Buying a gaming PC: what to look for (2026 guide)

What a PC needs to do depends on two things: which games you play and which screen you play on. A screen with a higher resolution (1440p or 4K) asks more of the graphics card than Full HD (1080p). A screen with a high refresh rate (144 Hz or more) makes fast games smoother, but also asks more of the whole PC.

The table gives a guideline with graphics cards from our range. One card often suits more than one screen, depending on the game and the settings.

Choose the screen together with the PC. A high refresh rate only makes sense if the PC delivers enough frames per second: a 144 Hz screen on a PC that manages 60 frames per second shows no difference.

For 1080p and 1440p a screen of 24 to 27 inches is common; for 4K people often choose 27 inches or more. An IPS panel generally gives good colours and viewing angles, a VA panel more contrast. With FreeSync or G-Sync the screen adjusts its refresh rate to the number of frames the PC produces, which limits stutter and screen tearing.

Use a DisplayPort or HDMI cable that can handle the resolution and the refresh rate, and after installing, check in the Windows display settings that the high refresh rate is really switched on. See our monitors.

The graphics card determines how good and how smooth a game looks. You choose between NVIDIA GeForce RTX and AMD Radeon RX. See our PCs by card: RTX 5060 Ti, RX 9060 XT, RTX 5070, RTX 5070 Ti and RTX 5080. Looking for a card on its own? You will find them under graphics cards.

Also look at the video memory (VRAM). 8 GB is enough for 1080p at medium to high settings, but can fall short at the highest textures. With 12 or 16 GB you have more room for 1440p and 4K.

Upscaling lets a game render at a lower resolution and turns it into a sharper image. DLSS is only available on NVIDIA RTX cards. AMD has FSR; FSR 4 only works on the RX 9000 series.

Mind the full name. An RTX 5060 and an RTX 5060 Ti sound almost the same, but they are two different cards. So always check the full model, including the letters Ti or XT.

For gaming, a processor with 6 cores is enough. With 8 cores or more you have more room if you also stream, edit video or keep many programs open. You choose between AMD Ryzen and Intel Core; both make good gaming processors. Processors with 3D V-Cache, such as the AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D, are popular with gamers.

At 1440p and 4K the graphics card matters more than the processor. If you play at low settings with a high frame rate, as in eSports games, the processor becomes more important. The processor also decides which motherboard and which memory you need; read which processor fits which motherboard.

Keep the two in balance. A very powerful graphics card with a weak processor does not reach its full potential, and an expensive processor with an entry-level card gains little from its power. For most games the largest part of your budget goes to the graphics card, with a solid processor next to it. If you choose separate parts, see the processors and the motherboards.

16 GB is the minimum for a gaming PC. With 32 GB you have more room if you also keep Discord, a browser or streaming software open next to the game. The type depends on the platform: newer PCs use DDR5, older ones DDR4, and the two are not interchangeable. Two memory modules instead of one make the memory work faster (dual channel).

Check in the BIOS that the XMP or EXPO profile of the memory is switched on; otherwise it sometimes runs at a lower default speed. If you buy memory separately, first look at which type your motherboard supports, then see our memory.

An NVMe SSD loads games quickly. New games often take up 50 to 150 GB, so choose at least 1 TB. If you want to install many games at once, 2 TB is more comfortable.

A SATA SSD is slower than NVMe, but much faster than a traditional hard drive. A hard drive is cheaper per GB, so it is mostly useful for photos, videos and other files that do not need to load fast. For games you usually notice little difference in practice between a fast PCIe 4.0 SSD and a PCIe 5.0 SSD; enough space matters more than the fastest model. If you choose separate parts, check that your motherboard has enough M.2 slots. See our storage.

The power supply has to deliver enough power for the graphics card and the processor. Look at the wattage the graphics card maker recommends: NVIDIA, for example, recommends at least 750 watts for a system with an RTX 5070 Ti and 850 watts for an RTX 5080. An 80 PLUS label tells you how efficient the power supply is. For a ready-made PC the wattage is in the specifications.

Many newer graphics cards use a 16-pin 12V-2x6 connector, others ordinary 8-pin PCIe connectors. Check what your card needs and whether the power supply has those connectors or comes with a suitable adapter. A power supply with some reserve also leaves room for a more powerful card later. See our power supplies.

Good cooling keeps the PC stable and quieter. A processor needs a cooler: an air cooler is simple and has no pump, a liquid cooler carries the heat away through a radiator. Do check that the cooler fits in the case.

The case must take the size of the motherboard and have room for the length of the graphics card and the height of the cooler. A case with plenty of airflow keeps the parts cooler; extra case fans help with that. If you choose the parts separately, check this yourself; in a ready-made PC they are already matched to each other.

Noise depends on the fans, the cooler and the case. Larger fans turning more slowly are generally quieter than small fans at high speed. A case with a mesh front lets in plenty of air, but dampens noise less than a closed front panel.

A ready-made PC is the quickest choice: the parts are selected by COZO and matched to each other. COZO selects PCs and parts from European wholesalers; what exactly is inside, you see on the product page. If you want to choose every part, use the PC Builder, or build with separate parts. You will find the pros and cons in our guide building your own PC or buying one ready-made.

A good gaming PC costs roughly between 1,000 and 2,000 euros. Part prices change every day; on the pages below you see today’s price and stock. These are guidelines, not promises: the games and settings you choose make the difference.

Besides the PC you need a screen, a mouse, a keyboard and possibly a headset. Count them in your budget, especially if you have nothing yet. You will find them under peripherals, including mice, keyboards and headsets.

A PC you choose today can become stronger later. The graphics card is usually the easiest to replace, provided the power supply has enough power and the right connectors and the card fits in the case. A new processor has to fit the same socket as your motherboard, and extra memory has to be of the same type.

So check in the specifications how many memory slots and M.2 slots the motherboard has, and read our guide on processor and motherboard to see how the socket works. Separate parts are under parts.

You get a 2-year warranty from the day of delivery. As a consumer you have a 14-day cooling-off period on our ready-made PCs; a PC you put together yourself in the PC Builder is excluded from the right of withdrawal. Read more on Warranty & RMA, Returns and Shipping & delivery.

If there is a defect, report it with the form on Warranty & RMA. We review your request and arrange repair or replacement if it is covered by the warranty. What a request costs depends on the outcome and is stated on that page.

Unsure between two PCs? Email us at contact@thecozo.be or use the contact form. We usually reply within 24 hours. Who is behind COZO, you can read on Advice by COZO.

Below are gaming PCs from our range that are in stock now, each with a different graphics card. Price and stock are updated automatically.