Buying a new gaming PC can be costly compared to simply upgrading a few components. But then how do you know if you need to go whole hog and start from scratch, or just change up a few pieces of hardware?
Fear not, these six questions will steer you in the right direction.
How much performance am I currently losing out on?
If the answer to this question is, “Not much, just a few FPS here or there,” then it’s likely you can get away with simply upgrading your GPU, CPU, or RAM.
On the other hand, if your PC isn’t even in the ballpark for the kind of performance you want, or you’re getting issues such as game freezes or stuttering, or you find you have to play at a lower resolution than you would like to (and you’ve pinpointed those problems to being the result of bottlenecks), then quite simply, you should really buy or build a new rig.
How far below recommended specs is my PC?
Another good way to tell if you need to build a new gaming PC or simply upgrade is if your PC is quite a bit below the recommended specs for the games you want to play.
For example, Starfield developer Bethesda recommends having either an AMD Ryzen 5 3600X or Intel Core i5-10600K CPU and either an AMD Radeon RX 6800XT or Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 video card and 16GB RAM (or above), for decent performance.
If you’re lagging in these three key components, ideally you should build a new rig for smoother performance — and also to future-proof your performance for games with similar requirements. Then again, if just one of these components is below spec, you can get away with upgrading that component and save some cash in the process.
Bethesda’s Starfield has higher recommended specs than some games.
Bethesda
How much money do I have?
Your budget can be the deciding factor in what action you take with your gaming PC. It goes without saying that buying or building a new rig can be a lot more expensive than upgrading if you’re replacing all the parts.
For example, to build a new mid-range or premium gaming PC in 2025, you will need between $1.5 to $3K, whereas if you just need to fix your sluggish graphics performance, you can get away with spending as little as $300 on a new video card. But of course, you should always cost up each option before making a decision.
The big advantage of getting a new rig, is that your old parts like your motherboard, PC case or PCIe slots, won’t be any kind of limitation to what you include or the kind of performance you can achieve; you have the opportunity to overcome every pain point you might have with your current PC. For that reason, and if money is not an obstacle you should definitely opt to get a new rig.
Having said that, if you can only afford to upgrade one or two parts, that’s better than nothing at all. You can still boost your performance significantly if you are discerning about which parts you upgrade.
Is my motherboard outdated?
Because your motherboard is such a key component in your PC, if it’s old and janky with outdated PCIe slots or I/O, chances are the hardware connecting to it is old and janky too. If that scenario rings true for you — then read no further — you need to buy or build a new gaming PC.
Of course, another argument for building a new rig if you have an old motherboard is if the Windows 10 end-of-life problem affects you. Even though there are workarounds for PCs with incompatible motherboards to upgrade to Windows 11, Microsoft has pointed out that users that take that route may not have a trouble-free experience with Windows 11, which you really want to avoid.
Is it time to upgrade to a new motherboard?
Colorfire
Is my PC case insufficient or incompatible with new hardware?
Just like most other hardware components, PC cases are continually evolving and modern cases are generally better than old cases when it comes to things like airflow, cooling, and cable management. They also come designed to fit newer gaming components.
So, for example, if you’re wanting to upgrade to a larger GPU or the latest USB ports, you may have no option but to buy a new case.
Just like if you have an outdated motherboard, if you find you have to buy a new case, you probably should use it as an excuse to upgrade your whole rig — unless of course your current components are top-of- the-line. Apart from upgrading your performance, you’ll also find you have an easier experience putting everything together.
Do I now want to game on a mini PC?
Mini gaming PCs have come a long way in recent years. In fact, it’s now possible to get performance on par with some gaming desktop PCs, especially if you use an eGPU to boost up the graphics.
That’s great news for gamers wanting to save a ton of space at home. But because mini gaming PCs have specialized components to fit their smaller cases, buying a mini gaming PC or building a new mini gaming PC from a kit is your best option if you are coming from using a large desktop gaming PC.
Further reading: How to buy a decent CPU that’ll last you at least 5 years