Buying guides
GuideDDR4 vs DDR5 →Which memory your PC needs, what actually changed between the two, and how much more DDR5 costs today.GuideNVMe vs SATA SSDs →Which kind of SSD fits your PC, how much speed you'll actually notice, and what each type costs today.GuideMotherboard chipsets →A620, B650, B850, X870, B860 and Z890 explained: what each one adds, what's worth paying for, and today's cheapest board for each.GuideHow to choose a PC case →Case sizes, the three measurements that decide whether your parts fit, airflow vs. glass, and today's cheapest case in each size.GuideWhich graphics card? →The cheapest card for 60 or 100+ fps at 1080p, 1440p and 4K today, how much VRAM you need, and NVIDIA vs AMD vs Intel.GuidePower supplies →A wattage calculator for the CPUs and graphics cards we track, what 80 Plus ratings mean, the cables you need, and the red flags to avoid.
How it works
ExplainerHow RAM works →Animated diagrams of what happens inside a memory stick when your CPU asks for data, and what speed, CAS latency and dual channel really mean.ExplainerHow CPUs work →Animated diagrams of fetch, decode and execute, pipelining and cores, plus real benchmarks showing why cache beats core count in games.ExplainerHow SSDs work →Animated diagrams of a hard drive vs an SSD, what TLC and QLC mean, why SSDs need empty space, and how much faster each NVMe generation really is.ExplainerHow graphics cards work →Animated diagrams of why GPUs have thousands of cores and how a frame gets drawn, plus real benchmarks on resolution and VRAM, and what DLSS and FSR really do.