The terms gaming PC and gaming computer refer to computers that are built to play games and run programs at a higher resolution than non-gaming PCs. They are usually built using custom gaming cases and high-end components focusing on speed, graphics performance, and graphics quality. Although most PC games will work on a regular home computer, a true gaming computer is specifically made for 3D graphics acceleration processing, physics modeling, unified pixel shading technology, dynamic geometry rendering, and enhanced sound processing and effects engines. External connection ports for for a variety of accessories such as, headphones, USB formatted devices and firewire connection points are usually common. Gaming computers, or "gaming rigs", are frequently used in single player, or online gaming. Gaming computers are needed to gain the best possible performance advantage in order to out-perform the opponents computer, thereby winning the game in an online contest. Simply put, a gaming PC allows someone to enjoy the best images and effects a new computer game has to offer.

Harware performance

Most of today's newest games found in retail stores will have two sets of required hardware listed on the box. The first set is the "minimum hardware requirements" and the second set is the "suggested hardware requirements."

The minimum requirements are the hardware components in which the game will successfully operate. The suggested hardware requirements are what the game developer recommends for the best gaming experience; games will generally run faster and look better the higher the performance of the hardware.

Gaming PCs use hardware accellerated graphic cards which offer high end performance and image quality. Memory capacity, clock speed, and interface on 3D cards should all be considered. High end 3D graphics cards use the newest PCIe interface slot on the motherboard. Two or more graphics cards can sometimes be used working together in tandom by using the new technology of SLI. SLI dual graphics allows for two graphics cards to be used in unison to process and render an image. Due to the additional load on the CPU and the requirement of most modern games to have hardware accelerated graphics, a gaming computer must use an accelerated graphics card to be considered a gaming PC.

The CPU is generally responsible for computing and central game processes (the "thinking brain"). Gaming PCs should have high-end CPUs or gaming specific CPUs .With the rise of multithreaded games, multi processor and dual core setups become more important than ever.

Memory, or also referred to as RAM, acts as storage relay or cache for resources that games use. Gaming PCs typically have high performance RAM and more is better. The fast RAM found in gaming PCs increases performance by having lower latency than regular RAM. RAM capacity is also an issue with gaming PCs, as it is not uncommon for over 1GB of memory to be used while gaming. This is why most new gaming PCs come with 1GB of RAM or more (2GB or more is usually recommended for most of today's newest games). Also, most gaming PCs will use memory operating in Dual Channel mode. This allows memory to be allocated to specific programs or tasks at a much faster rate, thus increasing the overall speed of processing.

In gaming PCs, fast hard drives are another component that will increase performance. Having a faster hard drive will result in lower loading times in games. For this reason, gaming PCs use lower latency drives with faster transfer rates such as the newest SATA2 3.0GB/sec. interface. Since the space taken up by games is small compared to the total space on the newest large capacity hard drives, speed is preferred over capacity.

Cases for gaming computers tend to be custom designs specific for gaming needs. Cases with side windows are used to reveal the internal components which may be adorned with LEDs. Shiney components, graphic images, and colorful connections are allowed to be viewed to show that it is indeed a "hotrod PC". Gaming cases are also designed for specific functions of a gamer. The case must provide exceptional cooling for its components, have room for expansion and customization, and provide external accessory ports such as for headphones, speakers, USB, ect.....

A gaming PC should also achieve high scores on 3D benchmarks when it is first built or upgraded. The performance of a gaming computer can be determined by two measures - Visual Quality and Framrates.

Visual quality refers to the quality of an image. Higher settings and resolution have a negative effect on the framerate. One attribute of the gaming PC is that it should be able to use high settings of both framerate and visual quality at the same time. Meaning that; graphics performance should be able to support quality visual effects without effecting framerates in a negative manner and viseversa.

The framerate is measured in frames per second (fps). This refers to the how quickly the video card can refresh the image shown on screen. Frame rates above 30 are desirable in high performance games, though the fastest gaming PCs can achieve higher framerates .