As a specialist PC builder, something we hear quite often is “We don’t want a gaming PC”. When people hear things like “GTX”, “watercooling”, and “overclocked”, there’s a certain image that comes to mind. Maybe you picture an edgy, plastic case filled with gaudy lighting.
There is some truth to that image – a lot of gamers really do like that aesthetic – but that doesn’t mean that these kinds of components have no place in a respectable workhorse or office PC.
High Performance Parts
Gaming hardware
Why are these parts used in gaming PCs in the first place? Game design has come a long way in the past 20 years or so. These days, games actually push PC hardware to its limits. Today’s players expect higher graphical detail, at higher framerates and higher resolutions every year.
There’s a lot of overlap between modern games and professional programs when it comes to their requirements. Both can leverage multiple CPU cores, high CPU frequencies, an abundance of RAM, and a powerful graphics card. Many games actually include a benchmark feature to test the performance of your parts, with the effective “score” being the framerate at which it’s able to output at a given resolution.
Workstation hardware
You may be wondering about the debate between Quadro cards and GeForce cards, but this is become a lot less relevant every year. There are currently very few programs that leverage the benefits of a Nvidia Quadro GPU, so unless you’re using something like SolidWorks or PTC Creo, your PC would run just as smoothly – if not even more so – on a regular Nvidia GeForce GTX or RTX graphics card.
To sum things up here, since gaming PCs are usually equipped with high performance graphics cards and CPUs, as well as a relatively high amount of RAM, a gaming PC would be a great place to start for a lot of professional work.
Aesthetics
With the similarities in performance between gaming PCs and workstations, it seems like the biggest difference would the aesthetics. It’s true that gaming PCs often have crazy cases and lighting, but not always. While this look is still popular among gamers, the trend in recent years has been towards more minimal setups. Sleek, monochrome cases with tempered glass side panels. If they do have lighting, turning it off will leave you with a system that wouldn’t be out of place on an architect’s desk.
Even the individual components like motherboards and graphics cards have been moving towards less ostentatious designs. With a dark tempered glass window, you can get a taste of the internals without it being too in-your-face. This is the kind of aesthetic we lean towards, and we generally omit the lights completely.
Where We Differ
Optimisation
You may have noticed that we’ve been referring to gaming PCs as a great starting point for a workstation. The real difference between a gaming PC and a work computer is the expectations and tolerances of the user.
There definitely is value in gaming-oriented components. However, that doesn’t mean you should rush out and grab the first prebuilt gaming PC you see at the mall. With our experience on both the professional and gaming end of things, Modena Computers is here to bridge that gap.
If you only use your PC for gaming, you’re not going to care too much about the stability of your system. Crashes wouldn’t be a big deal to you either, but you’re not one of those people. Any kind of downtime actually costs you money. It could even potentially affect your relationship with clients and other business partners. Longevity and reliability are extremely important considerations.
Stability
The parts of the PC that do all the thinking could come directly from a gaming PC. Where a Modena Computers workstation differs, though, is in the finer details. For example, the power delivery, cooling and airflow. We’ve spent a lot of time on research and development. As a result, our systems are machines that we’re confident will still be well suited to their purpose several years from now. Cooler temperatures and cleaner power will reduce the strain on your CPU and GPU. These factors will also greatly extend the lifespan of your computer.
We thoroughly stress test each component of your machine before shipping. This ensures that you won’t bump into any nasty surprises at the least opportune moment.
Personalisation
Apart from everything above, we also take into consideration your personal workflow. We optimize the parts of the PC that will be used the most, while we stick to our standards for everything else. This leaves you with a high-power PC, without wasting money on parts you aren’t going to make full use of.
If this sounds like something that could improve your workflow (it will), we’ll be happy to give you a free consultation to help you figure out exactly the kind of computer that would fit your needs
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