gaming
By admin IT Support • • 0 Comments

Ready, Set, Game: Setting up your PC for gaming

Setting up for gaming on a PC is one of those ‘how long is a piece of string’ exercises – you could cobble together what you need from what you have, or you could head towards the stratosphere and join international gamer/YouTube phenomenons who allegedly spend upwards of $100,000…

We kind of hope you sit somewhere closer to the former option (because let’s face it, that kind of spend is a bit crazy), but we also acknowledge that the PC remains the best platform for gaming, so let’s explore what you might need:

Ergonomics

Whatever your budget, the ultimate gaming setup still needs to address the issues that concern any PC user – namely an ergonomic workstation setup. Indeed, when you consider how easy it is to get involved in a game and for hours to pass in the blink of an eye, having the right setup for your body’s health is even more important.

Start your setup with a desk that you can comfortably fit your legs under and onto which you’ll be able to rest your forearms easily (with your elbows at a 90-degree angle and your wrists in a straight-line position). Next, and possibly most importantly, is your chair: if you’re going to be spending a lot of time gaming, an investment in a gaming chair is also an investment in your posture and spinal health. A great gaming chair has a high-back design to cradle your whole body, height-adjustable armrests, and height-adjustable head and lumbar cushions. Other game-chair features may include memory-foam construction, deep-recline functionality, and breathable materials.

Hardware for gaming

Unlike consoles, games released for PCs (and we’re talking hundreds of thousands of titles) have different tech requirements, with some far more demanding than others. If you’re investing in a new setup, it’s a great idea to do a little research first – considering your processor, graphics card, RAM, and storage requirements against the types of games you’re planning to play.

The processor is the heart of your setup, determining performance, while the GPU (graphics processing unit) creates the beautiful face to your games, with high-end graphics cards allowing high frame rates, thus making higher resolutions playable without any lag. There are plenty of pre-built PC options available that will allow a great gaming experience, or you can pick and choose your individual requirements and go for a custom-built gaming PC.

Beyond the box, the next most important piece of gaming hardware is your monitor (or, in many cases, monitors). After all, how better to appreciate the detailed graphics of your favourite games than on a high-resolution monitor? As well as resolution (and the actual screen size), other things to consider when purchasing a gaming monitor include refresh rate, response time, colour accuracy, and available ports (and cost!).

Accessories for gaming

Okay, so this is where you can really start to have a little fun with your PC gaming setup. Accessories to consider include:

  • a gaming headset (look for comfort, durability, true stereo sound or simulated surround sound, and a microphone for team-based games; options include wired or wireless)
  • a gaming keyboard (comfort, responsiveness, and reliability should come first here, but decisions will need to be made regarding switch types, full-sized or tenkeyless (TKL), backlit or no, and wired or wireless)
  • a gaming mouse (with options including wired or wireless, various hand grips, RGB lighting, programmable buttons, and even weights you can add or remove to improve your gaming accuracy)

You can also go above and beyond with additional speakers (for true surround sound), a webcam (if you plan to stream your gameplay), customisable lighting to attach beneath your desk or behind or above your monitor, a cable management tray or box, and blue light reduction glasses (to reduce eyestrain and to avoid messing with your sleep patterns too much).

Contact the Geelong PC gaming specialists

From a pre-built PC on a budget to a high-end, liquid-cooled custom-build, the team at Geelong Technology Group can help with all of your PC gaming needs. After all, we have staff members who enjoy their gaming as much as you do (if not more!) and we have the experience and knowledge to put together the perfect setup for the games you want to play.

Call us today for the best gaming system setups in Geelong and surrounding areas, including Ocean Grove, Barwon Heads, Torquay, the Bellarine Peninsula, the Surf Coast, Golden Plains, Colac, and Warrnambool. 

☎ 1300 GET GTG (1300 438 484)

📍 166 Francis St, Belmont

password manager
By admin IT Support • 0 Comments

Should I use a password manager? Simple answer: Yes

According to a 2021 article in The Guardian, ‘the tyranny of passwords’ may be coming to an end – well, at least some time in the next ‘two to five years. Biometrics (including not only fingerprint IDs and face recognition, but more sci-fi stuff such as tech that recognises the shape of your ears, how you hold your phone and move, and even breath detectors) will eventually save our overburdened brains from remembering if we used mYpa$$w0rD or MyP@ssWORd (please don’t use either of these!). In the meantime, however, how best to navigate the password conundrum of easy to remember/easy to crack versus impossible to remember? The answer is a password manager. Indeed, a good password manager can be your first and best defense against being hacked (as long as you are also avoiding phishing/smishing scams).

What IS a password manager?

When it comes to the safety of your accounts online, you should use a strong and UNIQUE password for each app or website you use. (Reusing the same or similar passwords across websites is a serious NO-NO, security-wise.) Apparently, on average, that’s around 190 passwords per person. Possible? Possibly… Likely? Not at all. This is where a password manager comes in. A password manager is a software application that acts like a digital vault, securely storing your login credentials, which are then encrypted with one master password. Once you’ve set up a password manager account, you only need to remember the one (strong and unique) master password. A good password manager will also generate strong passwords on your behalf, and provide auto-fill services, saving you from entering details such as postal addresses or credit card numbers each time you require them.

Password managers can be desk-top based (that is, storing your passwords locally on a device, such as your laptop), or cloud-based, whereby your encrypted passwords are stored on the service provider’s network (and can thus be accessed from any device, as long as you have an internet connection). Depending on the password manager chosen, your master password can generally also be further strengthened by enabling multi-factor authentication (MFA) and/or biometric authentication on your account.

Choosing a password manager

There are plenty of password managers out there – some free, some available via annual subscriptions. Options (in no particular order) include KeePass, Bitwarden, LastPass, 1Password, Dashlane, Zoho Vault, Keeper, and RoboForm, among scores of others. Differences can lie in whether they offer MFA or biometric authentication, whether they allow you to share passwords with trusted family and friends, and even whether they feature data breach scanners – scouring the dark web to check if any of your logins appear online.

To choose a password manager, ensure the manager uses industry-standard AES 256-bit (military-strength) encryption, as well as ‘zero-knowledge architecture’ (whereby your passwords are encrypted prior to leaving your device). Check as well that your chosen manager works across all of your devices (syncing between your computers and phones, if required). You can also take advantage of free and/or trial options in order to try a couple of different password managers to find the one that’s right for you.

Remember: once you’ve chosen a password manager, you need to protect your account with a master password (or a ‘passphrase’), which needs to be super strong and memorable. Once your account is activated, it is best practice to further protect it with MFA. Extra security can be applied by allowing access to the password manager only from registered, trusted devices.

Need more information? Contact Geelong’s IT security specialists

Alongside your chosen password manager, you should also ensure your antivirus software is up to date, check your overall cybersecurity, and always double-check the legitimacy of any apps or extensions you’re planning to install.

With decades of IT experience helping homes and businesses in Geelong, the Bellarine Peninsula, the Surf Coast, and surrounding regions, the Geelong Technology Group team are well versed in IT security and protection – if you have any questions about password managers or any cybersecurity concerns, don’t hesitate to get in touch:

☎ 1300 GET GTG (1300 438 484)

📧 support@geelongtechnology.com.au

📍 166 Francis St, Belmont