PC Gaming: What Makes a PC a Gaming PC

PC gaming has become so advanced over the years. To enjoy a fulfilling gaming experience, you need a good gaming PC. Among other things, there is equipment, additional accessories, and reliable protection. Of course, the best antivirus for PC gamers 2020 is about low system impact, and in any case, you have to conduct in-depth research online. Nevertheless, the question is what you will prioritize when picking the right gaming instrument.

Concerning device selection, you should know that not all computers that play games are gaming PCs. There are lots of computers with impressive specs, but still not marketed as gaming PCs. This text will help you to know the difference between a gaming PC and an ordinary one.

General computer characteristics

With high-end computers, it's easy to look-and-tell if a PC is designed for gaming or not. However, the same cannot be said with lower-end devices. You may fail to know when an ordinary PC passes the barrier into a gaming computer. The parts that are used for both the regular PC and the gaming PC are quite the same. In both the gaming and regular computers, you can find components such as:

• Motherboard

• Storage drive (HDD or SSD)

• Memory (RAM)

• Processor (CPU)

• Graphics Card (GPU)

• Cooling systems (CPU cooler, fans, etc.)

• Power supply (PSU)

Distinguishing Factors

What will distinguish between a gaming and a regular computer is the power and performance of their components. However, this is a gray area considering that high-end non-gaming PCs may also come with specs similar to cheap gaming PCs. They can smoothly play games played by gaming PCs with zero problems. 

Top Four Defining Gaming PC Components

Although having similar components with regular PCs, gaming PCs will maximize the power and performance of the following computer parts:

Motherboard

The motherboard is an essential component of any computer. It is what determines the overall features of the computer, e.g., the type of processors that can be used, the number of USB ports that can be installed, and the presence of on-board video. If you were to build your gaming computer, getting a befitting motherboard would be your first move. After that, you would need to get a chipset.

The chipsets that are preferred for gaming today have two sought-after features that are SLI and overclocking. Overclocking enables you to speed up your processor manually, and SLI allows the use of multiple NVIDIA graphics cards.

Processor

Although most modern games are GPU intensive, the overall system's performance still depends on the CPU. Thus, gaming PCs also come with powerful processors. You can find core i5 up to core i8 processors in high-end gaming PCs. Although more cores mean better performance, a cheap gaming PC can still get you going. You can choose to buy a lower-end PC with a dual-core processor. Obviously, it trails behind in terms of gaming performance, but it's the least you can settle for.

If you are looking for something in the middle, the Intel Core i5 processor is the way to go. It strikes a perfect balance of power and affordability. You would be even more grateful to find one with a processor model number ending with a K. The processors of these model series can be overclocked if you have the right motherboard.

Since the processor is a challenging component to upgrade, it's recommended to buy a gaming PC that already has the best processor. This will enable your computer to last for many years while replacing and upgrading all the other components, including the RAM, storage, and graphics cards.

GPU

Besides, a dedicated graphics card is the most crucial aspect of gaming PCs. Gaming computers come with powerful graphic cards for a big boost in gaming performance. If you're building your own gaming PC, you should totally avoid low-end cards. A third of your budget should be dedicated to purchasing the best graphics card you can find. Be sure that the graphics capacity will grant you the chance to enjoy the games with the greatest physics. 

If you are considering buying a gaming PC, make sure it has high-end graphics. If you cannot afford that, at least find one with a mid-range card. There are several graphics cards you can use. These provide the right balance of price & performance.

Memory

Last but the least, enough RAM is required to have a smoothly running gaming PC. However, it's not necessary to go overboard on this feature. Gaming PCs usually come with a minimum of 8GB to handle everything. If you need more memory, you can go for 16GB RAM, but it won't affect the computer's gaming performance.

The advantage you might have with more RAM is the ability to run more programs simultaneously without lag. And also, if the games you play need to use your system memory rather than the video memory (VRAM), you would be better prepared.

Conclusion

All the other factors mentioned in this text include processors (core i5-i7), RAM (8GB), and GPU can help keep pace with any games you would like to play. At least, they are the typical specs of gaming PCs.