What makes a great gaming PC

One of the great things about running a hardware review website is being able to sample a wide variety of hardware and evaluate how best that hardware can be used.  It also has a side benefit of making you an expert in the field and trustworthy source of information.  The other day Dennis was approached by a former co-worker to look over a proposed gaming build one of his family members wanted to put together.  The list was in PCPartsPicker and from a cost standpoint it met the budget needs of the individual. Given that this was a rather sizeable purchase they wanted a second opinion and any suggestions on how to make it better.

This really makes you wonder.  “What does make a good gaming PC?”  Does RGB matter? should I overclock?.  These are all classical question that have plagued gamers and system builders for years.  The answer has ALWAYS come down to a balance between price and performance.

On one end of the spectrum you can buy performance and even if you don’t get optimal gear it is so overpowered that it doesn’t matter. 

On the other side you can put a build together which might have the right price but misses the mark when it comes to performance.

The challenge we all face in this situation is having a basic knowledge of what each part can accomplish and if that is enough to get you by.  In this episode Dennis and Darren go over the PCPartsPicker build and what changes were suggested and then dive into similar builds that can be found online at the same price.  The range of what can be found is amazing and sometimes widely inefficient.

Episode 97 featured music:
Little People - Start Shootin' (http://www.littlepeoplemusic.com/)