Size
There’s no one-size-fits-all answer for this. If you want high-powered components or a motherboard with more than just a slot for a graphics card, you need a midtower or full tower case — it needs to accommodate extra cooling or a larger motherboard. If you’ve got limited space, measure the width and depth you can accommodate and look carefully at a computer’s dimensions. If you don’t plan on upgrading and can afford to pay for the configuration you’re going to still want in three to five years, then you can go with a small form factor, or SFF, PC. While you can use liters as a measurement for case size, actual dimensions are more useful.
Motherboard
You generally only can choose the motherboard for custom or DIY builds, but even with a prebuilt system you need to ensure it can meet your needs. For instance, not only that it has sufficient PCI slots but that if you hypothetically require both 16-bit slots to run at maximum bandwidth they will. The motherboard and its chipset determines the maximum possible USB ports; networking types; type and maximum amount of memory; maximum amount and type of SSD and more. Prebuilt and small systems sometimes have proprietary motherboards, so confirm you’ll be able to upgrade if you think you’ll want to.
Operating system
Windows. You can play games on MacOS or Linux, but far more games are developed for and supported on Windows.
Processor
The CPU doesn’t matter as much as other components, but games that spawn and calculate the movements of a lot of objects or characters — complex simulations and RTS, for example — may lean on it to run well. AMD’s chips with “X3D” in the name are its best gaming CPUs, while Intel’s overclockable chips have “K” in their model names and its Core processors are still generally better for desktop gaming than its newer Core Ultra CPUs.
Graphics
For the most part, the GPU is the most important component for running games, not just to render quickly and at high resolutions now, but to drive AI-based upscaling technologies without sacrificing frame rates or smoothly running AI-based technologies of the near future (such as in-game contextual help or smart NPCs). The amount of memory accessible by the GPU also makes a difference: I recommend at least 8GB VRAM for 1080p, 12GB for 1440p or 16GB for 4K. The amount of VRAM tends to correlate with the class of GPU, and the class correlates with speed; in other words, in general (but not necessarily so), more memory means a faster class of card and a faster class of card means a higher frame rate.
System memory
I don’t recommend ANY system with 8GB RAM or less — 16GB should be your absolute minimum and many games already require that much — but 32GB is a good bet to support games for at least another few years. Most desktops let you upgrade memory; ultracompacts or all-in-ones may use laptop parts, which means soldered (and therefore not upgradeable) memory, so you want to watch for that if you plan on saving money now.
Storage
Games are getting bigger and bigger, so more storage is always better. If you play serially you can probably get by backing up to an external SSD, but if you jump around or want to keep multiple games installed on your system (and use the system for more than just gaming!), I suggest 1TB minimum.
The review process for desktops consists of two parts: performance testing under controlled conditions in the CNET Labs and extensive hands-on use by our reviewers. This includes evaluating a device’s aesthetics, ergonomics and features with respect to price. A final review verdict is a combination of objective and subjective judgments.
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