What a Computer Needs to Be a Gaming Machine

Computer gaming has evolved from being a recreational thing into tournaments and now competitive gaming is turning into a sport. Gaming is now what Nascar was right when it was first getting started. Over the next several years we should expect to see it taken to a whole new level. There have already been some tournaments televised on TV. Soon they will have a gaming network similar to that of the famous Sportscenter. So if you’re looking at gaming competitively there are a few things that you should know ahead of time.

First off before you can even game you need a computer that is designed to handle the latest and greatest games. To do this you should not buy a computer. Instead you should build your own computer. If you’ve never built a computer before then you should have someone help you. This is because a gamers’ computer has to be well above average. Most computers that are sold at retail stores are only average. If you’re looking to get an above average computer you’re going to spend twice as much as you would to build it yourself.

When it comes to computer hardware there are several things that you will want to get. You’ll want to start with the backbone of the system which will be the motherboard and processor. Many sites have packages where you can get a motherboard and a processor for one price. You should look into getting a motherboard with a quad core processor. This will ensure that you computer isn’t outdated in a few months. 

Your motherboard should also have a spot for a PCI-E graphics card. If you want dual graphics cards then you will want to get a motherboard that has two of these slots and that supports Crossfire technology or SLI technology depending on if you’re going to go with Radeon graphics cards or Nvidia graphics cards respectively. You’ll also want to make sure that your motherboard has 4 slots for RAM.

Next you will want to focus on your actual graphics card(s) and RAM. If you’re getting a single graphics card you will want one that is at least a 512 mb GDDR3 card. If you’re looking into have a computer that will last you a couple years you will need to invest in a 1 gig GDDR3 card or even a dual card setup. When it comes to RAM you’ll want to have at least 6 gigs. You could buy 2 sticks of RAM that are 4 gigs each and then add 2 more sticks later if you need to. This is a great way to keep your computer upgradable.

Finally you’ll want to make sure that all of your other computer hardware can handle the stress of the main components. This means you’ll need to have a good cooling setup and a 750 watt power supply or more. If you’re building a powerful machine then you will want to consider investing in a liquid cooling system to keep the components such as the CPU, GPU, and RAM from overheating.