What makes a good computer for gaming

We use cookies and similar technologies to run this website and help us understand how you use it. We recommend these products based on an intensive research process that's designed to cut through the noise and find the top products in this space. Guided by experts, we spend hours looking into the factors that matter, to bring you these selections. Nowadays, there are plenty of ways a person can enjoy gaming: on a tablet, on a gaming console, on a smartphone.

Shopping for a gaming desktop PC can be a daunting task. The lifeforce of your gaming desktop is its processor. How powerful it is determines how well your machine performs. That said, keep in mind that intensive games require more power and that a user running a dual-core processor would likely need to upgrade sooner than later. Buying a machine packaged with a quad-core processor or higher will set you up with a much more robust gaming experience. Speed: The faster the processor, the more processes it can run at any given time.

High processing speeds measured in GHz translate to quicker access to memory and better multitasking capabilities, both of which can improve your gaming experience. This is basically how much space your computer has to store games and files. Increasing HDD storage is straightforward, and it can be built internally and externally. Random access memory refers to how much space your machine has to store files for short-term use.

This is important for short load times as well as speedy gameplay. Even though processing power plays a vital role in overall performance, many will claim that the graphics card is the most important element of a gaming desktop computer. A graphics card works by converting data into language your monitor can understand, thus delivering an accurate image to the screen.

The more powerful the graphics card is, the smoother the image will be. Your tower or casing will house, protect, and preserve all your computer's main hardware components. Important units like fans and cooling systems rely on having the proper space within the tower, especially if they are being added on later. A good power supply should provide enough energy for everything. Your gaming desktop motherboard is where the internal components connect and communicate with each other. Gaming PCs are some of the most powerful computers on the market.

A cooling system is key to protecting your internal parts from overheating. Some cooling systems include multiple fans that are installed in the tower; others use more advanced solutions like liquid cooling.

The size and construction of your system casing can help you determine which options are best. Storage This is where all the games on your computer reside. Port And Inputs This is where your peripherals like the monitor, mouse, keyboard, and other external hardware can be hooked up. Did you know? Size The first thing that probably comes into your mind is size. Bigger can mean better, but in general, 24 inches should be the starting point.

Shape There is also the issue of getting curved or flat, wide, and ultrawide. Note, though, that some games might not work well with ultrawide screens. Of course, if you can go 4K, then all the better. Refresh Rate Low refresh rates can cause fast-moving images to look blurry. When playing fast-paced action games, make sure to get a monitor with at least a hz refresh rate and a response time of 0. CPU What you want to look for in a CPU as requirements for a good gaming computer are two main things — core and clock speed.

Memory Some high-end games only require 4GB of memory to work properly, but as always, bigger is always better. Size GB of storage is your minimum specs for a gaming PC. Audio Specs for a good gaming computer should always consider headsets. Mouse What makes a good gaming PC mouse is how comfortable it is to use. You can use SD cards as a more compact alternative to external drives.

Choose a mouse suited for the size of your hand. Conclusion Good gaming PC specs mean a machine fully decked out to handle the most demanding games. What do you need for a gaming PC? The Horizon games offer an open-ended driving experience with a variety of challenges and killer soundtracks. The more traditional Motorsport entries offer realistic racing with a slew of cars and tracks. And, as is usually the case, they also make excellent showcases for new gaming hardware.

It brings renowned studios like Bethesda, id and Arkane into the Xbox family, along with popular franchises including Doom, The Elder Scrolls and Fallout. Fans of video games can download unlimited full version games online. People from all over the world compete in or watch esports gaming tournaments. With such widespread coverage, companies can use the opportunity to get their brand noticed by a large number of people from across the world, and all they have to do is sign deals with esports advertising agencies.

Meanwhile, Sony is maintaining rigid divisions between console generations. Games built for the PS5 are free to take advantage of its significant improvements in processing power, graphics capabilities and hardware-driven AI systems. Use the Xbox app for Windows 10 or the Xbox Game Pass mobile app to set up new game alerts, explore the game library and download games to your Xbox console or PC anytime, anywhere.

Most PC game demo would not be complete. They would just be enough to give the player a feel of what the game play is all about. In that short period of time, the player can discern whether the game is good enough to buy the full version. With the high price of video games at present, making sure that the game is worth it is probably the best move for a budget conscious consumer. There are lots of web sites out there that offer downloads of PC game demo.

They would provide links for the games. Sites would provide accurate descriptions of the game and some would even have their own PC game reviews section. There are 3 PCIe slots to add graphics cards, sound cards, and more to even further customize your machine. Want a gaming PC that will make people do a double-take? The Maingear Turbo might be the one to do just that. This compact PC may look fairly unassuming given its small stature and muted design, but a quick peek through the tempered glass side panel will show off what makes this machine purr.

Therefore, you'll have tons of performance potential with 12 cores and little worry over overheating. This combination of hardware will let your compact PC handle just about any gaming demands you have for it, including smooth 4K gaming. This machine is also customizable, so you can pick and choose what it comes loaded with.

Consoles have had the advantage over gaming PCs for their ability to easily slot into media centers and TV stands. This has made them an easy addition to living rooms for gaming, but the MSI Trident 3 turns the tables. The MSI Trident 3 comes in at just 3. A PlayStation 5. Meanwhile, the RTX inside will offer up great visuals. This experience is nearly indistinguishable from native 4K without the same performance hit of that higher resolution.

The Corsair Vengeance a Series brings it. Like the Intel-based Vengeance i, this model comes built into a Corsair D Airflow case for phenomenal airflow to keep your system cool even under pressure, not to mention the computer comes with a bunch of fans.

In this configuration, Corsair is including a water-cooler AMD Ryzen 9 X with plenty of cores to handle your gaming and streaming at the same time. Meanwhile, the RTX Ti can deliver exceptional graphics in your games and even help facilitate your streaming with Nvidia ShadowPlay.

Getting your gaming PC prebuilt can save a lot of time and hassle for you, and this is still the case no matter where you are in the world. We've cheated a little bit with this, as plenty of the options on our list are available to purchase and shipped to the UK.

Newegg, for example, will ship several brilliant pre-builds, all the way from the US to the UK. Costs for shipping, and the PCs in general, are low, so you shouldn't have any worries going forward. Below we 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.

We also explain a few alternative options you might find of interest as well.