4 ways to get your PC back into game shape

During my recent attempt to transition back to PC gaming, I’ve become aware of just how much my computer has let itself go. Its memory is going, it has consumed too many large-sized media files, and my video card starts to wheeze every time I try to take it down the hi-res path.

Getting my PC back into gaming shape probably isn’t worth it anymore, but I’m just not ready yet to go out and buy a new one. That means I’ll probably be looking around for some cheap upgrades when Gitex Shopper opens this week for its first Spring. If you’re in the same boat, or just new to PC gaming, here some things to keep an eye out for — and some things to avoid.

Kill your cord

One thing you will likely see is a variety of new, super-duper wireless mice and keyboards. Avoid these like the plague. While you may think cordless is cool, wait and see what happens when your keyboard suddenly has one of those inexplicable lapses of connectivity or your mouse’s batteries die. You don’t want to be caught facing an onslaught of Zerg with nothing but your dead mouse in your hand, and believe me, your team doesn’t want to have to wait around while you hunt for fresh batteries.

Besides a cord, the other thing you’ll want to be able to do is set the sensitivity or dpi. The higher the dpis, the faster your mouse’s cursor will move across the screen. Most gaming mice allow you to adjust the sensitivity up to 2400 dpi but you can get mice that go up 8,200 dpi. At that resolution, even a nervous tick will send your cursor flying.

Finally, some high-end mice now come with a small programmable keypad next to your thumb. If you need to program macros for your next MMORPG raid, these are handy. If you just plan to goof around in Sim City, its just a waste of cash.

Video killed the gaming star

If doesn’t matter if you have a 3D screen with 4K resolution, it isn’t going to work well without a good video card. The one that came with your computer probably isn’t up to snuff. So what should you buy?

The simple answer is one your budget will allow. The main brands available are Nvidia GeForce and AMD, and the top of the line cards can run up to Dh3,700, not including local markup. Before you dump that much money on a card, I suggest you check out the latest online reviews at a website such as techspot.com.

Then, when you have a general idea of what you want and have found someone who has it in stock, make them take it out of the box and show it too you. Ask them to show you the heat sink, which is a metal contraption that allows the card to get rid of the excess heat — video cards make a lot of that. Then, make sure it has a fan, so your card can move that heat somewhere else. If the card lacks either, don’t buy it.

Nothing will end your night of gaming faster than a burned out video card, and here in the Middle East, you might have noticed it gets hot, easily hot enough to fry a video card working at full capacity. I speak from experience.

Nothing shocking

Now that you’ve got your new video card, you’re computer will likely need extra power to make it work properly. Video cards require a lot of juice, and if you suddenly find you machine shutting down mid-game, its probably because that card is using more electricity that your machine can produce. That means a new power supply. You’ll need probably between 650 watts and 750 watts for a really good card, but you can get up to 1000W. Luckily, power supplies are easy to install and usually won’t cost most that Dh700. Talk to your vendor, who should be able to answer any questions you have. If he can’t, find another vendor.

Hard disk

Everyone thinks the hard disk is just where you store the data of the game, but that data is being accessed constantly during the game. If you have a slow drive, you can have a slow game. Try to pick up a hard drive with at least an rpm of 10k or up, or for a lighting fast experience, get an SSD (flash memory) drive.

Back to base

Finally, there are the two most basic things you’ll need, memory and a good CPU.

Memory won’t make your game run better, but not having enough can make it difficult if you are running other programs in the background, such as Ventrilo or Skype. Additional memory is easy to install, but make sure you take the make and model of your machine with you to get the right chip. Also remember that if you’re using a 32-bit machine, you are limited to 4GB of RAM.

Then there’s the brains of your machine. I’ve also found CPUs to be a pain to replace, especially if you need to replace a motherboard too. If you’re already capable of doing that, you don’t need to be reading this article.

For the rest of you, keep this in mind. If you have one new chip set from the last two to three years, you’re fine. Those chips easily exceed most games minimum requirements, but if your using a Duo Core chip from the last decade, it might be time to bite the bullet and buy a whole new machine.