Gamers, you have a unique opportunity to ask yourself “what does my dream battle station look like?” Do you want a tricked out single-GPU system, a custom loop SLI config, or a simple, but powerful PC? When thinking about your dream build, you have to decide on things like aesthetics, cooling, form factor, as well as the best peripherals for your PC’s specifications.
If you want to learn how to make this dream reality, it’s important that you know how to choose your parts, how to balance a budget build, and how to pick peripherals that won’t bottleneck your system. So, if you’re still reading and are curious about how to do all of these things, then we’re here to help.
Learning How To Build A PC
If we’re talking about a dream build, then you are either going to have to use a custom PC builder or build it yourself. For this article, we will assume you are going to build it yourself, and learning how to build a PC is kind of easy in 2020.
There are plenty of resources that go in-depth into topics like how to pick compatible components, which components are more useful in different applications, and what is the best value configuration for multiple price points.
A dream build is definitely not restricted by any budget. If you’re going for a dream build, then you’re going all-out to pick the best hardware currently available. I mean, not really the best, but the best that makes sense for your applications. Find out which hardware is best for your games by checking out online guides and benchmark results. For single-player titles, especially action-adventure and RPG games, you’ll want to run higher resolutions for bigger screens. For first-person competitive games, you’ll want more frames per second to see more action. Either way, you need a great GPU to reach these two levels of performance.
Choosing Your Parts
A good GPU is easy to get a hold of. Nowadays, AMD comes with competitive alternatives to Nvidia’s flagship graphics cards. Basically, you’re looking to buy something that can run your games at your desired frame rates and resolution. So, choosing your parts will boil down to the settings you prefer and the games you’re going to play.
If you want to overclock, then a quality motherboard and an aftermarket cooler will definitely improve your final results. You should also be wary of overpriced components. Sometimes, you’ll see two versions of the same graphics card from different manufacturers, one promising incredible overclocking and amazing cooling, but costing 200$ more than the basic model. It’s up to you which components you choose, but make sure that their promised abilities always match up to your desired performance level.
Decide on which games you want to play and see how different GPUs handle your selected titles. Choose one that runs them smoothly at your desired resolution, pick at least 8 GB of RAM (recommended 16), and grab yourself a CPU, and you’re on your way to building a gaming beast.
Choosing Your Case
Your case is more important than you think. It’s the first factor that will affect your airflow, so a case that has good frontal vents will allow your components to stay nice and cool even under heavy loads. You also need to ensure that your case is compatible with your motherboard and power supply, so make sure that you get ATX for ATX, EATX for EATX, and so on.
Choosing Your Peripherals
A gaming PC will require good peripherals to be paired with. Choosing your peripherals depends on visual preference, on your system’s configuration, and on your budget. If you want to get the full gamer look, then you can go for the best gaming mouse and keyboard you can find. If you like the satisfying feeling that you get from a typewriter, then get a mechanical keyboard. These are all based on your preference.
When shopping for a monitor, however, you need to make sure that you’re getting full use of your GPU. If you’re running a top-tier graphics card, then choosing a high-resolution, high refresh rate display is the only way to go. This way, your games will run butter-smooth, with features like adaptive refresh rates eliminating ghosting and screen tearing.
Conclusion
PC gaming is great. It allows you to pick a system that’s tailored to your needs. There’s no reason to spend thousands of dollars on an overkill PC if all you do is play DOTA2 and watch Netflix. You can pick components that will run the games you play, get a look that’s right for you, and even spend less now so you can upgrade it when you have a bigger budget.