What Specs Should A Gaming PC Have?

Personal computers have come a long way since the first PC hit the market, and video game culture has undeniably played a major role in the development of PC hardware. While most modern PCs are able to play video games in some capacity, a gaming PC is built with performance in mind. So, what makes the best gaming PCs so great?

The major difference between a standard PC and a gaming PC comes down to hardware. Gaming PCs often pack an incredible amount of power into their builds, which is why they tend to be more expensive than a standard computer or laptop. The average gaming PC can be worth anything from $1200 to $4000, but there are budget gaming PC builds for under $500. For more information regarding the price and performance of gaming PCs, check out Game Rant’s article examining how much a gaming laptop vs a gaming PC costs.

Regardless of your current experience level, understanding what influences a PC’s performance is an essential lesson for all. The journey to becoming an experienced PC builder requires countless hours of research and a thorough understanding of the major components. Luckily, this article should shorten your journey by introducing the core concepts of gaming PC specs and how you should pick your parts. The Game Rant team has plenty of recommendations in the various hardware guides linked throughout the article too, which can further help direct you towards the best gaming PC components in 2024.

Choosing the Best Hardware Specs for a Gaming PC

There are eight essential components to every gaming PC:

• Motherboard
• Processor/CPU
• RAM/Memory
• Graphics Card/GPU
• Storage
• Power Supply
• CPU Cooler
• Case

Each component needs special attention, as every PC component has a different working method, and certain parts may affect performance directly or indirectly. To build a capable gaming PC, here is what users should know about choosing each component:

Motherboard

The motherboard is one of the most essential parts of any PC build, as its main job is to provide an interface for the components to communicate with each other. While standard motherboards might not directly affect performance, a quality gaming motherboard can play a major role in the power, performance, and lifespan of your system. Choosing one of the best gaming motherboards is usually recommended to best support cutting-edge components and to better future-proof your build when new tech hits the market.

Motherboards are available in several different form factors, including the smallest, Mini-ITX, a slightly bigger Micro-ATX, the standard-sized ATX, and E-ATX, which is the biggest of all on mainstream PCs. It doesn’t matter if gamers choose any of them. What matters is the quality of its component support, cooling capacity, onboard features, and power delivery.

A powerful motherboard is also one of the many requirements to safely overclock your system, which can boost your gaming performance even further. For overclockable chips, it’s recommended to go with unlocked chipsets, such as Z790 motherboards, for the latest Intel 12th, 13th, and 14th gen processors, and B650/X670 motherboards for AMD Ryzen CPUs in the Zen 4-based lineup. If overclocking is not needed, chipsets such as H610 and B760 for Intel CPUs, and A620 for AMD CPUs will do the job.

It’s highly recommended to check the prices of motherboards and compare their features before the purchase. Game Rant recommends going for a better chipset, as they not only provide overclocking support, but also have extra PCI lanes through the chipset to support more components. This allows easier upgradeability in the future.

Processor/CPU

In 2024, we are looking at CPUs that have far more potential than CPUs just a few years ago. Every year both AMD and Intel launch new lineups, or “generations”, of processors with improved specifications and features by improving the core architecture, like the latest Ryzen 9000 series and Intel’s i9 14900K.

Several years ago, it was totally possible to build a powerful quad-core CPU-based gaming system that would run all the games flawlessly, but as we step into 2024, more cores and hyperthreading have become vital elements for gaming PCs. Hence, users should look for at least 6 cores with or without hyperthreading if they don’t want to limit their system’s capabilities.

Nonetheless, some four-core processors like the Core i3 14100F provide hyperthreading to distribute the load evenly on eight threads and will be adequate for budget gaming systems. For optimal gaming performance, it is best to go with the Intel Core i5 14400F, which comes with 10 cores and 16 threads, or AMD Ryzen 5600X or Ryzen 7600X, where the latter provides several benefits over the former but is costlier.

For higher-end gaming builds, Intel Core i5 14600K or Ryzen 7 7800X3D are currently the best-performing CPUs for their price tag and will eliminate bottlenecking completely.

RAM/Memory

Five to six years ago, all gamers needed was 8GB RAM capacity, but things have changed drastically since then. While 8GB of RAM will still suffice for budget gaming builds, bottlenecking is inevitable in some scenarios. With the rise in memory consumption of applications, background tasks, and browsers, there isn’t much left for video games.

Insufficient RAM causes frequent stutters and big dips, resulting in an unpleasant gameplay experience. It’s recommended to go with 16GB of RAM, whether DDR4 or DDR5, to make sure the games don’t lack the fuel they need. It’s also important to keep in mind that RAM frequency and CL timings also matter.

This is why investing in at least one of the best DDR4 RAM kits with at least 3200MHz of speed and tight timing is essential to good frame rates. Higher speeds may not be too much of a big deal, but they often provide a noticeable uptick in gaming performance. Similarly, for DDR5 RAM kits, it’s recommended to have 6000MHz of frequency or higher.

Graphics Card/GPU

A dedicated graphics card is one aspect that makes a PC ideal for gaming. This is largely because video games feature complex geometry and intense graphical scenes that require decent horsepower to render as quickly as possible. While the CPU shares the load for important tasks, a GPU has its own processor chip and onboard memory to tackle the job.

Video memory, also known as VRAM, makes it easier for the GPU to access it compared to the main system RAM. For gaming, a graphics card with at least 6GB of VRAM is essential, assuming users are going to play at 1080p resolution. This is after keeping in mind that some modern titles may see stutters or dips in performance as they require 8GB VRAM.

For budget gaming builds, it’s recommended to get a GPU like the RX 6500 XT or Intel ARC A750. These perform well on medium to high settings and are best for eSports games. The next tier comprises GPUs like AMD Radeon RX 7600 and RTX 4060, and is for maxing out games at 1080p.

Users looking for uncompromised 1440p gaming performance should go with the RX 7800 XT or the RTX 4070, while enthusiasts who have no budget constraints and want to game at 4K can get the RX 7900 XTX or the Geforce RTX 4090.

Storage

Traditional hard drives have done a good job for decades, but now it’s time to completely switch to fast SSDs, aka Solid State Drives. The majority of gamers have already started to switch to SSDs as they are more compact and are several times faster than mechanical hard drives.

They are slightly more expensive than the HDDs, but in the past few years they have become really affordable and come with several different storage capacities. NVMe SSDs are generally the fastest and help with quick boot of the OS and games/applications. They easily sit on the motherboard on the M.2 connector without taking any additional space inside the case.

For storage, it’s recommended to have at least 1TB of fast NVMe SSD as the primary storage where the users can store their OS, primary applications, and a few games. If the motherboard boasts multiple M.2 connectors, it’s best to install more NVMe SSDs than going for the SATA SSDs.

Power Supply

The power supply is responsible for providing adequate voltage to the components. Each component, including CPU, GPU, cooler, motherboard, fans, and storage drives is powered by a PSU. Generic PCs have generic power supplies that do not come with protection features and good efficiency. Gaming PCs particularly require reliable power supplies that are built using premium components and come with heavy-duty protection.

This is to ensure that the PSU breaks before the faulty power damages the more expensive components. Gaming with reliable power supplies means plenty of connectors and cables for adding multiple storage drives and GPUs, and most will be compatible with the latest connectors found on modern hardware. It’s best to go with a higher wattage PSU to have some room for further upgrades, and it’s also recommended to choose at least a standard 80-plus rated power supply.

CPU Cooler

While some processors come with a stock CPU cooler inside the CPU box, others don’t. CPU coolers do the crucial job of cooling down the overheating chip to avoid thermal throttling. In gaming PCs, they may not directly influence the CPU’s performance but help the CPUs to operate with stability.

A processor that runs very hot and cannot maintain high clock speeds without downclocking will have problems maintaining consistent performance in games. Hence, the CPU cooler needs to be effective in dissipating the heat quickly and avoid hitting the critical temperature. For most locked processors, the stock coolers do a pretty fine job, but overclockable processors need good cooling solutions.

Depending on the CPU tier, users may opt for an air CPU cooler or an AIO cooler. The best AIO coolers are superior in quick heat dissipation, but are also expensive. Enthusiasts who love to achieve higher clock speeds than advertised should go with at least a 280mm AIO. Newer generation processors in particular need a premium AIO cooler, as they tend to run hotter.

Case

A PC case, or “chassis”, hosts all the above-mentioned components. They generally don’t affect the gaming performance unless they are ineffective at cooling. It doesn’t matter whether users go with a futuristic-looking sci-fi case or one that just looks like a cube, the most important thing is the airflow. A high-airflow PC case should allow for balanced cooling to keep thermal throttling at bay.

The next thing to look for is compatibility. It can be quite frustrating once users reach a point where they can’t add a bigger GPU or a storage drive. It is even more annoying to have a cable clutter right in the middle that can mess up the system’s airflow. Therefore, choosing a good PC case is essential, even if it doesn’t affect gaming performance.

What About Upgradeability?

Upgradeability is one of the most commonly ignored factors by newbies. Once they reach a point where their gaming PCs aren’t able to keep up with modern games, they start to regret some of their decisions. Some of the most common mistakes newbies PC builders make are:

• Buying a CPU from a generation that is several years old
• Choosing a motherboard with very little upgradeability
• Getting a case with no airflow and having less clearance for long GPUs
• Buying a low-wattage PSU without an 80+ rating
• Choosing a bad CPU-GPU combo

Once users identify these crucial mistakes before purchasing the components, there won’t be any major problems with upgradeability. While some of them are minor mistakes, some may cost users several hundred dollars in the next upgrade. One of them is choosing an older-generation CPU that will get outdated in 2-3 years. CPU and Motherboard manufacturers generally don’t keep up with the same platform for a decade. So, it’s better to go for the newer platform.

This helps in replacing the CPU without changing the motherboard, and the same goes for the RAM. Another big mistake is getting the wrong CPU-GPU combo. It’s always important to get a powerful CPU that can handle higher-end GPU upgrades in the future. Other mistakes listed will cost less, but they should be kept in mind to reduce the overall upgrade cost.

Power supplies typically last long and getting a higher wattage capacity is a good one-time investment. The same goes for the motherboard, which can allow adding a couple of more storage drives, more RAM sticks, expansion cards, and miscellaneous devices. Lastly, considering what users could change in the future, the PC case should be chosen carefully to avoid compatibility issues.

Final Things To Consider When Picking PC Parts

A powerful PC isn’t exclusive to just gamers, as it can also be a crucial tool for work, creativity, and general productivity. Because of the significant impact your PC has on everyday life, it’s important to choose components that are within your budget but are also future-proofed in some way.

When picking PC parts for your next build, it’s also always important to ensure component compatibility. Compatibility is essential for nearly every part of the PC: the motherboard, CPU, GPU, RAM, and PSU. For example, an AMD Socket AM5 motherboard cannot fit an Intel CPU because of the socket difference. Likewise, you cannot fit a DDR3/4 RAM kit into a DDR5 RAM slot, unless the board boasts backwards compatibility and a high-end GPU may be throttled by a motherboard without a Gen 5 PCIe x16 lane.

Additionally, ensure that the PSU/power supply you choose provides wattage to support all of your components. This is especially vital if you plan on overclocking in the future. As of 2024, most medium to high-end PC builds should have at least a 1000w PSU to support the power consumption needs of the components.

Planning your PC build before purchasing the parts is a crucial step to building your PC right. From there, you can continue your PC-building journey by learning about the individual components and how they all come together during the assembly process. Good luck, and most importantly, have fun building!

• 

  MXZ Gaming PC with RX 7600

  $879 $919 Save $40

  This MXZ Gaming PC features a 6 core/12 thread Ryzen 5500 CPU and a Radeon RX 7600 GPU to boost 1080p gaming performance without going too hard on the wallet. The PC build looks fantastic with pre-installed RGB fans and comes with sufficient space for upgrades. The system is powered by a 550W PSU and also comes with WiFi support out of the box.

• 

  YEYIAN Odachi VR Gaming PC

  YEYIAN Odachi VR Gaming PC boasts a beautiful mid-tower with several RGB pre-installed fans for ample cooling and an AIO cooling solution for the CPU. The Ryzen 7800X3D makes it a beast in gaming and the RTX 4070 further elevates its performance in modern titles. From aesthetics to performance, this PC doesn’t lack anything.

• 

  Skytech Eclipse Gaming PC

  $3400 $3500 Save $100

  The Skytech Eclipse Gaming PC offers a heavy-duty Intel Core i7 14700K CPU paired with an Nvidia RTX 4090 GPU along with 64GB of DDR5 RAM and 2TB of NVMe storage in tow.

  It also throws a free RGB keyboard and mouse combo into the mix while offering some of the best gaming performance one can buy with the penultimate Intel 14th generation CPU in tow.

FAQ

Q: What specs do you need to run a game on a PC?

Every game has different PC requirements, which can be found on the game’s official page. Modern titles are highly intensive and require a powerful CPU-GPU combo, at least 8GB-16GB RAM, and sufficient storage to run without bottlenecks.

Q: How do I choose my PC specs for gaming?

It’s best to decide on the budget first before deciding on the parts. The specs should be balanced and no one component should be from a completely different tier. i.e., the GPU shouldn’t be Tier 1 when the CPU is from Tier 2 or the CPU will bottleneck the GPU. The above guide has illustrated in detail how much each component affects a PC’s performance in gaming.

Q: How much RAM do I need for gaming?

At least 8GB if the resolution is 1080p but if resolution is higher, then 16GB should be the target RAM size.