A lot of people don’t understand what differentiates a gaming PC from a regular one and end up making mistakes when picking a machine either for themselves or someone else. But you have to know that gaming as a task is very different from things like image and word editing or surfing the web on a computer. This is why you can’t look at the specs on a gaming PC in the same way as you would for a regular PC. Let’s take a look at some of the major differences between gaming PCs and regular PCs so you can make a better decision.
Gaming Computers Have Better Graphics Cards
The main difference between an actual gaming PC and a regular one is that a gaming PC should at least have a dedicated graphics card. If a gaming machine has an integrated graphics card, then it is not truly a gaming PC, and someone is trying to pull a fast one on you. This is why you can’t just buy a machine because it’s branded for gaming.
Good gaming computers will have at least a mid-tier card like a GeForce RTX 30 series card or an AMD Radeon RX 5000 series card. Anything lower than that and you could have trouble running some games, and anything higher than that would be overkill as games are usually made with mid-tier GPUs in mind so they can reach the widest audience possible.
Gaming Computers Don’t Always Have the Best Processors
In many cases, a gaming computer will have a powerful processor to work with the GPU, but that’s not always the case and isn’t always necessary. Even a modest 2ghz CPU with four to six cores will be able to handle most games out there as long as the GPU is powerful enough. That’s because gaming puts much more stress on the GPU than it does on the CPU. The GPU will handle most of the workload, so you won’t see that much difference between an entry-level CPU and a high-end one.
We’re not saying that you should get a 1.1ghz dual-core Celeron here, but, if you see a machine with a good graphics card, then there’s a strong chance that the CPU is strong enough. And, if you want to build your own machine, don’t obsess about clock speed too much.
Gaming Computers Will Come with Better Peripherals
Gaming computers will usually come with better features like IPS displays, RGB lighting on the keyboard and tower, and mechanical keyboards. Gaming laptops also tend to look better. All of this usually comes at a premium, but it’s well worth it if you want a machine that will both run properly and look great on or under your desktop.
Conclusion
These are only some of the differences between regular PCs and gaming PCs. So, if you are on the market for a machine like this, take the time to research the components thoroughly so you know exactly what you’re getting.
My grandson is into gaming.