The gaming industry has rapidly grown in popularity over the last decade. So popular, in fact, that some people have even made a career out of streaming as well global competitions with huge money at stake. You may have the best PC games or even the best gaming PC but this blog looks at five top tips for a goosebump-giving gaming experience.
1. Comfortable setup
Having the best gaming PC setup is also about having the right comfort. This can also be essential for your health if you are sat in the same positions for a long period of time.
Gaming keyboards are designed to support your wrists and can be customised to your own design so you do not have to overstretch your hands. This can prevent long term health issues such as carpal tunnel.
Another great purchase for the best gaming experience is a chair. Purposefully designed to correct your posture and increase vitality, gaming chairs are a great way to ensure your comfort. Their sleek and seductive design also packs huge benefits for your health as well as being a great addition to the design of your gaming setup. Don’t just impress your friends, impress your chiropractor too!
2. Invest in surround sound
Surround sound is important for the best gaming experience as it increases your ability to detect other players but also enhances the cinematic aspect. The best PC games are designed to take advantage of this and have implemented features into their narrative to create a more immersive and realistic experience. An example of this is called true surround sound. This is where PC games use sounds in the game, like footsteps or rumbling. The surround sound will change the direction of the sounds depending on what is happening like hearing. footsteps from behind.
For the more competitive among us, surround sound could be the difference between winning and losing, especially with quickfire games. So it is important to hear everything in crisp and clear quality.
A good set of headphones will do the job and usually come fitted with surround sound and noise-cancelling to give you the best PC gaming experiences. A large majority of them also come fitted with microphones which is a great way to communicate with your friends and with wireless features which means you won’t end up getting tangled as you celebrate the winning move. If headphones are not your style, then some gaming chairs come with speakers built into the headrest.
3. Check your connection
There is categorically nothing more frustrating than when you’re halfway through the most exhilarating game of your life and suddenly your connection cuts out. Xfinity.com says gaming console manufacturers recommend 3 megabytes per second (MBps) of download speed and 0.5 MBps to 1 MBps of upload speed as a generally ‘good internet speed’. To ensure a solid connection check how many devices are connected to the network. Make sure to shop around and see what broadband dealers offer the best speeds. Let’s have a look at some ways you can speed up your connection:
Reboot your router
Reset your router every month to give the device a break and refresh your internet connection. If you experience serious speed issues, you might consider resetting your router every day and leaving it for 5-10 minutes.
Get an Ethernet cable
Ethernet cable will connect your gaming PC to a network, which allows you to have internet access and interact with shared network resources and send internet connection straight into the device instead of over-the-air transmissions. As a bonus! An Ethernet cable is more secure than a WiFi connection.
Close any background apps or websites
Bandwidth-heavy sites like Netflix and YouTube can really affect your ping rate and latency. Close any you might have running as this can impact your gaming performance. This also includes checking how many devices are connected to your network and could be causing lag.
What the flip is ‘ping’?
Download speed is about how fast data can be pulled from the server and the upload speed is how fast you can send data to other people.
The terms latency, ‘ping’ or ‘ping rate’ refers to how fast you get a response from your internet connection after you send out a request. Latency is the time (in milliseconds) that it takes for the ping to return to the computer. Ping has a bigger impact on game performance and response time than your upload speed or download speed and is a delay between action in the game and its display on your screen. So, latency is a measurement of the entire round trip of that signal while ping is just one way. A high ping rate can make multiplayer in any online game impossible (which is very frustrating!). If your ping is higher than another player’s, their moves might happen first.
Add aesthetics to your set up
Most of the best gaming PCs are built with RGB lighting systems that can be synced to a gaming keyboard for a spectacular display of colour, making your setup look truly awesome. The most important thing to remember is that this space is yours so personalise it to your own colour scheme and any extras like posters or figurines of your favourite game characters.
A really cool edition (if you have some extra budget) is getting yourself an ambient lighting monitor. The backlights are responsive to the colours on the screen and change to create an increasingly more immersive experience. Alternatively, if you cannot afford a monitor, there are many available LED strip kits online that do the same and are a cost-effective solution.
5. Take a break
The best PC games are designed to be addictive and can often capture attention for many hours. However, it is important to remember that these gaming marathons can come with health issues like migraines or fatigue. So it’s important to take regular breaks to refresh. Making sure you stretch your legs, grab a snack and some fresh air every few hours will do wonders for you and can even improve your productivity and levels of engagement.
It is also important to set yourself a curfew so you have time to wind down and relax before you go to bed. This will make sure you are well-rested if you have school or work the next day.
Summary
There are lots of ways to ensure you have the best gaming experience. Comfort is important for your health and can be a stylish addition to your gaming setup. Implementing surround sound and ambient lighting will create an immersive experience. Online gaming relies on a great connection so make sure you keep an eye on the speed and how many devices are connected. Last but not least, make sure you take a break!
