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Everything You Need to Know Before Buying a Gaming PC - WIRED
Jun 03, 2020 3 mins, 41 secs

Buying a gaming PC used to be only for people with more money than time (or sense), but times have absolutely changed.

When is it ever really the right time to get a gaming PC.

We’re not really going anywhere right now, and unlike most houseplants, gaming PCs can last you about a decade if you invest time and money.

You don’t drop all that money just to play next-gen games with 4K resolution or to get the competitive edge with mouse-and-keyboard shooter accuracy.

They offer access to an ecosystem of multiplayer games, in which you, friends and strangers occupy the same digital space—in MMORPGs like World of Warcraft, competitive shooters like Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, MOBAs like League of Legends and in the infrastructure of PC gaming apps, including Discord and Steam.

“We’re seeing tens of digits of percentage increase in the amount of time people are playing at home, and tens of digits of increase in the amount of people playing,” says Intel’s GM of desktop Frank Soqui.

Most top-level competitive gamers and esports pros play on a gaming PC because it generally means more accuracy, more fidelity and less lag.

Barriers-to-entry are getting lower, with a lot of games going free-to-play and offering free trials, so if you want to dip your toe into the competitive multiplayer games your friends can’t stop raving about, now is a great time.

With a gaming PC, you can also really spec out your Witcher 3 play-through, but before you take the plunge and buy one, consider what sort of games you might want to play and where they’re available for less money.

At parties, you can toss up “lofi hip hop radio - beats to relax/study to.” You can connect controllers and play couch co-op or local multiplayer games, like Gang Beasts, Sonic All Stars Racing or Wizard of Legend.

Whenever someone talks about buying a gaming PC, the first response they get is “Why don’t you build one instead.

You could probably do the research yourself as to which video card can really max out the settings on the games you like to play, which case would look just perfect on your desk, and which color LEDs would totally match your gaming chair.

The benefit of buying a gaming PC, however, is the same benefit as buying any product over a DIY version: You get what you pay for, and you get extras like support should you run into problems down the line with a glitchy component, replacements in case anything arrives broken or defective, and of course, you get back all the time and energy you would have spent building.

There used to be a time when gaming PCs were exorbitantly expensive—to the point where it really, even with the benefits we mentioned, didn’t make sense to pay someone else to essentially put the pieces together for you?

That’s changed though: whole PC prices are more in line with component prices, and there are way more options to choose from than two or three super-ultra-tricked out rigs when all you really want to do is play that team shooter that came out four years ago.

For starters, we have excellent buying guides to gaming PCs and gaming laptops, if you’re in the market.

Jess Grey, WIRED product tester (and the author of both of those guides), explains “Overall I think lately it makes less sense to have a gaming laptop and a gaming desktop, I feel like most people will get more mileage out of a desktop, and your money goes way further.”.

“In general it’s easier than ever to buy a good gaming PC for less than $1000, and for most people, I’d say go for it.

But what if you really really want a gaming laptop—or you travel often and want to take your favorite games on the go.

Grey explains: “I love a gaming laptop because I love gaming on the couch and having the option to not be tethered to a desk.

For me, I also like having a gaming laptop that works as a work laptop (like the Razer Blade 15 or even an XPS 15) because I don’t like juggling devices.” Still, be ready to pay a premium, and to deal with the hassles of having a powerful laptop—which can mean extra weight and heat output.

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