Building your own gaming PC can be an exciting and rewarding experience. With a proper configuration, you can build a gaming PC capable of handling the latest games at a fraction of the cost you’d pay for a brand-name system. If you’re a first-time builder, you may be asking yourself: “What’s a good beginner gaming PC build?” It should be able to run most games comfortably at a solid frame rate and resolution, without breaking your budget. To help you out, we’ll provide an overview of some components that would make up a good beginner gaming PC build.
Processor (CPU)
The processor is the brain of your gaming PC. It’s responsible for executing instructions and performing calculations to run tasks. When building a gaming PC, you should choose a powerful processor with at least four physical cores and the latest architecture. In 2021, the latest architectures are Intel’s 10th-Generation “Comet Lake” and 11th-Generation “Rocket Lake”, and AMD’s Ryzen 5000 “Cezanne” and Ryzen 5000G “Cezanne-H”. If you’re on a budget, the AMD Ryzen 5 3600 is a great choice and provides good performance for its price. If you’re a serious enthusiast, you could go for Intel’s flagship i9-10900K or the AMD Ryzen 9 5900X.
Graphics Card (GPU)
The graphics card is responsible for rendering 3D graphics and handling the graphical workload in modern games. You don’t need the fanciest graphics card to get good gaming performance, but you don’t want to skimp out on it either. NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 3060 Ti, RTX 3070 and RTX 3080 are the top recommendation for gaming PCs, and offer excellent performance at reasonable prices. If your budget allows it, you could opt for one of these cards and enjoy high frame rates and visual fidelity in your games.
Memory (RAM)
Memory, also known as RAM (Random Access Memory) is used for short-term storage of data and instructions. When your PC’s processor needs to execute a task, it looks to RAM for the data it needs to do that. The more RAM you have, the more data can be held in memory at once, allowing your PC to be more responsive and run more tasks simultaneously. 8GB of RAM is the minimum for gaming, but 16GB is recommended for even better performance. If you plan to run demanding workloads like video editing or 3D modeling, you could even opt for 32GB or 64GB of RAM.
Storage (SSD & HDD)
Storage is where your data is stored in non-volatile memory. A gaming PC needs storage that’s both fast and large. You should typically use a solid-state drive (SSD) for your operating system, games and other applications, as they offer superior performance compared to hard disk drives (HDDs). For mass storage, you could use an HDD, which offers large storage capacities at lower prices, but at the cost of slower performance. A combination of an SSD and HDD is the best way to optimize your gaming PC’s performance and storage capacity.
Motherboard
The motherboard is the central component of any gaming PC, as it’s where all other components are connected to. It should be selected with careful consideration, as it dictates the type of processor and graphics card you can use. It also dictates other features such as the number of USB ports, number of RAM slots, M.2 slots, Wi-Fi, and many others. The Z590, X570, and B550 chipsets are the most popular options and offer excellent features and performance. If you intend to use an Intel processor, you should check to make sure the motherboard is compatible.
Power Supply Unit (PSU)
The power supply is one of the most important components of a gaming PC. It supplies clean, stable power to all the connected components and should be chosen with care. Watts are an important factor to consider, as you want to make sure the PSU can handle the full load of your components. The general rule of thumb is to get a PSU that can deliver higher wattage than the total wattage you’ll need to power all your components. You should also factor in the wattage of advanced features such as overclocking and multiple graphics cards.
Cooling
Components can heat up during operation and have a negative impact on performance. To compensate for this, you should ensure proper airflow inside your PC chassis and adequate cooling should be provided. CPU coolers come in different shapes, sizes, and cooling performance. You should check the cooling requirements of your CPU before deciding on a cooler, though you can’t go wrong with a good air cooler. If you want an even better benefit, you could opt for a liquid-cooling AIO cooler. Custom liquid-cooling systems are an even more advanced choice, but may be too expensive for beginners.
Case
The case is essentially the outer shell of your gaming PC, where all your components will go. It should be selected carefully to ensure proper airflow, discriminate aesthetics and fit in your components. Mid-tower cases are the most common type of cases for gaming PCs and are affordable for beginners. Full-tower cases have better airflow and offer more features, such as RGB lighting, but are more expensive. You should also look out for features such as easy drive mounting, dust filters, tempered glass panels and tempered glass side panels.
Conclusion
When selecting components for your gaming PC, you should choose mindfully in order to create the best balance between performance and budget. Our guide should have provided you with enough information to pick the right components for a good beginner gaming PC build. Remember to factor in features such as cooling, storage, power supply and case to choose the best components for your budget.
