This post covers what do you need to know about personal computers (PCs) if you are not familiar with them, but would like to play video games and conduct research on them. You do not need to know all the specifics, but you do need to understand the basics.
A video games console has certain hardware. The same model consists of the same components, put together the same way and they run the same operating system (OS). This homogeneity simplifies the hardware setup considerably.
A PC also has certain hardware. While there are pre-built desktop PCs and many laptop PCs that have fixed hardware specifications, PCs are heterogeneous. What you can do with them depends on their components.
This matters because it if you have no idea what your PC can do for you, it will be very difficult to come up with a budget for your research project and for reviewers to assess the feasibility of your research plan.
This also matters because there is no right or wrong setup for playing video games, nor for doing video game research. It is entirely up to you to choose your setup.
Thinking ahead
There are a number of factors that you may want to consider, if you want to research video games. I will mention these briefly here, followed by expanding on them later on.
Firstly, ask yourself what are you trying to achieve with your research? Is it the state of the art video games and gaming experience or commonly played video games and how most people experience that you are interested in? Secondly, what kinds of video games are you interested in? Are they graphically demanding? Thirdly, are you interested in VR? Fourthly, who pays for your hardware? Is it you, your employer or funder? What can you afford? What will they think makes sense?
In summary, if you are interested in the state of the art video games and gaming experience, highly graphically demanding video games and VR, this going to be expensive. It is going to be even more expensive if you plan to record yourself playing the video games, because you need a video camera and it also makes sense to have a microphone and lights.
Things become even more expensive if you plan to record the gameplay, what you see and hear in a game in response to your actions, and combine it with recording yourself playing the game, on a second computer. This is a topic for another blog post, but it is worth mentioning that you need to budget accordingly if you are going to use another computer to handle all the recording.
In my view, it makes sense to figure out what it is that you want to do, come up with a budget for it and then ask yourself who is going to pay for it. Furthermore, realize that what you think makes sense may not make sense to your current or future employer and/or funder.
Hardware Setup
When it comes to hardware, your PC needs a capable central processing unit (CPU), a capable graphics processing unit (GPU) and adequate amount of disk space, preferably on a solid disk drive (SSD) as opposed to on a hard disk drive (HDD), and random-access memory (RAM).
How capable should the computer and thus its components be then? Well, it depends on what kinds of games you want to play and research.
You will also need to take into account your budget. Ask yourself who is going to pay for all the necessary hardware.
- University?
- Other research institution?
- A public funding body?
- A private funding body?
- Yourself?
The problem you will likely face as a researcher outside Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) is that the people you have to deal with, namely the administrators of your university or other research institution and the reviewers who go through your funding applications, often do not understand anything about computers. They think that just about any computer, such as your work laptop, will suffice.
There is also a mentality according to which people in arts, humanities and social sciences do not need really do science and therefore do not need any equipment. To be hyperbolic, it is thought that a pen, some paper and library card will suffice. In practice, the best they can do for you is to provide you with a some generic enterprise laptop that is capable of running an office suite.
You may struggle to get the necessary funds for your purposes. This means it is likely that you will have to buy the computer yourself. While it may then be fully or partly tax deductible, as it is you who has to buy it for work, this is hardly ideal, because, overall, it is a substantial investment that you end up paying for.
If you have to buy the computer or upgrade an existing computer with new components, on your own, it is not going to be cheap. Realize that anything that is used professionally, for work, is typically expensive and rarely on sale. The manufacturers and the retailers know that you need what they produce and sell for work, around the year, and therefore it makes little sense for them to drop prices.
What you can get with your budget also depends on where you live and when you buy the computer or the components. I am using prices that apply to Finland. This is simply to give you an idea of what the a computer and the various components cost.
The CPU and the GPU
To give you an idea, the best gaming CPU available at the moment costs you anything between 400 to 600€. The best gaming GPU available at the moment costs anything between 2500 to 3500€. Mid-range GPUs are much cheaper, but still fairly expensive, costing you anything between 700 to 1000€. Low-end GPUs are even cheaper, but still cost you some 300 to 600 €.
To give you an idea of just how expensive high-end GPUs are, be ready to pay as much for them alone as you would for an entire upper mid-range PC. Yes, they are that expensive. They do indeed cost as much as an entire computer.
How expensive a GPU should you buy? It depends on three key factors:
- Screen
- Render resolution
- Frame rate
To play any games, you need a screen. You will also need to take that into account in your budget. The prices range from 100 to 2000€ and largely depend on the size, the resolution, the the refresh rate (corresponds with max. frame rate), the dynamic range, the color accuracy and the panel technology used on the screen.
The screen is not as important, nor as expensive as the PC, you do need to take that into account, because it not only affects your budget, but it also your gaming experience. It is not the same to play a video game on a small, low-resolution screen that has low refresh rate, dynamic range, color accuracy than it is to play that same game on a large, high-resolution screen that high refresh rate, dynamic range and color accuracy.
Most people play video games 1920 x 1080 (FHD/1080p) screen resolution, likely on a 24- or 27-inch flat-screen. They also want to play games in at least 60 frames per second (FPS). That combination requires a mid-range GPU, but you might be able to get by with a low-end GPU, depending on the settings.
More and more people play video games in 2560 x 1440 (QHD/WQHD/1440p) screen resolution, likely on a 27- or 32-inch flat-screen. To achieve at least 60 FPS, this combination requires a mid-range GPU.
Going beyond the two most common gaming screen resolutions, some people opt to play their games in 3840 x 2160 (UHD/4K) screen resolution. To achieve at least 60 FPS, this combination requires a high-end GPU, albeit you might be able to pull this off also with a mid-range GPU, depending on the settings.
Currently, there are three GPU manufacturers. That means your options are fairly limited.
- NVIDIA: mid-range to high-end GPUs
- AMD: mid-range GPUs
- Intel: low-end GPUs (+mid-range rumored)
For VR, it is difficult to assess what kind of PC hardware one needs. The major difference between flat screens and HMDs is that the former relies on just one display panel, whereas the latter typically relies on two display panels.
For example, Sony’s PlayStation VR2 has two 2000 x 2040 display panels. This tempts us to think that the render resolution is, in fact, 4000 x 2040. This is, however, not as clear cut. Firstly, the render resolution is unlikely going to be 4000 x 2040. The GPU is not tasked to render in that high resolution due to the required stereo overlap. Secondly, the rendered view is distorted once it is displayed in the HMD. This results in a lower display resolution. To maximize the display resolution, the GPU can be tasked to counter this by rendering the graphics at a higher resolution than the panel display resolution.
VR also requires high to very high frame rates, at least 60 frames per second and ideally 90 to 120 frames per second. Some people do not notice any difference, while others do.
In practice, you will be dealing with VR screen resolutions that are comparable to 2560 x 1440 and 3840 x 2160 resolutions and frame rates that go well beyond 60 frames per second. You will need a mid-range or high-end GPU, depending on the HMD and the applied settings.
Compatibility is also a major consideration. The current generation of NVIDIA GPUs, the 5000 series, and AMD GPUs, the 9000 series, should both work. Intel entered the consumer GPU market only fairly recently and, to my knowledge, its GPUs have only a limited compatibility with VR. In practice, this means that you must get an NVIDIA or an AMD GPU if you want to play and research VR games on a PC. This may, of course, change in the future.
There are some technologies, namely foveated rendering, that reduce the GPU load considerably. However, this is a topic that deserves its own blog post and therefore I will not expand on it here.
Other CPU and GPU considerations
There are other considerations that make the assessment more complicated:
- Settings
- Optimization
- Power draw
It is possible achieve certain resolutions and frame rates by altering the video game settings. In general, the higher the settings, the more demanding it is going be for the GPU to render the graphics. This means lower frame rates.
Optimization of software and hardware also muddies the waters. One game may look worse on screen than another game, but also have a lower frame rate than the other game. It can be the result of poor game optimization and/or other software optimization, all the way down to the GPU driver level.
Consoles benefit considerably from optimization. Overall, they perform better than a PC that has comparable components. This is not to say that they may not have games that run poorly, but rather that having only one kind of hardware and a gaming dedicated operating system (OS) to run the games has its advantages for the game developers, making it easier for them to optimize the games.
Power draw is not particularly important if you opt for a low-end or mid-range GPU, but it is if you opt for a high-end GPU. If you end up paying for the PC yourself, you are most likely also going to be using it at home and paying the electricity bill yourself as well.
Low-end GPUs peak at around 200 watts. If we account for other low-end components, the maximum power draw of a low-end gaming PC is similar to a console, somewhere in 300 watt territory.
Mid-range GPUs peak at around 300 watts, while the other components add up another 200 to 400 watts. In total, this means anything between 500 to 700 watts.
High-end GPUs peak at around 600 watts, which means that it alone can have a higher maximum power consumption than an entire mid-range PC. Together with other high-end components, the system peaks around 800 to 1000 watts.
You also need to consider how much your screen draws power. The typical 24 to 32 inch screens draw some tens of watts at best, but going beyond that, the screens draw hundreds of watts.
To explain why this matters, a high-end PC can use as much electricity as a small stove heating element. Combine that with a large high-end screen and you might be using a lot of electricity, for hours.
To be clear, the actual power draw is likely going to be somewhat lower than what I have indicated here. It is unlikely that a high-end system draw maximum power at all times, even under heavy use. You really have to push the PC components and your screen to their limits to get to the 1000 watt territory, not to go beyond it.
Storage and Memory
The needed disk space is relatively cheap, about 150 to 250€ for a typical 2 Tb SSD. Additional storage or backup storage space for videos on an HDD costs some 100 to 200 € for a 2 to 4 Tb HDD.
You will probably want 32 Gb RAM. That used to be fairly cheap, about 150€, but memory prices have doubled and even tripled now. The older DDR4 memory is cheaper and more readily available than newer DDR5 memory, but not by a lot. In summary, expect to pay about 400€ for that.
It used to make sense to get 64 Gb RAM. You could get that for 250€. Now you have to pay anything between 700 and 900€.
To explain this sudden price hike, there is currently a shortage of memory, which is caused by a shift in the production. The companies that manufacture the vast majority of these components have reserved their manufacturing capacity to cater to the needs of the AI companies.
To be clear, it is not that the manufacturers are refusing to increase their manufacturing capacity out of spite, but rather that it would be risky to do so. Shifting from the consumer market to the enterprise market means more profit, right now, and in the immediate future, because the AI companies are willing to pay them extra. They could get even more by expanding their manufacturing capacity, either by expanding their existing factories or by building new ones, but chances are that the high demand is gone by the time they have expanded.
In other words, the manufacturers have a feeling that AI is a bubble about burst in the next couple of years. They are, of course, more than happy to supply the AI companies all the memory they need, for a very high price, because there are no other manufacturers that can supply memory. Once that bubble bursts and the demand goes down, they can always shift back.
To comprehend, albeit not necessarily to appreciate, the reason behind this shift, you have to be aware of just how lucrative the AI market is for the manufacturers. It is fair to say that they make so much money from catering to the AI companies that none of the other options make sense to them. Everything else is bad business compared to that enterprise market.
This is, of course, bad news for you as a researcher, regardless of who pays for the PC components. You might not be affected by the high price of RAM, even if you have to pay for it yourself. The GPU price have gone down somewhat, which evens out the situation. However, you are going to be affected by the limited supply.
In practice, the shortage of memory means that you may simply have to wait until more RAM is available. This uncertainty is a problem in research, because you are expected to get results.
Other parts
There are other PC components that also matter, namely the motherboard (mobo) and the power supply unit (PSU), as well as fans and heat sinks that keep the components cool and a lot of cables that connect the components in a computer case and outside it. These all cost some hundreds.
In general, the low-end, mid-range and high-end CPUs and GPUs are typically used with low-end, mid-range and high-end mobos and PSUs respectively. You do not need a high-end mobo, nor a highly efficient, high wattage PSU in a low-end PC.
With mobos, you may also want to take a closer look at the ports. You may want not only plenty of high speed USB-ports, but also the audio ports. Alternatively, opt for an internal PCI-E sound card or an external USB sound card.
You are most likely going to use 3.5mm audio cables. The price for a separate soundcard ranges from 20 to 200€. If you end up using XLR cables instead, the cost is going to be 100 € and up.
Peripherals
Then there are the peripherals. In addition to a screen, you will need a keyboard and a mouse. You may also consider a webcam, if you are not going to buy a dedicated video camera. Then there are the power cables and any other cables you may need, such as the audio cables and the internet cable for your router, if you are not relying on wireless internet.
There are many other specialized peripherals, for all kinds of games. It makes no sense to list them all, but I will name a few.
If you are interested in driving and racing games, you should consider a steering wheel, pedals and a stick for shifting gears. I have a basic set, a Logitech G923, with the extra stick shift. It is nothing fancy, nor particularly expensive, in the 250 to 400 € range, but it does make a world of difference to have them, as opposed to not having such at all. This is a world of its own and you could spend thousands on the hardware.
If you are interested in flight simulator games, you should consider a joystick, a yoke, a throttle and pedals. I have no experience in this, but, again, this is a world of its own and you could spend thousands on the hardware.
Note that you do not need an internal capture card, nor an external capture device, inasmuch as you are using the one and the same PC to play the game and to record the gameplay, i.e., what you see in a game in response to your actions. You may consider this if you are using another computer to handle the recording, but that is a topic for another blog post.
Operating system
Remember that you do also need an operating system (OS). If you opt for a Linux build, then results in no additional costs. If you opt for a Windows build, you either need an existing license that you can use on the computer or buy one for the computer. Officially, that’s anything between 150 to 200€ for a Home or Pro edition, albeit the actual pricing for the licenses varies considerably.
Overall costs
When you take prices of these core components into account, low-end gaming PCs range from 900 to 1200€, mid-range gaming PCs range from 1300 to 3000€ and high-end gaming PCs tend to cost more than 3000€.
The prices vary, from vendor to vendor, and fluctuate depending on component prices. The greatest fluctuation is in the low-end and mid-range components, whereas the high-end components tend to be expensive, no matter what.
A low-end gaming PC is comparable to a console. It might be slightly more expensive and capable than a console, but you might opt for a console instead as consoles may actually outperform low-end PCs due to better hardware and software optimization.
The considerable variation in the mid-range PC is attributable to the wide variety of options that are available at these prices. High-end gaming is very expensive, not necessarily because the components are that much more expensive to manufacture, but because the manufacturers know that there are people who are willing to pay whatever they ask.
You also need to take into account the peripherals. A mouse and keyboard are not going to be expensive, but your screen can be a considerable expense. If the gaming experience is important to you and your research, it makes sense to budget accordingly. This means 800 to 1500 € for a high-end 27 to 32 inch screen. If you opt to go beyond that, a high-end 55 to 65 inch screen will cost you anything between 2000 to 4000 €.
Do not be afraid of television screens. They work exactly the same as computer screens. The only difference is that they come with tuners and some software to use them, either integrated into the back of the screen somewhere or as separate unit that you attach to the screen. They typically have a number of HDMI ports that allow you to connect your computer to them. This works exactly the same as with computer screens.
You could, of course, get an expensive computer screen, one designed for graphic artists and photographers, with exceptional colors and dynamic range. However, they cost about the same, if not more than a much larger television screen. In short, nowadays it is a very sensible thing to use a television screen with your PC instead of a dedicated computer screen, or alternate between the two, depending your what you use the screens for.
In summary, if you consider everything you need, the screen included, a low-end setup is a 1200 to 1500 € investment and a mid-range setup is a 1500 to 5000 € investment. A high-end setup is going to cost much more, 5000 € and up.
Additionally, if you intend to play and conduct research on VR games, you also need a VR kit, which typically consists of an HMD and hand controllers. The prices vary considerably, but expect to pay at least 500 to 600 € for a VR kit. The more advanced kits cost anything between 1000 and 2000 € though and the state of the art kits are 2000 € and up.
It is, however, also worth noting that the more expensive VR kits are not necessarily better than the cheaper VR kits. In my experience, what really matters in VR is that the HMD and the controllers work. For playing and conducting research, it is no good if your VR kit does not work with VR games or works poorly with them. The cheaper kits are mass produced and they are intended to work with different kinds of hardware and software. The more expensive kits are produced in small quantities and intended to be tailored for enterprise and military uses.
Keeping it real
In summary, if you are considering video game research, on a PC, make sure that you know what you are getting yourself into. Consider your own needs. Think what kinds of video games you are going to play and research. Then ask yourself who is going to pay for the necessary equipment.
You are in luck if your employer, typically a university or other research institution, or funder is willing to provide you with the necessary equipment. It is still highly important that you understand what PCs, screens and the other peripherals cost. The people who review the budgets are unlikely to understand your needs and may scoff at the mere suggestion of spending thousands on such. Therefore, make sure that you explain your needs, in detail, and leave some room for possible component price increases.
You are out of luck if your employer or funder is not willing to provide you with the necessary equipment. Then it is up to you to figure out how much money you are willing to invest in a PC, a screen and other peripherals. If it is too expensive, then it is too expensive. No one should expect you to bear the costs of research.
Builds
You can buy all the components and build the PC yourself, by by which I assembling it all yourself. This will save you some money, but this does, however, require some know-how.
If you choose not build your computer yourself, you have two options: pre-builds and custom-builds. In both cases someone else does the assembling or most of the assembling for you. Usually the OS is included in the package.
If you opt for the pre-builds, you have options again: a desktop or laptop PC. Both are hassle free, but you do need to know what you are buying. Check the specifications carefully. Make sure it has what you need, just like with a custom-build.
Usually the only components that you can swap in a laptop is the memory, the storage and the battery, whereas most desktop PCs allows you swap parts as you see fit, if need be. However, if you get a new computer, be it a desktop or a laptop, it is highly unlikely that you need to change any components in the next three to five years anyway.
Desktops and laptops have their advantages and disadvantages. Firstly, the former is hardly portable, whereas the latter is designed to be portable. Secondly, the former has ample space for the components and typically more apt choice for playing video games, whereas the latter has very little space for the components and typically more apt choice for office work.
There are, of course, desktops that are compact and designed for office use and laptops that have been designed for playing video games. It is possible to use a laptop to play video games, either on the laptop itself or on a separate screen and a separate mouse, a separate keyboard or a separate controller.
Gaming laptops are, however, an expensive compromise. They are fairly large and heavy, for a laptop, which compromises their portability. They are nonetheless fairly compact, which compromises their cooling.
In short, if you do not need to travel with the computer, choose a desktop for gaming instead of a laptop. However, if you do not need to travel with your computer, choose a desktop instead of a laptop.
In research, it is likely that your employer, typically a university or some other research institution, is responsible for procuring the necessary hardware for you. The computer will therefore be a pre-build or a custom-build and you do not need to have the necessary know-how to build a computer yourself. Furthermore, the OS is likely already installed. It should then be as simple as plug and play.
Some examples
In my case, I have two gaming setups, a console setup and a desktop PC setup. I have paid it all myself, for the simple reason that no one else has been interested in funding my work. I would not have bought such expensive equipment otherwise.
The console setup is cheap. A PS5 currently cost 500 to 600 €, depending on whether it has the optical drive. The PC setup is expensive. It has a high-end CPU, an AMD 9800X3D, and an upper mid-range GPU, an AMD RX 9070 XT, 4 Gb SSD and 64 Gb RAM. Together with all the other necessary components, namely the case and the CPU cooler, it currently costs about 3000 €, without the OS.
To optimize the PC setup, dropping down to 32 Gb RAM and 2 Gb SSD would make sense. It would then be possible to get the setup for about 2500 €, without the OS. This offers you better value for your money.
My VR kit, the PSVR2, works on the PS5, as well as on the PC. You do, however, need an adapter to make to make it work on a PC.
I can connect the console, the desktop, and my non-gaming capable, but otherwise handy laptop with any screen that has an HDMI port. I can either use my 27 inch screen, 2560 x 1440 in resolution, which was about a 400 € screen, or my 65 inch screen, which is about 3500 € screen.
Why to different sizes of screens? The reason for this has to do with the viewing distance and the gaming experience. Video games that rely on a keyboard and a mouse are simply better played sitting close to the screen. Conversely, video games that rely on a dedicated controller are simply better played sitting at a distance from the screen. I am interested in the gaming experience, which is why this matters to me.
To make more sense of the difference, try playing a video game with a controller, sitting close to a 24 or 27 inch screen. It is just an uncomfortable gaming experience. You are huddled, somehow too close to the screen, which distracts you from the experience itself.
Conversely, try playing a video game with a keyboard and a mouse, sitting at a comfortable distance from a 55 to 65 inch screen. It is certainly possible, but is awkward, because the keyboard and the mouse need to rest on something. For that, you need a sturdy tray table and it is still somewhat awkward an experience.
This connects to what it is that you are trying to achieve with your research. As you can see, quite literally if you try that yourself, desktop gaming and living room gaming are not the same thing. One is not worse than the other. It is just a different kind of experience, which is why it makes sense to take that into consideration when you are planning your research project.
To be clear, my purpose is here not to brag how I have that kind of money to spend, on research, mind you, as I do not have a whole lot of time to play video games otherwise, there being other matters that I need to attend to in life. I would rather not spend my own money on equipment needed in research, but it is what it is. If no one else is going to pay for it, what else can I do? It is as simple as that.
Anyway, the point is therefore to give you an idea of how little or much you might end up having to spend on the equipment in a research project, regardless of who pays for it. You will need to know this even before pitch your project to your employer or to some funding body.