Building A Gaming Machine
When it comes to building a gaming machine, there are a few rules to follow. Because they are usually more complicated than a standard computer, you need to pay particular attention to things like power requirements and cooling. These two items alone are perhaps what influences what system case you might eventually choose.
The first thing to do is choose your components, do this wisely and research your purchases. Many people simply believe that if you pay top dollar, you will get the best out there, while is true in some cases but not always!
The first thing to do is choose your components, do this wisely and research your purchases. Many people simply believe that if you pay top dollar, you will get the best out there, while is true in some cases but not always!
More often than not with a bit of time and research you will sometimes find that the most expensive components are not necessarily always the best! Much of the time you may find components of almost identical technology and specs with up to perhaps $200 difference between them. Video cards are a very good example, in some cases the top end and latest card may sell for around $600 - $700.
Before you lash out and purchase one of those beast’s research the next card down and you might be surprised to see it is around $200 or so cheaper and yet the difference between them may only be a slight improvement on clock speeds. Notwithstanding this, also remember that you can in most cases over-clock the lesser card to the specs of the higher card. This obviously saves you bucks in the short term but it may well shorten the life of your card!
High-end video cards are mostly running flat-out much of the time while running games or programs requiring intensive and high detail graphics, because of this they tend have a significantly shorter life span than other components. The best way to maintain your card increasing its lifespan, is by ensuring adequate cooling is provided and also cleaning the card and its cooling mechanisms from time to time.
Tips for Building a Gaming Machine:
Here are a few tips I use as yardstick for choosing components, they are based on my personal experience and are not derived from any manufacturers recommendations. Keep in mind that with such a vast amount of components produced from so many different manufactures, it may be very confusing at first deciding on what to choose. Below details my "rule of thumb” technique I use for choosing these components based on price.
Begin with the CPU, this guy is perhaps one of the most important items!
After that choose your video card and make sure it has plenty of RAM and clock speed!
After that choose your video card and make sure it has plenty of RAM and clock speed!
· Pays as much on the Video card as the CPU
· Pay as much for a Case as the Motherboard
· Pay as much or more for RAM as the Case
· Purchase Solid State Hard Drives if Possible
· Purchase the most powerful PSU possible
· Purchase a screen with highest res and lowest response time
· Pay as much for a Case as the Motherboard
· Pay as much or more for RAM as the Case
· Purchase Solid State Hard Drives if Possible
· Purchase the most powerful PSU possible
· Purchase a screen with highest res and lowest response time
By now you get the basic idea, the most important purchase to begin with might be the CPU, after that the video card, then look at the Mobo and its FSB, the faster the better, and see that you can upgrade with a faster CPU later on. Then simply design the rest around them. These three things together should make a basis for your build. The rest is not that hard once you have these decisions nutted out. Obviously also afford yourself plenty of RAM and a case that provides excellent cooling with loads of room for future expansion.
Before attempting one of these builds, and especially if this is your first build, we recommend you read our section on building a computer, as this will give you a basic idea of what is involved.
See: Build a Computer
Before attempting one of these builds, and especially if this is your first build, we recommend you read our section on building a computer, as this will give you a basic idea of what is involved.
See: Build a Computer
Below details the techniques we use for building gaming machines: