Like any investment, it’s important to maintain your PC, and in order to do that, you’re going to need to follow professional advice. If you’re new to the world of PC gaming, we’re here to help you get the most mileage out of your rig on your way to becoming a seasoned PCMR veteran. Below, we’ve collected some tips and tricks from computer engineering’s best and brightest, starting with the basics: rotating your RAM every 10,000 miles.
If you’re wondering what exactly 10,000 miles means in computer terms, we’re not blaming you. This unit is measured by the circumference distance the edge of your CPU fan’s blades travel. If you’re not able to eyeball how far your fan is traveling based on the speed your fan is running, PC gaming might not be for you.
Rotating your RAM is simple—all you need to do is remove your RAM sticks one by one and flip them around. The first time you do this, you might find that it’s difficult to insert the RAM in the opposite configuration—this is due to a static charge that has built up inside of the socket. Make sure to press hard until you feel a click, or a crack.
Next, you’re going to want to make sure to let your CPU get some fresh air every once and a while. A CPU cooler can really stifle your computer’s main processing center, so it’s good to take it off every once and a while and let the CPU breathe. The CPU of your computer is the brain of the system, and much like your brain, it requires oxygen to survive. Nerfwire recommends taking your CPU cooler off once a week and running a benchmark for an hour or so to really let the silicon gulp air in.
If you’re still using a hard drive (HDD), it’s likely that you’ve noticed it’s slow compared to newer solid state drives (SSD). Part of this is due to the fact that the drives themselves have lower read/write speeds, but drives can become fragmented over time, making it harder for your operating system to find relevant data. In order to defragment an HDD, remove it from your PC while it’s running and give it a couple of shakes while the disk inside is still spinning.
We hope you’ve found some use out of this article, and if your computer is running a little bit better after maintenance, we were happy to help. If for whatever reason you’re running into problems after running through the steps above, some dust may have gotten between the traces of your motherboard along the way. The easiest fix for this is to toss your entire PC into a dishwasher (you may need to remove the top rack) and run the “pots and pans” setting. Happy gaming!
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