Which Computer Gaming Desktop is Best for You

These days the barrier of entry for gaming PC’s has been lowered considerably when compared to 2-4 years ago. Computers that can play all of today’s computers are very easy to come by, and as long as the core of the system is solid you should be able to play any of the top games with relative ease. The biggest thing that you should have to look for in a gaming computer is the processor; you should make sure that you have an Intel Core 2 Duo 2.3 GHz or Higher Processor. And as long as that part of your computer is in check, than the other important components will come by easily! 

Other than the processor, the next most important thing is the RAM. You need to have at minimum two gigs of ram to ensure consistent speeds when navigated between menus and applications. RAM however is also easily upgradeable, and if you have the ability to increase the amount of system ram, then you should! The ideal amount of RAM to have in a computer with a Core 2 Duo Processor is 6 Gigs of Ram all clocked at a Bus Speed of at least 500MHZ minimum. By having all your memory sticks identical, you will find that your computer will run as smooth as butter!

One thing that is often overlooked however is the Hard Drive! And if you skimp out on a good, fast, and reliable Hard Drive you’re going to have a bad time. Aside from the obvious commentary of storage capacity, you also need to look at the technical. Most importantly is the RPM! A Hard Drive with 5400 RPM is good, but its not great. And if you were to ever upgrade your computer after using 5400 RPM hard drive, you’ll notice the difference right away. 

For example, in my personal computer I use a Seagate Momentus XT ST95005620AS 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache 2.5" SATA 3.0 GB/s with NCQ Solid State Hybrid Drive… that was a mouthful! The greatest benefit to this hard drive is the SSD capabilities that this Hard Drive presents. It will remember which is your most commonly opened programs on the computer and it will store it in the SSD memory of the HDD automatically. And this is great because you’re never going to have to do any sort of setup, and once the operating system is installed, you’re going to find your computer booting faster and faster every day! It’s not going to get to the speed of a pure SSD HDD, but it’s going to get pretty darn close!

And finally, the one thing that all gamers DO know about is the almighty graphics card! Here’s the tricky thing though, down the aisle at your local electronics computer store you’ll see a whole variety off cards on display. But how do you know which is right for your system? First thing is first, before you even step foot inside the store you need to open up your computer case and look for two things, the Power Supply Unit & an open PCI-Express slot on your computer’s motherboard. What’s important about the power supply is the wattage output. If you’re going to be gaming with a high end card, your going to need a power supply of at least 550 to make sure you have enough to go all around! And as for your PCI-Express slot, you just need to make sure that your going to need enough space for the card your about to put in on all sides. In the end, it’s probably best to take it with you in your car so that you can ask one of the techs if the card would fit inside the case.

Picking out the card nowadays is easy, as of this article writing (June 2, 2012) you should find yourself picking out a card between the $130 and $200 price range. Anything below won’t have the power you’d want, and anything above will be overkill.

I hope this guide was informative, email me at sales [at] usacomputerstore [dot] com if you need any tips! Or you want any information related to technology meet me and my team at laptop repair Fort Lauderdale and laptop repair Broward.