What is the difference between a gaming PC and a regular PC?

The gaming PC has become an object of desire for many technology enthusiasts – and not just gamers. In general, devices of this type are more powerful than other computers, with plenty of reasons to be desired by video editors, photo editors, and even programmers. However, many users are unsure about what parts and mechanisms make a machine suitable for gaming or other heavier activities. To help you understand what can define a PC as gaming, Techidence presents below more information about this type of computer.

1. A Gaming PC has more graphics performance

MSI's New Gaming and Content Creation Laptops

A gaming PC necessarily needs to offer more graphics performance, which makes it usually necessary to adopt a dedicated graphics card. Unlike processor-integrated graphics cards, these have their processor, memory, and connections and promise more performance.

Video cards are components that in desktops are installed in PCIe ports directly on the motherboard, with some models also requiring a power cable directly from the power supply. The main manufacturers of graphics cards are AMD and Nvidia, but soon we should have a third competitor in the segment: Intel.

Dedicated graphics cards have a – as the name suggests – dedicated processor, capable of making the system perform better in graphics software and games. In addition, this type of GPU has VRAM memory, which contributes to more performance in graphics generation. Having a graphics card with more memory will allow the graphics chip to process more textures per cycle, which tends to give games a more advanced visual quality.

2. More data processing power

AMD Ryzen

In a gaming PC, the processor also shares a certain prominence – after all, besides the graphics part, several other calculations and processes need to be performed during gameplay. In addition, generating more frames per second (FPS) on the screen is a task that also uses a lot of the processor’s power in addition to the GPU, so it is always interesting to balance the performance of the CPU and GPU in the system.

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In other words, having a limited processor and an advanced graphics card can cause the system to not exploit the full power of the GPU, which will result in a lower frame rate and limited performance. AMD and Intel have several options for gaming processors, and it is worth considering models starting with AMD’s Ryzen 5 and Intel’s Core i5.

Processors with more cores and threads tend to offer more gaming performance. Likewise, models that offer higher clocks can favor performance in tasks that require more system power. In addition, some CPUs allow overclocking, which is the increase of operating frequencies to ensure more performance.

3. More RAM

TV-SIGNATURE-OLED-88-ZX-16-Gaming-Desktop

While on a PC for ordinary use, 8 GB of DDR4 RAM tends to be more than enough for most tasks, and many modern games recommend that systems have at least 16 GB. Many current titles will still benefit from larger volumes of memory.

Even though the graphics card has its dedicated video memory, several processes run during gameplay that will make demands on system memory as well. Therefore, having more RAM – and preferably in more than one module – is another common feature in gamer computers.

4. They have screens with high refresh rates

Dell Gaming G3

The refresh rate refers to how fast the PC monitor will react to processed data. So, the higher the refresh rate, the more fluid the experience will be when playing games or watching movies and series. For competitive gaming, it is worth considering monitors with around 144 Hz, which can be more expensive.

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The most common monitors operate between 60 and 75 Hz, while dedicated gaming solutions tend to have much higher performance, with options of 120, 144, 165, and even 240 Hz. To achieve such high refresh rates, the whole system needs to be sophisticated, so a good processor, good video card, a reasonable amount of RAM, and a good display are required to deliver the result.

Conclusion

A gaming PC tends to have more robust specifications since gaming demands more performance than everyday activities such as messing around with spreadsheets or accessing social networks. This means that a gaming PC can more efficiently perform just about any other task that a standard PC can do.

Asus TUF Gaming F15 and F17

In parallel, even if an entry-level PC can run some lighter games, when it comes to modern games or even in higher resolutions, history does not repeat itself. Due to component inefficiency, a conventional PC is usually not able to run most of the current titles satisfactorily.

In short, a gaming PC can be a solution not only for those who will play games but also for those who will perform jobs that demand more from the machine. On the other hand, a conventional PC can even run some games, but it will not offer the same experience as a computer designed for gaming.

This post may contain affiliate links, which means that I may receive a commission if you make a purchase using these links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

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