what to look for when buying a gaming computer

If you don’t mind some mild tinkering (something that parts manufacturers are making easier all the time), you can save yourself thousands of dollars across the life of your PC by gradually upgrading individual components. There are small systems such as the Falcon Northwest Tiki, midsize towers like the Acer Predator G1, and monoliths like the Origin Millenium. But in those cases, you need to know what you’re doing. PCWorld helps you navigate the PC ecosystem to find the products you want and the advice you need to get the job done. When buying a gaming PC, always ask how upgradable it is. Model numbers tell you much of the story here, with higher numbered cards typically meaning more performance, though there are some caveats there and overclocked models from third-party GPU partners can close performance gaps between versions. Then again, you’re not buying a $500 GPU just to run Quicken. We encourage you to read our updated PRIVACY POLICY and COOKIE POLICY. In general, I avoid most overclocked graphics cards--you don’t get much additional performance, and you may run into stability issues in the long term. But they are exceedingly easy to work with because they have enough space for anything you want to put in them, including your hands, which can be super helpful if you have large mitts. Whichever drive you buy, make sure the SSD you choose as your primary storage device contains the operating system. You’ll already know if you need a specific feature like Wi-Fi or a niche connector. Because of the way game’s graphics are somewhat leashed to console generations, even much older PC hardware will be able to play games reasonably well until at least we get another major console iteration. If you like the post, share it with your friends. The RTX 2060 Super is almost as powerful as the more costly RTX 2070, for example. Why not also read: The Best Dragon Age Origin MODs. Though once a great choice for high-end gaming, today, multi-card configurations often run into driver or game support issues that prevent them from unlocking their full potential. 25 Best Nintendo Switch games you can play right now, The 20 best PS4 exclusives that you need to play. If Destiny 2 alone uses 6GB of system memory while it’s running, you need ample more available for everything else. It completes the whole process of input and processing of the data. The graphics card and CPU should receive the bulk of your budget for improving how a game looks. If you’re somewhat serious about gaming, the graphics card is where you should pay the most attention. It’s important to weigh your investment in the right components. 3 Common Blogger Limiting Beliefs to Let Go for Good, Best 5 Laptop For Game Enthusiasts That Comes Under Your Budget, Serious Gamer? But you can get away with 8GB if you’re playing older games, or don’t mind sacrificing detail or frame rate to make additional savings. What to Look For in a Gaming PC Below I go over the basic specifications you should prioritize when buying a gaming PC and how to get the most of your purchase of a prebuilt rig. But if you want a whisper-quiet PC and/or want to push it beyond its basic specifications, thinking about advanced cooling is a good idea. But I also do photo and video editing, plus other tasks that can take advantage of six cores and twelve threads. Solid-state drives are not only far faster than hard drives, but they’re also much cheaper than they used to be. The whole task you did on the PC is processed by the RAM. If you want to game at 1440p at decent frame rates, you need something more powerful like the RTX 2060 or RX 5700. These steps will ensure that you buy a reliable and robust Gaming PC. Most modern motherboards are dual-channel, with a few higher-end, socket 2011 boards supporting quad memory channels. The motherboard is considered as the heart of any PC. That said, if you can afford to splurge now, you might actually end up saving yourself some cash in the future. Having a good GPU goes a long way in processing and rendering realistic graphics at lightning speed. When you buy a gaming desktop, whether it’s one you built yourself, a custom gaming rig, or a premade model from Dell or HP, the processor will be the first specification you see — and for good reason. So if your system budget is $1000, for instance, don’t spend more than about $330 on the graphics hardware. On the budget end, Intel recently shipped the Core i5-3450, which you can find for under $200; it can run in lower-cost motherboards based on Intel’s LGA 1155 socket. The processor is considered as Brain of your PC. If turn-based war games scratch your gaming itch, a fast CPU to process the AI more quickly may be more important than a high-end GPU. The Titan is a big, extremely powerful laptop that will devour even the most intense games, and comes packed with extra features, like a G-sync display and a 512GB solid state drive. The Top Things to Look for in a Gaming PC 1. The high capacity CPU and GPU generate quite some heat. Cooling systems vary from the conventional fan systems to water-cooled cases for those high-end gaming PCs that pull all the stops. The cooling system differs depending on the kind of system you’re running. All rights reserved. These are often so large that they won’t fit on top of a desk without hanging off the front or rear. Once you understand which types of games you’ll be playing, you should think about the GPU. Civilization VThe other issue that’s shaping games today is the blurring of genres. It stores and processes data as it’s actively used in the system on a short-term basis. In terms of performance, a laptop will always cost you more than a desktop - you pay a premium for portability. Real-time strategy games often require a balance between graphics and CPU. A full tower system may carry a slight price premium over a mid-tower. If you only play games on your desktop, Intel’s 9900K and 9900KS will enable the best frame rates, but their value elsewhere is diminished. Multiple cards are also louder and hotter than a single card. You might prefer a high-end card for several reasons. They are unobtrusive and fit where larger systems simply can’t. However, thanks to current pricing, a six-core chip is a good place to start. Never buy a poor PSU, as a cheap one can die and take other components with it. © A gaming laptop is a rig on the go, with the power to play games in a size you can take with you. SSD stands for Solid-state Drive and considered as more durable and reliable than the normal hard disks. Whether you’re on a budget or looking for the best gaming PC money can buy, knowing what matters and what doesn’t is crucial. When it comes to video games, console platforms like Xbox and Playstation tend to get all of the attention — but if you’re looking for the absolute cutting edge of gaming technology, you’ll need to get a gaming PC.. Gaming computers are like gaming … It will not only provide an excellent experience but also shield you from having to replace it as you go for more demanding games. Go for a versatile motherboard with the ability to handle more hard drives, graphics cards and other components that you might want to add once you buy the PC or in the future. Hard Disk is an electronic magnetic tape that stores the data. An older 2.5-inch SATA SSD for $60 will perform almost as well as a $200 NVMe drive with the same capacity. If you’re already invested in a sweet gaming chair, high end display, and surround sound, or spend most of your time gaming at home, a desktop is probably for you. It might cost you quite a bit, but it's worthwhile. With these few tips, you have everything you need to go out and pick the best gaming PC possible. You will receive a verification email shortly. There are smaller options, but they are harder to modify, typically louder, and don’t necessarily support all of your hardware choices. Any money that might be spent on RAM beyond 16GB should instead be put towards a component that has a bigger impact on performance. Looking at gaming systems at a purely technological level is generally a mistake, however. One often confusing element of graphics cards is video memory (or VRAM). Going small can limit future upgrade options, however, and some pint-sized PCs make a lot of noise. Learn more about PCWorld's Digital Editions. For a complete analysis of their current line, check out our guide to Alienware gaming PCs. Building or buying a gaming PC can be a complex and mystifying process, with manufacturers tossing around terms like Shader Model 5, DirectX, SLI, liquid cooling, and GDDR5. Nvidia and AMD are one of the leading graphics card providers. He is a full-time Blogger and loves to Write Latest Technology trends. They’re not cheap either. JavaScript seems to be disabled in your browser. Once you have all the performance components sorted out, your priority now shifts to the graphics. If it’s a laptop you’re looking for, personally, I’d recommend MSI GT75 Titan if you’re a power gamer who prioritized mobility. Want to play Doom Eternal? If you want to play using higher detail settings and to futureproof your system, 8GB is worth spending a few more dollars on, but it’s not strictly necessary, especially at lower resolutions. Required fields are marked *, How to Recover permanently deleted files from your PC. The motherboard is considered as the heart of any PC. Diablo IIIPC gaming is big again. If it's not up to the task, you will have a lot of problems, particularly freezing as the CPU tries to catch up and process all of the requests. However, that shouldn’t be a reason for you to overthink it and end up compromising other components. High … If you’re on a budget, pick the most important parts first. It’s one of the most important factors and one that you shouldn’t hold back on. Copyright © 2020 IDG Communications, Inc. On the other hand, you don’t want to spend too much. GPU stands Graphics Processing Unit. If there’s a new round of graphics cards or processors looming large on the horizon, being patience until they launch might net you significant savings on builds that feature the hardware they’re replacing. It’s better to fall back on the tried-and-true method for making any PC purchase: considering your budget and your needs. It’s worthwhile to go with at least 8GB of memory, if you’re running a 64-bit version of Windows. How much can you spend? If you really want a high-end platform, Intel makes the Core i7-3820, a quad-core processor that plugs into the LGA 2011 socket. I Like this article for gaming computer information which i am exactly looking for . It is volatile memory and one of the crucial component of your PC. It’s worth noting that even dual-channel systems running Ivy Bridge CPUs can pump out nearly 30GB per second of peak memory bandwidth, which is plenty for most games. A good amount of RAM is definitely helped PC to run faster and smoother. Unless you’re on an extreme budget, a four-core chip should be as low as you go, lest you run into performance issues with some software and games. Unlike CPUs, newer-generation GPUs often perform significantly better than previous generations do. Best Console-Style Prebuilt PC for Your Living Room. Today there are two types of RAM available DDR3 and DDR4. Here is a look at all that makes the best gaming PC. We asked an expert. They’re more of a benefit if you do frequent file transfers, video editing, or don’t mind spending quite a lot more for a slight performance edge in real-world usage. If you prefer Razer for your gaming laptop needs, on the other hand, take a peek at our complete guide to Razer gaming laptops.

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