If you have a gaming computer, or know about them, can I get some advice please.

[Soubriquet]

I’m looking for a computer that can be used as a normal family computer but for games too so I thought it would be best to just go for a gaming computer. Is that right?

I use origin and steam and play games like sims4, planet coaster, two point hospital and Jurassic world.

I would also like it to play old games like roller coaster tycoon so it needs to have a cd drive

Which type of PC is best for me to buy?

Thank you

My husband plays a lot of online games and there are 2 things that he always recommends.

Firstly, you need the best graphics card that you can afford.

And secondly, if you're lagging during gameplay, he recommends plugging directly into your Wi-fi router with an ethernet cable.

My adult stepson is heavily into pc gaming, he bought an AlphaSync pc from eBuyer which he really rates. Think his cost around 2.5k 😳 but they start at about £900.

Otherwise, maybe try Currys or John Lewis?

For DS I bought an HP from John Lewis earlier this year for around £600-700 it was reduced by £100.

It has a Ryzen chip which is good for gaming.

It's brilliant quality and surpassed expectations and DS plays a lot of heavy duty games on it.

My DS downloads games from steam and it's never lagged or caused any issues

You don’t need a gaming computer. Those games don’t need a particularly high spec, there’s no point spending all that money on a gaming computer just to run those. Have a look on Steam, it will tell you what spec of computer is required to run each game. As long as whatever you buy exceeds that spec you’ll be fine.

This is a similar spec to what I bought DS and similar price range from JL if that helps.

Thank you. I’m a complete novice when it comes to computers, so I really had no idea where to start.

Not sure any laptop has a CD drive these days

Geforce GTX and Ryzen 5 is what's on my DS laptop and it's more than adequate for his gaming. You can buy better graphics cards etc. we do have decent WiFi so I guess that helps although we did have to buy a TP link WiFi extender for his room.

A desk top that you can upgrade is your best bet. Ideally 16gb ram but 8 with the capacity to add extra is ok. Processor, best you can afford and a separate graphics card is better, again you can upgrade in the future.

I recommend an independent builder such as Scan, Chillblast, or Cyberpower. You'll get better value, and if you buy direct lots of options. But currently there's supply chain trouble so you might prefer to buy off-the-shelf from a reseller.

www.logicalincrements.com/ has example builds at various price points. You probably won't get exactly the same but it will point you towards a balanced system. For your games you might go up a notch on CPU and RAM and down a notch on GPU compared to an all-rounder build.

You can use an external DVD/Bluray drive if you can't get an internal one. Externals are a bit slower but one drive can serve lots of machines so that's what I use nowadays.