No money for a new PC? This is how you properly upgrade your gaming PC

Do you want more gaming performance, but don’t feel like buying a new gaming PC or have no money? MeinMMO has a few tips for you on how to properly upgrade your gaming PC.

Are you looking for ways to upgrade your computer sensibly without having to buy a new PC? Basically, you can swap the following things on the computer without any problems:

  • random access memory
  • Storage devices such as SSDs or HDDs
  • optical drives for DVDs and BluRays
  • Graphics cards
  • Processors
  • Fans and filters, which are often built into the housing

Since a computer, unlike a console, has a modular structure, you can swap all parts as you wish. With a laptop there are at least limited options such as RAM, hard drives and often optical drives.

We at MeinMMO have a few ideas and tips for you on how to upgrade your old gaming PC or computer in a meaningful way. We will also explain to you afterwards when a new purchase might be more worthwhile than upgrading your old computer.

Install a new hard drive or SSD

If you still have an older PC or have not opened it for years, installing a new hard drive or SSD could be worthwhile. This is especially true if you have system data or important games on a slow HDD.

For an SSD with 2 TB of storage space, you currently pay around 150 euros (as of December 23, 2021). For an HDD with 2 TB of storage you pay around a third (around 50 euros), but you also have to forego the high speed.

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Builds in additional memory

The main memory is necessary for many tasks on your computer. If you don’t have enough RAM, the processor has to access the swap file on the hard drive, which is significantly slower than the RAM.

The more RAM you have installed in your computer, the more programs you can have in the background or many tabs open at the same time in your browser.

If you only have 4 – 8 GB of RAM, we strongly recommend increasing the RAM. Because 8 GB is no longer up-to-date for many games and also for Windows 10 and 11. You should have built in at least 16 GB of RAM, 32 GB are even more future-proof.

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Upgrade processor

If you want to invest a little more money, then you can upgrade your processor. Here the prices are a bit better compared to graphics cards. But there are a few things you have to pay attention to, because you can’t just replace your old processor with a new one.

Buying an AMD Ryzen 3000: is it worth upgrading for me?

In the worst case – depending on the age of your computer – you will also need a new mainboard and new RAM for a processor. If you currently have Intel installed and want to switch to AMD (or vice versa), you will need a new motherboard.

Otherwise, it should also be a major upgrade so that it is really worth it:

  • Upgrading from a Ryzen 3 to a Ryzen 5 or from a Core i3 to a Core i5 can mean a significant performance boost.
  • The jump from an old generation to a new generation can also mean more performance.
  • Replacing an ancient processor with a more powerful but old model is almost never profitable.
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Upgrade graphics card

On the one hand, you can upgrade your graphics card. At a time when graphics cards cost a fortune, this is generally not a sensible recommendation. Nevertheless, you should consider a new graphics card if the GPU is too weak.

The prices for graphics cards are currently very high and our current recommendation is to wait until the prices have reached a reasonable level before buying a new graphics card. MeinMMO explained to you why you can hardly buy a graphics card at the moment.

  • With a GeForce RTX 3060 or Radeon RX 6600 (XT) you already get potent performance for Full HD with 144 Hz and even slight reserves for WQHD.
  • If you prefer to play in WQHD with 144 Hz instead, then it should already be an RX 6700 XT or an RTX 3070. The surcharge for the RTX 3070 Ti is only partially worthwhile, as you pay just under 200 euros for a few percent more power.

A used RTX 2070 or RX 5700 XT is really only worthwhile if you can get the graphics cards well below the current graphics card prices.

Your old graphics card may now be worth more than you think

Until when is it worth upgrading my old computer?

Basically, you should be clear about how much money you want to invest in an upgrade.

In comparison, it’s best to look at a computer that could replace yours. If the upgrade costs exceed the price of the finished PC by more than half, then a new purchase should be more worthwhile for you in the long term. This is especially true at the current time when graphics cards have reached absolutely insane prices.

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Here you should then consider whether a new purchase might be worthwhile in the long term. Mainly because the best way to get newer graphics cards is through finished PCs.

Basically, your computer hardware cannot keep up forever:

  • Newer games often need more power and are more demanding for your hardware
  • In addition, you can only use or deploy certain functions with newer hardware
  • You can only get completely new hardware like DDR5 with a new purchase or an extensive upgrade.

Alternative to PC upgrade: Instead of buying or upgrading a gaming PC, an alternative would be to bridge the current situation with a laptop. Here you are no longer as stationary as with a desktop PC. But you don’t necessarily pay less than for a powerful desktop PC. All advantages and disadvantages and what else you have to consider when buying a laptop can be found in the following article:

What do you have to consider when buying a gaming laptop?

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