One part at a time, in the right order.

A machine upgraded thoughtfully stays current for six years. The same money spent all at once buys three.

The top slot, in section.

THE DETAIL

Every upgrade you will ever buy ends up in this one slot, and the three things that decide whether it goes in cleanly are all visible before you order: how long the card is, whether the latch is reachable once it is seated, and how many brackets the cooler covers.

01THE LATCHUnreachable once a card is in
02THE BRACKETSHow many slots it really eats
03THE LENGTHMeasure the case before you buy

What we are writing.

5 PIECES · IN THE WORKSHOP

Five pieces on spending the next two hundred well, and on knowing when the answer is to spend nothing.

How to find the one upgrade that will actually help

A twenty-minute test that tells you which part is holding the machine back.

★★☆ · 8 MIN

How to tell a bottleneck from a bad setting

Most "I need a new card" is a setting three menus deep. Check first.

★★☆ · 6 MIN

How to read a graphics card spec sheet

Four numbers matter. The rest are there to make comparison hard.

★★☆ · 7 MIN

How to check a part will physically fit

Length, height, slot count and power connectors, before the box arrives.

★☆☆ · 4 MIN

How to sell the part you are replacing

What last generation is actually worth, and how to describe it honestly.

★☆☆ · 5 MIN

Two graphics cards side by side on a desk, one visibly longer and thicker.

The best upgrade is often the one you talk yourself out of.
SLOT 01 · PC BUILDING · THE TOP SLOT

A desk at night: a boxed component, an anti-static bag, and the old part beside it.

FROM THE CURATOR

Upgrade the thing you notice

People upgrade the part with the best marketing rather than the part that is annoying them. If the machine is fast but loud, the upgrade is a cooler. If it is fast but you wait forty seconds to load in, the upgrade is a drive. A graphics card fixes exactly one complaint, and it is worth being honest about whether that is the complaint you actually have.

BY POPPY — CLASS: CURATOR · THEPINKPIPER.GG

THE REST OF THIS STATION

Your First Build THE SOCKET →Cooling & Cable Management BEHIND THE TRAY →

BACK TO PC BUILDING →

You are here.

SLOT 01 / 08 · PC BUILDING

Every station in this room has its own chapter. This one is 01. Back to the room to walk to another.