Top Guide To Buying Gaming PC in UK

Buying Gaming PC in UK

Even with all the new gadgets out there, the desktop PC still reigns as the best for online gaming in a recent poll with worldwide gamers.

TOP GUIDE TO BUYING GAMING PCS AVAILABLE IN THE UK NOW.

1.  BUYING ADVICE : THE BEST PC FOR GAMERS.

Some people find gaming consoles great for certain games and for playing with multiple players but many find they can’t match the graphical power of a great game playing PC. With the right internal processor and graphics card, most players find the quality of visuals and game modifications far superior to any other device.The plus point as well is you still have your PC for every day usage and graphics card can be used for other applications such as photo and video editing software.

2. PROCESSOR ADVICE.

Buying a gaming PC you will be able to use it for all your needs, you can choose between a CPU and graphics performance and can then juggle your computer software between different gaming needs for each game. PC processors normally are overclocked to increase your overall processing power without having to purchase expensive chips. New PC’s all now normally include 3.5GHz Intel Core i5-6600K processors overclocking to various speeds with the fastest rate being around 4.5GHz. One problem you might think to overclocking your processor is of course, ‘Over Heating’. Luckily this is a problem in the past as now all the new PC’s are fitted with third party processor coolers. Some use the traditional heatsink and fan design option, but newer models now have the liquid coolant pumped through the radiator, this of course will add to the price of a PC but will cover all power supply and cooling problems with overclocking, so well worth paying more to cover these problems in the future, and of course any processor problems are covered by the warranty for a certain length of time at the time of purchase.

3. MOTHERBOARD ISSUES.

The Motherboard is overlooked alot of the time by purchasers buying PC’s,especially if you are not technical minded or don’t understand how important it is,or what the  Motherboard does.SKYLAKE PC’s are all already fitted with the Intel Z170 Express chipset which will support dual channel  DDR4 memory and overclocking. Individual boards and processors though offer different features so you will have to choose between either  USB 3.1 sockets or a high-performance PCI-Express M.2 SSD.  Chillblast’s Fusion Krypton is one model which includes both. Other premium models of Motherboards will offer additional features such as higher quality built in audio like, Gigabyte GA-Z170X-Gaming 3 used in Mesh’s Skylake PCA system. Another advantage to buying a PC is that the gaming Motherboards will offer a selection of extras you won’t find on standard models,which normally include cosmetic enhancements such as slimmer smaller models, different colours and some even offer changing LED lights. But most importantly they include faster network cards to reduce lagging and higher quality audio. The Motherboard model mATX model used by Chillblast in the Fusion Kypton,have a smaller Motherboard form so is perfect for most PC’s as the size of the Motherboard also needs to be taken into consideration. If you want to keep costs down and don’t need a Skylake-based PC, you can go for an Intel H81 Express chipset, these are lot cheaper than the premium Motherboards, but of course come with reduced features such as the Z97 chipset. More importantly the H81 Express chipset does not support the processor overclocking, but has been independently enabled to include most Motherboard models bought nowadays. Opting for a lower cost model can also allow you to spend a little more on your graphics card which could have a big impact on what you choose to do with your PC. If you do find you have any system Motherboard problems,remember that your warranty covers you for any breakdowns,although INTEL and Windows Updates should now include the new processor microcode for any forthcoming BIOS updates.The Z97 Express chipset brings many extra features, including more USB 3.0 and SATA ports, support for Intel Smart Response Technology, RAID and PCI-E M.2 SSDs.

4. GRAPHICS CARD.

The graphics card will determine your overall quality of your gaming experience.If your processor is fast enough then its all down to your graphics card to make your game come alive on your screen, this is why we suggest a Core i5 processor rather than the more expensive Core i7 as the difference in price will almost certainly be better spent on the graphics card, rather than on the CPU itself. To ensure smooth game play we recommed 60 frames per second (fps) in your game,which is the normal rate for most PC’s anyway unless you have a high-speed gaming monitor that allows for faster refresh rates. Extra performances will of course give you increased quality which in turn will make characters sharper, textures more realistic and graphical effects more impressive.NVidia’s GeForce GTX 960 offers comes with a great price and performance but another great performer is AMD’s Radeon R9 285 DD Edition, which put itself just ahead of the GTX 960 in most of our consumer and professional testing. If you need more power, a GeForce GTX 970 is available for around £1,000  which is very reasonable for this type of market. That would enable you twice as much on-board memory for textures and multi-screen use, as well as a significant boost in performance at the higher quality settings.The equivalent AMD option comes in the form of the Radeon R9 390,these two options are often found to be fighting between each other for top ranking but of course the result ultimately depends on the games you wish to play and which of the two graphics card companies have the better-optimised code in any given title.If you have an idea of which games you want to play, it can be worth investigating how well any given card performs with those particular games before you make your decision.

5. COOLING.

Cooling is extremely important for you CPU in all cases but especially even more with overclocking. The basic Intel CPU coolers are already of course included but can be noisy at times and always have to make sure you keep it uncovered with a good airflow and keep it clean from dust. More expensive water cooling systems allow for extreme overclocking, but more cheaper budgets will normally allow for a smaller, sealed liquid-based cooler such as the Corsair Hxx range. You might also want to consider a heat-pipe based cooler, which will give better cooling than a standard model and make less noise, all thanks to larger, slower-moving fans. Gamers usually like their equipment to look great and stand out but the case needs to be practical as well. Internal cables will help with airflow, while fan controllers let you reduce noise or boost cooling as you need them.Graphics cards also come with different cooling systems, the more advanced allow for faster clock speeds on the GPU and less noise from the graphics subsystem when playing games.

6. MONITOR

Most gamers like to be completely immersed in their games so purchasing the largest display is a popular option but you need to find one with a good contrast ratio to compliment each other. A fast response time will make sure that a fast, frenetic gameplay remains free of blur, although not all game players will notice any difference .TN-based monitors actually cost less and provide most of these features, but IPS-based displays will give you a better overall colour reproduction and wider viewing angles, although response times tend to be slower. For a more responsive display, go for a gaming monitor with a high refresh rate of 120- or 144Hz, although you’ll need powerful graphics to supply frames at this speed.For the very smoothest gameplay from an nVidia graphics card, look for a monitor that supports nVidia G-Sync. With G-Sync, the monitor stays in step with the graphics card rather than the other way around. This means less blurring or image tearing even at lower framerates, and will be of great benefit to mid-range graphics cards such as the ones found in these PCs. AMD offers new technology called ‘FreeSync’, which will soon be available for displays connected to AMD graphics cards.

7. PERIPHERALS

For gamers using a PC with a monitor the responsiveness of wired rather than wireless devices will ultimately suit you better. Look for high-resolution mice, and keyboards with programmable keys and backlighting.High-grade mechanical switches in keyboards have a better ‘feel’ and provide a longer life than cheaper switches. Some draw attention to the W, A, S and D keys with a different color or texture. A gaming sound card can provide a more immersive experience by adding multiple sound effects, with improved audio fidelity. Most gamers also prefer to use a gaming headset with a built-in mic to completely lose themselves in their game of choice. If of course you are playing from the sofa or other places and often with multiple players then wireless options are the best. For keyboard input, we would recommend a wireless model that comes with an integrated pointing device, such as a trackball or trackpad.Most of the PCs we tested came without internal optical drives, and those built into the NZXT Source 340 system case lack the drive bays necessary to install them. In these cases, consider adding an external USB DVD or Blu-ray drive.Vibox  is one model which has this included in the price of the system.

8.  POWER USAGE AND NOISE.

If you’re using your PC as a complete home entertainment system you might also want to consider idle power usage and noise, as the more you overclock your system remember the more power it will use and the louder it will become

9. WARRANTY.

Warranty Terms and Conditions are crucially important to purchasing gaming PC’s, a key advantage of buying a pre-built overclocked PC is that all of the overclocking will be tested and covered by the vendor’s warranty. The longer the warranty the better, but also look for a collect-and-return rather than return-to-base warranty, as some of the model depot’s could be on the other side of the country and sometimes even abroad. Also pay attention to whether parts and labor are both covered and for how long,and even replacements while yours is being fixed.

Hopefully this detailed guide “Buying Gaming PC in UK” will help you buying gaming PC in UK.

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