From The Motherboard To Power Supply; The Perfect Gaming PC

Whether you are an experienced gamer, or you are just starting out, you have got to be sure that the kit you are using to game with offers the ultimate gaming experience and can adequately cope with the game itself.

Games are constantly evolving. They are getting better with every month that passes, and as a result, you are going to have to consider upgrading every few years. With this in mind, not only do you need to find the right gear, but you also have to consider the future so that you don’t have to upgrade a lot quicker than anticipated.

Power Supply

The power supply is a critical component of a good gaming computer, but it often gets overlooked. Level Up Your Gear Gaming PC’s show you that you can have a lot of power without spending a lot. This is simply because most people are under the assumption that what they have been given will be sufficient. But the important rule to remember is; if you are looking to upgrade something within the computer, you have got to consider how the current power supply will be able to handle the upgrade. For example, if you decide to input a high-end graphics card, you are not going to get sufficient performance from a low-end or basic power supply.

It is all about determining what is right for your needs. There are not many gamers that will require a power supply unit over 1000W. Personally, the best one we’ve found is the Corsair AX1500i. It is one of the most powerful units available on the market. You will get plenty of years of use out of this unit.

If you’d prefer to look a little further down the list in terms of the price of the unit, you may be interested in something like the EVGA SuperNOVA 750 P2. This has plenty of power to handle a single-card setup and most dual-card setups. EVGA also provide a 10-year warranty, so you know it’ll be protected for a decade.

Graphics Card

Buying the right graphics card can, quite frankly, make all the difference to your gaming experience. So if there were ever a place to spend a little bit more, this would be it.

It isn’t, however, just a case of throwing money at it; there are plenty of graphics cards available. The smart thing to do is to determine exactly what you need, and then you can do some research to discover the average price of cards catering to your requirements. You need to be smart with the overall budget you have; there is no point in spending most of the budget on this if the rest of the kit can’t back it up.

Top of our shopping list is the Nvidia Titan X, which is the most powerful card on the market, so you know your gaming needs are covered. The downside, however, is that it is much more expensive than other cards on the market. You could be able to buy something similar, but at a fraction of the cost. However, this product really makes a statement. It is cut out for 4K gaming, but it is noisy, so do keep this in mind.

An alternative option is another Nvidia product, the GeForce 1050 Ti. It won’t hit the 60 fps like the Titan X will, but it focuses on lesser games, which is its unique selling point. Therefore, the games you play will determine whether this is right for you. Don’t expect to enjoy games such as Battlefield 1 in full quality with this card; it is not built for that.

The AMD Radeon RX460 is the cheapest, but by no means of a lesser ‘quality’ than other graphics cards on the market. It does exactly what is says on the tin; it compromises on memory, but this means you do not have to consider the 6 or 8 pin connectors that you would with other more powerful cards.

Sound Card

A lot of people assume that sound cards do not make that much of a difference, as they are more focused on the visual. However, all sensory aspects contribute to the overall gaming experience, so upgrading is worth considering. But, if you do have a tight budget, this should certainly be low on your list of priorities.

One small advantage you may find with a better sound card is that it can offload tasks from the main computer, possibly resulting in better performance.

Motherboard

The motherboard is a central communication tool, ensuring all of the components work together successfully. The right motherboard is essential for the ultimate gaming experience. The last thing you want is to pay for all the great tech upgrades only to discover they have real issues working together.

When choosing the right motherboard, you have to take into consideration the RAM, the motherboard size, the USB ports and expansion ports, SLI/CrossFire support, audio, and networking needs.

The motherboard comes in different sizes; the two typical sizes are ATX and mATX (Micro ATX). The latter is smaller than the ATX and, therefore, as you would expect, comes with fewer features, such as ports and slots. If you need budget upgrades, mATX should be your first choice.

Another factor is the expansion slots and USB ports. If you are considering adding a soundcard, for instance, you will want to make sure the motherboard has enough ports. Most motherboards will have plenty of USB ports. Also, don’t forget the likes of microphone ports and FireWire.

If you’re planning to have a dual graphics card, your motherboard must support this, such as Nvidia SLI or AMD CrossFire. Even more important, if you’re planning on going beyond dual, you will be looking at the highest-end of the spectrum in terms of cost. If you are on a budget, you may have to discount this option.

Audio is also a question of budget. Do you want to upgrade everything, when most games are focused on your visual experience? Audio upgrades should be considered if you want to extract the most out of the game experience.

Last on the motherboard topic is network requirements. Every motherboard we’ve come across has been fitted with LAN (Local Area Network) capabilities, so you will not need to have any concerns about this feature. The more money you have, the more likely you are going to come across motherboards that have built-in wireless capabilities. So you can either buy one with it built-in, or just buy a wireless adapter to compensate; either will work perfectly fine and give you the connection needed for a full gaming experience. So opting for a more expensive motherboard just for this reason isn’t necessary.