Do you want a custom gaming computer? Whether you're building it yourself or buying from a custom building shop, understanding how all of the parts work together and why a "gaming" label is or isn't relevant is a critical lesson to learn. To understand why video cards are necessary, why gaming motherboards exist, and whether the newest card is a good buy or not, take a look at these gaming component details.
What Is A Gaming Motherboard?
A computer's motherboard is the main board that connects everything else in your computer. The Central Processing Unit (CPU) goes into a socket, Random Access Memory (RAM) goes into slots, hard drives/solid state drives (SSDs) connect via data and power cables, and the power supply connects to the motherboard to distribute power to everything.
Most modern motherboards for desktop computers have the same general design. As time goes on, they support newer parts, which usually have physical differences to stop computer builders from mixing up different generations that may not work together.
So where does the "gaming" part come in?
The truth is that you can connect a decent video card to any modern desktop computer and play games at medium settings, or at high settings with a few performance issues. It can happen, but it won't be a truly next-generation (next-gen) experience.
This is where the confusion and disagreement about what matters comes from. For many gamers, a smooth gaming experience isn't enough. What the lower tier computer users may not realize (or just don't care about) is that there are some functions that are turned off if higher-capacity components aren't in use.
Along with other parts, the motherboard needs to be fast enough to send bigger sets of instructions to all of the components.
But how?
Bigger lanes. Just like with roads in real life, bigger highways allow more traffic. This is measured in bus width, but gaming computers also have additional traces going to specific locations that are irrelevant to non-custom computers. Faster routes and shortcuts are what makes a true gaming motherboard different.
If you use a regular motherboard that doesn't have bigger/wider copper traces or doesn't have special lanes to deliver information in a custom, game developer-friendly path, buying the most expensive video cards or processors won't matter. If you're not buying a high-speed gaming motherboard, don't bother with other gaming parts.
What Goes Missing Without High Performance?
There is a level of acceptable quality where a game isn't slowing down or "choppy", and looks fine as long as you haven't seen someone else's computer with better performance. Unfortunately, you can't even watch videos to see better performance, because the videos will scale down to lower performance. It needs to be in person.
To explain it best in text, certain games leave out graphics and special effects that your system can't understand. No matter how powerful you think your gaming rig is, it takes a certain amount of power and instructions to get certain tasks done.
An early example is in World of Warcraft, where a high-definition upgrade changed the flat plates and cobblestone in Stormwind and Orgrimmar to real, details, 3D objects. On a low-power computer, you're just walking on cheaply-decorated images of roads. On a computer with gaming parts, your character can actually step between those plates and see the surface scratches.
If you want to taste these differences, start at the motherboard, video card, and CPU in that order. Contact a sapphire components representative, such as from Summit Sapphire, to pick out different gaming components to match your game's demands.
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