Building A Gaming Computer To Fit Your Needs

PC gaming is a world all its own. With many people spending thousands of dollars on video cards alone, maximum performance is what the ultimate gaming computer is all about. With no room for compromise, only the best of the best components will be featured in the ultimate gaming computer. These will provide the user with unparalleled performance that will maximize their ability to play to their best abilities at any time.

When choosing components for the ultimate gaming computer, price is clearly no object. However, the type of setup a user is going for, whether maximum single monitor performance or 3d surround performance spanning three high-resolution monitors, will greatly affect what will be required for acceptable frame rates during play. Although every component in a gaming computer is important for maximum performance, the GPU and power supply will play a vital role in your gaming experience.

Avoiding Bottlenecks

Purchasing a processor for a gaming computer doesn’t have to be a difficult. With many options available that provide quad-core processing, you’ll be able to unleash the power of your GPUs with minimal effort. However, choosing a motherboard can be an entirely different monster of its own. If you’re only looking to use a single GPU in your gaming machine, purchasing a more affordable motherboard that features only a single PCI Express 2.0 or 3.0 slot will serve you well. These motherboards will allow any GPU to work to its full potential without bottlenecking it via less PCI Express lanes.

If you’re looking to unleash a TRI-SLI or Crossfire monster, then purchasing a motherboard that features two or three PCI Express 3.0 slots that all work at full 16x speed while occupied and paired with a processor that supports the lanes is a must. While some motherboards may boast two or three of these slots, they will often cut the lanes available for data to travel through to 8x per slot. For a motherboard featuring PCIx 3.0 slots, this will not affect performance more than a few percent. However, motherboards featuring PCIx 2.0 slots can suffer greatly when the available lanes are cut from 16x to 8x while using the latest graphics cards offered.

Understanding Your Graphical Requirements

Once you’ve narrowed down your motherboard and processor choices, choosing a GPU is next. There are a few things to consider when choosing a GPU. If you will only be utilizing one monitor with a resolution of 1920×1200 or 1920×1080, a single powerful GPU that features 2GB of VRAM will be more than sufficient to ensure you get maximum performance in your games. However, if you’ll be utilizing a single 2560×1600 or 2560×1440 resolution monitor, choosing a graphics card with more VRAM can help to avoid running out of VRAM when high resolution textures are put to use. In addition to VRAM, the processing power of the GPU is very important. Always compare the number of processing cores and the speed at which they run to ensure you’re getting the most bang for your buck.

Unleashing The Beast

Anyone looking for the best performance across three high resolution monitors at the same time will want the best GPUs available. For these massive resolutions, the more VRAM you can squeeze in, the better. With many graphics cards now available with 2GB, 3GB and even 6GB of video ram, you can choose a card that fits your purpose and budget. However, for triple monitor setups, SLI/Crossfire and Tri-Sli will give you the maximum performance you’re looking for. Remember, this amount of rendering power comes with a price. You should always ensure that your new gaming computer is adequately powered by a PSU that meets the demands of the entire system without straining itself.

Gabriel Lexus is a creative writer for cpuinc. Gabriel often writes about technology and computers and enjoys helping others with their computer needs.