Computer Jargon

Computer Jargon

Before we begin. If you are new to PC parts, then definitely take the time to read this section. It'll give you a brief introduction to their use, and what they ultimately mean for your new computer. From here on, I will use these abbreviations to describe various components.

• CPU: The central processing unit is your PC's brain, in effect. It is responsible for giving instructions to your entire PC. Quad cores are, in 2018, the minimum to expect in a desktop PC. These cores may be few in number, but they are fast and multi-purpose.

• GPU: The graphics processing unit is responsible for displaying all the content that you see. It renders the game's graphics, and - where needed - can also help with the rendering of high-quality images/videos in professional applications. They are the opposite to CPUs. Many small cores, highly specialized, and running significantly slower.

• RAM: The random access memory is where temporary data is stored which is being worked upon by the applications. Think of this as your PC's short term memory storage. When the PC is turned off, the data stored in RAM is lost.

• Motherboard: This is your PC's electrical skeleton, and all components of your build will be connected to it. Overclocking ability aside, motherboards never affect PC performance, so a high-end GPU in a low-end motherboard will make no difference.

• SSD: A solid-state drive is where you generally install the operating system and possibly other applications too. You store data that you frequently access on this unit, as read/write (the speed at which the PC can access or write data to the drive) is significantly faster on an SSD than a traditional hard drive...

• HDD: Hard disk drives are essentially your cheap 'bulk' storage. Here, you store data that has less priority, is accessed less frequently, or is just too big to reasonably take up space on your faster SSD.

• PSU: The power supply unit is what provides power to all the components. Getting a good PSU is important, so do not EVER skimp on this part. PSUs come in many flavours, and you will a lot about 'efficiency' (in terms of their 80+ rating) and whether they are modular or non-modular.

• OS: The Operating System (e.g. Windows, MacOS, Linux) is what allows you to interact with the PC's internal components. As these are gaming PCs, Windows is a given here.

• AIO: All-In-One Liquid Cooling System which is used to cool the CPU/GPU and is pre-filled, so making installation easy.

Computer 'Bottlenecking'

You may have seen this term floating around the web, and wondered what on earth it referred to. Well, put very simply, the term relies on the image of a narrow-necked bottle. The data flow or 'work rate' from the fat part is inevitably held up significantly by the narrow neck, reducing the flow rate of the liquid inside (or, in our case, data).

If we take a second and think about it, there will be a bottleneck anywhere in a system. One component will naturally be holding up or slowing down the rest, but the extent to which it does this can often vary wildly. That said, the term is most often used in relation to CPUs and GPUs, and - even then - is almost always relating to a CPU bottleneck. Curiously, the most common bottleneck is actually a GPU induced one (i.e. your GPU is set at 100% usage, utterly maxed out and working hard).

Your CPU has to provide instructions for your system to actually do anything. In gaming, this means telling your GPU what to draw. Here, in a CPU bottleneck, your GPU is the fat part of the bottle, and your CPU is the neck. It's a somewhat reverse example, but - in essence - you CPU simply cannot provide instructions to the GPU fast enough.

Eye Candy, FPS, and Frame Times.

Obviously, Guru3D tends to think that all games should be played at the best IQ (Image Quality) possible. However, the dilemma here is that increasing image quality settings have a direct result on the FPS you are able to play at. This is a problem, as whilst we all strive for at least 60fps, there are times where that might not be possible at the often coveted 'Ultra' settings! Also remember that some graphical settings have a much bigger impact on framerate than others, e.g. shadows, ambient occlusion, anti-aliasing, etc. Below is a rough guide on what to expect from various frame rates.

Name	Type Of PC Build
Light/Entry Level Gaming	This is a new entry, and is aimed at the ultra-budget gamer who wants to spend as little money as possible. He/she can expect to game at 1080p (Full HD) in less demanding/older titles, or at 720p (i.e. 'Regular' HD) in newer titles. 60fps shouldn't always be expected, and the newest titles released in 2018 might be out of reach for playable performance. Unlike last time, this build will also contain an option for those wanting to spend a little more, and add a dedicated GPU.
Mid Level Gaming	We're going higher on the budget scale now, this system is aimed at those targeting near maxed out 1080p gaming at 60fps, or even some QHD (1440p) gaming in lighter or less demanding titles. By no means, however, should this system be out of budgetary reach. Again, there will be dual options here for a range of price points.
High-End Gaming	We are targeting 1440p gaming here at a smooth 60 FPS, or even - if you are so inclined - 1080p gaming at high refresh rates beyond 60Hz. Both are very achievable.
The Overkill Build	High refresh 1440p gaming or even the start of a 4K (2160p) adventure! Here, budget somewhat goes out of the window, once you consider peripherals, and GPUs such as Nvidia's RTX 2080 or 2080Ti are the only choice.
The End All Build	Do you HEDT a lot of money? Do you have a desperate need for 4k 144hz gaming? Do you have a job that requires a workstation more that is more powerful than the sun? Well, we're here for you.

Do note that if your FPS are low and you would like to increase them, here are two common methods at you can use:

• The 'cheap' way: Simply turn down the settings until the FPS is acceptable to you.
• The 'Not-So-Cheap' method: Find and eliminate the bottleneck in the system. As stated before, it is usually the CPU or the GPU which needs to be upgraded.

If you are lucky, then your upgrade will be a simple swap of your old graphics card. Simply pop-out the old GPU, pop-in the new GPU, and you're good to go. Of course, make sure that your PSU can handle the new GPU. Modern cards are getting ever more power efficient, so this really shouldn't be a huge concern unless you have a very low power unit, or a very old one.

Somewhat more complicated will be a CPU upgrade. If you're lucky, the new CPU will use the existing socket (e.g. replacing an i5 8600k with an i7 8700k). In that case, all that'll likely happen is your PC will detect the new CPU, and then simply carry on booting. However, in most cases, changing the CPU means new motherboard and/or changing RAM. This is somewhat more involved, and will likely run you some reasonable dollars.

There is also the consideration that when actually 'playing' a game, a drop down in IQ might not be so noticeable. This is why I would encourage all gamers to tweak/play with a game's graphical settings, in order to find the best balance between frame rate and visual quality as possible. It's worth noting that a setting might have very little impact on quality, but might yield a 5-10% improvement in FPS.

Frame Times

More FPS = Better. It's that simple. However, what about 'Frame Time'? In a nutshell, the frame time is how long (in milliseconds) it takes for a rendered frame to be displayed on your monitor. For example, a game played at 30fps (consistently) will be spitting out a new frame to the display every 3.3ms. If this is consistently achieved, and with good optimization and blur, the game will still feel reasonably smooth to play, despite halved frame rate from our golden target of 60.

However, what happens when the frame time is inconsistent? Well, in one word, stutter. If your frame rate is bouncing all over the place (e.g. from 40-60), then the frame time will be varying from as low as 1.6ms (60fps) to 2.5ms. This might seem very minor, but it is very easily perceived by the player. In this scenario, someone should either lower in-game graphical settings to help maintain a higher frame rate closer to 60, or even use a 3rd party program to artificially limit the frame rate to, say, 45. This will, counterintuitively, result in a more consistent gameplay experience, despite the lower average frame rate.

There is, however, an important final disclaimer I must issue before we continue. Due to the nature of the guide this time around, I have to strongly state that the builds are merely frameworks. Pricing and availability (especially the latter) may make the parts I have used in the builds (based mostly on the US market) either unattainable or unrealistic within such a budget range. When that is the case, please use your common sense to figure out what you should be buying or looking at. I cannot reasonably cover the entire US, UK, Europe (France, Germany, Spain, etc), Australia, and Canada! If I did, this article would be triple the length and would take me a month to write. It already takes me a couple of weeks.

Well, everyone. Lengthy explanation and introduction over, waiting for you on the next page is our entry level build.