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Should You Build a Gaming PC or Buy One?
Gaming is one of the biggest industries in our world today. It is worth billions of dollars and popular games are played by over a billion people around the world. Video games are ingrained in our society and, especially with the latest generation, a huge part of a child’s adolescence and growing-up experiences. Being a millennial baby myself, I grew up with some of the greatest video game systems: the N64, Sega, NES, which are still deemed to have developed some of the best games of all time. Every year the video game industry tries to push the envelope to find the next big series of games or immersive ways to play video games.
Gaming Console vs Gaming Computer
As of right now, the most popular consoles are Microsoft’s XBOX One, Sony’s PlayStation 4 (which now has a VR component that you can buy), and Nintendo’s Nintendo Switch (that was just released; the Wii U came before it). Each of them is trying to outdo one another, and figure out ways to keep their loyal fan bases happy. While all these consoles offer great things, I believe that the most powerful way you can play video games, especially when it comes down to online gameplay, is through a gaming PC. Many hard-core gamers will agree with me that playing a video game on a gaming PC is the best way to do it. When you get down to talking about gaming PCs, however, it can be tricky to know what the best course of action to take is. If you are new to this subject, I should tell you that a normal PC won’t be able to give you enough juice to run the most incredible video games available for that platform. That is why so many gamers decide to either build a gaming PC or buy a gaming PC. But which one is better? Which one will save you more money? And which one will provide you with the best gaming experience possible? That is something we will be exploring today so we can determine the answers you need.
First of all, why a gaming PC?
You probably want to know why you would even want a gaming PC. Does it really offer you amazing features that a regular console cannot? The answer is yes. Here I will break down why I personally love gaming PCs and why they are worth examining.
They offer cheaper games
PC games are cheaper than any console games, even on the day of release. Don’t ask me why, but it is true. Since they don’t cost as much, if you are on a budget, you will be able to buy even more games. They have some amazing sales online for games you can buy through app stores and sometimes publishers just give away older games to sell you on newer installments.
There is no price tag for multiplayer games
PC games are usually meant to be played online, and this is why there is no price to pay for them. For example, look at Star Wars Battlefront released for the Xbox One last year; it costs a fortune on the Xbox to play with people, and it led to bad reviews. This would not be the case with a PC game.
Modifications
This is one of my favorite aspects of being a PC gamer—people develop “mods” for your games so you can experience them new. Sometimes they swap in new characters or change the layout of a game, but it is an entirely new experience. This simply doesn’t happen on console systems but it is so easy to find on a gaming PC.
Flexible and high-quality
At the end of the day, if you like working with computers, you can develop and change your gaming PC at any time. You can easily enhance the graphics card, add more RAM, whatever you want to do. As well, gaming PCs have the highest quality of resolution on the market today and they look absolutely fantastic in 4K.
Building a gaming PC
So, let’s take a look if you were going to build a gaming PC. While that sounds very difficult, it is actually easier than you may think if you do your research and ask around for help. What you will need to do first is figure out exactly what you will need. What motherboard do you want? How much storage do you want? Do you want an SSD or HDD? What graphics chip will you want at the end of the day? What is the difference between mechanical and membrane keyboards? Building a gaming PC takes a lot of time and a lot of research, especially if you have never done it before. Look online for tutorials and see if it is right for you.
Buying a gaming PC
Here is the easier alternative for a lot of people: Ready build Gaming PCs are available for purchase around the Internet and in stores. They range in price from a few hundred to even a few thousand dollars. A lot of people used to think that building a PC was a lot cheaper, but if you want the same level of performance as a ready-built gaming PC provides, it is still going to cost you a lot for the right parts. The advantage of purchasing a ready build machine: you simply hook it up, configure the hardware environment, and sit down and start gaming.
Which one is better?
To be honest, it is hard to say whether buying a gaming PC or building your own gaming computer is the better option. It comes down to your preference. As I stated before, building a gaming PC is harder than just buying a pre-existing one as you must collect all the parts and put them together. However, if you are technologically savvy, this will allow you to modify and create a fantastic gaming system.