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Each month we sit down with the experts at Alpha Beta PC, a new UK-based gaming PC seller, to break down the latest esports hardware news.
We chat with technical consultant/guru Alex Theodossi to find out how to make your PC eco-friendly, what the new Ikea gaming range is all about, and an upcoming giveaway on Alpha Beta PC’s Instagram to grab some free PC games: Humankind and the Crysis Trilogy. Don’t forget to send in your tech questions on Twitter for our next Alpha Beta PC interview.
Going green with your gaming PC – how to make your PC eco-friendly
“Climate change is a huge issue and I know a lot of people will have their opinions on this, but it’s good to be mindful of your carbon footprint,” Alex says.
“There’s a heavy reliance on manufacturers to provide energy efficient products, but there are plenty of things as gamers you can do to reduce the carbon footprint, and some of it is quite fun too.
You can use solar panels to power things, I have mini solar panels powering Raspberry Pi systems! Even purchasing second-hand components can help because of the reduction in manufacturing. You can tweak your power settings to make sure you’re not keeping your PC on. Industries and large companies use a lot of power, for example server rooms are air conditioned and these things are huge.
LED lights in your gaming PC use a minimal amount of power and wattage in comparison to graphics cards and so on. So it’s possible to be eco-friendly. I’ve seen people run their entire houses off solar panels and Tesla batteries.
Power supplies and monitors will also have energy efficiency ratings and markers, so you can look out for them when buying new ones.
We’ve discussed having some kind of energy efficiency rating for our PCs at Alpha Beta PC as well.”
The Ikea gaming range
“It seems Ikea has some nerds that has pushed this forward!” Alex chuckles.
“Gaming chairs and desks and so on back in the day were terrible – desks were just basic office desks, nothing was tailored for gamers. And gamers are critical about their setups, I know I am, for example the height of my desk, where my mouse is located and so on.
I hope it does well and encourages other companies to produce furniture for gamers. Competition is good -it forces everybody to bring their game up and try to produce something better than the rest.”
“There’s a lack of big partner integration in the UK, I want to see Intel, AMD, Nvidia, Razer, SteelSeries and all these guys going a little bit further, going into schools and getting kids interested in esports and a potential gaming career.”
Alex Theodossi, Alpha Beta PC
‘I want to see more big hardware brands supporting schools and getting people into esports’
Alex comments: “It doesn’t matter if it’s physical sport or esports, there’s always going to be partnerships and sponsors.
It’s great for the competitors because they get hooked up with good equipment, especially when you have good companies like SteelSeries partnering with the Dota 2 International.
I’d actually like to see more brands going to schools at the grassroots level, like football brands do in local teams. There’s a lack of big partner integration in the UK, I want to see Intel, AMD, Nvidia, Razer, SteelSeries and all these guys going a little bit further.
Esports is a great potential career to have, and it’d be nice to see bigger brands doing these things, going to schools and getting kids interested in a potential gaming career. So I’d like to see more integration from brands in the UK in particular.”
Check out the full hardware report for October 2021 with Alpha Beta PC on YouTube here. Visit the Alpha Beta PC website, see the Edge Series PCs & use code ENUK08 to get £50 off any PC system worth £500.
And don’t forget to send your tech questions in – DM Esports News UK on Twitter and visit Esports News UK’s Hardware Corner for more hardware content.
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Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
