1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,520 Does more money always mean better performance when it comes to computer components? 2 00:00:05,520 --> 00:00:09,280 Let's take a tour through some of the most important components of a computer 3 00:00:09,280 --> 00:00:14,160 and figure out when you should pay for more RAM capacity, more CPU cores, 4 00:00:14,160 --> 00:00:19,200 and more watts on your power supply, or when it might just be a waste of money. 5 00:00:19,200 --> 00:00:23,440 Let's start out by talking about RAM. Is it more important to have higher speed 6 00:00:23,440 --> 00:00:27,040 or more capacity? While both can affect performance, 7 00:00:27,120 --> 00:00:30,720 you should prioritize higher capacity, up to a point. 8 00:00:30,720 --> 00:00:35,040 And this kind of intuitively makes sense. RAM is your computer's working memory, 9 00:00:35,040 --> 00:00:39,200 where your PC stores data it's currently working on. So more capacity means your 10 00:00:39,200 --> 00:00:43,760 computer can work on more at the same time, meaning larger amounts are helpful if you 11 00:00:43,760 --> 00:00:50,320 play demanding games, create content, or just like having an ungodly amount of browser tabs open at once. 12 00:00:50,320 --> 00:00:55,120 For a general purpose machine, we'd recommend 16 gigabytes of RAM in 2024, 13 00:00:55,200 --> 00:01:01,360 while 32 is a safer bet for gamers, streamers, and anyone else that needs extra power. 14 00:01:01,360 --> 00:01:06,480 Right now, going higher than 32 gigs typically is only useful for things like 15 00:01:06,480 --> 00:01:11,760 intense content creation, such as video editing and animating, or modeling work. 16 00:01:11,760 --> 00:01:17,920 On the lower end, you can get away with 8 gigs if your PC is mostly a browsing and typing machine. 17 00:01:17,920 --> 00:01:22,880 But regardless, there isn't much point getting more RAM than you'll reasonably use. 18 00:01:22,880 --> 00:01:26,240 It's like buying a house with 10 extra rooms when you're living alone, 19 00:01:26,240 --> 00:01:32,080 and it's easy to add more RAM later if it turns out you do need extra, or you want to have roommates. 20 00:01:32,080 --> 00:01:37,120 But although capacity should be your primary concern, it doesn't mean you should ignore 21 00:01:37,120 --> 00:01:41,600 speed and latency completely. For certain games and applications, like video editing, 22 00:01:41,600 --> 00:01:48,000 rendering, and streaming, it can make a difference, especially depending on exactly what CPU you have. 23 00:01:48,000 --> 00:01:52,720 If you'll be doing any kind of heavy lifting with your computer, it's a good idea to check and see 24 00:01:52,800 --> 00:01:58,240 how the games and applications you're applying to use interact with different RAM speed and CPU 25 00:01:58,240 --> 00:02:04,400 combos, and where the sweet spot is with frequency and timings. AMD Ryzen CPUs in particular have 26 00:02:04,400 --> 00:02:09,040 historically been a bit more sensitive to the frequency and timings of your RAM, 27 00:02:09,760 --> 00:02:15,200 though this seems to be less true for their 3DV cache models. Also remember that trying to run 28 00:02:15,200 --> 00:02:20,880 RAM rated for very high speeds can actually cause instability. We're talking system crashes, 29 00:02:20,960 --> 00:02:25,440 since you're technically overclocking. Regardless, if you're on a budget and choosing between more RAM 30 00:02:25,440 --> 00:02:31,840 and faster RAM, remember that too little fast RAM is a lot worse than a sufficient amount of slow RAM. 31 00:02:31,840 --> 00:02:36,640 Let's move on and talk about your CPU. Although the clock speed can affect performance in certain 32 00:02:36,640 --> 00:02:41,760 games and applications, the raw frequency number of a CPU isn't as important as it used to be. 33 00:02:41,760 --> 00:02:46,320 In fact, some CPUs higher in a product stack can have lower frequencies, 34 00:02:46,320 --> 00:02:50,800 so that they'll stay within power and heat limits as the manufacturer adds more cores. 35 00:02:50,800 --> 00:02:55,600 And because chips are fairly well optimized these days, there's even been less of a focus 36 00:02:55,600 --> 00:03:00,000 on overclocking, with many enthusiasts just preferring to undervolt their CPUs instead 37 00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:06,240 to achieve similar performance while using less power. But one thing that can matter is core count. 38 00:03:07,040 --> 00:03:12,000 In general, more cores are better than fewer cores, all things being equal, but there are two 39 00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:17,360 things to consider before you go out and buy the highest core count CPU you can afford. First, 40 00:03:17,360 --> 00:03:22,160 just like with RAM, there's no point in buying more cores than your programs are realistically 41 00:03:22,160 --> 00:03:27,760 going to take advantage of. Anything more than 6 cores is probably overkill for a strictly gaming 42 00:03:27,760 --> 00:03:33,040 PC, while more than 8 probably isn't necessary if you're gaming and streaming. Higher core counts 43 00:03:33,040 --> 00:03:38,080 tend to be useful if you're doing work that can be easily parallelized. Video rendering is a good 44 00:03:38,080 --> 00:03:42,880 example of this, as the workload scales better in terms of being able to be spread across multiple 45 00:03:42,880 --> 00:03:49,040 cores. On the flip side, if you're just using the PC for basic tasks, 4 cores will likely get you by 46 00:03:49,040 --> 00:03:56,000 just fine. But here's a second thing you need to consider. Architecture. Because plenty of applications, 47 00:03:56,000 --> 00:04:01,040 especially games, are significantly affected by single threaded performance, you can see real 48 00:04:01,040 --> 00:04:05,920 differences in reviews when you compare different processor generations, and especially when you 49 00:04:05,920 --> 00:04:13,200 compare AMD and Intel. Depending on the workload, a newer CPU with fewer cores can outperform a 50 00:04:13,200 --> 00:04:19,680 several year old CPU with more cores. Think about it this way. The PlayStation 4 had an 8-core CPU, 51 00:04:19,680 --> 00:04:24,960 but you obviously wouldn't expect it to run modern games as well as a current gen 6-core 52 00:04:24,960 --> 00:04:30,960 desktop processor. Also remember that hybrid CPUs are common these days, where some of the cores 53 00:04:31,040 --> 00:04:37,840 you're getting might be less powerful efficiency cores or e-cores. So check before you buy. 54 00:04:37,840 --> 00:04:42,880 There was a time when monstrously big power supplies actually made some sense back when 55 00:04:42,880 --> 00:04:48,240 people were running quadruple graphics card setups. But these days, with multi-GPU being 56 00:04:48,240 --> 00:04:54,000 virtually dead, there are simply not enough power hungry components inside the typical high-end PC 57 00:04:54,000 --> 00:05:02,000 to justify going out and buying a 1600 watt PSU. So how many watts should you actually be looking for? 58 00:05:02,000 --> 00:05:06,800 Well, more is better in the sense that it'll allow you to install more and more powerful 59 00:05:06,800 --> 00:05:12,560 parts in your rig. Going with a model rated for too many watts is not only unnecessary, 60 00:05:12,560 --> 00:05:16,640 it can actually end up costing you a little bit extra on your power bill each month. 61 00:05:17,280 --> 00:05:22,160 Most power supplies are most efficient when they're running at somewhere around 50% load. 62 00:05:22,160 --> 00:05:27,520 So for example, for an 800 watt PSU, that would be a 400 watt load. Every model of power supply 63 00:05:27,520 --> 00:05:33,360 is different, so peak efficiency may not be at exactly 50%, but the point is, it's more efficient 64 00:05:33,360 --> 00:05:38,160 to buy a PSU that gives you some headroom. That being said, that might be cost prohibitive 65 00:05:38,160 --> 00:05:43,120 if you have a relatively powerful GPU installed. Let's say you have a gaming rig that draws around 66 00:05:43,120 --> 00:05:48,960 500 watts at load, you may not want to drop a ton of coin on a 1000 watt power supply. In that case, 67 00:05:49,040 --> 00:05:54,080 it's fine to get a smaller one rated for 600 or 700 watts as long as you're sure your system won't 68 00:05:54,080 --> 00:05:58,960 flirt with that maximum number when you're really pushing it. And although newer ATX 69 00:05:58,960 --> 00:06:04,400 3.0 power supplies can deal with transient spikes in power draw past the rated wattage 70 00:06:04,400 --> 00:06:09,120 better than older units could, you still don't want a situation where you're continuously 71 00:06:09,120 --> 00:06:14,400 drawing too many watts. And if you do get a lower wattage but still adequate power supply, 72 00:06:14,400 --> 00:06:19,360 you may not get peak efficiency, but it won't be too much worse than what you'd see closer to 73 00:06:19,360 --> 00:06:24,720 the half load as long as the PSU is good quality. And on that note, as long as the wattage is 74 00:06:24,720 --> 00:06:30,000 sufficient, the power supplies build quality is far more important than the raw number of watts. 75 00:06:30,000 --> 00:06:34,880 There are cheap power supplies out there that are notoriously unreliable and can even explode on you, 76 00:06:34,880 --> 00:06:40,160 literally explode. But well built ones can last for many years, even if you push them. So read 77 00:06:40,160 --> 00:06:44,960 reviews and don't go for bargain units just because the wattage number is what you want. 78 00:06:44,960 --> 00:06:49,600 Finally, let's talk about something that's a little harder to put a number on your motherboard, 79 00:06:49,600 --> 00:06:55,280 which acts as the spine of sorts of your PC in that it connects everything to everything else. 80 00:06:55,280 --> 00:06:59,920 It used to be that your choice of motherboard could have a real effect on the performance 81 00:06:59,920 --> 00:07:04,720 as buses that connect different components could operate at different speeds. And the power 82 00:07:04,720 --> 00:07:09,280 delivery systems for CPUs were built very differently between models, meaning some other 83 00:07:09,280 --> 00:07:14,240 boards were far better at overclocking, for example, than others. In modern times, though, 84 00:07:14,240 --> 00:07:18,960 most motherboards tend to have fairly overbuilt CPU power delivery, except on the very low end. 85 00:07:18,960 --> 00:07:24,160 And the functionality of the once crucial front side bus has been integrated into the CPU itself. 86 00:07:24,160 --> 00:07:29,200 So does it make sense to spend more on a more premium motherboard? The answer should mostly 87 00:07:29,200 --> 00:07:34,880 depend on what kinds of features you want. Make sure it has enough slots, headers and ports to 88 00:07:34,880 --> 00:07:40,320 support the components that you'll be installing, and also pay attention to what chipset it is. 89 00:07:40,320 --> 00:07:44,480 The chipset is a separate chip responsible for handling much of the data that flows between 90 00:07:44,480 --> 00:07:48,400 different parts of your computer. And different chipsets support different numbers of ports, 91 00:07:48,400 --> 00:07:52,480 some even limit what kinds of overclocking you can do. So is there really a point on 92 00:07:52,480 --> 00:07:57,840 splurging on one of those super high end motherboards? Some of them can offer really esoteric 93 00:07:57,840 --> 00:08:02,880 features for really extreme overclocking, like with liquid nitrogen or something equally exotic. 94 00:08:02,880 --> 00:08:07,840 You might even be able to get support for more bleeding edge standards. But it only really makes 95 00:08:07,840 --> 00:08:12,960 sense to go for a motherboard like this if you have parts that you know can use the extra bandwidth. 96 00:08:12,960 --> 00:08:16,800 We've even seen high-end boards with built-in water blocks if you're planning to pair them 97 00:08:16,800 --> 00:08:21,200 with a custom loop. But the bottom line is that unless you have some hyper-specific use case, 98 00:08:21,200 --> 00:08:25,840 it's probably unwise to blow gobs of money on a motherboard. You're gonna need that extra money 99 00:08:25,840 --> 00:08:30,880 anyway when you find out how much DLC costs these days. But we're out of time, even though we know 100 00:08:30,880 --> 00:08:34,480 that there are other parts where you need to make important buying decisions such as your storage 101 00:08:34,480 --> 00:08:40,000 drive and graphics card. So let us know if you'd like to see a follow-up, is it worth it, video 102 00:08:40,880 --> 00:08:45,040 in the future. In the meantime, check out our explainer on RAM timings if you'd like to know 103 00:08:45,040 --> 00:08:48,320 more. So thanks for watching guys. If you liked this video, hit like, hit subscribe and hit us up 104 00:08:48,320 --> 00:08:52,160 in the comment section with your suggestions for topics that we should cover in the future.