Pocket-lint - PC Gaming

Mon, 15 Dec 2025 16:00:17 GMT

Keeping a Mac or Windows PC running for a long time can be challenging. It's not as complicated as it used to be -- as anyone who remembers life before SSDs and the internet can tell you -- but at the least, there are basic software maintenance tasks, and repairing or upgrading hardware inevitably becomes difficult, if not impossible. You'll be lucky to own a computer that has parts available for a full decade.

]]>

Mon, 15 Dec 2025 12:00:16 GMT

To avoid any controversy, I don't have a problem with budget laptops just because they're cheap, or because they don't have the best specs on the market. I'm a believer in using the right tool for the job -- but also in money well-spent, regardless of how wealthy you are. There's no sense dropping $2,000 on a laptop if you won't be handling anything more complex than web browsing and emails. For that, an iPad or Android tablet is probably enough.

]]>

Sun, 14 Dec 2025 16:00:16 GMT

For a long time, I avoided buying a laptop. That might sound strange for someone who writes for a living, but if your interests include PC gaming like mine do, a desktop tower is always going to be the most economical option. It costs more to get miniaturized specs with any performance, and you can upgrade many desktop parts at will, instead of just storage or RAM. Ultimately, the best performance is only possible with a desktop, since there's far more room for memory, processor cores, and cooling.

]]>

Sun, 14 Dec 2025 14:00:17 GMT

Heat is the enemy for many electronics, but especially for modern PCs. They're complex beasts with many parts, and excessive heat in just one area can cause a computer to crash, assuming a component doesn't fail permanently. It's almost a miracle that PCs run at all, given how many apps are designed to push their performance to the limit. You can thank decades of work by engineers for getting us to a point of stability.

]]>

Thu, 11 Dec 2025 12:00:15 GMT

This is dating myself, but I remember when keeping a PC running was entirely a do-it-yourself affair. Before Windows 95, there was an unspoken assumption that you were technically inclined -- as a kid, I remember having to mess with IRQ settings and memory managers just to get some of my games to run properly.

]]>

Sat, 06 Dec 2025 14:00:16 GMT

It's a lot easier to take care of a PC than it used to be. I'm old enough to remember DOS, and often, just getting PC games to run was a battle -- if it wasn't a problem with the IRQ settings on a sound card, it was having to load something like EMM386 just to have enough memory. Things are much, much easier today, and I'm here for it.

]]>

Sat, 06 Dec 2025 01:00:16 GMT

First, a confession: I'm actually very tolerant of ambient noise. I'm used to clanging plates and barbells at the gym, and some of my favorite musical genres are metal, industrial, and power electronics. On an early date, I once made the mistake of taking my wife to an Author and Punisher concert -- she couldn't even get in the door before her ears were overwhelmed.

]]>

Sun, 30 Nov 2025 21:00:15 GMT

It's important to think strategically with PC upgrades. If you're on a budget, you can't afford to waste a penny on something that doesn't help performance. If you're rolling in cash, the wrong upgrades can still waste your time, or create headaches that interfere with productivity and gaming. An analogy I like is a tuner car dropped to an inch off the street -- sure, it may look slick, but the driver is going to regret it whenever they need to clear a speed bump.

]]>

Sun, 30 Nov 2025 18:00:15 GMT

This is one of those rare times when I wish I didn't have personal experience I could bring to bear. Earlier this summer, my work laptop died -- it went from port and performance problems to getting stuck on the UEFI screen, then finally, failing to power on at all. In the end, it made more sense to buy a new PC rather than pay a technician hundreds of dollars to salvage something that was already three years old.

]]>

Sun, 30 Nov 2025 14:00:16 GMT

Upgrading your PC on purpose should always be taken as a privilege, given that many people get stuck with a computer for a long time, if they can afford one at all. In my case, I was recently forced to replace my work laptop against my will, as my old one suddenly died despite my best troubleshooting efforts. I could've taken it to a local repair shop -- but even if it was fixable, it probably would've taken days or weeks with a high price tag attached. I'm just lucky my most important files were in the cloud and on an external SSD.

]]>