likely purchasing online.

Specs:
As high as possible for the budget of rougly £500 to £8/900.

Thanks again. Sorry for the lack of information, but I hope it's enough for some idea of how much I could get and for what price.

Hey there.

I'm not an expert by any means, but hopefully I can give you a push towards a viable direction.

First off, please state what the specs of the system you were looking are to help us.

Second, you can go to a few online sites to check and see how much each part costs.

Third, depending on if you know someone who can help or even put the system together, or if you'd take it to a store, price for putting it together can vary.

Fourth, what's your budget like? I got some help when building my brother's computer and having a set budget really helps others look at some alternatives to give you more bang for your buck.

Fifth, where are you purchasing the computer from? Canada, USA, or somewhere else? At a physical store or online?

For your first question, I don't think you'd be compromising anything much, but depends on the computers you are looking at and what your needs would be. I think that usually gaming computers tend to be closer to the higher end, specially if you want to be playing the latest and more intensive games out there. I'd use Crysis to test the capability of any gaming computer ( least for now). Can see what the maximum settings are that you can run it on.

Personally I don't think it's really that tough to put it together. The hardest, or most vital part, for which you might want to get some help from someone who knows what they are doing, is installing the CPU into the motherboard and then attaching the CPU cooling. Maybe even the motherboard into the case, though that's fairly straight forward. Beyond that, long as you are in a low static environment (not on carpet), you should be fine installing it yourself. Most new cases, decent cases, have fairly simple designs and easy to install hard drive and disc drive bays.

Personally I like building the computer myself, mainly because then I only have to pay for the cost of the parts. No need to pay for name brand mark-ups or labour. Example, the computer I built for my brother, not the best of comps but better than most I'd say, least at that time and for his budget.
http://www.techspot.com/vb/topic118057.html

Hope that helped a bit. There are a lot more knowledgeable and qualified people on these forums who can further assist you, as some of them helped me.

A good gaming PC IS a high spec desktop PC so you need not sacrifice anything.

Edited and updated first post.

Gaming is one of the most intensive tasks you can do on a PC, surpassed only by certain very specialized business needs and server tasks. Therefore, you do not compromise anything by getting a gaming PC instead of a "normal" PC, except for the fact that the gaming PC will naturally cost more because it offers more performance.

a gaming computer is basically a high end computer

building a pc is obviously more cheaper in most cases and you get more out of it by building it yourself instead of buying factory brand made ones like dell acer hp and etc

you could also just buy a cheap computer with a decent processor and switch the video card to something better

if you're able to get someone to put together parts for you that would also be great, here are some components you could look for since i don't know any sites from UK

with 900 euro, you can buy a top of the line computer

let me know some sites you plan to buy from and ill hook you up with parts

this is a type of build you should go for

i7 920 (processor)
gtx 295 (video card)

Dont need an i7 or a 295 for gaming, its quite extreme, a good core 2 duo, and a mid ranged video card will do well for most monitors if not all under 24"

yeah but his budget is so high =] why not

I'm under the impression the thread starter probably already got what he wanted a little while ago...I don't understand how people dig up these old threads O.o...new posts link ftw?

Well buying a PC from a store and buying a CUSTOM BUILT PC from a custom builder is almost exactly the same...

Ah yes, thanks for marking with a capitalized EDIT caption and another post informing us about your original post .

EDIT:
Oh, and gaming PC's are for gaming.

Not really... PC's you buy from a store (I.E. BestBuy) are dummied down for the average user. A customer builder typically knows a whole lot more about computers than the average store. Your best bet is to build it yourself (if you know how to) or have a friend to do it.

You put forth almost the same effort...