Before screwing in the PSU, verify everything is working. Connect the power suppy and try to power it on. Without a video card installed yet, there's an initial error beep - but this is fine, it’s just to check the switch wiring, and the motherboard fan is spinn

Whether you have a desktop computer or a laptop, your CPU (central processing unit) and GPU (graphics processing unit) need cooling. This is generally achieved through a fan that cools a heat sink, which disperses heat from the processor/s. When the air intake grills, the fan/s or the vents are blocked by dust, the cooling is less efficient. Consequently, the processor/s run/s hot faster and more frequently, which can cause the processor/s to become slower or even break prematurely. Hence, it is in your best interest to give the fan/s, intake grills, and vents a good cleaning to ensure optimal air flow and cool

There’s nothing wrong with an older model. SSDs are great upgrade because of their low access times and almost any option on the market can provide you with that. You wouldn’t even notice a difference in data transfer speeds unless you regularly move large files on or off the dr

Video cards have slowly but surely become less necessary for the average PC. A few decades ago it wasn’t even possible to enjoy graphics without one. Today, the integrated graphics in an AMD or Intel processor can handle multimedia use and 2D games without is

A study by the University of Arizona found that keyboards are dirtier than a toilet seat . Frankly, that shouldn't come as a surprise. When was the last time you cleaned your keyboard? Dirty keyboards are a health hazard and a spring cleaning is quick and e

All good. Then I examine the hardware monitor to see if the system temperature or CPU is abnormal. I leave this running for a while, just to check that they’re not rising which might indicate a fan failure somewh

Cabling, too, can be reused, although take care not to rely on cabling that is old or damaged. Plug connectors and kinks in the cable can result in data transfer/power issues. Indeed, it might be worth refreshing PC’s internal cabling as part of the upgrade. Sound cards and monitors should also be considered for reuse if it means that you can funnel funds towards more important upgra

How exactly this is done depends on your computer model. I recommend searching Google and YouTube and I'm sure you will find more information instructions. Generally, you can expose your computer fans, then use a vacuum cleaner or canned air to remove dust, and a damp cloth to wipe it down. Do the same for the intake grills and vents. DO NOT remove the heat sink unless you are prepared to replace the thermal compo

Always check how a new piece of hardware will connect to your motherboard. The most common connections are SATA (for hard drives and optical drives) and PCI Express (for video cards, sound cards and network adapters), but there are oth

Some of the power connections in desktops have remained the same over time, but some haven’t. The most recent examples of new connections are SATA and PCI Express. If you own a computer that is more than five years old it may not support them, and that means you won’t be able to use a SATA hard drive or a PCI Express video card without an adapter. Always makes sure that your power supply has the connectors required to accept any new hardware you might purch

That doesn’t have to happen. Through a combination of smart buying and willpower you can keep costs down while gaining a significant performance upgrade. Here are five ways to keep money in your wallet instead of your

This isn’t a how-to article though - I couldn’t possibly write about how to build a PC from scratch in one article. Instead, I will give tips and describe the process in a whirlwind manner, but you should maybe think of it more as motivation for you to try the same. The whole process took about 2 ho

With the arrival of Spring in the Northern Hemisphere, houses across the globe get a nice cleaning to rid them of dirt and clutter that has accumulated over the past year. Dust and junk also settle on our computer. Whether your PC is suffering from a clocked up fan or an overloaded hard drive, it is time to give it a thorough spring cleaning. With the following checklist this will be a bre

OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) sell a large chunk of their inventory in bulk to suppliers, and to keep costs down they’re not packaged for retail – there are no boxes, no drivers, etc. (although of course drivers and manuals can be downloaded from the manufacturer’s websi

Once you’ve accounted for these four points you can safely purchase a hardware upgrade. Yes, I know – checking all of this can be a bit annoying and will take some extra time. But it does reduce the chance that you’ll buy incompatible hardware. It will also make you more familiar with your system and with computers in general, which means you’ll have less homework to do the next time you want to upgr