KNOWLEDGE BASE

We understand that not everyone is tech savvy. With difficult-to-understand hardware specs to computer terminology, there’s a lot to consider – it can be a bit overwhelming. In this article we are covering everything you need to know from A-Z to help you choose better.

Terminology & Glossary

CPU: ‘Central Processing Unit’. The CPU is the brain of your PC that handles complex tasks. Heavy tasks such as video editing, rendering or photo editing, requires a stronger CPU.

Graphics Card (GPU): This is the engine for visual performance in application & games. A more high-end graphics card produces smoother and better graphics quality in gaming.

RAM: “Random Access Memory”. It is a temporary notepad for your computer or your PC’s short-term memory. The more ram available means you can have many applications and games open at the same time. In today’s world, 16GB of ram is the minimum standard for comfortable productivity tasks and gaming. For high end video editing or photo editing, 32GB of ram is recommended.

Hard Drive (HDD), Solid State Drive (SSD), NVMe SSD: Hard drive or SSD is used as your computer’s storage to store data such as, games, files and applications. SSD is 10x faster than HDD. And NVMe is 8x faster than a normal SSD. The faster the storage, the faster loading times will be in games & applications. In Cobratech systems, we only use NVMe SSD.

Motherboard: The motherboard is the backbone that ties the computer’s components together at one spot and allows them to talk to each other. Without it, none of the computer pieces, such as the CPU, GPU, or hard drive, could interact

Overclocking / OC: Your computer’s CPU or GPU comes from the factory set to run at a certain maximum safe speed. This speed can be tampered with manually by the user to increase the speed more than the factory intended to. Doing so will void your warranty and put your computer at risk of damage. However, some graphics card models come with “OC edition “. These have been safely overclocked by the factory, out of the box, for extra performance, without risk of damage.

FPS: Frames Per Second or FPS is the rate at which back-to-back images called frames appear in a display and form moving imagery. The more FPS, the smoother the gaming visuals will be.

Bottleneck: “Bottlenecks” occur when one component holds back the potential of a more powerful component. Almost any component can contribute to a bottleneck, but special attention should be paid to the CPU and GPU in a gaming PC. Cobratech systems are designed to be well-balanced and hand-picked components by our technicians to avoid bottlenecks.

Thermal Throttling: “Throttling” in this context means “ditching performance” in the form of lowering clock speeds. Your GPU or CPU will run slower to keep the component under their safe operating temperature, performance down with it. This happens when a cooling solution is not good enough. Cobratech PCs are engineered to run icy cool with components kept under 65°C.

Esports Games: eSports is organized competitive video gaming. It primarily involves teams competing against each other in tournaments for a cash prize. Examples of some Esports games are: Counter-Strike Series, Overwatch, Rainbow Six: Siege, Valorant, DOTA 2 and Fortnite.

 AAA (Triple-A) Games: The term "AAA Games" is a classification used within the video gaming industry to signify high-budget, high-profile games that are typically produced and distributed by large, well-known publishers. Some examples are: Grand Theft Auto V, Call of Duty Series, Halo Series, Battlefield Series, Forza Series and Assassin's Creed.

Ray-Tracing (RT): It is a method of graphics rendering that simulates the physical behavior of light. Ray tracing capable graphics cards are capable of making light behave in a realistic way, which makes video games more immersive.

 General Information Category

Monitor refresh rates - 60Hz, 165Hz, 240Hz: Refresh rate refers to the maximum number of times per second that the image displayed on the screen will be updated. Higher refresh rate monitor offers smoother visuals. When paired with the high frame rates produced by a GPU, this can result in a smoother experience and higher FPS displayed.

The monitor can only display an image at the rate the system produces it. For example, if your monitor has a refresh rate of 144Hz but the GPU is only supplying 60 frames per second, that higher refresh rate is not being utilized and your eyes will only see the visual smoothness at 60Hz. For high FPS gaming (80+ FPS), You need a monitor with a refresh rate of 120Hz and above, and a gaming PC capable of delivering high FPS.

120Hz refresh rate offers very noticeable difference when compared to a 60Hz monitor. However, human eyes will struggle to notice the difference between a 165Hz monitor and a 240Hz Monitor.

Optimal CPU and GPU Temperatures: As a general rule, temperature under full load should be under 85°C. Most CPU and GPU have safe operating working temperature of 99 °C.

Reasons why gaming PCs are better than gaming consoles: PC gaming is king. It’s a better experience gaming on a PC than console due to all the advantages that PC gaming offers. The sky is the limit when owning a gaming pc. From customizing your PC hardware and aesthetics, future upgradeability, customizing how you want your games to look, better visuals and performance, to cheaper games. Gaming consoles are often very limited in terms of customizing and how you want your game’s graphics to look and feel. Games’ graphics settings and FPS are often locked on consoles and cannot be customized.

Games constantly get more advanced every 3 years or so, demanding better hardware. With a gaming console you will often be locked to outdated hardware for 5 or 7 years until the next version of the console comes out. With a PC, it stays up to date for around 5 years and when the time comes, you can just swap out your graphics card or your CPU to suit your needs. A top-tier gaming PC will always be more powerful than any games console, and that’s just a fact.

1080P, 1440P and 4K Monitors & Graphics settings: The resolution of a monitor is simply how many pixels there are and at what ratio. More pixels equal to better visual quality. When referring to “1080P”, “1440P “or “4K” gaming, it means that the graphics card is capable of rendering that resolution. For example, if you own a 1440P monitor, having a graphics card capable of running games at 1440P resolution, will produce sharp and crisp visual graphics. Playing games on 1080P settings on a 1440P monitor would still look visually stunning but not as sharp as 1440P settings