{"id":20696,"date":"2017-05-26T21:28:21","date_gmt":"2017-05-27T04:28:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wellconnectedmom.com\/blog\/?p=20696"},"modified":"2017-05-30T10:40:59","modified_gmt":"2017-05-30T17:40:59","slug":"a-gaming-pc-for-your-family","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wellconnectedmom.com\/blog\/a-gaming-pc-for-your-family\/","title":{"rendered":"A Gaming PC for Your Family"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"famin\"<\/p>\n

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Do you or several of your family members enjoy gaming?  Did you know that women aged 18+ are nearly twice as likely to be gamers than boys under the age of 18?  Surprising, isn’t?  In fact, the average frequent age of woman gamers is 43 years old.<\/p>\n

So just how are people playing games?  According to a study conducted by ESA<\/a>, of the 1.8 billion gamers in the world, 1.2 billion are playing on a PC, that’s 62% on a PC.  Facebook games for women, is a large contributor to online PC games.  <\/p>\n

\"Gaming<\/p>\n

As you can see from this chart, 62% of the ESA Study respondents use the PC and 66% use a smartphone or wireless device.  <\/p>\n

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\"time<\/p>\n

Gaming isn’t the only game in town.  Digital video is growing at a rapid pace.  You can see how digital video (through the Internet) is taking a bigger chunk out of TV hours watched.<\/p>\n

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\"devices<\/p>\n

Digital video is consumed first and foremost on the PC, other devices are growing as well.  <\/p>\n

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So whether you use your PC for gaming or for watching videos and movies…or both, selecting the right PC is important to ensure your video games and videos are not choppy.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Why A Gaming PC?<\/span><\/h2>\n

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\"Lenovo<\/p>\n

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What do you look for when you buy a PC?  Is it the best price?  Highest performance?  Style and looks?  Long-term use?  It really depends on what you need the PC for.  <\/p>\n

Each member of my family has a PC.  I use mine daily for work, storing all of our home videos and photos, some gaming, and streaming.<\/p>\n

My husband uses his mostly for email, social media, YouTubing, and the Internet.  Both of our kids use their PC’s for homework, gaming, email, surfing the Internet, doing their homework, streaming videos and movies, and face-to-face communication with friends (OK, just my daughter does this).<\/p>\n

When I buy a PC for myself, I tend to look for a gaming PC because they have…<\/strong><\/p>\n

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  1. Faster processors<\/strong> – great for videos and gaming<\/li>\n
  2. More RAM<\/strong> – so I can have multiple programs and tabs open at once<\/li>\n
  3. Larger hard drives<\/strong> – to store games locally as well as the millions of pictures and videos I have<\/li>\n
  4. Better cooling fans<\/strong> – important since I keep my PC’s below my desk and turned on 24\/7<\/li>\n
  5. The ability to better handle newer technologies<\/strong> like 4K streaming, 3D rendering, and Virtual Reality<\/li>\n
  6. Better ease to upgrade<\/strong> with many open slots to accommodate future needs<\/li>\n
  7. A future – they will last a long time before I need to upgrade again<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n

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    The Lenovo IdeaCentre Y900 PC<\/span><\/h2>\n

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    The Lenovo IdeaCentre Y900 PC<\/a> is considered a gaming PC because of its high-powered processor and NVIDIA delivered graphics.  It has a Solid State 256 GB drive for faster loading and smooth transitions. <\/p>\n

    \"Lenovo<\/p>\n

    Beautiful, isn’t?  There’s a window on the side of the computer so you can see the GeForce insignia on the graphics card, all lit up.<\/em><\/p>\n

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    Not only can it produce amazing graphics, but the NVIDIA GeForce graphics card is the ultimate card in rendering heavy utilization resources technologies such as…<\/p>\n

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    1.  Virtual Reality<\/strong> – which takes up 7 times the graphics processing power of 3 D apps and games<\/li>\n
    2.   3D renderings<\/strong><\/li>\n
    3.   Playing video games,<\/strong> located on the hard drive<\/li>\n
    4.   Streaming online games<\/strong><\/li>\n
    5.   Streaming movies<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

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      \"Lenovo<\/p>\n

      But there’s more to the Y900 than what’s inside.  The outside of the computer is great too.  From the cool Power button to the handy USB, headphone port, and SD card port…on top of the computer, helpful if you keep your computer on the floor.<\/p>\n

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      \"Lenovo<\/p>\n

      And look at all the ports in the back – 6 more USB ports, 2 HDMI ports, a DVI port, VGA port, etc.  It’s very easy to take off the outside panel to install additional components. <\/em><\/p>\n

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      This PC is a powerhouse.  Our family has been using the IdeaCentre Y900 for the past couple of months; it’s so fast and efficient, it’s been tough fighting off the kids who want to make this family PC their own personal computer.<\/p>\n

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      Steam Gaming<\/span><\/h3>\n

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      \"STEAM<\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

      You may have heard of Steam<\/a> before,  It’s a website and platform for digital distribution of multiplayer games, video streaming, and software.  Steam also provides community features such as groups, friends lists, in-game chat and voice, and friends lists.<\/p>\n

      Steam content was originally created for Microsoft Windows operating systems, but now OS X and Linux games are available, as well as for iOS, Android, and Windows Phone devices.<\/p>\n

      Started in 2004 with 7 games, Steam now has over 11,800 games.  Screen Digest estimates that the Steam platform commands 75% of the digital distribution of PC gaming in 2013 and represented 15% of the total global PC Game sales in 2015 (as projected by Steam Spy).<\/p>\n

      There are over 125 million registered accounts on Steam and I am one of them.  Most of the games on Steam are sold for a price, but there are still a number of free games to download and try.  <\/p>\n

      To use Steam, you download the Steam platform and then download the game you’re interested in.  Depending upon the type of game, you often need to download a particular software company’s platform as well, which supports all of their games.<\/p>\n

      Be aware that the bigger games take a LOT of space on your hard drive, so ensure you have space for it.  <\/p>\n

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      \"Lenovo<\/p>\n

      My son playing War and Thunder downloaded for free from Steam.<\/p>\n

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      My 11 year-old-son and I have had a blast playing the different games on Steam.  Some are free, some are demos, others that need to be purchased.  <\/p>\n

      We love console games (see our fave family games on Xbox One<\/a> and PlayStation<\/a>), but gaming on a PC is sometimes easier and allows us to be together in one room while one is gaming on the Y900 PC and another is working on the PC.<\/p>\n

      War and Thunder is an interesting game found on Steam.  You are either a tank or a plane and you seek out the enemy (also in tanks and planes) in villages.  <\/p>\n

      Every vehicle in this war is another online player.  Some are on your team and some are the enemy.  Each vehicle is named with the online player controlling it.  It’s a heavy graphics intensive game and we can maneuver the vehicles effortlessly, without delay.<\/p>\n

      When you first go onto Steam, it can be a bit overwhelming.  See this page for  New to Steam game suggestions<\/a>.  <\/p>\n

      Steam Fun Family Friendly Games Include:<\/strong><\/p>\n