Ah, I've been using this PC for a long time. I know I'll be in a big panic if it stops working, but if there's no chance...
By the way, I upgraded my PC the other day. It was my French bulldog, Remy, who gave me a push. In fact, this dog (weight 17 kg) repeatedly rammed the desktop tower, and eventually something went wrong with the PC.
For better or worse, the graphics board was the only one damaged beyond repair. However, I had been thinking about improving the performance of my PC before the Lemmy incident, so I decided to take this opportunity to upgrade most of the components, including the motherboard and CPU. I haven't upgraded my PC in years and it's starting to show signs of aging, like constant fans, games and programs crashing, and I've been running diagnostics and messing around with settings for the past few months. But I kind of put off pulling the tower out from under my desk. Until Remy smacked me in the ass.
I don't recommend having your dog literally knock your graphics card off the console and finally thinking about upgrading. Components should be replaced before a violent and tragic death by Bulldog. Other components (or data) may be carried along. And if the components are intact, they can serve as test modules and emergency spares in other configurations, but when they do, they are, at best, scrap metal.
Let's talk off topic. You're upgrading your PC, right? There is no one-size-fits-all upgrade plan, but there are some general guidelines and diagnostics to help you decide when and what to upgrade. If you plan accordingly, you can keep your PC running like you built it yesterday.
Clarifying Problems
If you are reading this article, you probably feel that you may need to upgrade your PC. Maybe it's running a little slower, or crashing more often, or maybe you want to play Cyberpunk 2077 on the highest settings, but your graphics card turns out to be from 2010? Whatever the reason, you first need to figure out what the real problem is. Because old hardware or faulty components aren't always the cause of performance problems.
Components tend to last pretty long. So unless you've been physically shaken, slapped, or banged in the butt by Frebre, they'll wear out from years of use sooner than you feel the need to replace them. Probably not (this does not mean immortal, it just means that old age makes it unlikely to go to heaven).
Of course, there will come a day when a component will "feel" old even if it's working fine. But how long it starts to feel old depends on a few factors, including how big a leap forward technology has been since your last upgrade, and how great your initial impression of the component was when you bought it. will be Top-of-the-line components often used cutting-edge technology at the time (like USB-C, before it got all the attention), so they'll last a little longer than the budget bargains.
And there is another external factor. It's about what you want to do with that PC. Streaming gamers on Twitch are looking for upgrades that are very different from freelance writers. Even if the writer specializes in articles about upgrading PCs.
You can expect most components to typically last 4-5 years before you need to upgrade ASAP. Some upgrades are triggered not by what you need in your PC, but by what the latest games are looking for in your PC. For example, graphics cards have a short upgrade cycle of once every 2-3 years.
What's inside the PC?
First of all, as a preliminary step, we will prepare the motherboard, CPU, graphics card, RAM, HDD/SSD, cooling system, power supply unit, housing, and networking. Find out the make and model of each component, such as devices and drives. You can download and use a free comprehensive diagnostic tool like HWiNFO or CPU-Z, or you can open your PC and check it directly. Also, use PCPartPicker to track components in use to help find compatible upgrades.
So how do you figure out what's wrong with your PC and how to fix it?
If Speed Matters
There are many things that can slow down your PC. Undoubtedly it can also be caused by components. Maybe you don't have enough RAM, or maybe your hard disk is full. Incompatible components may be causing bottlenecks elsewhere. There are many other possible causes, so before you go out and buy 128GB of RAM because your PC is slow, clean out your hard drive, disable startup programs, run a malware/antivirus scan, just in case. Try running
If your PC is spotlessly clean, uncluttered, virus-free, search bar-free, and Google Chrome's mysterious 472 processes, you probably need a hardware upgrade.
Upgrade your RAM
Adding more RAM (random access memory) is an easy and affordable way to upgrade (and probably also solves the 472 Chrome processes problem), but this That's if you need it. This "if" is important! RAM is your PC's short-term memory, where the processes running on your PC are stored. But if you're not using all (or most) of your RAM, adding more won't do you any good. For example, if you only use about 6GB of RAM at a time, it doesn't matter if your PC has 8GB or 128GB of RAM.
Let's actually check the amount of RAM used. Right-click the taskbar and open Task Manager. Go to the "Performance" tab and click "Memory". Here you can see the RAM usage in real time. Keep this window open and perform various tasks to see if usage ever approaches 100%. If so, it's probably time to upgrade your RAM. To do that, you'll need your motherboard and current RAM specs. You can mix multiple RAMs as long as they are of the same type (DDR2, DDR3, DDR4), CAS latency, timings, and voltages... but if you can, you shouldn't.
The minimum required RAM for the average user today is 8GB. Gamers want at least 16GB. You might say 32GB, but for most people (even gamers) 32GB is too much. If you already have 32GB or more of RAM installed and you don't plan to use it for anything, then it's not the RAM that's causing your PC to slow down.
Add an SSD
Adding hard drive space—that is, SSDs (Solid State Drives)—is easy too. It's also a pretty versatile tool, especially for someone like me who needs more storage space all the time.
To find out how much space you have on your hard drive, first right-click on the Start button and select "File Explorer" to open it. If you right-click on your main disk drive and open Properties, you'll see summary information and a graph of free space on that disk. To avoid disk fragmentation, it's best to keep at least 15-20% free.
If Crashes Are a Problem
Just because your PC keeps crashing doesn't mean you need to upgrade immediately. However, it is often the same cause as a slow computer. First, clean up your disks and drives to remove junk from your startup menu and get rid of malware. You may also want to try updating your drivers (on my PC, probably 3 out of 4 crashes were caused by outdated Nvidia drivers) and running some cleanup software.
If your PC crashes and you can't figure out what's causing it, check the Reliability Monitor in the Control Panel (use the search function in the taskbar to find it easily). The Reliability Monitor shows your PC's stability over time and a history of critical events (red x's) and warnings (yellow!). Clicking on a date will give you details of the incidents that occurred on that day and hopefully also the cause of the crash. Reliability Monitor doesn't always give you a clear answer as to why your PC is crashing, but it can help you identify problem patterns and programs that may be causing it.
If temperature is a problem
If your PC keeps crashing and the fans keep spinning while you're watching Netflix, it's a sign your PC is getting too hot. is. Heat is deadly to your PC, so don't wait for the spark to fly. Download a tool that records and diagnoses temperature changes (for example, my favorite is CoreTemp) and see the exact temperature as it runs. When you run CoreTemp, an icon representing the temperature of the CPU core is displayed on the taskbar, so you can observe temperature changes while performing various tasks.
The ideal operating range and maximum gaming temperature will vary slightly from CPU to CPU, so find out the exact model of CPU you're using (CoreTemp's summary screen will give you this information). , find a safe range. Keep in mind that core temperatures generally have an upper limit, although it varies slightly by CPU type. The ideal temperature when the PC is not doing anything (idle state) is around 40 degrees Celsius. If the PC is used intensely for games, etc., the temperature will be 70-80°C. Occasionally higher than that is not a concern as long as it stays that way for a long time.
Clean Your PC
So, let's say you find that your PC is running too hot. Nine times out of ten, the culprit is dust. Dust clogs fans and heatsinks and clogs every vent in your enclosure. And in the end, it turns what was once a properly cooled system into a hot metal box that kills the CPU. Get a spray of compressed air (air duster), an anti-static brush, isopropyl alcohol, cotton swabs, and goggles to clean out any dust that may have accumulated on the enclosure. After cleaning, there is no doubt that you will be surprised at how much the temperature of your PC drops. CAUTION: Compressed air can damage rotating components (such as fans) and should be cleaned with a brush or cotton swab moistened with alcohol. Also, do not use a vacuum cleaner.
While taking your PC outside, why not replace the thermal paste between the CPU and heatsink? Thermal paste usually lasts for 2-3 years, so dry thermal paste is unlikely to be the cause of all thermal problems. But if you didn't build your own PC or use a CPU cooler that comes pre-applied with thermal paste, now's your chance to apply a good quality thermal paste. By the way, my favorite is the Arctic MX-4.
Upgrade Your Cooling System
No matter how diligent you are about cleaning, your cooling system is underperforming. Adding case fans is the easiest way to upgrade your cooling system. Case fans are inexpensive and can be installed anywhere you have space inside your enclosure (if not, consider upgrading your enclosure to make it bigger). The case fan will be connected to the motherboard, so you also need to check if your motherboard has enough connectors. Also, be sure to install the fan correctly. The goal is to get hot air out of the enclosure, but if the fans are sending air toward each other, there's nothing we can do about it.
If you want to beef up your system further (e.g. be able to overclock your CPU), you'll need to upgrade to liquid cooling. But make sure you check compatibility before doing this. Liquid cooling can require a larger (or different type) chassis and a more powerful power supply, but changing the chassis is like building a new computer from scratch. So.
If you can't run Cyberpunk 2077
This issue may or may not be resolved with a new graphics card. However, if you want to play the latest trendy ray tracing games with attractive graphics, not limited to "Cyberpunk 2007", you need a graphics card that supports it. I have very little else to say on this subject. If you want to play games that your current graphics card can't handle, you'll have to upgrade your graphics card (if other components are getting in the way, upgrade them too).
There are two ways to upgrade your graphics card. For one, buy two slightly less powerful but affordable graphics cards and use them together using Nvidia's SLI technology or AMD's CrossFire technology. Or buy and install a powerful and expensive graphics card. This way, you can enjoy the game to your heart's content without worrying about anything.
Using Multiple Graphics Cards
Graphics card upgrade cycles tend to be shorter than other components. One of the causes is the excessive sales battle of graphic cards. In other words, it feels like it's time for an upgrade, even though it's relatively new and has a decent graphics card. If so, two good, relatively new graphics cards, rather than one new, super-powerful graphics card, will save you money and significantly improve graphics performance.
However, there are some things you should be aware of. First of all, when using two graphics cards together, both cards must have the same specifications (even if they are made by different manufacturers). Second, be aware that not all graphics cards can be used in multi-card configurations, and not all motherboards support multi-card configurations. Be sure to check compatibility between your graphics card and motherboard. Also, system configuration factors such as chassis size (two graphics cards require double the space) and power supply units (two graphics cards require twice the power). problems may arise. Heat must also be considered. Even one graphics card puts out a lot of heat, let alone two.
Truth be told, dual GPUs with SLI or CrossFire are not practical with the latest generation of graphics cards. Not only is the latest graphics card super powerful, but Nvidia's RTX 3000 card has dropped SLI support, and of course you won't get any framerate boosts with SLI support. If you absolutely must use dual GPUs, make the most of your old Nvidia or AMD cards.
The easiest thing is probably to upgrade to one of the latest powerful graphics cards. Only if I can get it before it's sold out.
