We choose a gaming computer seriously and for a long time

Until recently, the expression "gaming computer" was associated with the products of two companies: Intel and AMD. Recently, there has been a significant advantage in favor of the first of them. But at the same time, the price of AMD solutions is more than democratic. So, it’s not so simple here, and for making a decision we need an integrated approach, which will be done within the framework of this material.

Intel

At the moment, the flagship for home gaming systems from this manufacturer is the Core i7 model 4770 with an index of "K". This chip consists of 4 cores, which are capable of processing data from 8 threads due to the special Hyper Threading technology. The clock frequency of this chip is 3.5 / 3.9 GHz. Its potential can be revealed only on the motherboard with Z87 chipset. It allows you to overclock it, as well as connect all the necessary devices to the system. Modern computer gaming Must include 2 disk drives. One of them is SSD, which will significantly improve PC performance. Its recommended size is 240 GB. The second is a 1 TB HDD, designed to store user data. RAM in such a system needs at least 16 GB. This will allow in the foreseeable future not to think about buying another such module.

Another important element of any computer is a graphics card. Since there is only one flagship in this niche today - Ge Force 780 from NVidia (3 GB of memory), it makes sense to pay attention to it. The drive for reading discs is not so important, but if the user considers it necessary, then its installation is required. The power supply for such a PC should have a minimum power of 650 watts, but it is better to take with a margin of 800 watts. Also, do not forget about the game system case, in which all of these components can be easily placed. To harmoniously complement this computer system, you need to understaff it with a monitor with a diagonal of 23 inches and a resolution of 1920 by 1080 pixels. We select the peripherals for a gaming PC based on ergonomics and ease of use. Such a gaming computer can solve any (today) problem and has the highest possible performance.

AMD

The competitors from AMD are the CPUs of the FX series. Their key difference is the presence of 8 paired cores versus 4 for Intel. Currently there are 4 models in this design: 9590, 9570, 8350 and 8320. The difference between them lies in the range of operating frequencies and thermal power. The manufacturer himself recommends using the first of them in such systems. But there is one caveat. All of these CPUs have an unlocked multiplier. Therefore, the 8320 can be turned into a 9590 without any problems. You only need to equip it with a powerful cooling system and a reliable motherboard based on the 990 FX chipset. Otherwise, such a gaming computer is identical to the previous one.

The choice

2 optimal configurations were given. We will choose from them the best gaming computer of 2013 in terms of price - performance. Prices for components, and for the whole system as a whole, are shown in table 1.

Table 1. The cost of components

The table does not take into account one point - a high-quality system for the AMD processor. But even if it costs you 50 US dollars, you can save more than 150 USD. Therefore, it is better to choose AMD products, which at a comparable level of performance have a lower cost. And the configuration may be as follows:

1. AMD processor model Fx-8320.
2. ASUS motherboard in the performance of the M5A99X EVO R2.0.
3. RAM DDR3 with a frequency of 2133 GHz (Kingston KHX21C11T3K2 / 16X), a capacity of 16 GB.
4. Graphic adapter Zotac ZT-70203-10P.
5. SSD SKC300S37A / 240G from Kingston.
6. HDD WD10EZEX.
7. Monitor 237E4LSB from Philips.
8. AZZA case of the Orion line of model CSAZ-201-EVO.
9. Aerocool power supply model VP-650.
10. Drive Lite-On IHAS122-04.

This is only a recommended gaming computer. If desired, its configuration can be changed depending on personal preferences.