Looking to buy your first gaming PC? Please have a read of the below and make sure that you don't fall into the same trap that many do.

So you are looking at getting your first gaming PC and you know very little to nothing about gaming PCs other than you've heard that they can be expensive, so you jump onto eBay or Amazon and search for a gaming PC, this will bring up a multitude of results, you see one that says Gaming PC Bundle and it's just over £300, it says that it comes with an i5, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD, GT710 2GB and comes with a flashy looking case, keyboard, mouse and monitor, you think what a result, then comes the big day, you plug it in switch it on and love the look of the flashy lights, you download your game of choice and as soon as you try to start playing it, you can't understand why it is running as expected and a huge disappointment - have a look at the below points on what to keep an eye out for.

CPU (Processor)

The CPU (Central Processing Unit) aka the brains of the computer, you will often see i5 & i7 listed on these cheaper gaming PCs, they are often 2nd gen i5 & i7 CPUs from around 2011 and have nowhere near the power of a modern-day CPU

GPU (Graphics Card)

The graphics card is a very important part of a gaming PC, if it says GT710 or GT730 then it simply won't play modern-day games, a GT1030 will just about play some older games and eSports titles

RAM (Memory)

I would highly recommend that you have at least 16GB of RAM, generally these cheap gaming PCs you see listed have DDR3 RAM which is much slower than DDR4 & DDR5 RAM

Drive (HDD, SSD,NVMe)

If you have an older PC with a Hard Drive, then you will know how long it takes to boot up, an SSD for the boot drive is an absolute minimum requirement nowadays, ideally an NVMe drive would be the best choice

Case

Cases come in many different sizes, and prices, some with lights, some without, something that needs particular attention, especially on a gaming PC is that the case has adequate airflow to help keep the components cool.

Warranty

I have seen some of these cheap refurbished PCs come with as little as 90 days warranty, some with a year. All of Elite PC's refurbished PCs come with a years parts and labour warranty and all new PCs come with at least 2 years parts and labour warranty

Conclusion & Next steps

Thank you for taking the time to have a look at the above points to keep an eye out for, purchasing your first (or any PC) isn't a thing to take lightly, it can be a significant outlay, and if you aren't tech-savvy it's an absolute minefield.

Here at Elite PC's we can help and advise on the best route to head down for those of you looking for any new or refurbished PC, whether it's for gaming, office use, or something a bit more niche then I have probably already built one for another customer, and for those that need something that I haven't already built, I am happy to do the research and see what is required.

Some things that are useful to know

So you have decided that you want to look into purchasing a new or refurbished PC, some things that would be helpful for me to be able to guide you in the right direction are

What's the PC going to be used for (gaming, gaming & streaming, music production, home storage, business use, etc.)
If it is for gaming, then what games are you looking at being able to play (there's a big difference between what's required for Minecraft and what's required for Starfield)
Budget (this is quite an important one to help me help you)
Would you like flashy lights or just a plain good looking case
Do you also need a monitor, keyboard & mouse or is it just the tower that you are looking at getting
Timescale (are you looking for a PC relatively soon, or are you looking a couple of months down the line)

Some things of Note

All PCs built by Elite PC's come with a 1year warranty for refurbished PCs and at least 2 years for new PCs
All PCs will come with either Windows 10 or Windows 11 Professional ready installed
Even if it's only a tower that I am building, it will still come with a power lead and HDMI lead to connect it to a monitor/TV
I am fully VAT registered and insured
I offer on-site installation if required (extra cost, please enquire if interested)
If you have seen a PC that you like the look of online, but are unsure if it's suitable for your requirements, send me a link and a list of your requirements and I will be happy to offer my opinion, I would rather lose a sale than have someone disappointed
Please use the contact form on the contact page of the website to get in touch, or feel free to pop me an email at clivewadey@elitepc.co.uk

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