How to Upgrade Your Computer Yourself?

To upgrade your hardware, start by assessing your old computer to understand exactly what needs to be replaced. And before conducting tests, make sure all PC components are working properly.

The most common problem with computers that are often used is dust. It impedes heat exchange and can even short-circuit connections, leading to various problems.

How to Clean Your Computer

There are several methods, each with its own pros and cons. You can combine them, there's no need to stick to just one. Methods to clean your computer from dust:

A brush and a dry cloth. The most accessible and lengthy way to remove dust. In fact, with the right approach, this is quite sufficient. However, you will need to completely disassemble the system unit and remove the cover from the power supply to reach the most awkward places. A benefit is that you won't need to take the computer outside and there will be minimal dust in the room.
Compressed air. The most effective, simple, and dirtiest way to clean a PC. It's best to use an automotive compressor, but compressed air in cans also works. The difference in pressure means that a full-size compressor will blow out all the dust residues, while a can may leave a small magnetized layer of dust on the boards.
Vacuum cleaner. To have a regular vacuum cleaner suck up the dust, you need to drive it off the surface with a brush or cloth first. The upside is minimal dirt. The downside – you still have to disassemble the computer.

Disassembling the computer, although unpleasant, is necessary. There are vulnerable transistors in the power supply and on the motherboard that periodically fail. Only by removing all the equipment from your PC can you assess the technical condition of the components. Don't worry if you've never seen swollen transistors – you won't confuse them with anything else. If there are any, they need to be replaced, preferably in a service center.

Heat Dissipation

After cleaning, you need to change the thermal paste. Buy a tube; it will be useful for assembling a new PC, although you need no more than a match head's amount for one chip. Also, check that all fans are working properly. A power supply fan failure often goes unnoticed. It is usually housed inside the case and not visible, but if it fails, it can lead to constant PC shutdowns, decreased performance, and damage to the entire system.

What Needs Upgrading?

Take a small test – run several modern games with high system requirements. This could be one of the latest Assassin's Creed, Total War, Cyberpunk 2077, The Witcher 3, Watch Dogs 2, Red Dead Redemption 2, or anything to your taste, as long as it can load your computer. If you are a fan of online games, then indicative projects for you would be World of Tanks, Black Desert, Battlefield, ARK Survival Evolved, and others.

Now let's discuss the problems and their solutions:

Low FPS. The graphics card can't handle the game's graphics. Pay attention to the GPU load during the game. There's a small chance that the processor can't load the graphics card to 100%.
Freezes and lags. It all depends on the frequency; if the freezes are long and uneven, then there is a problem with the processor. Short and even freezes are due to a lack of RAM. If the system starts to lag a few minutes into gaming, it’s also a question of insufficient RAM.
Long system and game load times. Slow hard drive, in rare cases it may be due to a weak processor. It's necessary to look at the loading chart in the task manager.
Spontaneous shutdowns. Weak cooling of the processor, graphics card, or power supply unit. In rare cases, it may be due to overheating of the power circuit on the motherboard. It is necessary to measure the temperature using special software; Everest can help with this, but there are many other options with similar functionality.

If you are experiencing all these issues in modern games, there’s nothing left to upgrade; you need a new computer.

How to choose and replace the necessary hardware

When choosing new equipment, remember that your computer will always be limited by its weakest component. For example, you could install a top-of-the-line graphics card, but it won't perform at full strength if you have a weak processor. Upgrade your PC only if it has components from 2021 that are worth keeping.

Graphics Card

If you've decided that the graphics card is your main problem, as is often the case, then it needs to be changed. With graphics cards, it's quite simple; they have a universal PCI-E connection. In principle, if you make a mistake and take too powerful a card, nothing terrible will happen; at worst, it will operate a bit slower than its top potential.

How to choose a graphics card

Frequencies, memory size, memory speed, and bus width are hugely important for performance but are useless for the average user. The simplest way to gauge the power of a card is to look at a comparative table. All tests were performed at maximum graphics settings. It shows the FPS value in FullHD/2K/4K. Here are selected not the most popular games, but the newest ones, fresh projects from 2021.

Frames per second in FullHD/2K/4K	Outriders	The Medium RTX Off	The Medium RTX ON+DLSS 2.0	King Arthur Knight's Tale	Nioh 2 The Complete Edition	HITMAN 3
RTX 3090	131/131/84	110/88/54	83/69/44	288/218/124	120/114/73	133/133/99
RTX 3080	131/131/78	104/80/49	78/63/41	268/202/116	119/103/66	133/133/9
RTX 3070	131/99/55	80/63/37	64/49/31	191/146/84	93/74/45	133/107/65
RTX 3060 Ti	121/87/48	70/55/33	56/43/27	168/128/74	82/65/40	133/94/57
RTX 2080 Ti	131/102/56	83/63/37	57/42/25	214/157/88	102/79/49	133/116/68
RTX 2080 SUPER	122/87/50	71/52/31	55/40/23	185/134/75	101/76/48	133/98/55
RTX 2080	113/8146	66/48/29	51/37/21	171/124/6	93/71/45	130/94/57
RTX 2070 SUPER	103/73/42	60/44/26	46/34/19	156/113/63	85/64/41	119/82/46
RTX 2070	91/65/37	53/39/23	41/30/17	138/100/56	75/57/36	105/73/41
RTX 2060 SUPER	87/62/36	51/37/22	39/29/16	132/96/56	72/55/35	101/70/39
RTX 2060	80/57/30	48/36/20	37/26/15	116/83/47	63/49/31	94/66/37
GTX 1660 Ti	67/48/25	40/30/17	Does not support RTX and DLSS	90/70/39	53/41/26	79/55/31
GTX 1660 SUPER	66/47/25	39/30/16	Does not support RTX and DLSS	95/68/39	52/40/25	77/54/30

Comfortable FPS is 60 frames. The table indicates the average figure, which can vary slightly by 10-15% either way. Since the load in games is not uniform, it's better to take a little extra. Assess your budget and the power of your processor to determine which resolution to aim for.

What to consider when replacing a graphics card

The most important thing is the power supply unit’s wattage. One graphics card can "eat" more energy than all other PC components combined. Compare the required power of the PSU and the presence of additional power connectors. If you have a modular power supply, make sure you have the necessary cables or adapters. A lack of power can break any upgrade.

The second parameter is the physical size. Modern cards are very large, and some cases have restrictions on the size of the card, keep this in mind when choosing a model.

There is also a more conditional indicator – the heat dissipation from the PC case. The graphics card itself can circulate air around its radiator to cool it, but the case must provide it with a supply of fresh cold air. For this purpose, it must have at least 2 fans of 120 mm on the air intake (front of the case) and at least 1 fan at the back to blow air out of the case. This is how cooling works on most cases. But there are unique models with a special ventilation scheme; in such cases, make sure that all slots for fans are occupied, and they are directed in the right direction.

Processor

Changing the processor is not difficult, but choosing the right one is much harder. When choosing a specific model, you will always be constrained by your motherboard and the socket it supports. If you really want to change the processor along with the board, then you will have to replace the memory as well, which means building a new computer, so let’s assume you want to keep the old motherboard.

Look at the technical specifications of the motherboard and which processor models are compatible with it. Choose the most powerful one and install it, if such an upgrade will significantly increase performance. If you already have the most powerful model available, there's nothing you can do; you'll have to change the motherboard.

What resolution can the processor handle?

You can categorize processors into three groups:

2-4 cores – FullHD;
4-6 – 2K;
8 or more – 4K.

This is a conditional division that will help you choose a graphics card for modern games. If your processor is less than recommended, do not count on a higher resolution in games; it will not fully utilize the graphics card.

How to replace a processor

To replace a processor, you will need thermal paste. It can be spread using a plastic card or simply with a finger (wrap it in polyethylene or food wrap).

Start by disconnecting the fan located on the cooling radiator.
Remove the radiator itself. It has quick-release fasteners, no screwdriver needed.
Carefully remove the radiator from the case and clean the mounting place from old thermal paste with alcohol. It is very important not to damage or scratch both adjoining surfaces – the surface of the processor and the polished contact platform of the radiator.
Bend back the processor mounting clip and remove the old model. Place the new processor in its spot and secure it with the clip.
Apply thermal paste to the processor or the contact platform of the radiator. Use no more than a match head's amount of thermal paste. The less, the better.
Install the radiator and connect the fan to the motherboard.
All done, you can start the computer, no need to wait.

A trick with the CPU

Sometimes, none of the available models are suitable in terms of power; they all provide just a few hundred MHz increase, which is negligible. But pay attention to whether your processor has an unlocked multiplier – this is an overclocking feature that allows you to increase the core frequency beyond the recommended norm. Such an upgrade can significantly improve the performance of your PC.

Increasing the voltage and frequency results in higher heat output, but this problem can easily be solved by replacing the radiator. Thus, choosing a processor with a "K" suffix allows you to easily increase power. There's a small risk of overheating the power circuits on the motherboard, but small aluminum grid-radiators can be installed on them to help dissipate heat from this line.

RAM

If with graphics cards and processors it's simple: the more powerful, the better, then with RAM it's even simpler – a minimum of 8 GB, better 16, and if you plan to play in 4K, then 32 GB. Choose the frequency according to the capabilities of your processor and motherboard.

And if you need a guaranteed correct selection of components for an upgrade or to solve individual problems – specialists from HYPERPC Upgrade Center can help.