RGB keyboards For Apple Macs DBPOWER Mechanical Gaming Keyboard. If youâre looking for an RGB keyboard for Apple Mac, the DBPOWER has plenty to offer. It has 104 different keys, so there is no shortage of functionality. Itâs a wired keyboard and plugs into a convenient USB pot. 28 Oct 2018 Your Mac or MacBook's display is already gorgeous. If you're in the market for a second display or something larger than what you have, a 4K monitor is a huge step in the right direction, so you can try and maintain the same level of definition. The best gaming PC. By Terrence Mai 2018-11-15T19:15:06Z. The best prebuilt gaming PCs for high performance straight out of the box. The best Black Friday 2018 PC gaming deals.
Apple Mac mini (2018)
The Apple Mac mini (2018 model) is finally back, and it's better than ever, with a new look, rock-solid performance, and even a bit of upgradability. It's not just the best (and only) mini PC in the Mac lineup, it's also one of the best mini PCs we've seen.
Best for Home Theater
Azulle Btye3 Fanless Mini Desktop PC
For a full PC experience that will easily fit into your home entertainment setup, the Azulle Byte3 is the mini PC to choose, thanks to its accessible design, better-than expected performance and included remote control.
Best for Gaming
Intel NUC (Hades Canyon)
The Intel Hades Canyon NUC offers impressive gaming performance for a mini PC, but it gets pricey once you add your own components.
Best I Mac For Gaming 2018 CalendarForget about clearing off desk space for your next desktop PC. Today, you can get a powerful desktop PC the size of a peanut butter sandwich. Whether you're trying to save space at home, fit more computers into your office or squeeze a media server into your entertainment center, there's a mini PC made for you.
Among the best mini PCs we've reviewed are the Apple Mac mini (2018) and the Azulle Access3 stick PC. Cleaner for mac screen.
See all of our recommendations below, and also check out our best gaming desktop PCs if you want more power.
Latest News and Updates (August 2019)
What Do Mini PCs Cost?
Mini PCs range from small project PCs for under $50 (£50/AU$75) to compact desktops that can cost $1,000 or more. Stick PCs are the most versatile, and generally cost between $100 (£100/AU$150) and $200 (£200/$AU300), and will work with most TVs or monitors. Mini PC prices vary considerably based on hardware.
Our Favorite Mini PCs
The Mac that helped introduce the mini PC is back and better than ever. The Apple Mac mini (2018) has a new look and excellent performance. The new design stays cooler, runs quieter, and offers more power, putting up impressive performance results despite using an 8th-generation Intel Core i3 processor. Putting better-equipped systems to shame, the new Mac mini (2018) is a no-brainer for any Mac mini user looking to upgrade, and a smart choice for anyone else.
The Azulle Byte3 is a perfect fit for cord cutters and streaming fanatics, sinc ethe compact mini PC is small enough to add to an home theater system, but capable of streaming 4K video without hiccups. The fanless mini PC runs silent, the packs an Intel Apollo Lake Celeron processor (perfect for streaming, but not for multitasking productivity) and lets you add storage after purchase. It even comes with a slick remote control for easy control from the couch. The Azulle Access3 is the best we've seen with the stick PC design. The tiny PC has an Intel Gemini Lake Celeron N4100 processor, giving it the power to run your day-to-day apps and browse the web with capable comfort, and a built in micro SD card slot lets you bolster the included 32GB of eMMC storage. But small touches like a positionable Wi-Fi antenna, built-in Gigabit Ethernet port and speedy USB 3.0 ports make this one of the best mini PCs around, regardless of the design.
If you're more concerned with getting online than with having a full Windows experience, consider a Chromebox. Built around Google's Chrome operating system â the same OS used on Chromebooks â it uses web apps like Google Drive and Google Docs instead of traditional software. As an inexpensive way to get online and get things done, Chromeboxes are a great option. Our favorite is the Acer Chromebox CXI3.
Want something for hardcore gaming? Check out the Intel Hades Canyon NUC because of its compact, console-like design; speedy performance; and support for the fastest solid-state drives. It's its Intel Core i7-8009G/AMD Radeon RX Vega M GH hybrid chip is not only up for gaming, it can even handle VR.
For the office, thereâs the Lenovo ThinkCentre M710q Tiny, which puts a whole lot of desktop hardware into its compact 7 x 7-inch chassis. The little work PC offers plenty of configuration options, several handy accessories and even the option to turn it into an All-in-One PC with Lenovoâs Tiny-in-One monitors.
If you need even more horsepower, the HP Z2 Mini G4 packs a workstation PC into a compact size. Built to support AutoCAD and other demanding applications, the Z2 Mini boasts an Intel Xeon processor and Vendor-certified Nvidia Quadro graphics. It's the most powerful mini PC we've reviewed, and the smallest workstation we've seen.
Best Mini PC OverallApple Mac mini (2018)
Best Mini PC Overall
Size (Inches): 7.7 x 7.7 x 1.4 | Weight: 2.6 pounds | CPU : Intel Core i3-8100B | Storage: 128GB SSD | Geekbench 3 Score: 12,844
Same compact dimensions with a space-gray finish
Four Thunderbolt 3 ports
Impressive performance
Limited upgradability
Can get pricey
Apple took its sweet time updating the Mac mini, but the Mac mini (2018) was well worth the wait. The new Mac mini has a slick new look and a speedy collection of ports, and even offers (a bit) of upgradability. Despite rocking an older 8th-generation Intel Core i3 processor, the littlest Mac managed to put up numbers that bested better-equipped systems, and offers a surprising amount of power in a pleasantly compact design.
Best for Home TheaterAzulle Btye3 Fanless Mini Desktop PC
Size (Inches): 5.6 x 4 x 1.5 | Weight: 14 ounces | CPU: Intel Celeron J3455 | Storage: 32GB eMMC | Geekbench 4 Score: 4,011 https://everbluesky667.weebly.com/blog/windows-7-download-tool-for-mac.
Great for 4k streaming
Upgradable design
Better than expected performance
Lousy multitasking
Included remote is sparse on features
The Azulle Byte3 is a mini PC with a compact fanless design that will easily fit into your home entertainment setup, providing a great tool for media streaming and a full PC experience on your TV. With an Intel Apollo Lake Celeron processor, it's perfect for streaming 4K video and offers all the connectivity you need with a healthy selection of ports.
The small size of the Byte3 (5.6 x 4 x 1.5 inches) will easily mount to the back of a TV or monitor. The compact design still offers options to upgrade after purchase, and the slick looks means that even though you can easily hide it away, you might not want to. If you want a great mini PC for home entertainment use, the Azulle Byte3 mini is our favorite. Intel NUC (Hades Canyon)
Size (Inches): 8.7 x 5.6 x 1.5 | Weight: 4.75 pounds | CPU : Intel Core i7-8009G/AMD Radeon RX Vega M GH | Storage: Bring Your Own
Impressive graphics performance
Tons of ports
Expensive after adding parts
Intelâs Hades Canyon NUC is a mini PC that delivers desktop-gaming-grade performance thanks to its Intel Core i7-8009G/AMD Radeon RX Vega M GH hybrid chip, which combines processing and discrete graphics on a single chip. If you buy the barebones kit, youâll need to provide memory and storage, and your own installation of Windows, but this pint-sized gaming machine can go toe-to-toe with an Nvidia GTX 1050 Ti-powered gaming tower, and it even handled a bit of VR.
Best Stick PCAzulle Access3
Size (Inches): 5.5 x 2.36 x 0.76 | Weight: 5.12 ounces | CPU : Intel Celeron N4100 | Storage: 32GB | Geekbench 4 Score: 4,541
Elegant design combines fanless cooling with stylish looks
Improved port selection boasts USB 3.0 and Gigabit Ethernet
Supports 4K video at 30Hz
Optional bundled keyboard is clunky
The Azulle Access3 takes our favorite tiny stick PC and makes it even better. With a design small enough to slip in your hip pocket, and flexible enough to be used with any monitor or TV, the Access3 gets a faster processor, speedier USB 3.0 ports and adds Gigabit Ethernet for better performance and connectivity than any other stick PC we've reviewed.
Whether it's for use in your home theater, powering digital signage or just giving you a way to watch Netflix on your hotel TV, the Azulle Access3 is our new favorite stick PC.
Best Mini WorkstationHP Z2 Mini G4
Size (Inches): 8.5 x 8.5 x 2.3 | Weight: 4.85 pounds | CPU : Intel Xeon E-2176G | Storage: 1TB HDD + 256GB SSD | Geekbench 3 Score: 25,064
Powerful processing and graphics hardware
Category-leading performance
Security is built in
Windows 10 Pro still includes dumb bloatware
The HP Z2 Mini G4 is an ultrasmall workstation PC, cramming workstation-level components and ISV-certified graphics into a desktop PC that's smaller than some books. Equipped with a beefy 6-core Intel Xeon E-2176G processor, 32GB of RAM and Nvidia Quadro P1000 graphics, the Z2 Mini easily handles workloads that other mini PCs struggle with, and is certified to work with a variety of mission-critical programs, from vendors like Autodesk, Avid, Siemens, Solidworks and Vectorworks.
Best Office Mini PCLenovo ThinkCentre M710q Tiny
Size (Inches): 7.05 x 7.20 x 1.36 inches | Weight: 2.91 pounds | CPU : Intel Core i5-7500T | Storage: 256GB SSD | Geekbench 3 Score: 10,007
Compact design
Strong performance
The Lenovo ThinkCentre M710q Tiny desktop puts business-grade productivity into a package thatâs smaller than a paperback book. It offers all sorts of business-friendly features into itâs small, square chassis, with plenty of ports, speedy Wi-Fi, and options to add an optical drive or even transform the mini PC into an All-in-One desktop using Lenovoâs Tiny-in-One monitors. The small size belies the capabilities inside, with configurations that offer up to an Intel Core i7 processor, as much as 32GB of memory, choices of HDD or SSD storage (with Opal-compliant options), and accessories for added functionality.
Best Chrome DesktopAcer Chromebox CXI3
Best Chrome Desktop
Size (Inches): 5.9 x 5.9 x 1.6 | Weight: 1.2 pounds | CPU : Intel Core i5-8250U | Storage: 64GB SSD | Geekbench 3 Score: N/A
Compact design can be mounted or stashed out of sight
Has excellent performance
Limitations of Chrome OS
The Acer Chromebox CXI3 may be the best desktop version of Chrome OS available. Made for educational and professional use, the Chromebox CXI3 delivers everything thatâs great about Chrome â ease of use, simple security, and all the online capability you want â in a mini PC that boasts plenty of ports, multiple mounting options, and speedy performance. Plus, itâs cheaper than any similarly equipped Windows machine.
Best for VRAsus VivoPC X
Best for VR Best file manager for mac 2018 football.
Size (Inches): 10.2 x 11 x 3 inches | Weight: 5 pounds | CPU: Intel Core i5-7300HQ | Storage: 1TB SATA hard drive | Geekbench 3 Score: 10,176
Wonderfully compact design
VR-ready
Limited configurations
If you want to experience virtual reality but don't have the space (or budget) for a huge tower, the Asus VivoPC X is for you. This slick mini desktop will barely make a dent in your desk or entertainment center, and its Core i5 processor and Nvidia GTX 1060 graphics card are more than capable of handling mainstream gaming and VR. Priced at just $799, the VivoPC X is a great starting point for folks looking to get VR ready without spending over $1000 on a desktop.
Best for TinkerersRaspberry Pi 3 Model B+
Best for Tinkerers
Size (Inches): 3.4 x 2.2 x 0.7 | Weight: 1.8 ounces | CPU : ARM Cortex A53 | Storage: No onboard storage | Geekbench 3 Score: N/A
Expanded processing power and connectivity
Free software
Some basic parts needed unless you buy in a kit
We're in a golden age for DIY tech, and the Raspberry Pi is a big part of that. The latest model, the $35 Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ offers a tremendous value for projects ranging from simple to complex, offering more processing power, faster networking speeds, and better flexibility for add-ons than ever before. Whether you buy it alone or in a kit, the Raspberry Pi is hard to beat.
We put each mini PC we review through a series of tests to determine how it performs. Synthetic benchmarks Geekbench 4 and 3DMark Ice Storm Unlimited provide scores that represent overall system speed and graphics prowess, respectively.
Our real-world Spreadsheet Macro test matches 20,000 names with their addresses to demonstrate productivity performance, and our File Transfer Test measures the hard drive or SSD's capabilities by copying 4.97GB of mixed media files. To see how well a mini PC plays games, we run Dirt 3 and other relevant games at various resolutions, including 1080p, and record the frame rate. Most importantly, we use each mini PC for several hours, trying out its unique features and any preloaded software. If a system is sold as bare-bones (i.e., lacking RAM, storage or OS), we install 8GB of memory, a compatible SSD and, where appropriate, the latest shipping version of Windows (currently Windows 10).
Get a Desktop for the Most Gaming Power
Despite the allure and simplicity of gaming consoles and handheld devices, PC gaming is still very alive and very much kicking. Indeed, it's never been stronger. Enthusiasts know that nothing beats the quality of gameplay you can get with a desktop built for gaming. And today, it's within almost every determined PC shopper's grasp to get a PC with the graphics power necessary to drive the latest games on a full HD (1080p) monitor at lofty detail settings.
But what kind of PC can make major 3D games look and run better than they do on the Sony PS4 Pro or the Microsoft Xbox One S? If you have deep pockets, your answer could be a custom-built hot rod from an elite boutique PC maker such as Falcon Northwest, Maingear, or Velocity Micro. But a couple of well-informed choices will go a long way toward helping you get the right gaming desktop from a standard PC manufacturer like Acer, Asus, Dell, or MSI, even if you're not made of money. Here's how to buy your best gaming desktop, regardless of your budget, and our top 10 latest picks in the category.
This is, admittedly, simplifying a complex argument. But high-powered graphics, processors, and memory improve the graphical detail (in items such as cloth, reflections, hair), physical interactions (smoke, thousands of particles colliding), and the general animation of scenes in your favorite games. Throwing more resources at the problem, such as a more powerful graphics card or a faster CPU, will help, to an extent. The trick is to determine which components to favor, and how much.
Most Important: Consider the Graphics Card
Most gaming systems will come preinstalled with a single midrange or high-end graphics card; higher-priced systems will naturally have better cards, since purchase price typically correlates with animation performance and visual quality. AMD and Nvidia make the graphics processors, or GPUs, that go into these cards, which are made by third parties such as Asus, EVGA, Gigabyte, MSI, PowerColor, Sapphire, and XFX (to name just a few).
Our gaming-desktop reviews will let you know if there is room in the system's case for adding more graphics cards, in case you want to improve your gaming performance in the future. Most boutique manufacturers, however, will sell systems equipped with multiple-card arrays if you want to run games at their best right away. AMD calls its multiple-card technology CrossFireX, and Nvidia calls its solution Scalable Link Interface (SLI).
This trend is fading, though. While multiple-video-card gaming is still a path to great gaming, know that a game must be written to leverage multiple cards properly, and game developers in recent years have been de-emphasizing timely support for CrossFireX and SLI in games. Sometimes this support only emerges well after a game's debut; sometimes it never comes at all. Also, Nvidia has been putting a damper on SLI in the last couple of years; it has kiboshed support for installing more than two of its late-model cards at the same time, and only a subset of its higher-end cards can be installed in SLI. It's still possible to have three or four AMD cards in your computer at once, provided you have the proper power and heat management (and lots of bucks). Our general advice for mainstream buyers, though, is to concentrate on the best single card you can afford.
Indeed, the most pivotal decision you'll make when purchasing a gaming desktop is which card you get. One option, of course, is no card at all; the integrated graphics silicon on modern Intel Core and some AMD processors is fine for casual 2D games. But to really bring out the beast on 3D AAA titles, you need a discrete graphics card or cards, and these cards are what distinguish a gaming desktop. Whether you go with an AMD- or Nvidia-based card is based partly on price, partly on performance. Some games are optimized for one type of card or another, but for the most part, you should choose the card that best fits within your budget. If you're buying a complete gaming desktop, you of course don't have to pay for a card in isolation, but this should help you understand how the card factors into the total price. You also have to know what you're shopping for.
Turing, Navi, Ray-Tracing, and You
For some time now, Nvidia has been dominant at the high end of the GPU battlefield. Since September 2018, that dominance has been through the strength of its uber-high-end GeForce RTX 2080 Ti, as well as the still-pricey GeForce RTX 2080. These, and the company's other GeForce RTX cards, are built on what Nvidia calls the 'Turing' architecture, supplanting the 10-Series 'Pascal' cards as its latest top-end GPUs for gamers. GeForce RTX cards offer not only the most powerful graphics performance yet, but some exclusive features. Chief among these are ray-tracing (putting the 'RT' in 'RTX'), a fancy real-time-lighting feature that only cards with the RTX moniker are capable of running.
How much will these top-tier RTX cards set you back? The MSRP for the Founders Edition versions of the RTX 2080 and GTX 2080 Ti are $799 and $1,199, respectively, though a bunch of third-party models were lined up for launch too, and some of them are a little more affordable.
Those two cards were followed by a step-down GeForce RTX 2070 in October of last year, still a powerful GPU in its own right, followed by the GeForce RTX 2060 this year. For many users, the 10-Series 'Pascal' cards will remain more than good enough in many scenariosâif you already have one, it might not be the best value to upgrade your system. This is especially true if you aren't that interested in ray-tracing, which is part of what you're paying for in the RTX cards. For those who need to be on the cutting edge, or are buying a desktop that will be an upgrade from below the Pascal card generation, your best bet may be to go with the latest tech, especially as ray tracing emerges in more game titles in the coming years.
As a word of caution before you spend big on a desktop that can run games with ray-tracing, though, know that it's only available in a handful of titles right now, and is a demanding technology to run that will lower your frame rate. As such, the RTX 2080 Ti and RTX 2080 are the two best cards for playing games with ray-tracing on at high frame rates, and doing so is more of a stretch as you go down Nvidia's RTX hierarchy. But you saw the price tags. If you're not that familiar with the space, don't assume you need ray-tracing, and thus the priciest cardsâespecially if you're shopping on a budget and/or only gaming on a 1080p monitor.
With that in mind, there are also new, lower-end GTX cards built on Turing: the GeForce GTX 1650, the GeForce GTX 1660, and the GeForce GTX 1660 Ti. These cards lack the specific cores needed for ray-tracing in order to cut the price. These budget GPUs bridge the gap between Pascal and the RTX Turing cards, falling roughly between the GTX 1060 and the RTX 2060. If you're shopping on a more limited budget, desktops with these cards are worth checking out.
While those top-tier GPUs do offer fantastic pure performance separate from ray-tracing, too, shoppers looking for an entry-level or midrange system have many options. On the lower end, those GTX Turing cards (as opposed to the RTX ones) are a decent value, while the RTX 2060 is a budget-friendly, but very capable, 1080p card. An RTX 2070 system will fit the bill for high-frame-rate 1080p or 1440p gaming, and you can try ray-tracing on a per-game basis or just turn it off to your preference.
Meanwhile, AMD competes mainly in the midrange and low end, with its Radeon RX cards. Its high-end Radeon RX Vega video cards tend to be pricey, spottily stocked, and slightly outmatched by Nvidia boards at their price points. AMD is also looking to double down on its competition in that price range. It recently pulled back the curtain on its 'Navi' graphics cards, showing off the whole line and explaining the engineering thought process. July 7 will bring us the $379 Radeon RX 5700, the $449 Radeon RX 5700 XT, and the $499 Radeon 5700 XT Anniversary Edition. More on those as we review them at that time.
These could make for very appealing inclusions in the gaming desktops you're shopping for, so keep an eye out for our full reviews and performance testing.
Prep for 4K Gaming and VR, or Keep It Real?
Equipping your system with any high-end GPU will boost your total PC bill by a few hundred dollars per card. Beyond adding extra power to your gaming experience, multiple graphics cards can also enable multiple-monitor setups so you can run up to six displays, but some single cards can power up to four, and few gamers go beyond three (and even that rarely).
A better reason to opt for high-end graphics in the long run is to power 4K and virtual reality (VR) gaming. Panels with 4K resolution (3,840 by 2,160 pixels) and the displays built into the latest VR headsets have much higher pixel counts than a 'simple' 1080p HD monitor. You'll need at least a single high-end graphics card to drive a 4K display at top quality settings, with similar requirements for smooth gameplay on VR headsets. (See the 'Make VR a Reality' section below for more information.) If you mean to play games on a 4K panel with detail settings cranked up, you'll want to look at one (or even two) of Nvidia's highest-end cards suited for 4K play, likely the GeForce RTX 2080 Ti or the RTX 2080.
Buying a graphics card for VR is a different set of considerations, and not quite as demanding as 4K play on recent AAA games. VR headsets have their own graphics requirements. But for the two big ones from HTC and Oculus, you'll want at least a GeForce GTX 1060 or an AMD Radeon RX 480 or Radeon RX 580. Those are last-gen cards, of course; check for specific support for a given Nvidia Turing card if that is what you will be getting.
Now, VR and 4K gaming are unquestionably high-end matters (the latter even more so than the former). You can still get a rich gaming experience for thousands of bucks less by choosing a desktop with a single but robust middle-tier video card (an RTX 2060 or 2070, for example) and gaming at 1080p or 1440p; 2,560 by 1,440 pixels is an increasingly popular native resolution for gaming monitors. If you're less concerned about VR or turning up all the eye candy found in gamesâanti-aliasing and esoteric lighting effects, for exampleâthen today's less-powerful graphics cards and GPUs will still give you plenty of oomph for a lot less money.
Perfect Processor Power
The parallel heart in any gaming system to its GPU is its main processor chip, or CPU. While the GPU specializes in graphics quality and some physics calculations, the CPU takes care of everything else, and it also determines how able your PC will be for demanding tasks that require non-graphics calculations.
On the CPU front, AMD and Intel are in a race to see who can provide the most power to gamers. In 2017, AMD restarted the competition for the top spot anew with its Ryzen Threadripper CPUs, which feature up to 32 cores and the ability to process 64 threads simultaneously. (A good example is the Ryzen Threadripper 2950X.) Intel countered with a new line of Core X-Series processors, in which the top 'Extreme Edition' model flaunts 18 cores and 36 threads. Prices for these processors are high, with the Intel Core i9-7980XE and more recent successor the Core i9-9980XE carrying a $2,000 price, the chips by themselves the cost of a whole midrange gaming PC!
These CPU advancements are exciting, but it's not essential to invest in one of these elite-level Threadripper or Core X-Series processors to enjoy excellent PC gaming. To that point, Intel also launched Core i9 chips outside of the Extreme Edition platforms last year, bringing increased speed to the main consumer line. That is to say, they're not quite as over the top in terms of performance, in order to offer more consumer-friendly pricing. The Core i9-9900K is the flagship option in that regard, and it's an excellent performer, though perhaps not the best value for money. (You can also quibble about the effects of Intel inserting a price tier between the Core i7 and Extreme Edition offerings.)
Similarly, and more recently, the latest from AMD is the announcement of the Ryzen 9 3950X, what the Intel rival is calling the first 16-core gaming CPU. There is crossover with the blistering Threadripper line here in terms of core and thread count, but this new Ryzen 9 is on the less costly AM4 'mainstream' platform (with a motherboard selection that should comprise some cheaper options; Threadripper boards tend to be pricey). Details on the 3950X are still lean, but it's due to release in September 2019, so stay tuned.
In July 2019, however, AMD will be rolling out its third-generation Ryzen chips, with models up and down the line from $99 to $499, topped off by a 12-core Ryzen 9 3900X. (Expect reviews of some of these in the coming weeks.) Lesser, but still high-powered, CPUs, such as the AMD Ryzen 5 and Ryzen 7 lines, as well as locked and unlocked six- and eight-core Intel Core i7 processors, will provide the computing muscle needed for a satisfying gaming experience. Budget gamers should look to lower-priced (but still speedy) quad-core and six-core processors, such as the AMD Ryzen 5 or the Intel Core i5, which will knock hundreds of dollars off the bottom line. The baseline has come a long way, so even these less expensive chips are well suited to gaming. And Intel's Core i3-8350K is a four-core chip as opposed to its two-core predecessor, which could save you even more money while giving you a little overclocking potential, too.
If your choice comes down to paying for a higher-level GPU or a higher-level CPU, and gaming is the primary use you will have for the system, favor the graphics, in most cases. A system with a higher-power Nvidia GeForce GPU and a Core i5 processor is generally a better choice for 3D-intense FPS gaming than one with a low-end card and a zippy Core i7 or i9 CPU. But you may want to choose the latter if you're into games that involve a lot of background math calculations, such as strategy titles (like those in the Civilization series), or if you also mean to use the system for CPU-intensive tasks like converting or editing video, or editing photos.
Assessing Main Memory and Storage
One thing that's often overlooked on gaming systems is RAM; it can be severely taxed by modern games. Outfit your PC with a bare minimum of 8GB of RAM, and budget for 16GB if you're serious about freeing up this potential performance bottleneck. The most powerful machines out there will pack 32GB, though there are diminishing returns for gaming beyond 16GB.
Solid-state drives (SSDs), meanwhile, have become more popular since prices began dropping dramatically a few years ago, and the price drops have accelerated especially this year. They speed up boot time, wake-from-sleep time, and the time it takes to launch a game and load a new level.
Although you can get an SSD of any size up to around 2TB (with the larger capacities still being relatively expensive), the pairing of a small one (a capacity of 500GB is a good minimum floor to set) with a larger spinning hard drive (1TB or more) is a good, affordable setup for gamers who also download the occasional video from the Internet. You can keep your favorite games and applications on the smaller SSD, where they'll benefit from quicker loading, and install the bulk of your library on the hard drive.
Favor, where you can, PCI Express SSDs over SATA ones. (The former are the performance darlings of the moment.) These drives will typically come on gumstick-size modules in a format called M.2. Pixel car racer mod apk download.
Make VR a Reality
With the release of the HTC Vive and the Oculus Rift headsets and their subsequent revisions, real VR gaming is possible in the home for the first time. If you want to be able to use one of these to its fullest, your PC will need to meet the headset's system requirements.
The most important aspect is the video cardâon the original headsets, you are pushing a 1,080-by-1,200 display to each eye, after allâso go with the most powerful card you can afford from either the current or previous generation. For the Vive, the bare minimum is an AMD Radeon RX 480/580 or an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060. For Oculus headsets, a processing technique called asynchronous spacewarp promises full performance with slightly lower-end video cards, but we still suggest opting for at least the minimums posited by the Vive, and ideally something a step or three higher up the GPU pecking order.
You'll also want a newer AMD or Intel CPU with a minimum of four processing cores. As a baseline, both HTC and Oculus recommend a Core i5-4590 or its equivalent; with current-gen CPUs, we'd recommend an AMD Ryzen 5 or 7 (second-generation, or one of the upcoming third-generation chips), or an Intel Core i5 or i7. (Any of AMD's Ryzen Threadrippers or Intel's Core X-Series chips will do, too.) And the 8GB of RAM we recommended should be enough to ensure the fluid gameplay you want, but 16GB is again a better bet.
The Perfect Accessories
Don't stop at internal components. Once you have your ideal gaming desktop, a couple of extras can really enhance your gaming experience. We recommend that you trick out your machine with a top-notch gaming monitor with a fast response rate, as well as a solid gaming headset so you can trash-talk your opponents.
Comfortable keyboards, mice, and specialized controllers round out your options at checkout, but know that oftentimes you're better off selecting these items separately, rather than limiting your selection to what's offered by the system seller.
Ready for Our Recommendations?Best 2018 Gaming Computer Builds
Below are the best gaming desktops we've tested of late. Many are configured-to-order PCs from boutique manufacturers, but some come from bigger brands normally associated with consumer-grade desktops. Note that many of the same manufacturers also make gaming laptops, if you're weighing between the two.
Apple Imac For GamingThe Best Gaming Desktops Featured in This Roundup:2018 Best Gaming Pc
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