Best of Both Worlds: How to Turn Your Workhorse into a Gaming Machine

Thanks to advances in technology, more and more people have access to desktop PCs than ever before. While many people own a PC purely for work purposes, and with the number of people working from home increasing by the year, the good news is that many desktop PCs that were built to be office workhorses are fully capable of running even the newest of games, with a bit of tweaking and a few upgrades. Let’s take a look at how you can turn your everyday work machine into an after-hours gaming rig.

Upgrade Your Hard Drive to an SSD

One of the easiest and cheapest ways to improve your PC is through the installation of a Solid State Drive, or SSD. While laptops have been using this type of storage for many years now, the popularity of SSD’s for gaming purposes only really took off once the technology was a bit more affordable. So, what is an SSD and why will it improve your gaming experience?

An SSD does everything a traditional hard drive does only faster, in a smaller form factor and they are not prone to mechanical failure, which is common in magnetic drives. This is because SSDs use flash chip technology to store information rather than storing it on a magnetic coating, as traditional hard drives do. We won’t go too far down the technology rabbit hole, you can learn more about the technology yourself here, but all you need to know is that an SSD will allow you to load not only games faster but it will also speed up your Windows startup time and the time it takes to open and copy files and programs on your PC.

Invest in a Decent Graphics Card

Running demanding games on higher graphics will also mean that your computer will heat up more, and faster, than when you use it for regular work. To make sure you don’t end up with damaged components at the end of a prolonged gaming session, make sure to invest in a good cooling system like the best CPU cooler for i7 8700k. It won’t do to lose precious parts like the processor to excessive heat.

Most pre-built work machines come with a graphics processor built into the CPU to give users the ability to output video, i.e. to plug in your screen, and to do basic graphics processing. Very few of these setups are capable of running today’s games, which makes investing in a dedicated graphics card essential if you wish to play anything other than the most basic of games on your machine.

A dedicated graphics card is the single biggest, and most important, upgrade you can make to your desktop PC and can also be the most expensive. Low-end graphics cards are always an option but before you make any purchase be sure to explore what card the game you wish to play needs in order to run on its recommended settings to ensure the card you buy is powerful enough. Take a look at this rundown of the best graphics cards of 2020 for an idea of what you will need for your machine.

Let the Experts Build it For You

If looking through hardware specs and trying to figure out compatibility isn’t your strong suit then you could always look into buying a pre-built gaming machine, such as the Cyberpower PC Gamer Ultra, which comes equipped with everything an enthusiast needs to up their game.

However you choose to upgrade, be sure to do your research before you spend any money to make sure you are getting the best deal for your dime.