Video games are no longer a simple pastime. In the last 20 years, the industry has grown far beyond its niche status – the industry now makes more sales than Hollywood and Co.
Since sporting competitions are now an integral part of the industry, the range is constantly changing. Hobby and professional gamers have a large selection of components at their disposal and should therefore not choose arbitrarily.
Even if the mechanics were in the foreground for a long time, video games are now increasingly something for the eye. The choice of monitor, therefore, plays an important role – including new technologies such as “High Dynamic Range”. Ideally, the diagonal should be 24 to 27 inches. Unlike televisions, gamers typically sit within the arm’s length of the screen. Because of this, higher widths and lengths make little sense in order to be able to enjoy the gaming experience in the best possible way.
The Hertz number, i.e. the factor of the refresh rate, depends on various factors. Personal preferences but also the eyesight are in the foreground here. For example, higher image resolutions in UHD with 144 Hertz can be perceived as much more pleasant. In this context, however, it must be noted that a higher value also places more demands on the graphics card.
In order to be able to play the latest games with the highest possible resolutions, you often have to spend more compared to consoles. Anyone who buys a current model from the two market leaders “AMD” or Nvidia” is now already at the minimum requirements with 6 gigabytes of video memory – not too long ago this value was considered futuristic. 8 gigabytes is the standard value for maximum performance, 12 gigabytes and more are probably more futuristic these days.
When it comes to computing power, hard drive storage also plays an important role. Newer titles in particular now require a lot of storage space, in some cases the number of gigabytes required is now three digits. In this context, the type of hard disk must also be taken into account. Since everything should run as smoothly as possible in 2020, SSD hard drives are preferable to HDDs, which take up significantly more space. Apart from the small size, they are also significantly faster in data processing in a direct comparison.
In combination with the graphics card, the video memory must be optimally supplemented with the built-in main memory (RAM). While the everyday user can easily get by with 8 gigabytes, this value is often only the minimum requirement for gamers of modern games. 16 gigabytes is high-end. It will probably take a while before games need more RAM.
Anyone who thinks the mouse and keyboard are largely the same product is wrong. Here, too, the needs that gamers in a particular place on their PCs were increasingly addressed. The sampling rates of the mice should ideally be between 400 and 800 DPI. If more MMO games are played, mice with additional keys are in demand, without which it is difficult to keep up with the competition nowadays.
In order to avoid further disadvantages compared to other players, peripheral devices are still set to cables instead of wireless connections. The furniture industry has now also made itself available here and designed special tables for gaming, as they enable cables to be stowed away much better. Special gaming chairs, which facilitate comfort during the sessions with adjustable heights and backrests, are now almost standard equipment.
