The VAR Review Your Gaming PC Needs
Lennon Byatt
The FIFA World Cup 2026 is in full swing, and between screaming at the TV, arguing with mates about formations, and watching Germany dismantle Curacao 7-1, we reckon there's another lineup worth building. Your dream gaming PC.
Every great football team needs the right player in the right position. And every great gaming PC needs the right component doing the right job. So we've matched the two up, here's your Dream XI, AWD-IT style.
The VAR Review Your Gaming PC Needs
Every football fan knows the feeling.
The referee points to the earpiece, the game pauses, and VAR steps in to decide whether everything is performing as it should.
While the FIFA Club World Cup has plenty of dramatic VAR moments, there's another review worth carrying out, your gaming PC.
If your favourite games aren't running as smoothly as they used to, it could be time to take a closer look at your setup.
Is Your Gaming PC Showing Red Flags?
Technology moves quickly, and modern games demand more from your hardware than ever before. If you're experiencing any of these issues, your PC could be due for an upgrade:
- Lower frame rates than you used to get
- Long loading screens
- Stuttering during gameplay
- Fans running louder than normal
- Difficulty running games on High or Ultra settings
Just like a football team refreshes its squad every season, your PC occasionally needs new players too.
Just like a football team refreshes its squad every season
The Perfect England Matchday PC Schedule
Here's how to make the most of the best England kick-off time we've had all tournament:
| Time (BST) | What's Happening | PC Task |
|
2pm–4:45pm
|
Pre-match build-up
|
Game session — get a proper hour in
|
|
4:45pm
|
Teams announced
|
Close the game, open BBC iPlayer
|
|
5pm
|
Kick-off
|
Stream on second monitor, game on hold
|
|
~6:50pm
|
Second half
|
Back on the stream
|
|
~8pm
|
Full time (hopefully)
|
Celebrate / commiserate, fire the game back up
|
Which Components Make the Biggest Difference?
Graphics Card
The graphics card is your team's star striker. If it's struggling to keep up with today's games, upgrading to an NVIDIA GeForce RTX GPU can dramatically improve frame rates, ray tracing performance and visual quality.
An NVMe SSD can reduce loading times
Processor
Your CPU controls everything happening behind the scenes. A newer AMD Ryzen or Intel Core processor helps eliminate bottlenecks, improves multitasking and keeps gameplay responsive.
Memory
Modern titles benefit from 32GB of DDR5 memory, especially if you're streaming, chatting on Discord or running multiple applications while gaming.
Storage
Still gaming from a traditional hard drive?
An NVMe SSD can reduce loading times from minutes to seconds, making every gaming session feel faster.
Upgrade or Replace?
Sometimes replacing a single component is enough.
However, if several parts of your PC are beginning to show their age, investing in a complete gaming system can offer better long-term value, modern connectivity and a full manufacturer warranty.
Add squad depth: SSDs and RAM
Some upgrades are not flashy, but they make everything better.
A faster SSD can reduce load times and give you more space for games, clips, apps and updates. More Memory can help with multitasking, newer games and heavier workloads.
These are the squad players every good setup needs. They might not grab the headlines, but you notice when they are missing.
If your PC takes ages to boot, loads games slowly or struggles when you have several apps open, storage and RAM are good places to start.
Not everyone wants to spend hours comparing parts
Get the full squad: Gaming PC Bundles
A Gaming PC Bundle makes sense if you need more than the tower.
Maybe your monitor is ancient. Maybe your keyboard and mouse have seen better days. Maybe you are building your first proper gaming setup and want the essentials sorted together.
A bundle can help you get the full setup in one go, instead of slowly piecing it together over months.
It is the easiest way to go from “I need a PC” to “I’ve got a full setup.”
Best Sim Racing Setup for Beginners: Start With the Essentials
You don’t need a full cockpit immediately. A well‑chosen beginner setup helps you develop skills faster and keeps costs under control.
1. Steering Wheel and Pedals (Top Priority)
Your wheel and pedals are the most important part of any sim racing rig. Force feedback allows you to feel grip changes, kerbs, and steering resistance—crucial for learning car control.
Beginner tip: Focus on force feedback quality rather than raw power.
Your wheel and pedals are the most important part of any sim racing rig. Force feedback allows you to feel grip changes, kerbs, and steering resistance—crucial for learning car control.
Creators in attendance
Stacked lineup
Experience zones
Arcades · Sim rigs · PCs
Tech on display
Latest gen builds
Verdict
Showroom certified
Pick Your Tier
We've named each tier after a tournament stage, because let's be honest, that's exactly the kind of thing we'd do. Find your budget and dive in.
Group Stage
Round of 32
Quarter Final
World Cup Final
England's Path If They Get Through
Win against Congo DR and England's potential route to the Final looks like this:
• Round of 16 (8–9 July): Mexico or Ecuador — tough but winnable
• Quarter-Final (12–13 July): Potentially Brazil — the big one
• Semi-Final (15–16 July): Possibly Argentina — we're in Messi territory now
• Final (19 July): MetLife Stadium, New Jersey — it might be coming home
The bracket is genuinely open. England are well-placed, and Tuchel's side are unbeaten in ten competitive fixtures. Don't get your hopes up. Also: get your hopes up.
The bracket is genuinely open
GTA 6 GPU Comparison Table (RTX 50 Series)
|
GPU Model
|
Performance Tier
|
Best Resolution
|
VRAM (Expected)
|
GTA 6 Settings
|
Ideal User Type
|
|
RTX 5060
|
Entry-Level
|
1080p
|
8–12GB
|
Medium–High
|
Budget gamers looking for smooth GTA 6 gameplay
|
|
RTX 5070
|
Mid-Range
|
1440p
|
12–16GB
|
High–Ultra
|
Best value for most UK gamers
|
|
RTX 5070 Ti
|
Upper Mid-Range
|
1440p / 4K
|
16GB
|
Ultra
|
High FPS + future-proofing
|
|
RTX 5080
|
High-End
|
4K
|
16–20GB
|
Ultra + Ray Tracing
|
Enthusiasts & high-performance gaming builds
|
|
RTX 5090
|
Ultra Enthusiast
|
4K+ / 8K
|
24GB+
|
Max Settings + Full Ray Tracing
|
No-compromise, ultimate GTA 6 experience
|
The point is don't buy a £150 mouse expecting it to fix your aim. Buy it because the weight, shape, and quality will make long gaming sessions more comfortable.
AWD-IT stocks gaming mice from Razer, Corsair, and ASUS at a range of price points. If you're unsure where to start, a mid-range wireless mouse from any of these brands will give you everything you need for competitive gaming.
Signs your PC has genuinely run its race
When It IS Time for a Full Rebuild
Even Messi will retire eventually. And there are signs your PC has genuinely run its race:
• CPU is pre-2018 and DDR3 (no DDR5 upgrade path available)
• Motherboard doesn't support PCIe 4.0 — you're bottlenecking modern GPUs
• Power supply is under 500W — can't safely run anything modern
• Multiple components failing, temperatures consistently hitting 90°C+
If you're ticking more than two of those boxes, a fresh AWD-IT pre-built is often better value than stacking upgrades onto a dead-end platform. You get a warranty, a coherent spec, and you know everything works together from day one.
The World Cup Final is at midnight BST on 19th July. That's six weeks to get your late-night setup sorted.
Don't watch it on a tinny laptop with the brightness on full. Do it properly.
Let AWD-IT Build Your Winning Team
At AWD-IT, we offer gaming PCs designed for every budget, from entry-level systems through to high-performance RTX-powered machines capable of tackling the latest AAA games.
With the FIFA Club World Cup showcasing world-class performances, now could be the perfect time to make sure your gaming PC is performing at the top of its game too.
