Building a Gaming PC: 10 Things You Must Know: Page 10 of 11

Building a Gaming PC: 10 Things You Must Know
It looks simple yet it harbors beastly components. Vybe - the classic gaming pc as defined by MAINGEAR.


1. Cooling and overclocking

http://www.digitalstormonline.com/hailstorm-ii.asp

Red means war. The Hailstorm II, a liquid-cooled system from Digital Storm.

They’re not really parts but just important concepts you need to consider when you’re building a gaming PC.

Cooling is a very important factor to be considered. Too much heat on a component will decrease its performance and its lifespan. It’s necessary to keep things cool and comfy to get the most out of your PC. Cooling fans and good management of air circulation are enough to do the trick. Look for topics online on how to get optimal air flow in your casing.

For heavier gamers and those who plan to overclock their PCs, water-cooling is the way to go. It’s more efficient in moving heat away from the PC parts, but it’s also more expensive and requires additional legroom in the casing. There are still other options but they are absurdly expensive, so just settle for cooling fans or water-cooling kits.

Overclocking is basically pushing the component’s speed past its default settings. For example, a CPU has a stock speed of 2.40GHz. Manufacturers test and label a batch of products according to the average speed the whole batch will run without any problems. That means some of the units might be able to run at 3.0GHz, which is past the set limits, but were just marked 2.40GHz along with the others.

You’re lucky if you find your component easily overclockable. But be warned! Overclocking a component voids any warranty on it. For beginners, try overclocking when the component is past its warranty period.

 



Gamer Since: 1997
Favorite Genre: RPG
Top 3 Favorite Games:The Witcher 2: Assassin of Kings, Bioshock Infinite, Fallout 3: Broken Steel


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