Do you need a gaming spec computer?

Andybez38

To play games do you really need a gaming spec computer to play games? What are the min requirements to play games on high settings? Why would you need to buy a higher spec if a lower spec can do the job?

motorguy

Andybez38 wrote: »

To play games do you really need a gaming spec computer to play games? What are the min requirements to play games on high settings? Why would you need to buy a higher spec if a lower spec can do the job?

Depends on the games.

A lots of games you will need proper graphics capability to play them - which will mean a decent graphics card, though outright processor power of the machine itself isnt as importantant as some people might think.

Strider590

My PC was built for gaming.......... 7 years ago.

It keeps up with modern games pretty well, it's had a RAM upgrade and a new GFX card (GTX 970). SSD would be nice, but can't really justify the cost.

I must point out that this thing was a real beast when I built it, Core i5 quad core, overclocked to 4ghz, water cooled, etc etc. Modern PCs aren't really that much higher spec now than 7 years ago.

Johnmcl7

PCs that meet the minimum requirements will be able to play the game but at low settings so that means a low resolution, low texture detail, low framerate, limited graphical effects and no visual features like anti-aliasing or anisotropic filtering. However the game should be playable, PC's below this spec my run the game but with a framerate too low to be playable and possibly other issues like graphical glitches.

The more powerful the PC, the more the image quality can be turned so higher resolutions to make the game look better, higher and smoother framerates, fancier effects and eye candy like anti-aliasing and anistropic filtering to improve it.

Right now to run games on max settings at 1080p or VR, an Nvidia GTX 1060 or AMD RX480 are recommended at around the £200 to £250 mark. To run at 1440p the £350+ GTX 1070 is recommended, beyond that the £600 GTX 1080 can run with super high settings and just touching 4K and at the very top of the pile is the absurdly expensive £1200 Nvidia Titan which is capable of native 4K gaming at 60fps.

Right now, AMD's current range tops out at the RX480 with nothing to challenge the faster Nvidia cards but AMD's new Vega graphics card is due soon:

http://www.pcworld.com/article/3153726/components-graphics/radeon-vega-revealed-5-things-you-need-to-know-about-amds-cutting-edge-graphics-cards.html

This is likely the technology that the new Xbox One Scorpio system will use while the PS4 Pro's GPU is somewhere between an RX460 and an RX480.

John

forgotmyname

I can play spider solitaire on my 10 year old PC with no issues.

What games do you want to play and what are the recommended specs?

Treat that as a minimum if you want it to last a while.

esuhl

Andybez38 wrote: »

To play games do you really need a gaming spec computer to play games? What are the min requirements to play games on high settings?

It depends on the game.

Andybez38 wrote: »

Why would you need to buy a higher spec if a lower spec can do the job?

A low-spec machine might not do the job. The PC might not be responsive enough to be able to control the game accurately. The frame rate (how quickly the display gets updated) might be so low that the display can't update quickly enough. Movement might be "juddery". Or the graphics detail might have to be reduced to such a low setting that everything looks blurry.

I'm not a "gamer", so I can't go into specifics, but modern games tend to be very graphics-intensive, and so require high-spec graphics cards to work well. But the CPU performance is also important, as is the amount of available RAM (and its speed).

Nilrem

Andybez38 wrote: »

To play games do you really need a gaming spec computer to play games? What are the min requirements to play games on high settings? Why would you need to buy a higher spec if a lower spec can do the job?

Minimum spec is exactly that, the bare minimum you need to play the game at the minimum resolution.

For example Minecraft can run on
CPU: Intel Pentium D or AMD Athlon 64 (K8) 2.6 GHz.
RAM: 2GB.
GPU (Integrated): Intel HD Graphics or AMD (formerly ATI) Radeon HD Graphics with OpenGL 2.1.
GPU (Discrete): Nvidia GeForce 9600 GT or AMD Radeon HD 2400 with OpenGL 3.1.
HDD: At least 200MB for Game Core and Other Files.

But that's at minimum settings.

At higher settings and with things like the third party graphics and expansions that actually make it worth playing for most people you suddenly need something like an I3 or I5 processor.
8gb of system ram (2gb is barely enough to run a modern OS, and if you're using onboard video you'd lose 256-512mb of that).
Videocard with 2-4gb of ram
Several gb of hard drive space.

Basically as has been said, as you go above the minimum specification you get better graphics in terms of detail, and resolution that you can play at, better frame rate.
At minimum spec you might find a game struggling to play at 15-20fps in some areas, whilst at higher specifications with the same settings it might reach 100fps - you want a steady 30fps as the minimum for most games, and a lot of people much rather have 60+ for action games.

RumRat

Depends on how serious you are about playing games. You would buy the best spec available that you could afford if you were a 'gamer', for all the reasons stated. Otherwise, just buy a console, PS4 or Xbox.....

motorguy

RumRat wrote: »

Otherwise, just buy a console, PS4 or Xbox.....

+1


I dabbled with gaming laptops - bought an Alienware 13 to keep me amused in the hotel room when I'm away with work.


Sold it and bought an Xbox One S and a fold flat usb gaming monitor.

d0nkeyk0ng

I bought a gaming laptop a few years ago from PCS. At the time, it would play the popular titles at full settings. Stuff like skyrim, dishonored etc. Unlike a desktop PC, it's not easy to upgrade individual components so my gaming laptop won't play the latest games at max settings.

If I were to buy a gaming laptop, I'd look at the recommended requirements of the games I like to play and then use that as the minimum spec for a new laptop.

If I were going to buy one now,

ptrichardson

Andybez38 wrote: »

To play games do you really need a gaming spec computer to play games?

You certainly need a graphics card for gaming - that's the crux of "gaming spec" - what graphics card does it have. Yes, the other stuff matters too, but nowhere near as much as the GPU

Andybez38 wrote: »

What are the min requirements to play games on high settings?

Depends on which game - every game is different.

Andybez38 wrote: »

Why would you need to buy a higher spec if a lower spec can do the job?

I think you've answered your own question here.
Gaming PCs are not consoles. They don't all render the game in the exact same quality and framerate - they do as much as they can handle. Better components = better visuals - simple as that.


And its a moving target, on a daily basis!