PC configurations: gamer, workstation, design and basic 【2019】 ✅

During all these years, our closest friends and family have asked us for recommendations on what hardware to mount in their new equipment and PC configurations. They know full well that we have known the best components on the market for years and are used to testing all newly released components.

In this article we explain everything you need to assemble a PC by parts and why do it. Before showing you our main configurations, we are going to give you very valuable information to take into account when choosing.

Index of contents

Reasons to assemble a PC by parts

If you want to experience virtual worlds in a higher definition, or are curious about what makes your PC work the way it does, building your own PC is the answer. With this you will not only have complete control over the components you choose, but you can also look under the hood and see what makes a PC work. All you need to build the first gaming PC is the right set of parts, a screwdriver, and some patience.

The advantages of a PC customized by pieces over one already preassembled are many, although the most important is that you can choose each of the parts that will form your new companion for play, work and leisure in general. In the market we can find many pre-assembled gaming PCs, but most of them are unbalanced, with some parts well below the rest, such as a poor quality power supply, or a low-performance heatsink that will make the processor warm up. too. With a PC assembled by parts you will save yourself all these problems. Another important reason is that having a balanced and high-quality PC will make it easy to improve its capabilities in the future with small updates, so you will save yourself having to buy a new PC.

What parts are necessary to assemble my first gaming PC?

These are the components you will need to build your first gaming PC, design or a basic configuration for office automation and surfing the internet.

Processor

It is the central processing unit, or CPU, often referred to as the brain of a computer or PC. The CPU controls how many tasks a computer can do at one time, and how quickly it can complete those tasks.

While there are plenty of specs you can use to compare central processing units, for your first build, it's okay to find one that's a little cheaper but does the job. To choose a specific model you can consult our complete guide on the best processors on the market, although some of the most recommended price / performance models to play are the AMD Ryzen 5, AMD Ryzen 7, Intel Core i5, Intel Core i7 and Intel Core i9.

Heatsink

The heatsink is in charge of keeping your processor cool. Most of the processors on the market already come with a heatsink, although it is very basic, and it is worth investing 30-40 euros in a heatsink of better quality and greater cooling capacity. It is not necessary to go to a liquid refrigeration of 120 euros as many times they want to make us see. We have a complete guide on fans and heatsinks .

Motherboard

The motherboard houses the various components of your gaming PC. It is the components to which all the others or almost all are connected, and which is responsible for making all the hardware of a PC work together. Also, the motherboard will limit the upgrade and expansion capacity of your PC in the future, so it is very important to choose the appropriate model. Also keep in mind that AMD and Intel processors use different motherboards, so the choice of motherboard is directly related to the processor you want to use.

Fortunately we have thought of everything, and we already offer you a guide to the best motherboards on the market. If you need to overclock in Intel, choose the Z chipset, while in AMD it allows us to overclock the B and X chipsets.

RAM

While many of us struggle to think about what we ate at yesterday's lunch, PCs equipped with the right amount of memory have rock solid short-term memories. Random Access Memory, or RAM, allows computers to quickly access files and run multiple processes at once without delay. You will want at least 8GB of RAM for your new gaming PC. As an upper limit, most online enthusiasts agree that 16GB of RAM is more than enough for their gaming needs. At less than 8GB, you'll be in trouble and many games won't even be playable.

You can take a look at our guide on PC memories, although all major manufacturers like Corsair, Crucial, Kingston, Team Group and G.Skill have great options to choose from. The important thing is that you choose a kit with two modules, so that they work in dual channel and yield more.

Graphic card

The graphics processing unit, also known as a GPU, graphics card, or video card, is a rather eye-catching component. Not only does it look good, but it makes your games look photorealistic without blocking your PC or slowing down your game. This is one of the most important components in your gaming PC, since it is in charge of processing in real time all the images you see on the screen. Both Nvidia and AMD have very solid options, although Nvidia stands out a lot over its high-end rival. We have an article about the best graphics cards on the market.

The chips are made by Nvidia and AMD, while assemblers such as Asus, Gigabyte, MSI, Zotac, EVGA, Palit, and many more make and sell the cards. All of them have very solid options.

Storage

It can be difficult to know exactly how much storage you will need. Look at how much space your current game list requires and use this number as a benchmark. Then there is another option to choose from. You can buy a hard drive or a solid state drive (SSD). Many sources recommend combining a medium capacity SSD with a large capacity hard drive to get the best of both worlds. But if you can meet your storage needs with just one SSD, it might be helpful to go this route, as these drives can cut game load times in half.

In general, it is recommended to use a 240/480 GB SSD together with a 2 TB or larger hard drive. If your motherboard supports it, you can use M.2 NVMe SSDs to enjoy the best read and write speeds, although you should bear in mind that they are much more expensive per GB compared to SATA SSDs, and the difference in games is very small. You can check our guide on the best SSDs on the market that we update every month.

Power supply

You will need to harness the power of electricity to bring your PC to life. This is where the power supply or PSU comes in. The power supply is the component that is responsible for feeding all the others, so it is extremely important that you go for a high quality unit, as otherwise it could break down and take away the rest of the components. A very common mistake is to mount a high-end PC, with very expensive components and then put a cheap PSU thinking that nothing will happen, this is one of the main mistakes you should avoid with your new gaming PC. Manufacturers like FSP, Corsair, Seasonic, Enermax, SuperFlower, SilverStone, Cooler Master, Be Quiet !, Antec, and EVGA are some of the best options.

To choose your power supply, we recommend reading our extensive guide on this component.

Box or chassis

The box of your PC is where the rest of the components will be placed, so you will already be imagining its great importance. Like a good power source, a good case can last for many years and can be used for various PC mounts. To invest in a “forever” case, look for one that's made of metal instead of plastic, with plenty of room inside to keep your current components ventilated, while still leaving room for future replacement parts.

We also have a guide on the best PC cases, something that will help you a lot in choosing your new model. A good chassis will give firmness to our components, a good air flow and great compatibility with high-end components.

The best PC settings

After receiving many emails asking for advice which components to choose for the assembly of a new equipment. We have encouraged ourselves to make various configurations depending on the needs of each user and we have broken it down into the following:

• Basic PC Settings Advanced PC Settings / Gaming Enthusiastic PC Settings Silent PC Settings

In all our configurations we put alternatives with Intel and AMD processors. The components are hand selected and very well studied. So the margin of error is minimal.

PC Configurations by Price Range

If you are one of those users who prefers to see PC configurations by price range, we have made several alternatives. You will surely find it interesting:

This ends our article on the parts necessary to assemble a custom gaming PC, its importance and the best options we have available. Remember to share it on social networks so that you can help more users who need it.

If you want to know more, you can leave your question in the comments box or write to us in our hardware forum. What do you think of our tips and recommended settings? We await your opinions!