Guide
How to upgrade your gaming PC: the 2026 guide
Is your PC starting to struggle with new games? Before investing in a full new machine, targeted upgrades often make a big difference on a limited budget.
1st upgrade: graphics card (GPU)
GPU upgrade is #1 for improving in-game FPS. If your GPU is 4–5+ years old (GTX 1060, RX 580, RTX 2060), moving to an RTX 4060 will bring 50–80% more FPS.
Watch out for bottleneck: a very powerful GPU paired with an old CPU will be CPU-limited.
2nd upgrade: move to 16 GB dual-channel RAM
If you have 8 GB or a single 16 GB stick, upgrading is very cost-effective. Moving to 16 GB DDR4 dual-channel costs €30–50 used.
Also check XMP/EXPO activation in BIOS to run RAM at its rated frequency.
3rd upgrade: NVMe SSD
If you still have an HDD or SATA SSD, moving to NVMe M.2 1 TB (€50–80) is transformative: 3–5× faster loading.
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