In my introduction to desktop computing I said that we would have a look at a number of the specific functional groups into which we can categorise a desktop computer. Well I thought gaming PC’s would make a good place to start.

So what makes a gaming PC? Well these days apart from some very specific technical functions, games are probably the applications that push the components of a PC to the limit, far more so than the majority of the day to day reading of email and the odd letter to the bank.

Ok, so what is it you actually need, you ask. Well there are a number of things you need, power, power and more power! Yes you guessed it, it’s all about power! A powerful processor and a powerful graphics card, backed up with plenty of memory. Of these the graphics card is the most important followed equally by the processor and the memory. Get the best of these that you could afford would be a general rule.

However as well as the pure power you need to ensure you have a number of other components to ensure a good gaming experience. A good sound card is a must and great interface tools, things such as the keyboard and mouse, which may need to take a fair bit of punishment, are also important. Of course every month sees newer and more powerful PC components, so to all these considerations you should probably add the ability to upgrade. The more upgradeability your PC has, the longer you will be able to keep it providing you with a good gaming experience.

I thought I would begin a series of posts that will look at good candidates for the components that make up a great gaming machine. Of course purchasing the individual components are only important if you are building your own or upgrading. If you are looking for a complete gaming machine then the HP Pavilion Elite m9085 would be a good place to start, with a top of the range processor, graphics card and 3 GB of memory. Nice!