LevelUp Gaming • Buying Guide

1. Case

Your case needs to be large enough to accommodate the motherboard and power supply, while still providing enough room for airflow to keep the parts cool.

Key Brands: Corsair, Cooler Master, Thermaltake

2. Central Processing Unit (CPU)

The CPU is the main number-crunching 'brain' of the system. Its what programs (by-and-large) run on - though it does occasionally call upon aid of other processing units.

Key Brands: Intel and AMD

3. Graphics Processing Unit (GPU)

The job of the GPU is to process high quality images to the screen as quickly as possible. Ideally, it needs to do this sixty or more times per second.

Key Brands: Nvidia and AMD

4. Memory

When your computer needs to remember something, it uses the sticks of RAM that slot into the motherboard. The more RAM you have, the more stuff you can run at the same time. Run out of system memory, and Windows will lean into on the storage drive, which cause things to slowdown.

Key Brands: Corsair and Kingston Hyper X

5. Storage

If memory is where your computer puts stuff in the short-term, then storage is where data is stored for long-term. Stored data doesn't get erased when you switch the machine off - its where games and crucial software, files are kept.

Key Brands: Adata, Samsung, Seagate and Western Digital

6. Power Supply

Your PC components need power. Thats the job of the power supply. It needs enough wattage to keep everything running.

Key Brands: Adata, Corsair, Cooler Master

7. CPU Cooler

Every calculation your PC makes produces a little bit of heat. A quality cooler will help to keep core temperatures down, and ensure a stable system that lasts for years to come.

Key Brands: Corsair, Cooler Master and NZXT

8. Motherboard

The motherboard is arguably the most important component of all. Its what allows the various components that make up the full system to connect to one antoher. Your choice of motherboard will determine which CPU, GPU and RAM you can use, and how easily they'll all be able to talk to one another.

Key Brands: ASUS and MSI

Custom Build PCs vs Next Day PCs

Custom Build PCs

A custom built machine is put together accoridng to your specifications. They allow you to get exactly what you need - but the turnaround is roughly 5-7 days. This allows us to build and test the machine.

Pre-Built PCs

If you don't want to wait, we do have pre-built PCs. We have them already built and ready to ship within 1 working day.

Setting your budget

Your machine doesn’t need to cost the earth – but larger budgets can stretch to premium components. You might spend as little as £500 or as much as £3000+, depending on the experience you’re after.

Component costs tent to be extremely volatile, especially with supply chains facing seasonal disruptions. We regularly update our pre-built systems with the latest components to ensure they provide the very best value for money. Because of this you can expect the cost of different systems to vary from time to time.

Our machines do not include the cost of peripheral devices such as keyboards, mice and monitors, unless otherwise stated but they are available to add on as an extra cost.

OUR PC BUYING GUIDE