Testing the potence of all my pc components to find out which games can i run?

[elreydelaswasas1]

How to test the potence of all my pc components to find out which games can I run?

 

[Kshipper]

When I want to know 3D performance I use 3Dmark. You get a score and you can check that number against other machines that scored the same. Most games' quality and frame rate are mainly determined by the video card. You can gain noticeable increases in frame rates with a faster CPU. More RAM and a faster hard drive yield smaller gains.

I also like to run Passmarks test to get a system score however, it favors a capable graphics card in the overall score but it won't increase the score by much between a RTX 2060 and a RTX 3080 even though that is a big difference to a gamer.

 

[erickmendes]

Edit: I tried to be realy compreensive on this one, because the way he put's the question seems like he needs some deeper explanation on how each piece of hardware can influence your gaming experience. Also sorry for any bad engrish, I'm not an english native speaker.

- Storage space... How much space you still have in your computer to install programs and games... You need to check it, and if needed you could add a second HDD/SSD, or think about upgrading yours. You need to go into File Explorer in Windows to see how is your space and plan accordingly.... Newer AAA littles need as much as 100GB, The rest can go from dozens of GB to very few.

- Storage performance: How fast can you boot Windows, load game levels and open apps... An old SATA HDD will likely be considerably slower than a M.2 NVMe Gen 3 SSD. It won't preventing you from playing games (at least not yet...), but you can feel de difference. You can measure your storage speed with HDD/SSD testing apps, like CrystalDiskBenchMark, Atto64, so on...

- Storage upgrade path considerations: If your PC is short in storage space, the sweet spot would be 1~2TB of M.2 NVMe SSD, Gen3. The performance/price/space ration is really good.

- Memory: most games run well with only 8GB of RAM, but that's if you don't go multitasking. PC MARK can bench your entire system, RAM included. If you plan on playing heavy AAA games and do other things all at the same time, you should consider using at least 16GB.

- Memory upgrade path consideration: If your setup still DDR3 with 8GB or less, consider getting an affordable DDR4 system with at least 16GB of RAM or if your budget can take it wait for Ryzen 7000, so you can choose to go DDR5 with either Intel or AMD;

- CPU: Again, PC MARK can help you bench your current setup, also you could download some free games and try them on your PC to have first ahdn experience on how it would perform... most games won't really benefit from going above 6 physical cores, so CPU may be a bottleneck for your setup only if it is a really old Gen...

- CPU upgrade path consideration: A current setup with an AMD 5600x or an Intel 12400 won't top the charts, but with a mid range GPU you are good to go, you must achieve at least 80% of a PC with a 12900k can achieve on most games using the same GPU. Also, we are really close to AMD Ryzen 7000 launch, still Ryzen 5000 cpus with DDR4 and Intel 10th, 11th or 12th gens with DDR4 are pretty good options right now... It all depends if you can hold a little longer for AMD DDR5 options, or prefer to get an current avaliable setup;

- Motherboard: your current mortherboard limits your CPU choices... If it's an AM4 AMD board, chances are you may be able to get to a 5600x. If it's an older Intel board, you may be stuck with an older gen Intel CPU... Also it limits the kind and quantity of RAM you can have, the type of storage options you can use (SATA, M.2 SATA, M.2 NVMe...), which will directly impact your compose system performance (gpu+cpu+memory+storage performance... your real world experience);

- Motherboard upgrade path consideration: motherboard is the main piece of what we could call a "platform"... It will influence all your decisions (CPU, RAM type, Storage type, GPU...)... If your current PC setup is not enough for your gaming needs (lack of space, slow CPU, slow GPU...), you really should consider a new platform, starting with a newer motherboard. See CPU upgrade path consideration, your CPU choice will directly influence your motherboard options;

- Power Supply Unit: If your PSU is not really old and is a good ATX 600w or higher unit, that may be fine for a mid range setup, even a newer one using AM4 or Intel LGA 1200, perhaps even Intel LGA 1700. But a bad PSU can cause crashes and in the long run even damage your components. PSU is not easy to analyze, so I recommend trying to discover your PSU model and brand and look for reviews of it online. If your PSU got some age, also consider it lifetime... A good PSU can work without problem for something like 5 years, a bad PSU can die within 1 year of use;

- PSU upgrade patch consideration: if you feel the need to upgrade your PSU, with the current models I would go at least 650w if you plan on using mid range GPUs, if you plan on using flagship GPUs, consider 1000w models...

- Case: Well it's not that important if your current setup is not overheating or electroctuing your... But a good PC case with nice airflow (case fans count a lot on this aspect...) can make a setup run cooler, and a cooler setup will "live" longer. You don't need a Thermaltake 1000 gargantuan case, you need a case that's sized righ for your motherboard size (ATX, mATX, itx, E-ATX..) and can house your GPU and have enough air flow to keep everything at least from overheating.

- Monitor: well certainly not a component that can change how your PC can perform, but if you play a game that your GPU can achieve 120 fps, it won't help you if your monitor can only display 60 fps... I like to play at 1440p with at least 120 fps, so I plan my GPU to achieve an average of this FPS on my main games, and I get a monitor with that resolution (1440p) and that can work at least at 120Hz (so it can display 120 fps content). Playing at 120Hz monitor is smoothier than at a 60Hz monitor, but of course 60Hz monitor is cheaper than a 120Hz one, also in heavier games you need a beefier GPU to get 120 fps average. Again, to assess your monitor "performance", the best way is to read reviews of it and compare it to your personnal experience.

One valid advice to any PC component, even more if you don't have access to it, is to go for trustworth reviews... Techspot here is a good place, on youtube there's Gamer's Nexus with Steve Burke (aka Tech Jesus), it got really deep analisys of PC components, JayZTwooCents and Linus Tech Tips are also really trustable and entertaining to watch.

Some sites can give you some ideas of which setup can run which games, or if your current setup can run them... https://www.systemrequirementslab.com/ is one of them.

PC Part Picker is full of user made guides of PC setups from anywhere from budget barebones to crazy expensive setups and all of the middle grounds.

If you can tell us a little more about your current setup, like your CPU model, ram type and quantity, motherboard, GPU... that would help us point out what your setup can run and what upgrade paths you have.

 

[elreydelaswasas1]

Edit: I tried to be realy compreensive on this one, because the way he put's the question seems like he needs some deeper explanation on how each piece of hardware can influence your gaming experience. Also sorry for any bad engrish, I'm not an english native speaker.

- Storage space... How much space you still have in your computer to install programs and games... You need to check it, and if needed you could add a second HDD/SSD, or think about upgrading yours. You need to go into File Explorer in Windows to see how is your space and plan accordingly.... Newer AAA littles need as much as 100GB, The rest can go from dozens of GB to very few.

- Storage performance: How fast can you boot Windows, load game levels and open apps... An old SATA HDD will likely be considerably slower than a M.2 NVMe Gen 3 SSD. It won't preventing you from playing games (at least not yet...), but you can feel de difference. You can measure your storage speed with HDD/SSD testing apps, like CrystalDiskBenchMark, Atto64, so on...

- Storage upgrade path considerations: If your PC is short in storage space, the sweet spot would be 1~2TB of M.2 NVMe SSD, Gen3. The performance/price/space ration is really good.

- Memory: most games run well with only 8GB of RAM, but that's if you don't go multitasking. PC MARK can bench your entire system, RAM included. If you plan on playing heavy AAA games and do other things all at the same time, you should consider using at least 16GB.

- Memory upgrade path consideration: If your setup still DDR3 with 8GB or less, consider getting an affordable DDR4 system with at least 16GB of RAM or if your budget can take it wait for Ryzen 7000, so you can choose to go DDR5 with either Intel or AMD;

- CPU: Again, PC MARK can help you bench your current setup, also you could download some free games and try them on your PC to have first ahdn experience on how it would perform... most games won't really benefit from going above 6 physical cores, so CPU may be a bottleneck for your setup only if it is a really old Gen...

- CPU upgrade path consideration: A current setup with an AMD 5600x or an Intel 12400 won't top the charts, but with a mid range GPU you are good to go, you must achieve at least 80% of a PC with a 12900k can achieve on most games using the same GPU. Also, we are really close to AMD Ryzen 7000 launch, still Ryzen 5000 cpus with DDR4 and Intel 10th, 11th or 12th gens with DDR4 are pretty good options right now... It all depends if you can hold a little longer for AMD DDR5 options, or prefer to get an current avaliable setup;

- Motherboard: your current mortherboard limits your CPU choices... If it's an AM4 AMD board, chances are you may be able to get to a 5600x. If it's an older Intel board, you may be stuck with an older gen Intel CPU... Also it limits the kind and quantity of RAM you can have, the type of storage options you can use (SATA, M.2 SATA, M.2 NVMe...), which will directly impact your compose system performance (gpu+cpu+memory+storage performance... your real world experience);

- Motherboard upgrade path consideration: motherboard is the main piece of what we could call a "platform"... It will influence all your decisions (CPU, RAM type, Storage type, GPU...)... If your current PC setup is not enough for your gaming needs (lack of space, slow CPU, slow GPU...), you really should consider a new platform, starting with a newer motherboard. See CPU upgrade path consideration, your CPU choice will directly influence your motherboard options;

- Power Supply Unit: If your PSU is not really old and is a good ATX 600w or higher unit, that may be fine for a mid range setup, even a newer one using AM4 or Intel LGA 1200, perhaps even Intel LGA 1700. But a bad PSU can cause crashes and in the long run even damage your components. PSU is not easy to analyze, so I recommend trying to discover your PSU model and brand and look for reviews of it online. If your PSU got some age, also consider it lifetime... A good PSU can work without problem for something like 5 years, a bad PSU can die within 1 year of use;

- PSU upgrade patch consideration: if you feel the need to upgrade your PSU, with the current models I would go at least 650w if you plan on using mid range GPUs, if you plan on using flagship GPUs, consider 1000w models...

- Case: Well it's not that important if your current setup is not overheating or electroctuing your... But a good PC case with nice airflow (case fans count a lot on this aspect...) can make a setup run cooler, and a cooler setup will "live" longer. You don't need a Thermaltake 1000 gargantuan case, you need a case that's sized righ for your motherboard size (ATX, mATX, itx, E-ATX..) and can house your GPU and have enough air flow to keep everything at least from overheating.

- Monitor: well certainly not a component that can change how your PC can perform, but if you play a game that your GPU can achieve 120 fps, it won't help you if your monitor can only display 60 fps... I like to play at 1440p with at least 120 fps, so I plan my GPU to achieve an average of this FPS on my main games, and I get a monitor with that resolution (1440p) and that can work at least at 120Hz (so it can display 120 fps content). Playing at 120Hz monitor is smoothier than at a 60Hz monitor, but of course 60Hz monitor is cheaper than a 120Hz one, also in heavier games you need a beefier GPU to get 120 fps average. Again, to assess your monitor "performance", the best way is to read reviews of it and compare it to your personnal experience.

One valid advice to any PC component, even more if you don't have access to it, is to go for trustworth reviews... Techspot here is a good place, on youtube there's Gamer's Nexus with Steve Burke (aka Tech Jesus), it got really deep analisys of PC components, JayZTwooCents and Linus Tech Tips are also really trustable and entertaining to watch.

Some sites can give you some ideas of which setup can run which games, or if your current setup can run them... https://www.systemrequirementslab.com/ is one of them.

PC Part Picker is full of user made guides of PC setups from anywhere from budget barebones to crazy expensive setups and all of the middle grounds.

If you can tell us a little more about your current setup, like your CPU model, ram type and quantity, motherboard, GPU... that would help us point out what your setup can run and what upgrade paths you have.

how to do benchmark of the potence of my storage drive with CrystalDiskBenchMark?