Do I need to build a "gaming" computer?

[InbetweenDreams]

So currently I have a laptop, which isn't really suited for games (integrated graphics card, etc.). I haven't had a desktop PC for a while. While there is one in the house, it's definitely not a game PC. It's mostly used for the business and other type things. My partner does video editing on a separate computer but I don't really want to go into that one, it's his and I don't want to mess with it.

Truthfully, I don't think I don't have real desire to play Street Fighter V. I considered it but I don't think I'm all that impressed enough to invest money into a system to play it. Street Fighter IV however, yes. I have it for consoles but I always wanted to mess around with the PC mods/skins.

I'm against considering a gaming laptop, mostly because I've never read any good news about them. I'm leaning more towards building a PC but I'm not totally sure just yet. Building wouldn't really be out of the question ability wise, money would just be the issue. My partner is an engineer, so electronics and components are second nature to him. If I got stuck with something, he could figure it out I'm sure. I did tinker around with a desktop PC I had years ago, so I was/am a little familiar with swapping parts out as well.

What kind of graphics card is in your current laptop? It doesn't look like the requirements are steep to play that game...and most of the other games ought to run on just about anything.

The nice thing about building it yourself is that you can buy the components as you go. The biggest thing to keep in mind is that the motherboard socket and CPU all match. So if you buy a socket 1155 CPU you need to pair it with a socket 1155 board. The next being memory, if your board uses DDR4 be sure use DDR4 memory also look at the clock speed that the board can support. All sounds pretty "duh" but when you're looking around on places like Newegg or Amazon it is very easy to accidentally order the wrong thing....I've almost slipped up myself a time or two.

Once I get some time I'll sit down and do a mock up of a gaming system you could build for around $800.