It’s finally done. You’ve got all the components you want in your PC, and you’re set for the next few years. Now what? It’s a good time to think about refining your setup with a few accessories that, while not strictly necess…
No one wants a tangle of cords inside their PC case. Proper cable management may seem superfluous, and after spending hours building a PC, it feels like the last thing you want to do. In the long run, however, proper cable ma…
When building a PC, the case is usually an afterthought. People pick a CPU, GPU, a good motherboard, RAM, a PSU, maybe a liquid cooler—and, with whatever budget is left, pick up a case. But your PC’s case deserves more thou…
Many CPUs come with a free cooler. This is fantastic since it means you have one less component to buy when building a new PC. But many PC builders believe these coolers aren’t worth using. You can definitely buy better CPU c…
AMD offers a free overclocking program called Ryzen Master that lets you experiment with overclocking your AMD Ryzen CPU. Ryzen Master makes overclocking a lot easier than it used to be.
Both Wi-Fi extenders and mesh networks promise to improve and extend your Wi-Fi signal, but they achieve this through different means. Plus, if you don’t purchase the appropriate system, you may find that the investment wasn’…
The motherboard is where it all starts for the PC. It’s the component underlying everything. There are so many different analogies you could draw, but here’s our favorite: It’s like the computer’s nervous system. Its primary…
There’s a good chance you run into a lot of ads for VPN (virtual private network) services while visiting websites or listening to podcasts. They are everywhere these days thanks, in part, to a renewed focus on privacy and se…
High-quality sound on PCs from drop-in sound cards and external DACs is a weird subject. It’s not as necessary as it once was. In fact, nobody even thinks about it much anymore. There’s no song or game that you won’t be able …
There are a ton of considerations when buying a new PC or creating the perfect desktop setup. But one that should never be overlooked is the keyboard—especially since a cheap or poorly designed keyboard that’s difficult to …
The power supply (PSU) is a critical part of any PC. It powers all the components in your PC, and a bad or faulty one can bring everything down. Here’s what to look for in a power supply while putting together a PC….
Laptops offer the power of a PC wherever you go, from the other side of the country to the other side of the couch. But sometimes you want a desktop for a bigger display, a larger keyboard, and a beefy mouse. Here’s how to t…
You might not realize it, but every time you purchase a new desktop CPU, you also get a ticket for a giveaway called the “silicon lottery.” Two CPUs of the same model can perform differently when pushed to their limits thanks…
Anybody looking for serious graphics power needs to have a graphics card from AMD, NVIDIA, or (someday soon) Intel. Not everyone wants that kind of power, however, especially when it comes at a price tag of $150 to more than …
Computer graphics are an essential part of any modern computer system, even lightweight laptops. “GPU” stands for graphics processing unit, and it’s the part of the PC responsible for the on-screen images you see….
For years, getting a dedicated sound card for your PC was a given because it was the only way to get quality sound. Modern PCs, however, have good audio hardware built into their motherboards. But dedicated sound cards still …
Apple is rethinking how components should exist and operate inside a laptop. With M1 chips in new Macs, Apple has a new “Unified Memory Architecture” (UMA) that dramatically speeds up memory performance. Here’s how memory wor…
People often draw parallels between computers and the human brain, and sometimes, it’s an apt comparison. For example, both the brain and a computer have short- and long-term memory. RAM is where a computer stores its short…
The most important part of your computer, if you had to choose just one, would be the central processing unit (CPU). It’s the primary hub (or “brain”), and it processes the instructions that come from programs, the operating …
Here we go again! AMD Zen CPUs already have a reputation as the best performers in multi-threaded and productivity application performance. Now, the chip manufacturer has its eye on Intel’s longtime dominance in PC gaming….
MSI Afterburner is one of the most popular ways to see in-game PC performance statistics. And yes, it works on all systems, whether you have an MSI graphics card or not. Here’s how to set it up!
There was a time when the prescription for speeding up a slow PC was just to add more (or faster) RAM. These days, though, that’s not necessarily the best upgrade to choose first.
No one wants to build a new PC if, in a month or so, some super-awesome component is going to roll out, or prices are going to drop significantly. So, is 2020 a good time? Yes, but waiting until October is a good idea—espec…
Building a new PC is fun, exciting, and . . . expensive. After you’ve built a few desktops, all those new boxes of Corsair, NVIDIA, and Intel gear can lose their luster—especially after you tally up the bill….
Building a PC on a budget is a delicate balance between price and performance. How much should you spend on the motherboard and CPU, and what about the graphics card? Which parts are worth spending some extra cash on?…
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