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If you are looking to build or buy a gaming PC, make sure you get the right components. Compared to an everyday home PC, gaming PCs have to have higher-end hardware to run graphics-intensive tasks. If you do not equip your gaming PC with good hardware, your games will run poorly — the frame rate will suffer making for choppy games and performance lags. In addition, you will not be able to experience your games fully since the graphics options you can enable will be limited.
Here is a look at the three most important gaming computer components you should get in order to have a more satisfying gaming experience.
* High-End Graphics Card
You will need to splurge a bit to on a hardware accelerated graphics card in order for your system to run PC games smoothly. Opt for one that uses a PCI Express expansion slot instead of the older AGP standard. If you cannot afford the latest graphics cards, buy the next best card that fits your budget. Pick one with more video RAM if you want to play games at higher resolutions.
If you have the extra cash, you can purchase and run two video cards simultaneously to increase video quality and performance. This is possible for motherboards that support Nvidia’s SLI technology or ATI’s CrossFire technology.
* Fast CPU
The speed of your gaming PC’s central processing unit, or CPU, should be fast enough to run and accommodate game processes without any hitch. Some great CPUs to consider include Intel’s Pentium Dual Core, Core i7, Core 2 Duo, or Core 2 Quad; Phenom; and AMD’s Athlon 64 X2. For even faster performance, pick a CPU with an L2 cache of at least 2 MB.
* Extra RAM
Gaming computers use RAM to temporarily store non-graphical resources when you are playing an immersive PC game. The more random access memory, or RAM, your gaming rig has, the faster and smoother your gaming experience. With at least 2 GB of RAM, you can set up a good gaming PC. Hardcore gaming rigs can sport as much as 16 GB of RAM.
Your gaming PC can also benefit from a large monitor, a bigger hard drive, and a good sound card. Make sure that your motherboard can accommodate all your gaming computer components, especially your graphics cards (if you opt for two), sound card and RAM. Your motherboard should also have at least two USB slots so you can use multiple USB devices at once.
A gaming PC is generally an expensive investment but you are paying for performance here. Without a high-end video card and CPU and more RAM, your computer will have difficulty running today’s latest PC games.
Gaming Components
If you are going to be doing some serious gaming you might also want to consider a bigger hard drive, bigger monitor, and a good sound card. These can also increase your gaming experience. When you are looking to upgrade your computers components for gaming, you should also make sure that your motherboard supports all of the new components that you are buying. |