The rig refers to the computer and hardware you have to game on.

There are many components that go into building a computer rig for gaming. These machines basically boil down to three categories. Explaining them can be simplified to the level of which the gamer is at.

The beginner or budget machine is for people starting out. It's important to choose carefully, before moving directly to an expert machine, where the costs can set you back thousands of dollars.

The beginner machine can be a used computer that is a little older with some intermediate specs. However we are looking at a budget of around $400 or less to be in the beginner category.

Some of the decisions may be based on the type of game you would like to engage in. The minimum specs for a game are listed for the game on the games website. The computer will want to have at least the minimum specs.

An intermediate computer is going to be listed around $1500. These computers tend to give you a wide variety of game choice. They can generally be used for other functions outside of only gaming.

The multi use of one of these computers allows makes them the most attractive to purchase. Many young gamers will not pass the intermediate level and may not need to move up the chain, but they will need to make sure the box and motherboard is upgradeable.

We will talk about upgrades in another chapter.

The expert computers will generally run above $1500. These tend to have most of the top of the line specs technology has to offer. These computers have their own categories of lower, medium and higher. The components I recommend at the minimal level in the expert class of computer:

3.0ghz hd

16g ram

1 terabyte ssd hd

Higher level NVIDA or AMD graphics card

optimal cooling for the gamer rig