# Forum Home Renovation Television, Computers & Phones  Gaming computers

## Bros

Anyone know much about gaming computers? My daughter is thinking about buying this one. https://www.scorptec.com.au/product/...021-ss-ice2060 
I know my way around computers but game ones are a bridge to far for me. I have just upgraded my 7yr old computer with new MB, PS, CPU, SSD and RAM without any trouble but the graphics card in the game computers are more expensive than the upgrade I did on mine. 
How are these games played? Do they play against someone else or another computer and do they have to pay for the privledge. If its done on line what is the speed necessary from the provider for your connection? 
As I said I know nothing and she asked me for my advise.

----------


## droog

Gaming computers are no different from any other computer, you need the resources where they will make the difference, eg gpu for graphics, cpu for processing etc 
The one linked has a number of features that gamers must have, eg see thru case, neons, etc. but is also missing some of the essential gamer features such as RGB and water cooling. Not sure how these features really help ;-) but they really are must haves for gamers. 
Games can be standalone although most these days are online with other players. Often you will need to sign up and cost depends, there are features that may need to be purchased to enhance the experience, think “in app purchase”.
Gamers set up servers for their games so may depend on if the intent is to host a server on the device, you can also pay for a host server running in a virtual farm in the cloud. 
Just like specing a computer for a particular application like web browsing or editing photos you need to understand what the intended game or games is as there are differences.
Also it is useless specing a very high end gpu if you do not have the monitor to utilise the video output.

----------


## Whitey66

That PC would not be as powerful as a Sony PS5 that can be bought for half the money. Unless she likes games that can only be played on PC or she'd rather use a keyboard, I think a PS5 would be well worth a look. They are backwards compatible and can play PS4 games too, so there are many very good games to choose from that can be bought very cheaply. I've got both, but if I had to pick one just for gaming it would be the PS5 hands down.
The price for graphic cards (GPU's) has been driven up due to the fact that they're used for Bitcoin mining, so you're paying a lot more for them now than you should be.

----------


## METRIX

> That PC would not be as powerful as a Sony PS5 that can be bought for half the money.

  You haven't been able to walk into a store and pickup a PS5 for nearly 2 years for the RRP of $600-$740, not just in Australia but world wide.
Due to the world wide chip shortage anyone that manages to get them in, are selling for $1000 - $1500. 
Why so expensive, because some people love to take advantage of any situation in this world and will rip off someone else if they can, comes down to supply and demand.
You can pre order them from places like Big W who have the prices set at $599 and $749, but the pre-order waiting list is reportedly minimum 6-12 months currently. 
The chip shortage problem isn't looking to fix itself anytime soon, the Automotive industry is crippled, Ford US has been building F150 and storing them at disused speedways because they cant get the chips to put some of the safety modules in, they can't sell them and they don't want to shut down production. 
Below is one storage site estimated to have 60,000 vehicles stuck in limbo. 
Car manufacturers were put on low priority to supply chips during the pandemic as gaming consoles and PC sales soared due to lockdowns, now the whole supply chain is stuffed.

----------


## Bros

These game console’s am I right in assuming it connects to a smart TV via HDMI and uses the internet connection on the TV?

----------


## METRIX

> These game console’s am I right in assuming it connects to a smart TV via HDMI and uses the internet connection on the TV?

  Gaming consoles connect to either a TV or Monitor, preferably to a decent sized TV to get the proper gaming experience. 
They don't use the TV'S internet connection, they use your regular internet connection same as a PC, via either a cable connection from your router or wireless. 
The difference between a regular PC and a gaming PC can be broken down as follows. 
Gaming PC normally specified with a faster speed Ram (Ram comes in various speed configurations, the higher the speed the more it cost), the faster the ram the easier the machine can handle the amount of data a game generates. 
Higher quality video card (this is the main difference between a regular PC and where most of the cost is in a gaming PC), entry level video cards won't cope with the graphics intensive games, they will either run at a low frame rate, or lower resolutions or both, neither of these are what a gamer wants. 
A faster CPU is specified in a gaming PC, AMD is the pick of the bunch, Intel has lost the plot over the last few years and is scrambling to catch up to AMD for bang per $, AMD has better thermal control than Intel, and can run a gaming machine with a decent quiet fan based cooler.  
The monitor is a big consideration for a gaming PC, as there is so much happening on the screen in a typical game , they have monitors that are targeted specifically at this market, these have higher specs in the way they display the image, such as higher refresh rates, lower GTG times and lower MPRT times, the better the specs for the monitor the better the game will look. 
Regular monitors will suffer during gameplay as they can't turn the pixels on and off fast enough, this results in poor quality images that look blurry, this is usually the first thing to be upgraded after the purchase of the machine, and you realise the limitations of the current monitor. 
Bear in mind, if you go for a PC, you will need to also buy some sort of controller, these range from about $80 to around $300 or you can go crazy and get some accessories that cost over $1200. 
A monitor needs to be considered, unless the intentions are to connect it to a TV in the house, if it's an older style TV it will struggle to display the games to an acceptable standard due to technology limitations of the TV. 
A basic gaming monitor will start around $270 with around $500 probably getting you a semi decent one, with good ones being around the $1000 mark. 
Gaming computers usually have lots of bling, such as clear cases, LED lights everywhere, coloured fans etc, none of these are necessary and are only for looks. 
Consoles such as PS5 or XBox, are an easier option as you just plug them in and go, a PC based machine is also a good option, as it can be used for other stuff not just games. 
You would need to find out what games she want's to play, there are online only games that don't really require a highly spec machine, it's once you get the latest games that are loaded onto the machine that require a gaming machine.  
Scorptec is a good place to buy stuff from, they are usually very competitive on prices, and good service there is another place up your way that's also very good for prices, you will find them online with a little searching they have a green website. 
The machine in question is ok, half the price is basically in the video card, but you could build your own using the same or better hardware for probably around the same price.

----------


## Whitey66

> You haven't been able to walk into a store and pickup a PS5 for nearly 2 years for the RRP of $600-$740, not just in Australia but world wide.
> Due to the world wide chip shortage anyone that manages to get them in, are selling for $1000 - $1500.

  It's actually pretty easy to get one if you are prepared to wait just a little while. You just go to your nearest JB Hifi and put your name on a waiting list, they give you a receipt with no money down. They ring you or send you a message letting you know one is available then you have 5 to 7 days to pick it up or else it goes to the next person in line on the list. I was looking for one for ages then decided to put my name down and got one in 6 weeks. The biggest problem is that most are being snapped up by buying bots before people who actually want to buy one for personal use can get one. If people didn't support the scalpers they wouldn't exist, but it's the same old FOMO story that is going with nearly everything these days.

----------


## havabeer

I have fairly decent gaming PC 
the first thing you need to ask your daughter.... WHAT GAMES DOES SHE INTEND ON PLAYING??  
If she's just going to play minecraft and fortnight that thing is more then enough. but the one you've linked is on the low end of pretty much every component and you will need to really think about limiting your self to 1080p max settings or 1440p with graphics settings turned down.  
you really need to ask her what she's thinking about playing
work out what monitor your going to get (1080p, 1440p, don't bother looking at 4k unless you intend on tripling your budget) and just google the recommended specs for these games and see roughly where you fall.
also make sure your internet has some semi decent download limits, alot of games don't even come on discs anymore and are download only and can be anywhere from 10 to 100gig. If you really need a dvd drive I'd just buy a USB one from ebay.   
as whitey said crypto currency mining drove GPU prices up for while there but they really are starting to simmer back down to regular prices now. the GPU is going to be the main driving force in gaming PC. I'm currently on a water cooled 3080   
the PLE pre-built ones at least give you a rough idea of what resolution you'll need to play at in their game check box thing on their prebuilt systems. https://www.ple.com.au/Products/6511...stom-Gaming-PC    
here's my beast:

----------


## Bros

> here's my beast:

  Is that what you have or what you desire?

----------


## METRIX

> here's my beast:

  As much as this does look nice and blingy (I haven't seen a fully clear case before, it looks good), I can see you spent a lot of time selecting nice hardware, I think this would annoy me having all those lights distracting me while using the machine.
I'm more of a stealth PC user, I have a powerful AMD I guess you could call it a gaming machine as it's fairly high spec ( I spec'd it for video editing rather than gaming, so lots of fast ram, fast video card, M.2 and multiple SSD, with HD for the mass storage), but it's completely stealth. 
All black, even the glass sides, I painted them black on the inside, I had no choice to not have glass sides as this it what it came with. 
Everything that can glow inside is turned off, except the red LED stripes built into the motherboard as these do look good  :Smilie: .
The machine is hidden under the desk, all you see is dual widescreens, wireless mouse and keyboard.

----------


## havabeer

> Is that what you have or what you desire?

  both?   

> As much as this does look nice and blingy (I haven't seen a fully clear case before, it looks good), I can see you spent a lot of time selecting nice hardware, I think this would annoy me having all those lights distracting me while using the machine.
> I'm more of a stealth PC user, I have a powerful AMD I guess you could call it a gaming machine as it's fairly high spec ( I spec'd it for video editing rather than gaming, so lots of fast ram, fast video card, M.2 and multiple SSD, with HD for the mass storage), but it's completely stealth. 
> All black, even the glass sides, I painted them black on the inside, I had no choice to not have glass sides as this it what it came with. 
> Everything that can glow inside is turned off, except the red LED stripes built into the motherboard as these do look good .
> The machine is hidden under the desk, all you see is dual widescreens, wireless mouse and keyboard.

  They're not really a distraction, its not like the blink, flicker, breathe etc, just on. But I like having it as a feature in the room, but its horses for courses. 
I actually got it all in February last year, just before the prices went totally nuts ($1650 for the 3080 and water block) and have mined enough ETH on it to pay for its self so it's pretty much cost me nothing after a year of casual mining. I the monitor is 4k@60hz but I'm going to drop back to 1440p with a higher refreash rate I think. I just really enjoyed the extra real estate 4k game when doing video editing etc.

----------


## Bros

> both?  
> I actually got it all in February last year, just before the prices went totally nuts ($1650 for the 3080 and water block) and have mined enough ETH on it to pay for its self so it's pretty much cost me nothing after a year of casual mining. I the monitor is 4k@60hz but I'm going to drop back to 1440p with a higher refreash rate I think. I just really enjoyed the extra real estate 4k game when doing video editing etc.

  That sure is a mean machine. Many yrs. ago I used to do some video editing and the editing was fine but the rendering would bring the computer to its knees. You had to start the rendering before bedtime and it usually finished in the morning. I used to use Pinnacle but I suppose it has been bought out three or more times and had a name change. 
I see you are an on line geologist as I had to look up what ETH was.

----------


## phild01

> I see you are an on line geologist as I had to look up what ETH was.

  I thought it was some new crypto currency.

----------


## Bros

> I thought it was some new crypto currency.

  Yes and he was mining it hence reference to geologist.

----------


## phild01

> Yes and he was mining it hence reference to geologist.

  Bit slow I was  :Doh:

----------

