Tip: those with a PC running an AMD Ryzen CPU can easily overclock their RAM using AMD Ryzen Master.
1. Budget
How much are you willing to invest in this endeavor? They say that you can never spend too much when building a PC. But fortunately, there’s always a way to maximize value for money with any budget. Provided you have set aside at least $700 to $800 for your build, you can put together a decent mid-range 1080p gaming PC that can last you for years to come. Sure, you’ll need to make some tradeoffs, but a somewhat powerful machine is still possible within that budget. On the other hand, if you have more cash to spare, say, around $1200 to $1400, you can really splurge on high-end components capable of high-performance 1440p and even 4K gaming.
2. The Games You Want to Play
Consider the kind of games you want to play. A PC for running esports games like Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, League of Legends, or even Fortnite doesn’t have to be nearly as high-end as one required to run AAA titles like Cyberpunk 2077, Dying Light 2, or Horizon Zero Dawn. The resolution at which you want to play your games should also be factored in. For a long time, 1080p or full HD resolution gaming used to be the norm, but these days, 1440p or quad HD gaming has become the sweet spot for gamers in terms of picture quality and performance. Note: the higher you set your game resolution, the lower your performance will be. In terms of performance, you need to consider how many frames you need your PC to crank out. While many agree that 60 FPS+ gaming should be the minimum standard these days, which can be enough for story-based single-player games, you’ll need as many FPS as possible in more competitive multiplayer games. In summary, there’s a balance that needs to be struck between the resolution and the frame rate. For gamers who are after the highest possible frame rates, the financial investment into the PC will go up considerably.
3. The Upgrade Path
The processor (CPU) and the motherboard are two of the most fundamental components of a PC. These decide the platform you’re buying into (Intel or AMD) and the possible upgrade path you have access to in the coming years. It’s often tempting to go with one brand over the other, simply based on personal favorites or affordability. But you should give the upgrade path due consideration before locking yourself into a platform for years. For instance, Intel is widely known to refresh its motherboard sockets almost every year, which considerably limits the upgrade path for users. AMD continued releasing new CPUs for its AM4 platform almost six years after its initial launch in 2016. The company has promised to support the new 2022-launched AM5 platform through 2025 and possibly beyond that. A long-lasting motherboard platform gives you plenty of options to slot in a new and more powerful CPU every two to three years. This can bring down your total investment in your PC by a huge margin compared to that of a platform that is refreshed every year.
4. Alternative Uses
Gaming PCs pack a lot of horsepower, and this naturally makes them ideal for many non-gaming scenarios, such as professional video editing, image manipulation and streaming games online. While gaming PCs are versatile machines, they need to be configured if you have additional uses in mind. For instance, a 6-core, 12-thread processor will be more than enough for a gaming-only build, but for a productivity build that needs all the CPU power it can get, you may want to go with an 8-core or even 12-core processor for the best results. Moreover, having additional memory or RAM will also improve performance on a machine you use for productivity. Finally, the GPU on a productivity build does not need to be the best of the best, but it should at least be powerful enough to keep up with the processor during graphically intensive sessions.
5. GPU
The graphics card of your PC will single-handedly determine the kind of performance you can expect from the games you play. Currently, the two major desktop GPU manufacturers – NVIDIA and AMD – offer a slew of graphics cards across several price points. Depending on your budget, you can either go for a high-end card like NVIDIA’s RTX 3080 or AMD’s RX 6800 XT or a mid-tier one like the RTX 3060 Ti or RX 6700 XT. There are also low-end cards like the RTX 3050 and RX 6500, but you’ll have to limit your expectations at those price points. You can also opt for a previous-generation card to save some money. Beyond price points, factors like raytracing support can also affect your choice of GPU. NVIDIA’s RTX cards are known to be generally better than AMD’s offerings for games that support raytracing lighting, reflections, and shadow effects. Even NVIDIA’s FPS enhancement tech is rated superior to AMD’s. However, if you’d rather focus on raw performance and saving a buck, you should consider AMD’s high-end yet considerably cheaper GPUs. Good to know: are eGPUs the new fad? Learn all the important aspects about them and decide for yourself.
6. Storage
PC storage is one of those areas where it’s easy to overspend. While there’s no reason to choose mechanical hard drives anymore, it’s also not prudent to spend hundreds of dollars on expensive Gen 4 or Gen 5 SSDs. For most real-world scenarios like booting up your system or playing games, a decent Gen 3 (PCIe 3.0) NVMe SSD is all you need to have a smooth and fast experience. Sure, the latest Gen 4 or Gen 5 SSDs advertise blazing-fast speeds, but you’ll rarely find a use case where you can feel that difference, except when copying multiple large files day in and day out. Hence, as a general rule, a 500GB NVMe SSD below $50 should be enough for your operating system and a few games. If you have some room in your budget, go for a 1TB SSD. And you can always have cheaper HDDs for your build’s secondary storage.
7. Display and Power Supply
Achieving a certain frame rate at a given resolution might depend solely on your GPU and CPU, but actually experiencing it without a decent display is simply not possible. If you have a dated full HD monitor with a refresh rate capped at 60Hz, your gaming experience is not going to feel “high-end” at all, no matter the other components in your build. This is where high-refresh-rate displays enter the equation. Over the past few years, 1440p 144Hz monitors have gained ground as the perfect balance between price and performance. They offer significantly higher picture quality and refresh rates without the prohibitive pricing of 4K high-refresh displays. Our definitive monitor buying guide sheds more light on various technologies related to gaming and non-gaming monitors. Another often-overlooked aspect is choosing a good power supply. A cheap PSU from a no-name brand can often limit the potential of your build – or worse, blow up and die, taking many other components with it. Always choose at least an 80+ bronze unit with sufficient wattage from a reputable manufacturer.
8. Aesthetics and Size
A gaming PC should also look the part as well as perform like one. The case you choose to house your components determines not only the physical footprint of your PC but also its looks. The aesthetics of your case are determined by its color, RGB fans, build quality, and more. Gamers often leave the case choice for last, not putting as much research into it compared to the other components. But your case goes beyond size and aesthetics. Cases with good airflow, cable management, and upgradeability can enhance your build experience and day-to-day satisfaction. They also allow future upgrades instead of worrying about changing the case altogether. For a deeper dive into what factors make a good PC case, read our guide on how to choose a PC case.
9. The Used Market
If your budget is a bit more limited, you may want to consider taking a look at the used market. With the recent cryptocurrency crash and new CPUs and GPUs from Intel, AMD, and NVIDIA, there’s a flood of older-gen products at great prices on sites like eBay, Craigslist, and Facebook Marketplace. For instance, you can get a 3070 Ti on eBay for as low as $300 and a Ryzen 5 5600X for as low as $113.
You may be hesitant to shop for used products, especially GPUs, considering they might have been used for cryptocurrency mining. But with eBay’s buyer protection, you can rest assured that you will get a refund in the case of a dead-on-arrival product.
Tip: be in control of what happens under the hood of your PC with these fan control tools for Windows.
Image credit: Unsplash. All screenshots by Tanveer Singh.
