By: Gene Rodriguez, III
Learn how to build a gaming PC for your desktop. The gorgeous, fluid graphics and game play of a gaming PC come at a cost. Of all the applications you can run on your computer, games are the most resource intensive. A computer up to the task could cost more than double the price of a typical desktop PC.
One way to lower the cost of entry is to build your own gaming PC. Building your own will not only save you money, it will allow you to customize your computer's performance and give you an in-depth understanding of the PC components that bring your favorite games to life.
Build a Gaming PC
- CPU: The Central Processing Unit (CPU) is the brain of your gaming PC. There are two main manufacturers of these chips: Intel and AMD. While Intel CPUs are considered an industry standard, AMD chips provide solid performance numbers at a lower entry cost. For gaming, you'll want the most processing power available. Currently, that means a 64-bit dual- or quad-core processor. Quad-core is recommended, as the newest games require that extra processing power.
- Motherboard: The motherboard is the main board in your PC and is home to most of the components found inside. When you build a gaming pc, your choice of CPU will determine what types of motherboards are available, since the CPU socket is different for each brand of chip. You'll want to pick a motherboard with plenty of expansion slots for maximum flexibility. Finally, you'll want a motherboard that supports the type of memory and hard drive you choose.
- Memory: There are three types of random access memory (RAM) available for your PC: SDRAM, DDR SDRAM and RDRAM. SDRAM, the oldest form of memory, is also the slowest and cheapest. DDR SDRAM is the most common and provides a big speed increase over SDRAM. RDRAM is the latest in RAM technology, offering top speed, but at a premium price. You'll want to have at least one gigabyte of RAM in your gaming PC, but that should be considered a bare minimum-more is always better.
- Hard drive: The hard drive provides long-term storage. At a minimum, you should be looking at hard drives with 250 megabytes or greater capacity when you build a gaming pc. The speed of a hard drive will tell you how quickly the device can retrieve information. You'll want a hard drive with a rating of 7,200 RPM or higher. The two most common forms of hard drive interfaces (which allow the PC to talk to the hard drive) are ATA and SATA. ATA is cheaper but slower, while SATA will provide quicker access times at a higher price.
- Video card: The circuit board that renders images to your monitor may be the most important component when you build a gaming PC. It may also be the most complicated. To make buying a video card easier, follow these simple rules: buy the most technology (PCI Express cards), with the most on-board storage (256MB minimum) and processing speed (measured in MHZ) you can afford. Be warned that ultra-high-end video cards can heat up your computer and damage components, so you may need a custom cooling system to run them safely.
- Sound card: Sound can be a big factor in games. Many motherboards come with adequate to good on-board sound. If your motherboard doesn't provide 5.1 surround sound with a variety of output options, consider a separate sound card.
Other Considerations When You Build a Gaming PC
- Monitor: Flatscreen monitors have all but replaced CRT-based displays. To get the most cinematic experience for your gaming PC, you should consider 17" displays as a minimum. You'll want your monitor to have a native resolution of at least 1024 x 768.
- Power: All of these high-end components require a lot of power. PC power supplies are rated in terms of how many watts they out put. Your gaming PC will require a minimum of 500W to power all those high-end components.
- Case: Size matters. You will want to build a gaming PC with plenty of room for components and expansion, so don't skimp on size. You'll also want to consider cases that add additional fans for extra cooling. Some cases have built in power supplies, but make sure that any built-ins have adequate capacity for your needs.
