WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.520 Does more money always mean better performance when it comes to computer components? 00:00:05.520 --> 00:00:09.280 Let's take a tour through some of the most important components of a computer 00:00:09.280 --> 00:00:14.160 and figure out when you should pay for more RAM capacity, more CPU cores, 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. 00:00:19.200 --> 00:00:23.440 Let's start out by talking about RAM. Is it more important to have higher speed 00:00:23.440 --> 00:00:27.040 or more capacity? While both can affect performance, 00:00:27.120 --> 00:00:30.720 you should prioritize higher capacity, up to a point. 00:00:30.720 --> 00:00:35.040 And this kind of intuitively makes sense. RAM is your computer's working memory, 00:00:35.040 --> 00:00:39.200 where your PC stores data it's currently working on. So more capacity means your 00:00:39.200 --> 00:00:43.760 computer can work on more at the same time, meaning larger amounts are helpful if you 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. 00:00:50.320 --> 00:00:55.120 For a general purpose machine, we'd recommend 16 gigabytes of RAM in 2024, 00:00:55.200 --> 00:01:01.360 while 32 is a safer bet for gamers, streamers, and anyone else that needs extra power. 00:01:01.360 --> 00:01:06.480 Right now, going higher than 32 gigs typically is only useful for things like 00:01:06.480 --> 00:01:11.760 intense content creation, such as video editing and animating, or modeling work. 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. 00:01:17.920 --> 00:01:22.880 But regardless, there isn't much point getting more RAM than you'll reasonably use. 00:01:22.880 --> 00:01:26.240 It's like buying a house with 10 extra rooms when you're living alone, 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. 00:01:32.080 --> 00:01:37.120 But although capacity should be your primary concern, it doesn't mean you should ignore 00:01:37.120 --> 00:01:41.600 speed and latency completely. For certain games and applications, like video editing, 00:01:41.600 --> 00:01:48.000 rendering, and streaming, it can make a difference, especially depending on exactly what CPU you have. 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 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 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 00:02:04.400 --> 00:02:09.040 historically been a bit more sensitive to the frequency and timings of your RAM, 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 00:02:15.200 --> 00:02:20.880 RAM rated for very high speeds can actually cause instability. We're talking system crashes, 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 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. 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 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. 00:02:41.760 --> 00:02:46.320 In fact, some CPUs higher in a product stack can have lower frequencies, 00:02:46.320 --> 00:02:50.800 so that they'll stay within power and heat limits as the manufacturer adds more cores. 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 00:02:55.600 --> 00:03:00.000 on overclocking, with many enthusiasts just preferring to undervolt their CPUs instead 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. 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 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, 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 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 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 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 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 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 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, 00:03:56.000 --> 00:04:01.040 especially games, are significantly affected by single threaded performance, you can see real 00:04:01.040 --> 00:04:05.920 differences in reviews when you compare different processor generations, and especially when you 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 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, 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 00:04:24.960 --> 00:04:30.960 desktop processor. Also remember that hybrid CPUs are common these days, where some of the cores 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. 00:04:37.840 --> 00:04:42.880 There was a time when monstrously big power supplies actually made some sense back when 00:04:42.880 --> 00:04:48.240 people were running quadruple graphics card setups. But these days, with multi-GPU being 00:04:48.240 --> 00:04:54.000 virtually dead, there are simply not enough power hungry components inside the typical high-end PC 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? 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 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, 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. 00:05:17.280 --> 00:05:22.160 Most power supplies are most efficient when they're running at somewhere around 50% load. 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 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 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 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 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, 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 00:05:54.080 --> 00:05:58.960 flirt with that maximum number when you're really pushing it. And although newer ATX 00:05:58.960 --> 00:06:04.400 3.0 power supplies can deal with transient spikes in power draw past the rated wattage 00:06:04.400 --> 00:06:09.120 better than older units could, you still don't want a situation where you're continuously 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, 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 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 00:06:24.720 --> 00:06:30.000 sufficient, the power supplies build quality is far more important than the raw number of watts. 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, 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 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. 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, 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. 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 00:06:59.920 --> 00:07:04.720 as buses that connect different components could operate at different speeds. And the power 00:07:04.720 --> 00:07:09.280 delivery systems for CPUs were built very differently between models, meaning some other 00:07:09.280 --> 00:07:14.240 boards were far better at overclocking, for example, than others. In modern times, though, 00:07:14.240 --> 00:07:18.960 most motherboards tend to have fairly overbuilt CPU power delivery, except on the very low end. 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. 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 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 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. 00:07:40.320 --> 00:07:44.480 The chipset is a separate chip responsible for handling much of the data that flows between 00:07:44.480 --> 00:07:48.400 different parts of your computer. And different chipsets support different numbers of ports, 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 00:07:52.480 --> 00:07:57.840 splurging on one of those super high end motherboards? Some of them can offer really esoteric 00:07:57.840 --> 00:08:02.880 features for really extreme overclocking, like with liquid nitrogen or something equally exotic. 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 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. 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 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, 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 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 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 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 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 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 00:08:48.320 --> 00:08:52.160 in the comment section with your suggestions for topics that we should cover in the future.