Computer games have improved in quality by drastic levels over the past few years. As you would imagine, this leads to strain on regular machines which has given rise to the gaming rig.

Just like cars, gaming rigs are also designed to look good with incredible tower casings that are lit up with led lights and decorated with spray paint. But it is important to look beyond that. The most important thing with a gaming rig is the components that are inside. The first thing that you should pay attention to with a gaming rig is to get a tower with enough empty slots inside to allow you to add to the machine over time. Nothing lasts forever, and you might want to install another hard disk, or a separate on board USB hub or even a separate sound blaster.

Storage is important with gaming rigs. With the incredible games on offer and online communities that create mods to g o with games, you will need a great deal of space to save your save games and addons.

These days, high-end computers are equipped with at least a Terrabyte hard disk. But if you are a gamer, you have to consider that not only will you need storage space for your operating system, you will also need to find space for the software and drivers to run your sound card, graphics card and of course the games themselves. It is a good idea to take the step of buying a rig with two hard disks – one for the operating system and essential software and another to install games, use for save games and of course installing your addons.

Last but not least, it is important to make sure that your rig has enough space in the tower to house a good power supply unit and cooling fans, All that computing power will cause a lot of heat buildup and that needs to be dealt with otherwise you will fry the machine.

The first question you need to ask yourself when deciding on buying a computer, is what you need it for.

Buying a home PC is, in a way, like buying a car. What is its primary use going to be? If you are buying a machine to just browse the internet to find out which match is being played for each date of the Euro tournament, for social media and communication, then you might want to opt for a lower end machine. And here is where the second question comes in. Do you want a desktop that is fixed in place, or do you want the flexibility of a laptop so you can move around the house or even take it out of your home so you can use it while on the move?

If you are planning on using the machine to service other needs, such as a media station, then you might want to opt for a home server which has several ports that allow for data sharing and storage across several platforms.

If you want a gaming rig to play computer games on, then you need something that packs a much bigger punch in terms of processing power. You would also need something that has a gaming specific graphics card, as well as a good cooling system to keep the machine from becoming overloaded and breaking down.

These are all questions that you need to ask yourself first. It would be useless to buy a lower end machine only for your kids to try and overload it by playing games that stretch the memory capacity and ultimately shorten the computer’s lifespan.

Once you have figured out exactly what you will be using it for, you then need to think of physical limitations. If you only have limited space, then you might want to opt for an all in one desktop where the computing components are actually built into the monitor of the machine.

If you have a lot more space, then you might want to opt for a traditional tower and wide-screen monitor configuration.

Just like a well oiled machine, you need to look after the software on your computer. One of the most common mistakes that causes issues on machines is when people delete a program rather than uninstalling.

When you delete a program or trash it, the computer registry thinks that it is still there, and this can cause issues even when the programs in question are just small ones. The best way to get rid of a program that you do not want to keep, is by opening the “Control Panel”, finding the name of the program, and then uninstalling it. Doing so will help keep your machine running a lot smoother and with little to no errors.

Another important thing do every now and again, is to perform the disk cleanup function. This is quite easy to do, and will keep your computer in good shape. All you have to do is double click “My Computer”. Once in that window, look for the hard disk you use, and then right click on it. Once there, look for the properties option and click it. This should open a mini window, and under the “general” tab, you will find the disk cleanup facility. It is a good idea to run this every few months and the best time to do it is at night, as it does take some time. The computer will give you the option to shut down once the cleanup is complete. The Defrag and Error Check functions are also found under the properties tab related to the disk you want to perform the functions on. This time, you must click on the tools tab, and you will find the two functions there. You do not need to run these as often, but if you want to make sure that your PC is in top order, you should do it every three to six months depending on how much you use your machine.