Gaming PC Buyers Guide
How to choose a gaming PC
Unlike consoles which are available in just a handful of different models, PCs are available in a huge variety of configurations. This is a strength, in that you have a lot of choice over things such as performance, appearance and budget, but having so many choices can seem overwhelming. This guide highlights the main things you need to consider, broken down into three main topics, by the end of which you’ll know how to pick the perfect gaming PC.
Our Credentials
There are dozens of brands of gaming PC advertised on the Internet, so how do you know which brand to choose? It’s a crucial decision to get right, to make sure you receive a professionally assembled system, built from high quality branded components, it’s competitively priced, and most importantly of all is provided with excellent customer service in case anything does go wrong.
Scan’s own in-house brand, 3XS Systems, has been designing and building PCs for more than 20 years, so we have a huge wealth of experience and deep understanding of how to build amazing gaming PCs.
Great reasons to buy a Gaming PC from Scan
3 years warranty
3XS Gaming PCs include a three-year warranty, so if anything goes faulty we’ll repair or replace it.
FIND OUT MORE30 Day return Policy
If you’re not totally satisfied with your 3XS Gaming PC you can return it up to 30 days after delivery.
FIND OUT MOREQuality from the Ground Up
We believe quality components build a quality gaming PC. We’re proud to partner with the world’s leading brands, and on every product page you can see the make and model of every component that goes into our gaming PCs.
User Experience
To save you scouring through thousands of possible combinations of components, we’ve created five distinct ranges of gaming PC, 3XS Fluid, 3XS Vengeance, 3XS Gamer, Scan Performance and Scan Gamer, each designed to appeal at different price points.
3XS FLUID | 3XS VENGEANCE | 3XS GAMER | SCAN PERFORMANCE | SCAN GAMER | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
EXPERIENCE | ULTIMATE | PREMIUM | DELUXE | BETTER | GOOD |
PRICE POINT | £££££ | ££££ | £££ | ££ | £ |
COOLING | WATER-COOLED | PREMIUM HYDRO-COOLER | HYDRO-COOLER | PREMIUM AIR COOLER | AIR-COOLED |
RGB LIGHTING | |||||
NOISE | VERY LOW | LOW | LOW | LOW | MEDIUM |
WARRANTY | 3 YEARS | 3 YEARS | 3 YEARS | 2 YEARS | 2 YEARS |
3XS Fluid PCs
3XS Fluid PCs are the ultimate gaming PCs, featuring state-of-the-art water-cooling for the CPU and graphics card, and premium components. Fluid Gaming PCs provide the ultimate user experience, with custom fan profiles and finely tuned overclocks for maximum performance.
Key Features
WATER-COOLING
The ultimate cooling system for a gaming PC.
PREMIUM COMPONENTS
Built from the finest components for a refined gaming experience.
OVERCLOCKED
The CPU and graphics card tuned for maximum performance.
RGB LIGHTING
AURA programmable RGB lighting illuminates your PC.
3 YEAR WARRANTY
If anything goes faulty we’ll repair or replace it.
3XS Vengeance PCs
3XS Vengeance PCs are premium gaming PCs, featuring best-in-class components that are overclocked for superior performance, and quiet hydrocooling for the CPU.
HYDRO-COOLING
Quiet and stylish cooling for your gaming PC.
PREMIUM COMPONENTS
Built from the finest components for a refined gaming experience.
OVERCLOCKED
The CPU and graphics card tuned for maximum performance.
RGB LIGHTING
AURA programmable RGB lighting illuminates your PC.
3 YEAR WARRANTY
If anything goes faulty we’ll repair or replace it.
- Scan Gamer RX, AMD Ryzen 5 5500, 16GB DDR4, 8GB AMD Radeon RX 7600, 1TB M.2 SSD, Win 11 LN137034 Customer ReviewRRP: £789.98£769.98FREE DELIVERY ON THIS ITEMETA 1-2 days
- Scan Gamer RX, AMD Ryzen 7 5700X, 16GB DDR4, 8GB AMD Radeon RX 7600, 1TB M.2 SSD, Win 11 LN137037 Customer ReviewRRP: £919.99£799.98FREE DELIVERY ON THIS ITEMETA 1-2 days
- Scan Gamer RX, Intel Core i5 12400F, 16GB DDR4, 8GB AMD Radeon RX 7600, 1TB M.2 SSD, Win 11 LN137035 No customer review£799.99FREE DELIVERY ON THIS ITEMETA 1-2 days
- Scan Gamer RX, Intel Core i5 14400F, 16GB DDR4, 8GB AMD Radeon RX 7600, 1TB M.2 SSD, Win 11 LN137036 Customer Review£829.99FREE DELIVERY ON THIS ITEMETA 1-2 days
- Scan Performance RX, AMD Ryzen 7 5700X, 16GB DDR4, 8GB AMD Radeon RX 7600, 1TB M.2 SSD, Win 11 LN137039 No customer reviewRRP: £999.98£889.98FREE DELIVERY ON THIS ITEMETA 1-2 days
- Scan Performance RX, Intel Core i5 14400F, 16GB DDR4, 8GB AMD Radeon RX 7600, 1TB M.2 SSD, Win 11 LN137038 No customer review£899.99FREE DELIVERY ON THIS ITEMETA 1-2 days
- Scan Performance RX, Intel Core i7 12700F, 16GB DDR4, 8GB AMD Radeon RX 7600, 1TB M.2 SSD, Win 11 LN137040 No customer review£1,029.98FREE DELIVERY ON THIS ITEMETA 1-2 days
- 3XS Gamer RX, Intel Core i5 14400F, 32GB DDR4, 8GB AMD Radeon RX 7600, 1TB M.2 SSD, Win 11 LN137042 No customer review£1,129.99FREE DELIVERY ON THIS ITEMETA 15-20 days
- 3XS Gamer RX, AMD Ryzen 5 7600X, 32GB DDR5, 8GB AMD Radeon RX 7600, 1TB M.2 SSD, Win 11 LN137041 No customer review£1,199.99FREE DELIVERY ON THIS ITEMETA 15-20 days
- 3XS Gamer RX, AMD Ryzen 7 7700X, 32GB DDR5, 8GB AMD Radeon RX 7600, 1TB M.2 SSD, Win 11 LN137045 No customer review£1,279.99FREE DELIVERY ON THIS ITEMETA 15-20 days
- 3XS Gamer RX, Intel Core i5 14600K, 32GB DDR4, 8GB AMD Radeon RX 7600, 1TB M.2 SSD, Win 11 LN137043 No customer review£1,279.99FREE DELIVERY ON THIS ITEMETA 15-20 days
- 3XS Gamer RX, Intel Core i7 14700F, 32GB DDR4, 8GB AMD Radeon RX 7600, 1TB M.2 SSD, Win 11 LN137044 No customer review£1,279.99FREE DELIVERY ON THIS ITEMETA 15-20 days
3XS Gamer PCs
3XS Gamer PCs are competitively priced gaming PCs, featuring high quality components such as a hydrocooler for the processor. 3XS Gamer PCs are available in two styles, the standard models which are built in aluminium cases with a side window and RGB lighting, and the iCUE models which are built in glass cases and have even more RGB lighting for a more distinctive look.
HYDRO-COOLING
Quiet and stylish cooling for your gaming PC.
PREMIUM COMPONENTS
Built from the finest components for a refined gaming experience.
RGB LIGHTING
AURA programmable RGB lighting illuminates your PC.
3 YEAR WARRANTY
If anything goes faulty we’ll repair or replace it.
- Scan Gamer RTX, AMD Ryzen 5 5500, 16GB DDR4, 8GB NVIDIA RTX 4060 Ti, 1TB M.2 SSD, Win 11 LN136913 Customer ReviewRRP: £899.99£849.98FREE DELIVERY ON THIS ITEMETA 1-2 days
- Scan Gamer RTX, Intel Core i5 12400F, 16GB DDR4, 8GB NVIDIA RTX 4060 Ti, 1TB M.2 SSD, Win 11 LN136883 Customer Review£919.99FREE DELIVERY ON THIS ITEMETA 1-2 days
- Scan Gamer RTX, AMD Ryzen 7 5700X, 16GB DDR4, 8GB NVIDIA RTX 4060 Ti, 1TB M.2 SSD, Win 11 LN136915 Customer ReviewRRP: £1,029.98£929.99FREE DELIVERY ON THIS ITEMETA 1-2 days
- Scan Performance RTX, AMD Ryzen 5 5500, 16GB DDR4, 8GB ASUS RTX 4060 Ti, 1TB M.2 SSD, Win 11 LN142339 Customer ReviewRRP: £999.98£949.98FREE DELIVERY ON THIS ITEMETA 1-2 days
- Scan Gamer RTX, Intel Core i5 14400F, 16GB DDR4, 8GB NVIDIA RTX 4060 Ti, 1TB M.2 SSD, Win 11 LN144059 Customer Review£949.99FREE DELIVERY ON THIS ITEMETA 1-2 days
- Scan Performance RTX, AMD Ryzen 7 5700X, 16GB DDR4, 8GB NVIDIA RTX 4060 Ti, 1TB M.2 SSD, Win 11 LN136916 Customer ReviewRRP: £1,099.99£979.98FREE DELIVERY ON THIS ITEMETA 1-2 days
- Scan Performance RTX, AMD Ryzen 7 5700X, 16GB DDR4, 8GB ASUS RTX 4060 Ti, 1TB M.2 SSD, Win 11 LN142366 No customer review£1,129.99FREE DELIVERY ON THIS ITEMETA 1-2 days
- Scan Performance RTX, Intel Core i7 12700F, 16GB DDR4, 8GB NVIDIA RTX 4060 Ti, 1TB M.2 SSD, Win 11 LN136917 Customer Review£1,129.99FREE DELIVERY ON THIS ITEMETA 1-2 days
- Scan Performance RTX, Intel Core i7 12700F, 16GB DDR4, 8GB ASUS RTX 4060 Ti, 1TB M.2 SSD, Win 11 LN142385 No customer review£1,149.98FREE DELIVERY ON THIS ITEMETA 1-2 days
- Scan Performance RTX, AMD Ryzen 5 9600X, 16GB DDR5, 8GB NVIDIA RTX 4060 Ti, 1TB M.2 SSD, Win 11 LN150412 No customer review£1,199.99FREE DELIVERY ON THIS ITEMETA 4-6 days
- Scan Performance RTX, AMD Ryzen 5 9600X, 16GB DDR5, 8GB NVIDIA RTX 4060 Ti, 1TB M.2 SSD, Win 11 LN150413 No customer review£1,199.99FREE DELIVERY ON THIS ITEMETA 4-6 days
- 3XS Gamer RTX, Intel Core i7 14700F, 16GB DDR4, 8GB NVIDIA RTX 4060 Ti, 2TB M.2 SSD, Win 11 LN144084 Customer Review£1,429.99FREE DELIVERY ON THIS ITEMETA 15-20 days
- 3XS Gamer RTX, Intel Core i7 14700F, 16GB DDR4, 8GB NVIDIA RTX 4060 Ti, 2TB M.2 SSD, Win 11 LN144089 Customer Review£1,479.98FREE DELIVERY ON THIS ITEMETA 15-20 days
Scan Performance PCs
Scan Performance PCs are a real crowd pleaser, providing a step up from our entry-level Scan Gamer PCs with even more RGB lighting and higher-grade components such as quieter coolers.
AIR-COOLING
Quiet and stylish cooling for your gaming PC.
PREMIUM COMPONENTS
Built from the finest components for a refined gaming experience.
RGB LIGHTING
AURA programmable RGB lighting illuminates your PC.
2 YEAR WARRANTY
If anything goes faulty we’ll repair or replace it.
- Scan Gamer RTX, AMD Ryzen 5 5500, 16GB DDR4, 12GB NVIDIA RTX 4070, 1TB M.2 SSD, Win 11 LN135735 Customer ReviewRRP: £1,049.99£999.98FREE DELIVERY ON THIS ITEMETA 1-2 days
- Scan Gamer RTX, Intel Core i5 12400F, 16GB DDR4, 12GB NVIDIA RTX 4070, 1TB M.2 SSD, Win 11 LN135736 Customer Review£1,049.99FREE DELIVERY ON THIS ITEMETA 1-2 days
- Scan Performance RTX, AMD Ryzen 5 5500, 16GB DDR4, 12GB ASUS RTX 4070, 1TB M.2 SSD, Win 11 LN142418 No customer reviewRRP: £1,129.99£1,079.99FREE DELIVERY ON THIS ITEMETA 1-2 days
- Scan Performance RTX, Intel Core i5 12400F, 16GB DDR4, 12GB NVIDIA RTX 4070, 1TB M.2 SSD, Win 11 LN135738 Customer Review£1,129.99FREE DELIVERY ON THIS ITEMETA 1-2 days
- Scan Gamer RTX, Intel Core i5 14400F, 16GB DDR4, 12GB NVIDIA RTX 4070, 1TB M.2 SSD, Win 11 LN144046 Customer Review£1,149.98FREE DELIVERY ON THIS ITEMETA 1-2 days
- Scan Performance RTX, AMD Ryzen 5 5500, 16GB DDR4, 12GB NVIDIA RTX 4070, 1TB M.2 SSD, Win 11 LN135737 Customer ReviewRRP: £1,179.98£1,149.98FREE DELIVERY ON THIS ITEMETA 1-2 days
- Scan Performance RTX, AMD Ryzen 7 5700X, 16GB DDR4, 12GB ASUS RTX 4070, 1TB M.2 SSD, Win 11 LN142423 Customer ReviewRRP: £1,249.99£1,149.98FREE DELIVERY ON THIS ITEMETA 1-2 days
- Scan Performance RTX, AMD Ryzen 7 5700X, 16GB DDR4, 12GB ASUS RTX 4070, 1TB M.2 SSD,Win 11 LN154075 No customer review£1,149.98FREE DELIVERY ON THIS ITEMETA 1-2 days
- Scan Performance RTX, AMD Ryzen 7 5700X, 16GB DDR4, 12GB NVIDIA RTX 4070, 1TB M.2 SSD, Win 11 LN148384 Customer ReviewRRP: £1,249.99£1,149.98FREE DELIVERY ON THIS ITEMETA 1-2 days
- Scan Performance RTX, Intel Core i5 14400F, 16GB DDR4, 12GB NVIDIA RTX 4070, 1TB M.2 SSD, Win 11 LN144047 Customer Review£1,149.98FREE DELIVERY ON THIS ITEMETA 1-2 days
- Scan Performance RTX, Intel Core i5 14400F, 16GB DDR4, 12GB NVIDIA RTX 4070, 1TB M.2 SSD, Win 11 LN144049 No customer review£1,219.99FREE DELIVERY ON THIS ITEMETA 1-2 days
- Scan Performance RTX, AMD Ryzen 5 9600X, 16GB DDR5, 12GB NVIDIA RTX 4070, 1TB M.2 SSD, Win 11 LN150393 No customer review£1,349.99FREE DELIVERY ON THIS ITEMETA 4-6 days
- Scan Performance RTX, AMD Ryzen 5 9600X, 16GB DDR5, 12GB NVIDIA RTX 4070, Win 11, 1TB M.2 SSD LN150396 No customer review£1,349.99FREE DELIVERY ON THIS ITEMETA 4-6 days
- Scan Performance RTX, Intel Core i7 14700F, 16GB DDR4, 12GB NVIDIA RTX 4070, 1TB M.2 SSD, Win 11 LN144055 Customer Review£1,349.99FREE DELIVERY ON THIS ITEMETA 1-2 days
- Scan Performance RTX, Intel Core i7 14700F, 16GB DDR4, 12GB NVIDIA RTX 4070, 1TB M.2 SSD, Win 11 LN144048 Customer Review£1,349.99FREE DELIVERY ON THIS ITEMETA 1-2 days
- 3XS Gamer RTX, AMD Ryzen 7 5700X, 32GB DDR4, 12GB NVIDIA RTX 4070, 2TB M.2 SSD, Win 11 LN148297 No customer reviewRRP: £1,549.99£1,429.98FREE DELIVERY ON THIS ITEMETA 15-20 days
- 3XS Gamer RTX, Intel Core i5 14400F, 32GB DDR4, 12GB NVIDIA RTX 4070, 2TB M.2 SSD, Win 11 LN144102 No customer review£1,429.99FREE DELIVERY ON THIS ITEMETA 15-20 days
- Scan Performance RTX, AMD Ryzen 7 9700X, 16GB DDR5, 12GB NVIDIA RTX 4070, 1TB M.2 SSD, Win 11 LN150401 Customer Review£1,449.98FREE DELIVERY ON THIS ITEMETA 4-6 days
- Scan Performance RTX, AMD Ryzen 7 9700X, 16GB DDR5, 12GB NVIDIA RTX 4070, Win 11, 1TB M.2 SSD LN150402 No customer review£1,449.98FREE DELIVERY ON THIS ITEMETA 4-6 days
- 3XS Gamer RTX, AMD Ryzen 5 9600X, 32GB DDR5, 12GB NVIDIA RTX 4070, 2TB M.2 SSD, Win 11 LN150405 No customer review£1,599.98FREE DELIVERY ON THIS ITEMETA 15-20 days
- 3XS Gamer RTX, AMD Ryzen 5 9600X, 32GB DDR5, 12GB NVIDIA RTX 4070, 2TB M.2 SSD, Win 11 LN150404 No customer review£1,599.98FREE DELIVERY ON THIS ITEMETA 15-20 days
- 3XS Gamer RTX, AMD Ryzen 7 7700X, 32GB DDR5, 12GB ASUS RTX 4070, 2TB M.2 SSD, Win 11 LN142447 No customer review£1,629.98FREE DELIVERY ON THIS ITEMETA 15-20 days
- 3XS Gamer RTX, Intel Core i7 14700F, 32GB DDR4, 12GB NVIDIA RTX 4070, 2TB M.2 SSD, Win 11 LN144107 No customer review£1,649.99FREE DELIVERY ON THIS ITEMETA 15-20 days
- 3XS Gamer RTX, AMD Ryzen 7 7700X, 32GB DDR5, 12GB NVIDIA RTX 4070, 2TB M.2 SSD, Win 11 LN135746 Customer Review£1,679.99FREE DELIVERY ON THIS ITEMETA 15-20 days
- 3XS Gamer RTX, AMD Ryzen 7 9700X, 32GB DDR5, 12GB NVIDIA RTX 4070, 2TB M.2 SSD, Win 11 LN150400 No customer review£1,679.99FREE DELIVERY ON THIS ITEMETA 15-20 days
- 3XS Gamer RTX, AMD Ryzen 7 9700X, 32GB DDR5, 12GB NVIDIA RTX 4070, Win 11, 2TB M.2 SSD LN150406 No customer review£1,699.98FREE DELIVERY ON THIS ITEMETA 15-20 days
- 3XS Gamer RTX, Intel Core i7 14700K, 32GB DDR4, 12GB ASUS RTX 4070, 2TB M.2 SSD, Win 11 LN142468 No customer review£1,699.99FREE DELIVERY ON THIS ITEMETA 15-20 days
Scan Gamer PCs
Scan Gamer PCs provide a cost-effective entry in the world of PC gaming. These gaming PCs are built using branded components and have a two year warranty.
AIR-COOLING
Quiet and stylish cooling for your gaming PC.
PREMIUM COMPONENTS
Built from the finest components for a refined gaming experience.
RGB LIGHTING
AURA programmable RGB lighting illuminates your PC.
2 YEAR WARRANTY
If anything goes faulty we’ll repair or replace it.
PC Performance
While every component in a PC has an important role to play, the GPU or graphics card is by far the most critical. This is because the graphics card does all the heavy lifting when it comes to gaming, with more powerful models delivering smoother frame rates for a better gaming experience. More capable graphics cards will also enable you to increase the quality settings and up the resolution for greater fidelity.
The graphics card is also the most expensive component, so it has the biggest effect on the cost of a gaming PC. The most popular graphics cards are NVIDIA GeForce, but we also offer AMD Radeon graphics cards in our gaming PCs. The two tables below show all the latest graphics cards, indicating their performance level and other capabilities such as ray tracing and VR. We also recommend optimum resolutions for each graphics card so you can match your PC with the right monitor. All you need to do is browse across to the graphics card that best meets your requirements and click the link to view the range of 3XS gaming PCs with that card.
NVIDIA GeForce RTX Graphics Cards
RTX
4090 |
RTX
4080 Super |
RTX
4080 |
RTX
4070 Ti Super |
RTX
4070 Ti |
RTX
4070 Super |
RTX
4070 |
RTX
4060 Ti |
RTX
4060 |
RTX
3050 |
|
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Gaming | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 1 |
Ray Tracing | Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
VR Ready | Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Optimum Resolution |
8K/4K
UW-QHD |
4K
UW-QHD |
4K
UW-QHD |
4K
UW-QHD |
4K
UW-QHD |
1440p | 1440p | 1080p | 1080p | 1080p |
VIEW PCs > | VIEW PCs > | VIEW PCs > | VIEW PCs > | VIEW PCs > | VIEW PCs > | VIEW PCs > | VIEW PCs > | VIEW PCs > | VIEW PCs > |
AMD Radeon RX Graphics Cards
RX 7900 XTX | RX 7900 XT | RX 7800 XT | RX 7700 XT | RX 7600 | Vega | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Gaming | 10 | 10 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 2 |
RAY TRACING | Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
VR READY | Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
OPTIMUM RESOLUTIONY | 4K / UW-QHD | 4K / UW-QHD | 1440p | 1440p | 1080p | 1080p |
VIEW PCs > | VIEW PCs > | VIEW PCs > | VIEW PCs > | VIEW PCs > | VIEW PCs > |
Custom Gaming PCs
If you can’t find the perfect PC from among our range of pre-built systems we also offer a custom build service where you pick the components and we’ll build your perfect PC.
Visit our
PC configurator
to find out more.