How to choose a Gaming PC and components?



How to choose a Gaming PC and components?



Before start, i want you to know that this article is supported with my own experiences of last 20 years. I will appreciate if you give credit when you share :J





by Salim Sedat Pala 04/01/2020

Building a computer is relatively easy task with couple of steps. Or buying a prebuilt system from online stores. But the thing is; "Are you spending your money wisely?"
This articles is about to build or buy the best Gaming PC for your budget! Not the best in the market! Let's do it in easy steps and subtitles:


1.CHOOSE YOUR DESIRED RESOLUTION BEFORE START ANYTHING


This is the most imported step prior to build/buy a Gaming PC. Let me explain more:

There are well known resolutions such as 1080p, 1440p and 4K you can focus on. Each has pros and cons. But the trick is, if you focus or target high resolution, this will effect your budget dramaticly. Need any calculations? Here comes:

1080P


1080p is budget friendly yet efficient resolution allrounder for all gamers (Don't forget, used even the professional tournaments). For the monitor, you can go cheaper than 1440p and 4K, also you can step up higher refresh rates (120HZ, 144HZ or 240Hz) for a smooth gaming. So you can choose a moderate GPU (Graphical Processor Unit) well known name as Graphic Card, which will be ok to go for mid level GPU, provide you a desired Frame Rates matching with your monitor. This will save a lot money for your gaming RIG.

1440P


This resolution is getting more popular during years hence the new mid level GPU's are able to power-feed it. It is always nice to play in higher resolutions and better image qualities but it comes for a cost. Higher resolution needs more powerful GPU and more money. So keep in mind this option only you reserved a budget for a 1440p gaming monitor and an upper-mid range GPU.

4K


Well yes, conflict begins. Who doesn't want 4K resolution GTA V with a frame rate of 144? Then prepare to spend the world to get it. This system should be high-end in all aspects including monitor, CPU (Central Processing Unit), GPU, RAM (Read Access Memory), preferable a good motherboard which can feed your powerfull CPU, a good PSU (Power Supply Unit) over 850 Watts etc..



2. AND HERE COMES THE MONITOR


We choose the target resolution and now we will choose our monitor. It never matters how our system is well and powerful if we don't see the result properly. I mean it's really important step for us to choose the best fitting monitor to our budget. There are lot's of them in the market with a wide range of value and specs. You don't need them all but you need one suits your build. Before choosing you should know couple of things for monitors:



RESOLUTION


As i explain before, previous step you already chose that. Go for 1080P, 1440P or 4K for your desire.

REFRESH RATE


Standard refresh rate for all Monitors are 60Hz. Every monitor supports this rate and Windows are set to adapted in this row. But we are gamers and we want more, right? Yes then here comes 120Hz, 144Hz and up to 240Hz rates relatively under specs of different manufacturers and models. Higher refresh rate means smooth moves. Especially if you are playing FPS (First Person Shooter) Games, it matters. Also it will give a sense to feel the colours better which is effecting to locate enemy players more than 60Hz.

In 1080P you are lucky, you can find 60Hz to 240Hz monitors but 1440P there is no option for 240Hz. 4K is only supported with 144Hz from ASUS, and it is veeery expensive.

ASPECT RATIO


16:9 (regular widescreen), 16:10 (old but gold widescreen) and 21:9 (new meta ultra-widescreen). My personal favourite is 16:10 but to be honest the best option is widely supported 16:9 right now. This is optimized for all GPU drivers and well supported by all games. 21:9 is new meta for extream gamers and streamers since has a wide view angle to read split screen chat. Also it can be handy in strategy or map oriented games like League Of Legends.

PANEL


TN or IPS is only options for gamers. TN is relatively cheaper and older tech compared to IPS. IPS gives you good view and colour angles than TN. But for me i will go for even TN to save extra money.

G-SYNC or FREESYNC


These technologies are for gamers to boost your refresh rate create the max smoothness using and internal dedicated chip. Of course with a price cost. AMD GPUs supports Freesync and NVIDIAs supports G-Sync. But the latest news are good for gamers because now even Nvidia has Freesysnc support. Not a must but a good to go option.

3. INTERNAL COMPONENTS


Now we can build our components easly the way we chose. I will divide components and reasons to choose:

CPU


The chip that rule them all! For gaming i suggest you go for new AMD Zen 2 chips (3rd Gen) which can handle games and productivity at the same time thanks to high count of cores and threads. For moderate gaming Ryzen 5 3600 (6 Cores 12 Threads) is sweetspot value for money. Also 3700x and 3900x are overolls good options for 1440p and up. Intel has some good CPUs cush as I5 9600K, I7 9700K and I9 9900K but they are more expensive from AMD counterparts and not coming with a proper CPU Cooler.

MOTHERBOARD


Very important check here for feeding CPU and GPU with VRM (Power distribution) and durability of the system which we need for loooong gaming hours.

Entry level: For Ryzen 3rd gen go for B450 chipset

Mid level: Again for Ryzen go for X470 chipset

High End: x570 all the way and a good model of MSI, ASUS or GIGABYTE (Because this 3 brand support is better than others)

Intel on the other hand, always go for Z390 chipset for the new I3, I5, I7 and I9 CPUs.

GRAPHIC CARD


Everyone is waiting for this, right? Winner is obvious since they have full support from developers teams, driver support from manufacturers. Nvidia RTX series. Below i write a divination of performance base over cost list for GPUs (With priority order) :

1080P


Entry: RTX 2060 Super > AMD Radeon RX 5700 > RTX 2060 > Radeon RX 580 8Gb > Radeon RX 570 4Gb

Mid: RTX 2070 Super > AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT > RTX 2070 > GTX 1070 TI (Still Good)

High: All Mid range will give you overkill performance and this section will not be available for 1080p

1440P


Entry: RTX 2070 Super > AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT > RTX 2070 > RTX 2060 Super

Mid: RTX 2080 > GTX 1080 TI > GTX 1080 > Radeon Vega 64 > Radeon Vega 56

High: RTX 2080 TI > RTX 2080 Super

4K


You can play startin from RTX 2070 but i prefer 70 FPS and up. So the options only are RTX 2080 TI > RTX 2080 Super > RTX 2080

People can say "I have Vega 56 and i am playing smooth 4K with no regrets" True, but not with my standarts!

RAM


First thing first, always prefer double channel RAM modules over singles. I mean instead of one 16 Gb, prefer 2x8 Gb for better performance.

There are couple of options effects performance of your Gaming PC in RAM. The speed of the RAM and Latency (CL) of the RAM.

AMD CPUs works better and faster with faster memories, INTEL CPUs works better with lower Latency RAM Modules.

For AMD always go for Minimum 3200 Mhz RAMs. For INTEL go for CL14 (If possible) if not CL15 minimum.

RGB factor is only a visual but is a sweet option with a less additional cost novadays.

STORAGE


Whatever is the cost always go for SSD. At least boot drive must be SSD (M.2 or SSD) for a fast boot time and speedy compute. You can go for small size SSD/M.2 for that and buy a second drive a capacity starting from 1Tb HDD (Hard Disk Drive).

PSU


People thinks this is an overrated and not that important! No it is! Imagine you have a car which is 5000kg and you are using 75 Hp Engine to move. Not a good example but fair enough to take attention how much it is important.

There are several standards of PSU and many certification as per universal standards. But i will tell you simple below:

Minimum gaming PSU should be 550 Watts (Go always more than 650 Watts)

For entry level system which i mentioned before min should be 550 Watts. Recommended is 65o Watts Bronze 80+

For mid level between 650 Watts to 850 Watts is perfect.

For high end systems 850 plus Gold 80+ will be a sweetspot.

Also you should know that there are 3 type of PSUs as form factors. Non-Modular, Semi-Modular and Fully Modular. It will only effect cable management better if you go for a modular PSU because you will have the option to choose the right cable to use in specific connection.

CASE


Gaming, Non-Gaming, Server or whatever! First you need a case with a good air ventilation. Interior intake fans and back exhaust fan. This is the must for the case. Then decide RGB,LED and other visual options.



This informations lead you to build or buy a good gaming PC as per your requirements. I tried to issue all the major topics (not deep as it has to be) so you can decide mostly by your own.

If you need any assistance, i am here and gladly help you for FREE!

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