If you were thinking of buying or assembling parts (or upgrading your current PC, of course) a new gaming pc During this Christmas, there are many aspects that you should take into account to get it right, especially given the state the hardware industry is in right now. For this reason, in this article we are going to give you a series of recommendationsor rather we are going to show what are the main aspects that you should pay attention to.
Can you imagine leaving a real fortune in a new gaming PC and then not being up to par or falling short? Of course, it would be a most unpleasant situation for anyone, so it is always good to have a cool head and think well from the beginning to get it right.
What to consider before buying a gaming PC
Unfortunately, today buying a new PC is not like before, and especially when it comes to a gaming PC, we are talking about a considerable investment of money. With a lower magnitude but with the same premises, you should consider this purchase as when you are considering buying a car or a house: you must take into account all possible aspects to be sure of getting it right.
So, these are the nine keys that we consider essential when buying a new gaming PC so as not to make a mistake:
- Budget: How much money do you plan to spend? You must be very clear about this from the beginning, since the expectations you may have when spending, for example, €1,000 on a new gaming PC, are not the same as when you have a budget of €2,000. In any case, set a maximum but make it variable, that is, even if you set a limit, if the profit is going to be worth it by spending a little bit, don’t worry about that.
- What games do you want to play? When we talk about buying a gaming PC, obviously the main goal is to play games. But of course, a PC designed to play League of Legends or CS:GO is not the same as one with which you intend to play AAA titles such as Cyberpunk 2077 or Dying Light 2.
- Future updates: The processor and motherboard are generally the limiting aspects when it comes to upgrading the PC for the future. It is always advisable to buy a gaming PC that you can update in a few years, for example, only changing the graphics card to gain gaming performance but without having to change anything else. For this reason, it is advisable to choose a motherboard that will support future generations of CPUs and that is equipped with the latest, in order to be able to upgrade your hardware in a few years.
- Alternative uses: Although a gaming PC is designed to play games, in reality if a PC has a great advantage over consoles for this purpose it is its versatility, and in the end we all use the PC for a large number of tasks apart from playing. And of course, in this regard, it is not the same who simply uses it to watch Netflix or browse the Internet than who wants to edit photos or video. If you are one of the latter, make sure you have plenty of RAM and a powerful enough processor, even if it seems exaggerated for gaming.
- The graphics card: The GPU that you mount in your gaming PC will be the one that will determine the performance in games, at least for the most part. For this reason, it is the piece of hardware in which you should invest the most money in order to have better gaming performance.
- The storage: Nowadays, games take up more and more space. However, storage devices are getting faster, with higher capacities, and cheaper, so the recommendation here is that you don’t hesitate and opt for a good-capacity SSD so you don’t have to expand it or add more drives to the system. future. Today, 1TB should be plenty, but if you budget for a 2TB SSD, go for it.
- Monitor resolution and power supply: It is not the same to buy a gaming PC designed to play at 1080p and 60 FPS than one for 1080p and 240 Hz, or even another to play at 4K resolution. This has to do with the graphics card, of course, but it is a determining factor when choosing the components of the equipment. On the other hand, note as we always say that the power supply is the heart of the PC, and you should never skimp on it (especially if you plan to update the PC in a few years, it is better to have a source with plenty of power and guarantees of durability ).
- Aesthetics and size: Gaming PCs are generally eye-catching, with those RGB lights that are so fashionable these days. However, we warn you that in the end these lights end up tiring you, so keep that in mind when buying your new gaming PC this Christmas. On the other hand, keep an eye on the size of the box: we all like compact boxes, but they cool worse than large ones and, in addition, they will limit you when installing a new graphics card or liquid cooling system for the processor.
- Attentive to the second-hand market: If you’re on a budget, you might want to check out the used market for a good bargain, whether you’re buying the entire PC or buying some of the parts. On the other hand, also think about whether tomorrow you will want to sell your PC to buy a new, more powerful one.
In addition to the nine keys that we have given you in this article, we will give you an additional one: do not look in just one store when you go to buy your new gaming PC. Search several stores, compare prices, and as they say: search, compare, and if you find something better, buy it!
