According to the Overclockers UK Dictionary of Everything, a playcation is the act of taking time off work to explicitly play video games.
As it’s officially the summer holidays, we figured it was high time we got our gaming set-ups playcation ready. Simply follow our checklist, and you’ll be set to have the best gaming holiday.
The Perfect Playcation
There are three very important things to remember when it comes to the perfect playcation.
- Keeping cool,
- Being properly equipped,
- And that holiday atmosphere.
Your playcation should be all about immersive gaming, exploring beautiful locations and living your best adventure life. Following this checklist will help boost those holiday vibes.
Keeping Cool
In the summer months, we do everything to keep ourselves cool – chilled cans of Monster, open windows, freezer stocked with ice cream. (Well, when it’s not raining that is!) It’s just as important to keep your gaming PC cool. All year round, too. Your gaming hardware will output heat, whatever the weather!
You can choose between air and water-cooling solutions – depending on your thermal output and budget. It should also be noted that custom water-cooling does require skill and maintenance, so that’ll be one to work up to if you’re new to PC gaming.
Airflow for Days
Making sure your gaming PC fans are up to scratch is an easy win. Especially when they can bring sleek aesthetics and RGB lighting to the game. The key things to look out for are that they are the right size for your case and deliver a suitable amount of airflow. You don’t want to be trying to mount 140mm fans onto brackets only designed for 120mm models! Fans with PWM control are also a nifty little upgrade, as they allow you to control the fan speed (RPM) according to workload.
You can explore our full collection of fans, but we’ve picked out a couple of our faves here to get you started.
Kolink Umbra X 120mm ARGB High Performance PWM Fan Triple Pack
- Triple 120mm fan pack
- Vibrant ARGB lighting
- PWM control
- Hydraulic bearing
- 28mm thick
Lian Li Uni P28 Performance 120mm Triple Fan Pack
- Triple 120mm fan pack
- Interlocking daisy chain design
- PWM control
- LCP fan blades
- 28mm thick
All-in-One Solution
There is an easy way to integrate water-cooling into your gaming PC, without having to learn how to build custom loops. With an all-in-one cooler, or AIO, you can add highly efficient cooling for your processor. They work best in tandem with PC case fans, as they are generally targeted at cooling your CPU alone. But with RGB fans and LCD screens on select models, you can certainly add a splash of colour to your thermal solution! With AIO coolers, you need to make sure they are compatible with your chosen CPU, ensuring they fit the right socket, and that they can handle your CPU’s TDP. If it can’t draw enough heat away, you’re going to run into problems.
We have an extensive range of AIO coolers, suited for Intel and AMD CPUs, alike. Here are a couple of our faves, but you can check out the rest with a click of a button.
HYTE THICC Q60 240mm LCD All In One CPU Liquid Cooler
- AIO CPU cooler
- 240mm radiator with two fans
- 5″ LCD display
- Fibreglass-reinforced LCP fan blades
- Customise with HYTE Nexus
Phanteks Glacier One 360D30 360mm AIO Cooler
- AIO CPU cooler
- 360mm radiator with three fans
- Vibrant DRGB lighting
- Compatible with AMD and Intel CPUs
- Whisper quiet operation
Custom Cooling
Of course, if you are building a gaming PC that is equal parts computer and art, then Overclockers UK should be your one-stop-shop for all things water-cooling. We have everything you need from fittings to coolant, water blocks to tubing, and all the necessary tools.
Proper Equipment
To optimise your playcation experience, you’re going to need a gaming PC, gaming chair, and peripherals. Now, should your gaming PC already be sporting the latest and greatest in gaming hardware, you may still need an upgrade or two.
Summer Ready with Refract
It might be that your gaming PC is on its last legs, and it desperately needs a replacement. This is where the Refract Gaming range comes in! This pre-built collection of PCs has been engineered to meet different playstyles, resolution requirements, and skill sets. We’re confident your spec requirements lie among them!
You can read up more on each of the Refract Gaming PCs in our dedicated blog, or head straight to the Overclockers UK website!
Spot Upgrade: Storage
We all know how tempting the Steam Summer Sale is. You might have your dream PC spec already, but do you have enough storage? Better safe than sorry, you can equip your gaming PC with additional SSDs, sporting ultra-fast read and write speeds with the high capacities you need. Say goodbye to waning library space and slow loading times!
Explore our full range to find the SSD for you. Maybe we’ve already found it for you!
Seagate FireCuda 530 1TB SSD
- NVMe M.2 1TB SSD
- PCIe Gen 4.0 connectivity
- 7300 MB/S read speeds
- 6000 MB/s write speeds
- Three-year data recovery
Lexar Professional NM800 1TB SSD
- NVMe M.2 1TB SSD
- PCIe Gen 4.0 connectivity
- 7400 MB/S read speeds
- 5800 MB/s write speeds
- Five-year warranty
Your playcation is incomplete without high-quality storage. Catch up on your knowledge of HDDs and SSDs in our dedicated storage guide.
Comfort is King
On your playcation, you want to relax. Making sure you have a proper gaming chair will keep you well supported and comfortable. Plus, they are crafted with materials that will keep you cool, even with extended use – so, cheeky bonus there! Every facet of a gaming chair has been engineered to provide outstanding ergonomics, and they are super stylish, too. Available in a beautiful range of colours, material types, and even special editions, there is a gaming chair to meet your vibes.
Our full collection is packed with gaming chairs from noblechairs, ThunderX3, Nitro Concepts, and more. You can explore the whole range, or just sit with us getting heart eyes over these top picks.
ThunderX3 EAZE Loft Gaming Chair
- Light grey fabric gaming chair
- SYNC4 mechanism
- Adjustable lumbar support
- Includes headrest pillow
- Features pocket on backrest
noblechairs HERO Gaming Chair Elden Ring Edition
- Officially licenced Elden Ring gaming chair
- HERO model with adjustable lumbar
- Luxurious gold embroidery
- Superior ergonomics
- DIN EN1335 office certified
Upgrade Your Inventory
Peripherals are a must – you cannot play without them! Plus, getting the right mouse and keyboard is going to step up your game. Crafted for precision and speed, you can enjoy responsive performance and satisfying feedback with every click or keystroke. Better yet, select gaming mice come with dedicated features for specific genres, so you can dominate the competition! There is an astounding amount variety when it comes to gaming mice and keyboards, from varying sizes or weights to your choice of connectivity.
Our collection of gaming mice and keyboards features a beautiful array of colour schemes, different switch types, and so much more – it was hard to narrow it down to a couple of top picks! So be sure to check out the full ranges.
Ducky One 3 Matcha Full-Size Mechanical Keyboard
- Full-size mechanical keyboard
- Cherry MX Speed Silver switches
- Quack Mechanics
- UK ISO layout
- Beautiful matcha theme
Endgame Gear OP1 Gaming Mouse – Dark Frost
- Wired gaming mouse
- RGB lighting with translucent shell
- Kailh GX mechanical switches
- STM ARM Cortex-M4 MCU
- Up to 26,000 CPI
That Playcation Atmosphere
Finally, to achieve peak playcation, we need to think about that holiday atmosphere. While you may want to transform your gaming set-up into a sandy beach, that’s not the vibe we’re going for here. (But hey, you do you if you’re ok with all that sand.) What we’re thinking here is keeping things chill to enhance your relaxation.
The best way to achieve this is with a desk fan and some ambient lighting. No sand required. The desk fan will keep you cool, preventing your gaming space from feeling airless when temperatures skyrocket. Lighting, on the other hand, can be used to set your space aglow to emulate your game’s setting. Exploring the deep jungles in Tomb Raider? Enjoy tropical greens. Exploring the deep blue sea in Dave the Diver? Illuminate your desk with an ocean of blues! Mood lighting, we love it.
Kolink Aero Dark Blue USB Desktop Fan
- USB desk fan
- Stylish navy blue
- Compact and portable
- USB Type A
- Three fan speeds
Corsair LT100 Smart Lighting Tower Starter Kit
- Smart lighting kit
- Includes two lighting towers and a headset stand adapter
- 46 customisable LEDs per tower
- Control via iCUE
- 11 pre-set effects out of the box
Garden Gaming
Now, if you’ve made it this far and have not really been inspired, I have one more option for you. One that even lets you go outdoors. If we get any sunshine, then why not take your gaming outside? With the proper sun protection, of course, and plenty of hydration. We have an incredible range of gaming laptops available right now, with some sub-£1000 and plenty featuring the RTX 40 Series GPUs.
Dominate the battlefield in CS2 on your patio, chilled cocktail in hand. Perhaps perfect your spells in Dungeons and Dragons: Dark Alliance whilst you sit in the dappled shade. Or maybe even slow the gaming down and enjoy the lazy, hazy days of summer with some farming and Stardew Valley.
Whatever gaming you take out into the garden, our range of gaming laptops is equipped with high-performance components and the power to play.
More Playcation Tips
So, you’ve got all the hardware you need – now where are you going on your playcation? We’ve got plenty of gaming inspo for you!
Playcation Ready
Follow these simple steps and achieve peak playcation. If you have some better ideas, comment them below. We’d love to hear about your playcation plans!
PC specs are subject to change.
- 9 min read
Emily Haylock
Author
Emily is a board and cosy gamer, keyboard obsessive, and content copywriter for Overclockers UK. She has been with Overclockers UK since 2020, writing about everything from noblechairs to 8Pack PCs. She writes from within her desk nest with a foster pup at her feet. (What, a desk duvet is a totally normal thing!) In her downtime, she likes to play board games, farming sims, and old-school Final Fantasy. IX to be specific. It is the best, and that is a hill she will die on.
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