There has been a huge surge in new players interested in the shift to a dedicated PC in recent years thanks to big hardware changes and the growth of big markets such as esports attracting players and fans alike – operators have even begun supporting big betting markets as some available here are amongst the biggest. But if you haven’t explored anything enthusiast in PC for a while, it may be difficult where to know where to start, and where the best upgrades are – so which should you consider looking at, and which should be avoided?

(Image from pcgamer.com)

Old hardware doesn’t necessarily mean bad hardware – Whilst it may be encouraging for some to see the latest hardware releases and jump on to them, some older hardware is still much more efficient too – whilst old, CPU chips like the Ryzen series are great across the range and with each new release the older versions can certainly come in under great budgets for a solid build without compromising too much on performance. Similarly, older GPU’s are still great pick-ups too without having to splash out a four-figure sum on the latest release – whether you have a full or partial budget, its worth not overlooking these older components, as they could be a great addition.

Don’t overlook peripherals either – Doing a great new big build is exciting, but if you don’t budget for your peripherals you may find yourself bottle necking performance too – things like a faster response time monitor are great pick-ups and are becoming much cheaper and can certainly help improve performance where you feel a little gain may not have been possible before. To a lesser extent, a good keyboard and mouse can make the difference too depending on your usage and milage, but that’s certainly moving into a more enthusiast space.

Don’t overlook the best bang for your buck upgrades too – There are certain pieces that will give you a much bigger performance hit than anything else – if you’re only looking to upgrade one or two pieces, these certain bits should certainly be a priority – storage is the biggest, if you haven’t yet upgrade to a Solid State Drive or the newer variations of them, they’ll certainly give you a huge bump in performance by decreasing load times and increasing system speed for example – even less thought of factors like airflow in your case can have an impact over time both for performance and for external factors like noise and should all be considered into your budget. It’s easy to focus on the big ticket items, but there are many smaller features that are just as important, and provide just as big a boost.