A lot of people like to talk about the ultimate gaming [insert piece of hardware here], the one that rules them all and is good for everything. I’m here to tell you that this is really not the case, because different people need different things and use their computers very differently. So let’s look at some examples where there are different solutions to the same problem.
The ultimate CPU for gaming
The gaming CPU debate has been raging on for as long as I can remember. Even when I was a wee lad I had friends debating over what the best CPU for gaming is. I’ll tell you straight up, you know that k-series i7 everybody is talking about, you don’t need it, you won’t ever need it, you will need to change everything else in your PC before you even start to feel like you need it. So let me explain why this is so and why I think so many people are spewing a whole load of BS when it comes to setting up a gaming PC.
How much CPU do games really use
It’s true that some games require more CPU performance than others, and it is true that what works for some is underpowered for others, so let’s just clear this whole thing up a bit. As I said, I’ve been arguing over this for almost 20 years now, it hasn’t changed at all up to this point and from the looks of things it definitely won’t change anytime soon.
The CPUs role
In the case of gaming, the role of the CPU is loading stuff up, taking care of the AI, taking care of some automated tasks that are happening in the game, and generally making sure everything gets to every other part in time, and that’s where it all ends. Now, if you play something like an FPS or an online multiplayer games (which is mostly the case nowadays), you aren’t taxing your CPU at all. In multiplayer games there’s no AI that needs to be processed constantly, the maps are usually static and only get loaded once and the only moving parts on the map are minimal.
If on the other hand, you like playing some strategy games, something like Starcraft, where you have hundreds of individual units running around doing their thing, then you are definitely using a lot of CPU power just to ensure that each unit reacts accordingly to whatever is happening around it. But here’s the interesting thing, have you noticed that all strategy games have a population limit? There’s a reason for that. It’s there because it runs into either the limitations of the software itself and how many units it can keep track of or it ensures a certain level of quality control so the user can play the game. By limiting how much actually has to be processed the player can play a “full” game without hick-ups, slowdown or crashes.
Another example of high CPU demand games are open world games, say stuff like GTA and MMORPGs, but even those, only render and process as far as you can see around the character. I think something like Starcraft is much more taxing than any of these.
I’ve seem some spreadsheets that can use more CPU power than most games.
The console situation
Another limiting factor for most games is that most of them have to also run on consoles, and consoles have historically never prioritized computing power. To be honest, as a “setup” consoles are very well built for the purpose of gaming, but they are still underpowered to keep their price down. They do come with a good GPU for the time and plenty of RAM, but CPU has never been a priority. They are a very well balanced setup for ok gaming and that’s about it.
Bottlenecking
A lot of people like to throw this word out when talking about CPUs for gaming, but as I have tried to explain here, it rarely if ever is the case that something like this happens. You have to be running an entry level CPU to even think this is a problem. Heck even low power laptop CPUs aren’t usually a bottleneck.
So as a conclusion to this section, with the odd exception here and there, there are no games that will ever benefit from an extremely powerful CPU. Your high powered CPU isn’t even breaking a sweat, but somehow people are still convinced that they need the power. For most games, you generally don’t need anything more than a higher end i3, but if you still think you need more a few years down the road you can get a mid-range i5. Anything above a high end i5 is serious overkill in my experience. You will never use such processors to their full potential. Let’s also not forget that a k-series i5 can overclock to well over 4Ghz if it ever runs into problems, which I seriously doubt will ever be the case.
The ultimate pair of gaming RAM
Another miss conception I see most people have is spending more of RAM that are branded “gaming” somewhere on the box. I’m sorry to break it to you, but RAM is RAM, no matter how you brand it. The RAM frequency can offer some minimal improvement in FPS for gaming, but generally speaking you have to be extremely sensitive to ever notice a difference in RAM performance. Also stop buying the hype that RAM needs cooling. You know all those fans I told you to install in your case for airflow? Well those are more than enough to cool your RAM and every other component that doesn’t have cooling fins on them. If you buy RAM from any well known manufacturer you won’t have any problems.
The only reason to overspend on RAM is for design purposes. Because you want LEDs in a specific color or some fancy designed coolers that would look cool on your motherboard and these don’t contribute to performance.
The ultimate gaming mouse
This is another one of those things that doesn’t have a clear answer, because it obviously depends on what you intend to use your mouse for. A competitive Counter-Strike player needs a completely different mouse from someone playing Civilizations for 8 hour straight. One needs a high DPI, quick response time mouse, while the other needs an extremely comfortable mouse that can be used for hours without being uncomfortable.
The simple fact that Logitech decided to launch a wired simple mouse for competitive gamers proves this fact. That mouse has no features, it’s just very precise and has an insane response time.
On the other hand you have the people playing MOBAs and MMORPGs, and these people need something different again. They need extra buttons on their mouse so they can bind all their spells for easy access. These are the same people that need extra programmable buttons on their keyboards and most of what I said about mice applies to keyboards also.
Depending on what and how you play, there are different “ultimate gaming mice” answers.
The ultimate gaming motherboard
People do tend to overspend on motherboards quite a lot just because it says gaming on the box. Here’s the thing, most motherboards support some form of overclocking, no matter how basic, but only a handful of CPUs are unlocked to allow overclocking.
If you are interested in overclocking your first concern should be having hardware that can be overclocked and then worrying about the motherboards abilities.
Motherboard differences
There are different motherboards for different needs. The thing is most computers are going to be run in an office or at home by people who really don’t care about anything advanced. Then there are the other extreme end where you have server and workstation motherboards that support multiple slots of RAM, have multiple PCI-Express slots and plenty of SATA connectors to build a server farm. The workstation motherboards also tend to be build much much tougher than the basic ones, with much thicker…everything…so they can handle being run at full load nearly nonstop.
Most gaming related motherboards tend to sit somewhere in the middle. Not quite basic, but not quite workstation grade.
Enthusiast grade motherboards
I’m not saying that any motherboard will do, because there are some extremely basic motherboards out there, but as with most things computer related the high-end is mostly overkill and for people with more money than brains.
Generally speaking, the network connectivity is mostly the same across all motherboards, they all run the same hardware from the handful of manufacturers with the same specifications and performance. Some motherboards do get better soundcards, and are indeed better made, with thicker PCBs, better protection from parasitic signals and so one. Other motherboards have some basic built in graphics card and can be used for bargain builds. There is some merit to buying a more expensive motherboard, but it is mostly if you are very finicky about your requirements and just have to have something in particular.
If you really are an sound enthusiast you will eventually get a dedicated sound card, just like you do if you are a gamer. The same goes if you are considering streaming. You will need a capture card, and more advanced sound setup anyway, so there’s no point in overpaying on a motherboard for features you aren’t going to be using anyway.
When looking at a motherboard you should be looking for enough ports and slots for everything you need, compatibility with certain technologies and overall serviceability with a built in bios reset button diagnostics display and such. Everything else is eyecandy and bonuses.
The ultimate gaming headset
This one’s pretty obvious if you have ever played a game with headphones on(link). While for solo gaming you would want something with very good sound quality and fidelity, you definitely don’t care about this when you are playing a multiplayer game and just want to talk with your friends during the game.
And especially for multiplayer is where there are some differences worth considering. A headset with 7.1 capability is very useful if you play a competitive shooter like CS or COD, or even World of Tanks and want to hear exactly where your enemy is coming from, but is pretty much useless if you play LOL or Dota.
The microphone is also sometimes more important than other times. In a game where you are constantly talking, giving directions and setting up a kill with your teammates like CS you need a very good microphone so that they understand your every word. In games where you just have to give them a quick heads-up or attract their attention to something happening somewhere it really doesn’t matter what microphone you use.
Conclusion
Thankfully we are PC gamers and we can appreciate all the options that are available to us and what we can do.
What I wanted to point out with this post is that if you are going into google and searching for “best ” and come up with some results, take into account that they may not be talking about your particular use case and you might have a bad experience. Also don’t always believe people claiming this is the best anything for gaming, because mostly they are talking about their own particular use case.
Basically don’t believe the hype, use your own brain, find out what you are looking for an then you can better decide for yourself if some piece of hardware is “the best” for you.
