How to Choose the Best Value PC Gaming Hardware

[WallacEngineering]

Its time we had a discussion...

 

So many people are buying extremely high-end components that are simply unnecessary and overkill. I figured I would create a guide to help people decide what hardware is best for their use case.

 

How many frames per second do I need? What settings should I run, what resolution should I play at? Lets talk about all these things today...

 

FPS:

 

Lets start by talking about refresh rate and frames per second (FPS). Linus PROVED a while back in a video called "Does High FPS Make you a Better Gamer" that for the VAST MAJORITY of gamers, frame rates beyond 144 FPS/Hz simply make no difference whatsoever. At 144Hz, the smoothness and responsiveness is so fast that your keyboard and mouse themselves attribute the vast majority of the input lag and the human body simply cannot detect lag caused by FPS at these extremely high frame rates.

 

Even professional E-Sports gamers stated in the video that they feel there is basically NO DIFFERENCE WHATSOEVER between 144 and 240 Frame Rates. These professional gamers tend to go for extremely high frame rates anyways to reduce latency in the game's processing, but this guide is aimed at the average gamer, not a professional. These response times on the levels of a few thousandths of a second and the average gamer will NEVER detect them.

 

In the Linus Video, they explored the differences between 60FPS/Hz, 144 FPS/Hz, and 240 FPS/Hz. What they did NOT talk about is at what point do we hit diminishing returns? At what point before 144 FPS is that magical number that feels incredibly smooth and responsive? Allow me to explain...

 

60 FPS may seem smooth to watch and indeed it is, but 60 FPS isn't quite fast enough for fast-paced gaming. This is because of how much time is needed for your machine to produce the next frame. The amount of time needed to produce each frame at 60 FPS is long enough to where if you move your mouse back and forth quickly, you will notice slight lag, it just won't feel all that responsive, and this is why the ideal gaming frame rate is well above 60 FPS.

 

So how far do we need to go? Well it is somewhat subjective but there are some general "rules of thumb" that can help you decide. Even just a bit above 60 FPS at 75 FPS, things will begin to feel fairly responsive, but if you want the best performance before diminishing returns, there are still gains to be had. At 90 FPS, things will look and feel fantastic, with incredible response. At 90 FPS you will probably be quite satisfied with your experience, but we should reach a bit higher, and here is why...

 

When your machine experiences a huge load in a demanding area of a game, the FPS will drop for a single instant here and there, this is what we know in benchmarking as 1% lows. The problem with 90 FPS gaming is that these 1% lows can still drop you into the 60's of FPS. And when that happens, you will certainly feel it. This is why 90 FPS gaming isn't quite enough to be considered a pretty-much perfect gaming experience.

 

What you should aim for is 100+ average FPS. Once you cross the triple-digit threshold, your gaming experience will be extremely satisfying at all times, because your 1% lows will stay at or above 75-80 FPS. These 1% lows will be so smooth that you probably won't have even noticed that they happened, and so 100+FPS is ideal target for the best value gaming.

 

However, as newer games come out, and your hardware ages, performance will drop a bit over time. But to counter this, most reviews on PC gaming content focus on performance results at Ultra Settings. So as your PC ages, you should be able to drop your settings from Ultra to High in order to keep about the same frame rates in upcoming games for a few years. Keep this in mind for later...

 

GAME SETTINGS:

 

So what about settings and resolution? Lets get settings out of the way - aim for High settings. High settings are a very satisfying experience and the visuals will be stunning. Very High/Ultra settings demand a lot more power for not a whole lot more beauty and so in reality, Ultra settings are unnecessary. But if you aim too low and end up with low or medium settings, you will definitely notice the difference between these settings and High settings.

 

RESOLUTION:

 

Finally - resolution. Resolution is completely subjective. Some people enjoy 1080p, others enjoy 4K. But, there are diminishing returns with graphical fidelity, so lets outline those now:

 

1080p is great for very small monitors. It looks about as sharp as it can get on 20" and smaller screens, and still looks pretty good up to 30" gaming monitors, but most people can see the difference between 1080p and 1440p, so that choice is yours.

 

1440p is actually the ideal computer monitor resolution in most cases. It looks insanely sharp on pretty much any standard-sized monitor and most people cannot tell the difference between 1440p and 4K. I personally play at 1440p ultrawide for that extra side-to-side vision and its an incredible experience (3440x1440p)

 

4K is actually pretty useless in more situations than you might think. Research and scientific studies have shown that the human eye with perfect 20-20 vision actually CANNOT see the difference between 1440p and 4K on any screen up to 50" with your face just 18" away from the screen. Linus even did a video a while back called "4K Gaming is Dumb" that goes over why its pretty much completely unnecessary.

 

Choosing Hardware Based on this Information:

 

PC Hardware reviews pretty much always focus on performance delivered at Ultra gaming settings. Since Ultra settings are unnecessary, you can use the performance gap between High and Ultra settings as your performance overhead for upcoming games in the future.

 

And so... If you want a gaming experience so good that you wouldn't be able to tell if you upgraded further, and you want to use a standard sized monitor like most PC gamers do, then you want to purchase hardware that is shown to deliver an average of at LEAST 100 FPS at Ultra Settings for your chosen resolution, and 1440p is the recommended resolution for standard-sized PC monitors.

 

Now the hardware you choose will depend on if you want standard 2560x1440p resolution or ultra-wide 3440x1440p or whatever other form of 1440p you might want, but if you do your research and keep these rules of thumb in mind, you will end up with an incredible gaming machine without over-spending.

 

Of course everyone will have their opinions, Im sure plenty of people will say I am wrong. But think about it before commenting. When was the last time you played a game at 90-100 FPS and you thought to yourself "This is a terrible experience, I need to upgrade my PC because this is just un-playable".

[Shimejii]

This wall of text and whats in seems to be filled with just filler information without actually getting anywhere or do anything helpful. Its not much of a guide for anything besides just info dumping a bunch of stuff that doesnt lead to anything or go anywhere besides just stating what others have for quite a few years now. 

 

What exactly were you trying to do with this? 

[WallacEngineering]

2 minutes ago, Shimejii said:

This wall of text and whats in seems to be filled with just filler information without actually getting anywhere or do anything helpful. Its not much of a guide for anything besides just info dumping a bunch of stuff that doesnt lead to anything or go anywhere besides just stating what others have for quite a few years now. 

 

What exactly were you trying to do with this? 

 

Its just general guidelines. And it literally covers every aspect of PC gaming.

 

What matters in PC gaming? Resolution, Frames Per Second, and Lag. I mean if you can't understand that, then why bother commenting, lol

[thrasher_565]

7 minutes ago, WallacEngineering said:

 

Its just general guidelines. And it literally covers every aspect of PC gaming.

 

What matters in PC gaming? Resolution, Frames Per Second, and Lag. I mean if you can't understand that, then why bother commenting, lol

the only thing that matter is game play... fps is only there when toggled on. no one should really care unless they feel lag.  back in the day my fam could not afford the best pc so lag it was. and that gos for budget builds. do to how unpolished games are today they tend to be laggy not because of hardware. like no man sky...

 

people need to step away and not care about some things as much...

fps for shooters is just a reason for people to think there bad at the game when the have under 350 fps... but 90% of players are hacking anyway or its pay to win. thats why there bad.

Edited May 5, 2023 by thrasher_565

[WallacEngineering]

3 minutes ago, thrasher_565 said:

the only thing that matter is game play... fps is only there when toggled on. no one should really care unless they feel lag.  back in the day my fam could not afford the best pc so lag it was. and that gos for budget builds. do to how unpolished games are today they tend to be laggy not because of hardware. like no man sky...

 

people need to step away and not care about some things as much...

fps for shooters is just a reason for people to think there bad at the game when the have under 350 fps... but 90% of players are hacking anyway or its pay to win. thats why there bad.

 

Well ya, but low FPS causes input lag... And thus FPS matters. I know what ur trying to say and it makes sense but FPS does actually matter up to a certain point.

 

Ya, 350 FPS is useless. That kind of FPS won't do anything for anyone, that much is correct.

[thrasher_565]

Just now, WallacEngineering said:

 

Well ya, but low FPS causes input lag... And thus FPS matters. I know what ur trying to say and it makes sense but FPS does actually matter up to a certain point.

 

Ya, 350 FPS is useless. That kind of FPS won't do anything for anyone, that much is correct.

people have been tested and pro reaction time can only hit a point. but that like .001% of the pros and most likely asian.  for the rest of people dose not matter. i no people are amassing i see it it speed running all the time doing may frame perfect inputs but it takes years and thousands of runs to do that.

 

 

[WallacEngineering]

3 minutes ago, thrasher_565 said:

people have been tested and pro reaction time can only hit a point. but that like .001% of the pros and most likely asian.  for the rest of people dose not matter. i no people are amassing i see it it speed running all the time doing may frame perfect inputs but it takes years and thousands of runs to do that.

Again, if you actually read the OP, my recommendation is 100 FPS to keep 1% lows above 75 FPS, so you always have a smooth experience. Im not suggesting massive frame rates like 240Hz, the whole point of this guide is to keep people from wasting money on frame rates like that.

 

So basically, you are agreeing with everything I have said, so I don't understand the argument...

[-rascal-]

14 minutes ago, WallacEngineering said:

 

Well ya, but low FPS causes input lag... And thus FPS matters. I know what ur trying to say and it makes sense but FPS does actually matter up to a certain point.

 

Ya, 350 FPS is useless. That kind of FPS won't do anything for anyone, that much is correct.

 

That is true, but there are edge cases.

People want as high as FPS as possible, for example, competitive / championship level of play where $$$ is involved (i.e. CS:GO).

It's not about the response time, refresh rate of the monitor, etc.

But rather, how frequent that information is updating between you and the other player.

144 FPS = ~6.9 ms, 350 FPS = ~2.9ms

There is a 4 ms difference in when your enemy's character comes around the corner of the building.

Add in say a 10ms reaction time, there is a 14ms difference between who's headshot bullet is registered first.

In this case, high FPS is #1 priority over image quality, resolution,  etc.

[thrasher_565]

1 minute ago, WallacEngineering said:

Again, if you actually read the OP, my recommendation is 100 FPS to keep 1% lows above 75 FPS, so you always have a smooth experience. Im not suggesting massive frame rates like 240Hz, the whole point of this guide is to keep people from wasting money on frame rates like that.

 

So basically, you are agreeing with everything I have said, so I don't understand the argument...

60fps is just a ball park. things can be smooth under that. 45fps or even lower. the spikes and the lag are what you notice.

i myself dont under stand how to set everything up. that's how complex it is...

[WallacEngineering]

Just now, -rascal- said:

 

That is true, but there are edge cases.

Of course, I mentioned this in the guide, that there are professional E-Sports gamers who target extremely high frame rates. But this guide isn't for them.

[WallacEngineering]

1 minute ago, thrasher_565 said:

60fps is just a ball park. things can be smooth under that. 45fps or even lower. the spikes and the lag are what you notice.

i myself dont under stand how to set everything up. that's how complex it is...

 

Things are VISUALLY smooth at 45 FPS sure, but the games reactivity as well as fidelity while in motion is NOT smooth or responsive at just 45 FPS.

 

45 FPS is great for movies, but not for gaming. You can play at 45 for sure, but its FAR from the optimal experience.

[-rascal-]

3 minutes ago, WallacEngineering said:

Of course, I mentioned this in the guide, that there are professional E-Sports gamers who target extremely high frame rates. But this guide isn't for them.

 

Ah okay.

The only area I see that mentions E-Sports or related to competitive level of gameplay was

Quote

Even professional E-Sports gamers stated in the video that they feel there is basically NO DIFFERENCE WHATSOEVER between 144 and 240 Frame Rates.

 

[thrasher_565]

18 minutes ago, WallacEngineering said:

 

Things are VISUALLY smooth at 45 FPS sure, but the games reactivity as well as fidelity while in motion is NOT smooth or responsive at just 45 FPS.

 

45 FPS is great for movies, but not for gaming. You can play at 45 for sure, but its FAR from the optimal experience.

i disagree if you could not see the fps you would not be able to tell what fps it was at.. just saying

 

the pros also play on lan

Edited May 5, 2023 by thrasher_565

[WallacEngineering]

Just now, thrasher_565 said:

i disagree if you could not see the fps you would not be able to tell what fps it was at.. just saying

I wouldn't be able to tell what FPS the game is at exactly no, but at 45 FPS I would know something is wrong from the lack of responsiveness and extremely blurry visuals when whipping my head around in game looking around the area quickly.

 

This would immediately prompt me to open up a performance monitoring application and make adjustments to improve performance.

 

So while I may not know that the framerate is EXACTLY 45 FPS, I would certainly be aware that my FPS is low in general. That I can assure you because when I fired up Red Dead 2 on my old 5700-XT and it defaulted to high settings and barely ran at 60-65 FPS average with dips into the 40's, I immediately noticed and opened up monitoring software. I noticed the low FPS, made adjustments to mostly medium settings, got the average FPS up to 85-90, and then turned the monitoring back off and enjoyed the game.

[WallacEngineering]

22 minutes ago, -rascal- said:

Ah okay.

The only area I see that mentions E-Sports

Updated OP to make it more clear

[thrasher_565]

i think it be better to make a guide on how to set things up imo even thow i watch a bunch of videos about it still dont under stand it. i get screen taring but dont get how to fix it. people are also human and everyone see things different so no set number.

 

realistically you want a profile per game and application. my monitors on 160 hrz uses 30w more... vs 120hrz...

 

not only that each game will have data differently. like in diablo 2. i can open up 2 copy's of it and stand in one spot and on the other ill be in a different spot.

14ms thats with 0 latance but data transfer is not that good...

[WallacEngineering]

On 5/4/2023 at 7:36 PM, thrasher_565 said:

i think it be better to make a guide on how to set things up imo

 

Im sure there's a guide out there for that, especially on YouTube. Go have a look my dude

[wasab]

You forgot the most important thing which is rgb. It makes your whole computer run faster at the cirucuit levels