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    Categories: Video Games Articles

5 Common Mistakes Gamers Make When Shopping for PC Gaming Hardware

PC gaming has continued to witness massive surges in popularity and growth in recent years, thereby reducing the need for a dedicated video gaming console. The advantage of using a PC as your primary gaming console can’t be overemphasized because, asides gaming, the computer system can be used to perform a broad range of tasks useful for everyday formal and informal life.

That’s why many passionate video gamers are opting for PC gaming these days because of the flexibility it affords. However, choosing the right gaming PC remains a daunting challenge for many players because many of them aren’t conversant with the requirements and specifications needed to run memory demanding games.

If you want your computer to run smoothly when playing memory demanding games, you have to ensure that your RAM and hardrive have the capacity to handle such demands. There is nothing as annoying as a freezing computer while playing graphic demanding games.  When you got your hardware figured, playing memory demanding games becomes a breeze.

Some just purchase gaming PCs without doing proper research and then they realize they’ve gotten the wrong hardware, which can be costly to replace. That’s why we are pointing out the common pitfalls to avoid when shopping for your favorite gaming PC.

1.   Choosing the wrong hard drive

A lot of gamers get this aspect wrong during the shopping process. Many gamers forget that modern PC games consume lots of hard drive storage space, living little for other nongaming programs to operate efficiently. These days it’s unsurprising to see lots of PC games exceeding 30GB in size, which means gamers will need to get hard drives of at least 1 Terabyte to start with.

Anything less isn’t recommended, especially if you don’t intend to use your PC solely for gaming purposes. Besides, gamers will need to be futuristic when shopping for the right gaming PC because computer games are going to be more demanding than ever before. So choose the perfect hard drive size for your gaming PC that’s equipped to meet future storage needs easily.

2.   Shopping for a gaming PC based on aesthetics

While it’s cool to choose a PC that appears “badass” to your friends and acquaintances, you shouldn’t forget that quality of internal hardware components supersedes external aesthetics as far PC gaming is concerned.  Don’t be deceived by the shiny whistles and bells most PCs produced these days come packed with. Instead, look for gaming PCs with the right internal hardware components because that’s what matters most especially when it comes to playing powerful, memory-sapping, graphic demanding games. However, we aren’t saying you should get an ugly PC box or machine because of the components they possess. Nevertheless, there should be a perfect balance between aesthetics and hardware functionality.

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3.   Neglecting power supply

The importance of getting the right power supply for your PC can’t be overemphasized as ignoring it entirely could lead to dire consequences such hardware damage or starting a fire. Besides the damage that could materialize from using the wrong power supply components for your PC, gaming performance could be impaired because the GPU and CPU aren’t getting the much needed power. You should understand that gaming computers require more power to run efficiently than nongaming PCs and should, therefore, plan accordingly. You should check system specs to know your power needs and ensure you meet the minimum requirements. You may also want to make hardware upgrades in future, and these upgrades may make your PC power thirsty. So you’ll need to ensure that your power supply is sufficient to handle the hardware upgrades you may carry out in future.

4.   Lack of strategic foresight

Strategy has a lot to do with the future. Gaming technology isn’t static; it changes every day in terms of technical features and scope. As they evolve in technology, so does their hardware requirements. Many PC gamers get carried away by their current gaming systems specs. They often fail to take into consideration likely future upgrades they are likely to make when shopping for their favorite gaming PC. They often find themselves stranded or left behind when newer, more powerful games get released in future. Many gamers carry out expensive upgrades to keep up with the future technological changes. But those with strategic foresight when shopping for gaming PC make fewer hardware upgrades, saving them time and money, which they could use for other more important value-adding activities.

5.   Acquiring excess RAM capacity

Yes, we know how important a PC RAM size is to gamers. However, many gamers get infatuated by the amount of RAM their gaming PC possess. More isn’t necessarily better as most gaming PCs come with sufficient RAM to handle basic gaming needs. That doesn’t mean you should go for PCs with miserly RAM size, e.g. below 16GB. Instead, channel more efforts into acquiring better graphic cards with much-improved VRAM. This option will help you get better graphic performance, higher texture resolutions, thereby optimizing your PC gaming experience.

Conclusion

Getting the right PC for gaming hardware shouldn’t be herculean having read this guide. You should endeavor to know your current and future gaming requirements and plan accordingly. When shopping for gaming PC hardware, you should do so taking into consideration your future gaming needs. This will help you save some good bucks on costly upgrades and time as well. Don’t be fooled by the crazy aesthetics most PC gaming feature these days. It’s the internal hardware components that matter. However, there is a balance you must strike in regards to aesthetics and hardware components when it comes to shopping for the right PC gaming hardware. Feel free to ask questions from more experienced PC gamers so as to avoid making mistakes that could set you back some hundreds of dollars, if not thousands in future.

Paul Mavis :Paul Mavis is a gadget and tech enthusiast, blogger, writer, and author of several articles posted on several A-list tech websites. He is passionate about gadgets and technology, and has shared his amazing views and opinions via his high-quality articles and blog posts over the years at thegadgetlover.com. He is one of the administrators of The Gadget Lover and is poised to continue delivering on the goals and objectives of this website.