The gaming industry is booming and it has no intention of slowing down anytime soon. And if you are a huge fan of playing PC games, then you want the best experience possible. No one wants to play Resident Evil Village only to die over and over again before you even reach the sweet, sweet Lady Dimitrescu because your GPU can’t handle the game.
There’s a slew of new games about to be released later this year and next year as well that look wicked and you would want to not just be able to play them, but to be immersed in them. Nothing ruins a good, immersive gameplay like terrible lag. But gaming PCs are also notoriously expensive, so here are 4 things you should know before making your purchase.
What game are you playing?
This did not strike me as obvious at first until I asked a friend their consideration before buying a gaming PC. And if this was not on my list, chances are you’re forgetting about it too. The kind of gaming PC you will be investing in depends largely on what kind of games you will be buying. Do you like side-scrolling vintage games or immersive ones? Do you plan on replaying Skyrim (does anyone ever finish this game?) and installing hundreds of mods, or will you play something like Kingdom: Classic?
If your game preferences won’t make a budget gaming PC combust, then you won’t need to shell out for that Alienware (unless you want to).
Pro-tip: I’ve been using this since forever, but when I want to play a game and I don’t know if my PC can handle it, I use Can you RUN It to check.
You might want to look at your budget
Connected to the first point, and this really goes for anything that you will want to purchase. You may have walked into a shop looking to buy stuff without checking your budget first. No shame, we’ve all done it. But remember, the price of a gaming PC can reach up to hundreds of thousands of Philippine pesos. Unless you can blow that much money without having a stroke, it would be good to know how much exactly your range is.
Check the specs: GPU, RAM, storage capacity, etc.
So you have figured out your game preferences and your budget. Now, you need to know the specs that you want your gaming PC to have. This can be a little difficult to know especially if you aren’t good at the technical stuff.
For starters, you can check out GPU and graphics card benchmarks. The ones dominating the charts are usually AMD or Nvidia. You have to note that the top-tier ones usually cost gold, but you don’t need to buy the super expensive ones. Again, consider your needs.
Second, look for a gaming PC with a decent RAM and storage capacity. Yes, those are two different things. I sound like a broken record at this point, but consider your needs. Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla needs around 50GB HDD space, and it’s almost certain that you won’t be installing one game at a time. The upcoming Gotham Knights has a recommended requirement of about 16gb of RAM, while the 2015 Batman: Arkham Knight needed only 8gb. Consider your needs.
Laptop or desktop?
Lastly, do you want a desktop or a laptop? You can actually build your own gaming desktop if you’re up to the challenge, and one major perk for a desktop is its upgradeability. But if you don’t have the space or if you want to be able to carry it around, you might want to consider a laptop for mobility.
Conclusion
There are many things to consider before investing your hard-earned money on a gaming PC, and a lot of research needs to be done to ensure that you’re making the right choices for yourself. But one thing is for sure—once you start playing, it will all be worth it.
