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What To Look For When Buying a Gaming Desktop 

Gaming

If you have owned all the gaming consoles available on the market and you still aren’t satisfied with the look, feel and speed, it may be time to consider a gaming desktop. Gaming desktops are often far more advanced than consoles and you are given far more options in terms of components when you are choosing or even building your desktop, but if you aren’t sure where to start, don’t worry, we’re here to help. Here are the fundamentals of what to look for when buying a gaming desktop. 

Size

First a foremost, one of the items that you need to consider will be how much space you have in relation to where you want your gaming PC to live. Some units are built to be small and discrete whereas others are large and designed to draw attention. If you have a relatively small gamer computer desk, you may find that a smaller unit would be a better fit. However, the smaller units can limit the opportunity to upgrade components at a later date and they can also be very noisy in comparison to their larger counterparts. 

Internals

What makes gaming PC’s stand out from consoles is the memory that you can put in them. The more random-access memory (RAM) you have, the faster your gaming desktop will perform. This, coupled with a strong performing CPU will give you silky smooth game play and will also keep you playing at a high level for a few years to come yet. When you are purchasing your gaming desktop, you want to be spending about 75% of your budget on the internals, so the graphics card, CPU, memory and other vital components should be taking up most of your budget. 

Don’t Be Blinded By The Lights

When it comes to gaming rigs, it can be far too easy to be drawn to units that have coloured lights flashing and awesome internal liquid cooling systems that take our focus away from what really matters. Before you get drawn to all the bright lights and make a purchase off what you think will look cool, make sure you have assessed the internal components, as those that shout loudest aren’t always the best. 

Future Proofing

Gaming desktops aren’t cheap, they are an expensive piece of equipment, especially if you are buying a higher end unit or designing and building one yourself. You want to make sure that your unit will be ready and compatible for VR. IF you don’t take future innovations and technology trends into account, you may well find that in as little as 12 months your gaming rig won’t be able to keep up. Before you make the purchase, really assess if your rig will be able to handle VR and if it can’t, find out if you are able to make it compatible. 

Upgrades 

One of the things about technology is that it is always developing, and new innovations are released daily. Before you decide on the rig, consider how easy it will be to update or change key parts. You want a system that essentially allows you to bolt on and bolt off parts, such as RAM, CPU and graphics card. If it looks as though this would be difficult to do or you could only do it if you took the computer back to the store that you bought it from, and then look for a different unit. Upgrading parts should not be difficult or laborious. 

Ports

Ports are one of those things are where having more is always better. The more ports you have, the more options you have for connectivity and you won’t have to choose one item over another. When assessing gaming rig models or if you are considering building your own, you will want at least six USB 3.0 ports. If you really want to future proof your rig, add thunderbolt ports and USB type C. This way you will be able to transfer data faster than using a traditional set up and you can also attach your gaming desktop to a 4K TV.

Final Considerations

When you are looking to buy a gaming desktop it can be really easy to fall into traps that some shops have set out for consumers. The general rule of thumb when you are looking to make a purchase is that 75% of your budget should be put towards the CPU, graphics card and memory, everything past that is a bonus. It is easy to get drawn in by flashing lights and cool internal cooling systems, but before you settle for aesthetics, make sure the unit will perform the way you want it to. Technology is always changing, so future proofing your unit will give you value for money in the years to come, it may make the different between a unit that you keep for 1 year or 3 years. Next, you’ll need some gaming peripherals to go with your new desktop pc, go take a look at these gaming review guides from hotrate.com to complete your setup.

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