What upgrade ended up being way more worth it than you expected?
Posted by efecejekeko@reddit | buildapc | View on Reddit | 272 comments
Freelancer here, so my PC is basically where work happens, breaks, and pays rent. I’m not chasing a flashy build, mostly just stuff that saves time and makes daily work less annoying. For me, moving to more RAM and a second monitor made a bigger difference than I expected. What upgrade gave you the biggest real-life improvement, not just better benchmarks.
Odom12@reddit
When software and games came out on CD's and you no longer needed dozens of floppy disks to load games or install software. Just one CD. And it installed so much faster, even on a x386 :-)
Gold-Drag9242@reddit
If your wifi is choppy, than a lan cable!
Gold-Drag9242@reddit
I bought 30m of cat7 flat cable and put it around the room to my desk.
felix1429@reddit
Even if your Wi-Fi isn't 'choppy', hardwiring your system is one of the most substantial, cheapest, and easiest upgrades you can do.
nitrogenlegend@reddit
Not necessarily cheapest nor easiest, depending on where your computer is relative to your router, and assuming you’re not ok with just running a cable through your house. If it’s on a different level of your house, multiple rooms over, etc. then properly running that ethernet cable is a serious job, one that most people wouldn’t want to try on their own, meaning hiring an electrician or handyman.
But yes, hard wiring is a very substantial upgrade.
XiTzCriZx@reddit
I had to get a wifi card for my brother's PC because he would've had to run a 30-50ft cable up to his room from the router and my dad didn't want it running along the wall nor wanted to deal with installing it into the wall.
A $20 wifi card is much cheaper than hiring an electrician lol.
Stingray88@reddit
Yeah I have a ridiculously unnecessary enterprise grade WiFi AP, and yet I will still hardwire everything I can.
Great WiFi is even better the less devices you have using it.
TemptedTemplar@reddit
Ethernet over powerline or moCA adapters too.
If your house isn't wired for Ethernet, there's probably a method of making it happen anyways!
MajorAssMoon@reddit
That "or" is doing a lot of heavy lifting lol
MoCA adapters are literal magic. Setup can be a pain, especially if you have cable TV, but once it's working it's damn near identical to a direct wired connection
Powerline adapters are the spawn of Satan. At least in my experience, they were only marginally better than wifi a decade ago. At this point, I'm certain that a mesh network would be preferable in almost every case
Several_Alps_2672@reddit
Lol agreed about power line adapters. My IPTV box didn't have WiFi so I used them. One day they just stopped working. Nothing would fix it, even replacing the plugs. Couldn't watch live TV. Then after a few days they worked again. Must have been some sort of interference. I also had a lot more regular picture breakup than satellite.
Cormophyte@reddit
I called Comcast to update the coax splitter so I could use MoCA to get a ~2.5mbps connection from my third floor homelab and my second floor computer (apartment, so I wasn't going to screw with it myself and the box had four other townhouse's worth of drops in there). The tech got there, I explained I wanted to use MoCA adapters in the house and needed a splitter that suppored the relevant frequencies and there was one fewer coaxial cables attached to my apartment's current splitter than I had coax drops so that needed to be hooked up, too.
I get a text from outside 5 minutes later that he was all done and my first thought was that he's either very very good or very very stupid.
He had removed the splitter and wired the drop I currently had my modem connected to straight to their line. Literally the exact opposite of what I wanted. I run around the block to his truck and explain (nicely) that he needed to go back and fix his shit. He then proceeded to not only debate with me about whether or not that was going to be okay (filter was installed and I was describing a textbook setup to him) but he called his supervisor and that jackass decided to argue with me as well. He did it, though.
TemptedTemplar@reddit
The "or" is for "options" because there are lots of ways of adapting Ethernet over long distances.
Powerline adapters can be crazy cheaper, but yeah they don't work perfectly in every house. But they can work just fine.
I bought a set of Gigabit adapters for a rental house I was living in and they would disconnect for 1 second every few hours, but it was way better than the wifi due to the walls being made what I assume was cinder blocks.
But they work perfectly fine in my current house. Beats trying to deal with DECO wifi extenders.
How2eatsoap@reddit
yes omg. maybe not quite the same but on my xbox I would average 500 ping despite being about 3 meters from my wifi box. Stick a direct ethernet cable to the box and it goes down to 20.
Never not used an ethernet cable for anything at home since.
lowresolution666@reddit
Switching from a 1080 144 hz old monitor to " 27inch 1440p Mini LED monitor"
Switching from an Old arctics headset to "Arctics Nova Pro wireless"
These 2 made a very very big difference / wow factor for me
ScuffedGoats@reddit
I went from a clam core that was quite literally falling apart to the steelseries arctis pro wireless... everytime I have to use the clam core while I dont have the arctis with me reminds me of how good that headset is...
but well... it is REALLY expensive
but it still is so freaking nice to have
maybe not worth it for everyone, but you cant go wrong with it
(for some people it may be smarter to get another cheaper headset, but with this one you know that you will be having a good one no matter what, and that is what was important to me)
lijo1990@reddit
Wait until you get an OLED monitor.
wilsonsmilk@reddit
A couple years ago. Upgraded from a gtx 970 to 3080 gpu
ScuffedGoats@reddit
a 4GB 3050 laptop (and one thats pretty broken) to a 5080 desktop will be my upgrade in 1.5 weeks... ugh its getting so close but I gotta wait
lolhal@reddit
lol just upgraded from a 970 to a 5060ti 16 GB. I hung in there longer than I should have but those 970’s were really solid.
RSVive@reddit
Still rocking mine after 10 years. Hopefully RAM gets affordable (at least mort than now) sometime soon because I can't really play recent games anymore and I wanna upgrade.
rambi2222@reddit
Yeah they were great, I would rate them a 3.5/4
^^^/s
nopewasntmethistime@reddit
Wow, that is a huge jump.
Toeofcharmander@reddit
6950xt to 5080 I dealt with coilwhine for almost two years just wearing headphones then tried the 7900xtx and that was way worse, so I returned that sold the 6950xt and then got the 5080 totally worth it, and I had been using and since running crossfire on R9 390x
deleted_by_reddit@reddit
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Altruistic-Knee-2523@reddit
1080p -> 1440p. People arnt lying.
fsychii@reddit
Oled
Exzircon@reddit
Similar to that, any upgrade past 60hz monitors. You start getting diminishing returns, but at least getting 120hz is a gamechanger
Blueson@reddit
What I don't get about going above 120/144hz is, who is hitting like 240 fps in any newer releases?
I assume higher hz is mostly for people playing esport titles. But that's also what you find most higher end monitors pushing for nowadays.
Happy_Brilliant7827@reddit
At 1080p? Sure
SoftShock0@reddit
Hey now! Im hitting 240 fps on the desktop 😎
Exciting-Ad-5705@reddit
Framegen when your base is 120 feels pretty nice
ocxtitan@reddit
I mean you basically just answered it right there, if you have a 240 hz monitor you have the flexibility of running older games at 240 fps when capable and VRR for anything you can't
WaRRioRz0rz@reddit
Life isn't always about newer releases. 240fps while playing older games is a vibe too.
Stingray88@reddit
Yeah I play a complete mix of brand new games, 20+ year old games, games with high the graphics, games with simple graphics. Not everything is about the latest AAA title all the time.
Xaan83@reddit
Pretty easily with frame gen or scaling. I'm getting 240 in BF6 at 3440x1440 and that's capped because the 7900 XTX gets a bit toastier than I'd like and there's really no reason for me to get anything higher than that on my monitor.
thisisjustascreename@reddit
Refresh rate isn’t just for higher fps, it also reduces eye strain and is generally just nicer to look at.
zabbenw@reddit
They are for esports.
artaru@reddit
5080, 200+ fps with frame gen and no noticeable latency in Arc Raiders. very fun :D
also we aren't always playing all the new games. a lot of "more recent" games u can hit 200-240fps pretty easily.
clyde_drexler@reddit
I work from home and got two 60hz monitors for free from my job and it hurts to try and justify getting a third monitor for gaming just because beings stuck at 60hz sucks but I am starting to hit that point.
The_Hanumaniac@reddit
Just be careful mixing refresh rates bro. Sometimes causes driver timeout errors with your GPU.
Accident_Pedo@reddit
Not sure if the bug is around still but if you'er using windows then you want your refresh rates being divisble by each other
IE You would not want 60Hz and 165Hz
60HZ and 120Hz would be okay. 120Hz and 240Hz would be okay. But not 120HZ and 165HZ. Get it?
The issue stems from a long fucking time ago, so it may be fixed by now. But - it would cause issues where the primary monitor would take on the secondaries monitors FPS. So youre 165Hz monitor would end up looking like the 60Hz one.
This is likely old advice though. But the thing is, this issue lasted a decade or more, so I have no idea if it's still around :).
clyde_drexler@reddit
so what you are saying is that I should get TWO high refresh rate monitors and pass these down to my wife...
cgaWolf@reddit
Ooooo, you just gave me a new lead.
Ta!
Everborn128@reddit
No way, I'd say anything past 144hz you start noticing less but 144hz from 60hz is absolutely insane.
artaru@reddit
i think the person u responded to phrase it badly.
Stingray88@reddit
Nah I think they were right how they had it originally. Technically you get diminishing returns even after 1Hz. Every additional increase in Hz is less noticeable. Then they’re just saying that 120Hz is a game changer, not suggesting that’s the reasonable limit, not to exclude 144Hz. There is no real reasonable limit, it’s subjective.
artaru@reddit
you must be REAL fun at parties lmao
that person already responded that my interpretation is right.
Stingray88@reddit
That’s really unnecessary. Don’t do that.
You’re missing the point. There is no “right” here. What the original commenter said was not wrong.
artaru@reddit
just a bit of teasing mate.
but u did say "technically" anything after 1hz is diminishing return.
that's just like. wow.
you stretched the notion of "diminishing return" so broad there, the notion actually becomes useless.
uhm....
anyway hope are enjoying your day and the weekend. i think we have gotten our points across.
Stingray88@reddit
Dude… That’s the exact opposite of reality. I described the very definition of diminishing returns.
You know you can talk to people without being passive aggressive, right?
Everborn128@reddit
I think we're just all in agreement here lol
Everborn128@reddit
I feel like this is getting too technical for the point being made lol
Stingray88@reddit
But that’s my point… you don’t have to get technical with it. The OP didn’t say 144Hz wasn’t even better than 120Hz, they just said 120Hz is a game changer.
To keep it simple… higher refresh rate than just 60Hz really is awesome.
Exzircon@reddit
Spot on
Everborn128@reddit
Ya that could be
cgaWolf@reddit
144 Hz@440p
12\^2 is computer magic for some reason
2raysdiver@reddit
Actually, for the old tube monitors, the flicker of 60Hz interlaced monitors gave me headaches. 75Hz progressive was a game changer - flicker free and no more headaches.
Pils99@reddit
1080 -> 1440p going from 24' to 27' or staying at 24' for more pixel density?
KRISZatHYPE@reddit
I'm on a 34' ultra wide 1440p, pixel density is great, font be afraid to size up
Kinji_Infanati@reddit
I use a 34” 1440p UW and a 25” 1440p 16:9 monitor. I prefer the 34 over the 25 even though the latter has more dpi. I use a pc and MacBook and often dock my MacBook on those two, and also on a 4K monitor at work. The Mac does great with all 3, I prefer the 4K there. I am reluctant to switch my desktop to a 4K monitor still…
Rou_@reddit
In your scenario it‘s still the same pixel density, as 21:9 ultrawide are basically 1,5 27“ monitors
PM_ME_A_Pic_@reddit
I have two 1440 monitors, one at 27, the other at 32. I don’t think I would go smaller than 27 because things will start getting small. I don’t see a huge difference between the 27 and 32 though.
ps-73@reddit
1440p 32 is insanely blurry to me, especially when that monitor is shared with my mac. I even downgraded to 60Hz which was worth it with the ppi increase to 4k 27
PM_ME_A_Pic_@reddit
I'm not going to say there is NO difference between the two, but I still wouldn't believe it is enough difference to make a difference. 1440@32" is roughly 1080@24", I don't think most people would have an issue with that kind of pixel density at normal viewing distances.
If that's the experience you had and you're not nose-to-panel distances, I would almost argue you may have something else going on.
goodnames679@reddit
I went from 1080p 23" to 1440p 27"
Pixel density improved notably and I also got to enjoy a more immersive experience for gaming (I find that improving screen size helps a lot here on PC personally)
woaheasytherecowboy@reddit
I sized up because I didn't want to sit as close to the monitor as before
BarbaricGlueHuffee@reddit
For productivity, the jump of 1440p -> 4K is even better than the jump of 1440p ->4k. For gaming not so much, but still nice.
MiXeD-ArTs@reddit
1440p Ultra wide sure but not at 16:9
logaboga@reddit
Yup. Just made the upgrade back in October after being at 1080 since like 2017. Can’t go back at all now
IlikeJG@reddit
I think I'm finally gonna pull the trigger on this.
I have always made budget builds and I don't really need a big screen, so I figured if I stayed on 1080p it would improve my performance a lot.
That's true to an extent but at a certain point I would just get more visual "performance" (i.e. how beautiful it looks) by just using the higher res I think.
razortechrs@reddit
I was going to but idk if my gpu could handle such a hit with modern games 😔
SoapilyProne@reddit
Adding on to this. 1440p -> 4k. I just upgraded and mannnnn, cyberpunk looks so good!
Jaybonaut@reddit
Cyberpunk looks good in 720p and 1080p. Let's not get silly here.
cspybbq@reddit
Why 1440p and not 4k?
Is it the sweet spot for cost? Or are 1440p more likely to have higher refresh rates? Or something else?
I don't really play video games, and work bought the 4k monitor, but I love the space 4k gives me to have so many windows side by side when I'm working on anything.
MrGeekman@reddit
Yeah, it's the sweet spot for the costs of the monitor and also the GPU. You don't need to spend upwards of $1,000 USD for a GPU if you're just using a 1440p monitor.
Altruistic-Knee-2523@reddit
Just being so worth it. For $200 it’s the best upgrade you can make it terms of visual greatness. Most pc can run 1440p now too
Sleepy_Chipmunk@reddit
Your mileage may vary. I upgraded semi-recently and while it’s noticeable, it’s a large difference to me. My vision’s pretty crap though.
BlastFace19@reddit
i jumped from 1080p 75hz to 1440p 240hz and it was a night and day difference, i'd say buy whatever fits your needs
windowpuncher@reddit
You would think it doesn't matter for office work.
It does. It's huge. Even 4k is so nice. EVERYTHING is so goddamn clear, my spreadsheets never looked so crisp.
Also going from like 60 hz to 120. I keep my 2nd screen on for static content so I just leave it at 60, but when I do move things around in that monitor it's so awful and jarring compared to my buttery 240 main. 240 is overkill though for sure but 120-144 or something is such a great upgrade.
4k 120 hz is still overkill for office work but it's SO nice to have when you work on the pc all day.
Also everyone should install f.lux. I can dim the screens on my desktop and control the color temperature with a schedule and hotkeys. Windows can't do that with the built in tool, this is infinitely better. Now when it's late I can turn down the brightness and add some more red and my eyes don't hurt anymore.
aurumatom20@reddit
Honestly for productivity especially just go all the way to 4k
blueflavoredreign@reddit
People insist "broooo you gotta do 1440p, you'll NEVER be able to go back to 1080p after"
Thing is, I believe them. So I avoid it like the plague so it won't ruin my cheap-ass 120 fps.
videoismylife@reddit
I went from a high-end 24" 1200p 60Hz monitor I bought in 2011 to a relatively cheap 32" 1440p 165Hz monitor in 2022 and it was like a slap in the face - it felt like a whole new computer.
The improved sharpness and detail you could see because of the bigger screen, the nice blacks, more vivid colors and better brightness from a modern screen, the improvement in motion smoothness when I could get over 100Hz refresh - that $160 monitor was the biggest single improvement in gaming and general computing I've ever experienced.
Ok_Jacket_1311@reddit
I found it rather underwhelming myself.
Fredasa@reddit
But I'll still always laugh when those same people recoil at the thought that 4K can be just as meaningful. Obviously everything depends on one's FOV, but a TV-as-desktop serves, in my experience, three purposes.
Anyone who recognizes the kinds of advantages they gained going from 17 inches to 30+ really shouldn't have difficulty understanding that the same thing happens again going to 45+. And 4K still isn't even close to retina, so it's not as though one can even pretend this is overkill. 8K might be.
FlameLegacy@reddit
I have both and still exclusively game on the 1080p for high fps and refresh (esports) and watch videos cause of the position of the monitor. Playing competitive games on a 27 in is pretty big vs a 24 in. I can see if people play non sweaty then use the 1440p. I use 1440p for productivity.
UnsaidRnD@reddit
If you're working with text, as an editor, data analyst and what not, simply learning to use two windows on a relatively large screen is a potentially HUGE upgrade and you don't even need 2 actual monitors for it \^\^
For me, using a light mouse (39g here) was a super upgrade. I've had light gaming mice before, \~60g and didn't expect to feel any improvement. And yet now I am addicted.
XiTzCriZx@reddit
If you think a 2nd monitor makes a big difference, wait until you get a 3rd monitor /s
My biggest unexpected upgrade was getting some Goodwill monitors, for $5-10 each I expected them to be complete garbage but they're surprisingly perfectly fine, even got one that was 75hz. I gave most of them to friends/family but afaik all of them are still currently in use.
cyanide4suicide@reddit
I stuck with a 1080ti for some time. But games like Halo Infinite during the campaign and Cyberpunk 2077 made me move up to a 3080. Huge difference in FPS
Jumping generations between graphics cars is one of the most notable things you'll see up to a point.
XiTzCriZx@reddit
Single generation upgrades can also be good when going up in class, 1080 Ti is pretty close in performance to a 2070 Super so it'd have a similar performance improvement. Generally that's only worth it when buying used though, currently it's a great $300-350 upgrade, but not so much for it's msrp.
Tinki_w@reddit
honestly an ssd. if any of you are still on hdd as your system drive, the change to ssd is absolutely crazy
KhaosGuy01@reddit
Ultrawide/2+ monitors.
The_gaming_dino@reddit
Going from 16GB to 32GB (bought it second-hand given current RAM prices). May just be placebo, but the PC does feel ever so snappier and being able to have more stuff in the background is something you come to appreciate in time.
SagittaryX@reddit
7700X -> 9800X3D, was still on a new and quite relevant CPU but holy damn the X3D made an incredibly noticeable difference for a couple of my most played games.
DragonQ0105@reddit
Recently I can't think of a single upgrade that really changed the experience. Back in the day going from a Core Duo laptop to an i7-920 @ 3.8 GHz desktop was pretty mind blowing.
I must say I've seen barely any improvement going from an R7 3700X to an R7 5800X3D. My wife has the same GPU as me and an R5 3600 and we get the same FPS in all the games we play (same settings). Maybe mine is a bit smoother with the dips though, who knows.
Brimborgari@reddit
Monitor arms is my favourite low cost upgrade getting rid of the monitor legs gives you so much table space
DragonQ0105@reddit
I have to use monitor arms so I can fit my KVM and work laptop dock underneath, so...no extra space for me!
Imalittlestitious86@reddit
A 49 inch UW OLED monitor. The immersion is insane
jetstrea87@reddit
HSR47@reddit
I’d say 3900X to 5800X3D, but my research showed that it would be a massive step up for me, and it lived up to my expectations.
CaptMcMooney@reddit
4k dell with built in kvm, 3rd monitor, basically 2 for work 1 for messaging, intel 265k processor with an enormous amount of memory oh yeah and a really nice webcam for teams.
something about 20 real processors and an enormous amount of memory just makes everything so fluid. it's easily the best computer i've ever owned. there are days i end up with 2 video games wow and flightsim, a heavy build happening, be in a video conference on teams and have 2 or 3 vms running, everything running smooth as glass.
that being said, now that i think about it, probably a HUGE desk and a really nice chair would be most impactful
Tsukiko_@reddit
I got the XXL superglide glass mousepad and I cant go back it feels so good in game
Cardiac_Mojo@reddit
Swirching my PC from DOS to Windows. That also eliminated the the occasional job interview comment, "Oh, you don't do windows?" 😆
ravihpa@reddit
34" ultrawide monitor - absolutely love the screen real estate for work.
maxgeek@reddit
OLED, it really made the colors pop and the dark blacks are so noticeable. I think mini led is nice too if you are afraid of burn in.
skylinestar1986@reddit
I wish it's available in 1080p. OLED should get more common until it becomes the norm in budget segment.
RectumExplorer--@reddit
OLED and budget don't belong together. If you buy OLED you want the best image possible and you're willing to make sacrifices for it. 1080p is not something you're looking for.
skylinestar1986@reddit
That's like saying air travel and budget don't belong together.
LowSkyOrbit@reddit
It's been 20 years since 1080p became standard for TVs and 4k has been on TVs for more than 10 years . 5k can be found in high end monitors and 8k TVs starting to trickle through. I don't understand why there hasn't been a better push for better image quality on budget computers.
chaosPudding123@reddit
Because streaming media in 4k is still pretty hard. The bandwidth and storage cost for providers is very high. We don't really need 8k TVs when we can hardly stream 4k.
LowSkyOrbit@reddit
It's not hard. There's no reason 99% of homes in the 1st world shouldn't have cheap gigabit internet other than corporate greed. If ATSC 3.0 OTA can do 8K then we should be pushing it out. It's bad enough the ATSC 3.0 standard included encoding which eats more bandwidth.
Technology is there, it's the business world that is holding up progress because they want to charge premiums for it.
hellomistershifty@reddit
Filming, editing and delivering 8k video is a nightmare. We're hardly able to produce 'real' 4k, most films and high budget TV shows are still on 2k intermediates for editing/color/vfx/etc that get upscaled. Uncompressed 8k video is 100 megabytes a frame, studios don't want to redo their entire content delivery pipeline with NASA supercomputers for an imperceptible quality improvement
cplusequals@reddit
It's really hard to take this complaint seriously because the push for 8k is being primarily made from the corporate side not the consumer side. At the end of the day it isn't economical relative to the demand for it. There is very little native 8k content and there's little incentive to waste processing time and energy/hardware costs producing it. Funnily enough, when we do make the jump to 8k it will only be because of greed pushing people into a space for which there is a market demand. Content lags behind hardware capability and bandwidth and storage rises behind content consumption.
Jaybonaut@reddit
...who wouldn't be afraid of burn-in... even if they were cheap
hellomistershifty@reddit
People who buy a new monitor every few years anyway
Bentok@reddit
I would be so hyped about OLED if I knew that VRR flicker could ever be fixed
ruinah@reddit
Soundblaster 5.1 audio card back in the day.
globaldu@reddit
3DFX card back in the day... and then GeForce 256.
skylinestar1986@reddit
Mechanical keyboard
DigitalRonin73@reddit
A good keyboard is a game changer. One that fits you and your style. I got my epo maker keyboard on sale and I absolutely love it. It wasn’t even expensive.
semidegenerate@reddit
I love my Ducky One 2.
SuperLuigi9624@reddit
I recently upgraded the cooler on my i9-10900 and got a 30% performance uplift just by improving thermals alone.
Brief_Conference_42@reddit
Upgraded from a 2014 igpu to a Ryzen 7500F+RX 7700 XT+32GB RAM+1TB.
At first my only aim was only RX 6600/RTX 4060, but thankfully I did more because being able to play 1440P60 on a 27" w/ FSR4 is chef's kiss! 27" also does wonders in productivity.
stuartgreene@reddit
When I went from HDD to SSD
GistfulThinking@reddit
Back when they first hit the market, installing a cheap SSD.
Moving from platters to ssd bumped performance an insane amount when they first became consumer cost friendly.
Amusingly when I built n 2021 and upgraded to nvme, I grabbed a 4TB platter drive for my game library. I dropped in a 4TB SSD that I got on sale for $200 a year later.
etr4807@reddit
I'm convinced that the only reason "SSD" doesn't absolutely crush all of these discussions is because too many newer people have never experienced HDD operating systems.
If you have a HDD, then SSD is the answer and nothing else is even remotely close.
cheq@reddit
saved SO many old computers from friends & family
cubanohermano@reddit
I remember starting my computer and then going to go make a cup of tea
dank_imagemacro@reddit
Going from an iGPU to a real GPU is at least close, having done both.
Exciting-Ad-5705@reddit
Not if you are going from a strix halo to a gt1030
dank_imagemacro@reddit
True, but but my upgrade from Vega8 on a 3200g to a then just released RX6600 was more of a game changer than my upgrade to an SSD, and the 3200g and the 6600 were closer to being contemporaries.
HEBushido@reddit
A lot of games an iGPU can't even run.
MyRedditUsername-25@reddit
At one point, I had two 10,000 RPM drives in a raid-0 config. It was blazing fast at the time. even so, an entry-level SSD blew it away.
GistfulThinking@reddit
I almost bought a 36gb Raptor 10k drive at an auction from a closed down PC store.
Right after I saw it, some idiot picked it up and went "ugh, it's only 36gb" and threw it on the table, it hit hard enough I just couldn't trust it after that.
They were still a newish thing, it sold really cheaply too.
lorenzoelmagnifico@reddit
I've been building computers when we still had master and slave jumpers on them. SSDs are by far the biggest leap in computer technology.
prince_0611@reddit
Yeah I switched my old laptop from an old 5400rpm hard drive to a cheap ssd and it felt like it was a decade newer
Sharrakor@reddit
What? Come on! This subreddit's user base can't be that young! Don't make me go gray even faster than I am!
Perhaps I'm just late to the party, though. I only got an SSD in 2021.
MorePowerMoreOomph@reddit
I've had an SSD since I've built my first PC back in 2013 and I only upgraded (albeit to a laptop) back in 2022 and that's 9 years of the same i5 4670K, 8GB RAM, and HDD and the boot up time was the the first thing that I noticed.
I had to wait like 30s for my old rig to boot up. lol
nitrogenlegend@reddit
Also ssd prices are bonkers right now
VzSAurora@reddit
Yup my first build had a HDD in 2012. Upgraded to a 250GB SSD in 2014. You're absolutely right, anyone not saying SSD has never experienced HDD boot drives.
NoExcitement2104@reddit
completely agree
TT99C5@reddit
This is a good one. Dating myself, but I jumped on the SSD train back in 2010. I maxed out the bus bandwidth on my old X58 motherboard with 6x 64 GB SSD's in a RAID 0 Config and it's BLISTERING 550/550 throughput, but boy did that thing fly for it's time. Instant program opening, no delay anywhere. It was awesome.
RectumExplorer--@reddit
Paid 150€ for my first 128GB Sata SSD. If that thing died I'd spend 300 on a new one in a heartbeat. SSD's aren't game changing, they are life altering.
blueflavoredreign@reddit
I remember what sold me on SSDs is that I was literally buying hours of my life.
beirch@reddit
I remember my 256GB SATA SSD from 2013 costing $160 lmao. It was a game changer as the OS drive though.
RumbleTheCassette@reddit
I paid $100 for a 40 GB Vertex 2 SSD in 2011 as my Windows drive. It died like three years later as they were notoriously short lived.
beirch@reddit
Mine was an Intel 335 and it's still going strong.
Xaan83@reddit
I still have a $600 (CAD) 1 TB Samsung EVO 840 from 2013 that works. It's been relegated to my spare machine but it served as my Steam library for about 10 years.
IzukuMidoriya0719@reddit
1080p to 1440p was a really good one but another one that I noticed when pushing my equipment was the power supply. My PC has been running better even since i gave it more watts to work with and it surprised me a lot.
jeffcolv@reddit
A good monitor as long as you have a good pc already. This hobby is painfully expensive
Potential-Leg-639@reddit
A dedicated 24/7 NAS
I_Am_Vladimir_Putin@reddit
Why?
LonnieMachin@reddit
Plex. It will save all the money you are paying for streaming services.
cgaWolf@reddit
All my important data gets automatically backed up to it, so if microsoft decides to blow up my laptop again, it's annoying but not tragic.
Cormophyte@reddit
Fucking backups should be fiest top of every one of these lists. Nobody does them and it drives me straight up the wall because it's so easy to not lose your life to a hard drive crash.
Potential-Leg-639@reddit
it can do lot of things all the time, possibilites are nearly endless, use it as your local LLM server, file server, AI bot, 24/7 online VMs, backups, web scraper, youtube downloader, selfhosted GIT(ea) instance, Jellyfin, Plex,........................................
I_Am_Vladimir_Putin@reddit
ok yeah most of this is completely irrelevant to 99% of people, that's why I was surprised.
globaldu@reddit
I just picked up a NAS for less than £200, with 4x 4TB SAS drives for £120. It's primary use will be a file store and backup for my photos, docs, emails.
It's the best solution for the 3-2-1 backup rule, and the ability to move a lot of unimportant media off my personal computers will free up a ton of space which I can use for other things... like my Steam library.
Backups and clean ups are two very good uses which are relevant to the 99%.
Potential-Leg-639@reddit
"most of this is completely irrelevant to 99% of people"
😂
I_Am_Vladimir_Putin@reddit
The only thing you'd even remotely commonly find people using from what you named is Plex, and even that is a tiny percentage of population.
pythonic_dude@reddit
You are on a subreddit about building PCs, 95% of people are already excluded.
ShortSightedMongoose@reddit
yeah maybe someone should start r/accessiblepcmasterrace. I mean I won't, but someone could.
Potential-Leg-639@reddit
Funny to respond to people who have no clue about a topic and show it that hard. But hey, all good. Your nickname says it all, that you are a really bad troll.
smackythefrog@reddit
Looked in to setting one up a few months back. Saw prices and figured I'm good.
Maybe in three years if prices come down
Potential-Leg-639@reddit
Yeah worst time to do it right now, except you have some HDDs/SSDs lying around. A used Dell/HP Box is enough.
smackythefrog@reddit
I looked in to possibly using an nvme I have in an enclosure and plugged into an older Dell Optiplex, but I was warned that the external NVME, and the enclosure, are not rated to be on 24/7.
All I wanted to do was to set my MacBook's Time Machine backups to be to that external NVMe and also to put my movie and TV show collection on it. Maybe 2 TBs total? On a 4TB NVMe.
But still, I was told it was not a good idea to keep it plugged in 24/7.
Potential-Leg-639@reddit
It will work without a problem. Maybe add 1-2 fans and that’s it. Why NVME for a backup? HDDs are enough. You need NVME to run local VMs, Docker containers etc
smackythefrog@reddit
I bought it Black Friday of 2024. 4 TB for $190, $200 including the Orico enclosure. I was using it to move large files, occasionally, between my Mac and my desktop. Plus, I figured it was future proofing for my storage needs.
WizardMoose@reddit
When we move in a few months, I told my partner I'm gonna spend about $1000 putting together a NAS. We're already using Plex but its just running off my main rig. Gonna try to expand to 16tb, and put a lot more content on there. Learn about some of the programs you can use to automatically download new episodes as they come out and everything else you can do with NAS/Media management.
internet_safari_@reddit
100%. For me it's not just a NAS, but a desktop computer running Debian built from my old parts + two 4TB CMR drives in a ZFS mirror pool. It is on the home wifi, but also a cheaper managed gigabit Netgear switch which has its own IP space, and connects it via either ethernet or wifi to my other computers and even my phone over SSH or SMB. I could go on for paragraphs about how useful this is. The transfer rates are so nice and the ping is around half a millisecond so it feels like browsing the native filesystem and SSH feels like it's running on the computer I'm using. Nothing like taking notes, or programming in a nice Neovim setup from my bed on my phone using the Debian terminal built into Android, including compiling, pushing to github, everything. Especially with Tmux, it's right where I left it when I hop on any other device in the home. So cool!
scmitr@reddit
Moving from HDD to SSD is objectively the most lifechanging upgrade ever.
Jaybonaut@reddit
mentioned elsewhere in case you are wondering why so few upvotes
TokageLife@reddit
Stand alone dac/amp.
Spent $200 on a JDSLabs offering over a decade ago and it is still going strong. The knob has a bit more wobble these days and the included led isn't as brought but it powers everything from orchestra 2 to r70xa perfectly.
Jaybonaut@reddit
What would you get today, and could recommend?
FearEternal@reddit
Depending what your primary and secondary monitor are, I went from 27" 2k primary and 27" secondary, both landscape to a 3440 curved ultrawide primary landscape with a 27" portrait on the side. HUGE upgrade. Can keep reading, googling, any other reference stuff on the secondary and have the ultra wide for all the design work. Way less eye and neck straight with this setup. Wish I would have pulled the trigger years ago.
Disastrous-Bee2779@reddit
Most to least impactful in recent times
SSD > high refresh rate display > ultrawide display
Back in the day, jumping from a basic 8086 IBM to a 486 DX33 with soundblaster, 2x CD ROM and VGA monitor was massive
cgaWolf@reddit
CGA -> VGA
So. Mant. Colours.
KlausKoe@reddit
just recently learned that CGA has 16 Colors not just in text if you use a composite Monitor
I fucking hate cyan and magenta!
TheDarnook@reddit
Going from slow 16 to fast 32 gb of ram. Turned out it wasn't necesary "just for that single project" - but for any next one. And it fixed my weird issues with Witcher 3, and potentially saved me from encountering glitches in other games.
ghostfreckle611@reddit
Ram. My PC increased in value in the last 6 months… 😉
beljko0106@reddit
bought 32gb of ddr5 and 3TB of ssd when building the pc a year ago, best investment of my life lmao
DoubleExposure@reddit
All of these upgrades were way better than I thought they would be.
5800X3D > 3600
9070XT > 2070s
1440p > 1080P
SSD for OS > HDD for OS
PuzzledCompetition58@reddit
Going to an OLED
Amellis84@reddit
An external sound card and a non-gaming headset. You get used to it really fast but in the games that have really good audio or consuming high fidelity media they are amazing.
and the obvious... a second monitor
Sleepy_Chipmunk@reddit
I can’t go back to a single monitor.
2raysdiver@reddit
HDD to SSD. Hands down. If you use your PC for work, this is the single biggest improvement you can make. Except maybe when I finally got a PC WITH a HDD (instead of booting from floppy drive).
achtung9624@reddit
Just having a 24in monitor and a mech keyboard, instead of just a laptop screen.
KenS-TX@reddit
The first SSD was a huge upgrade. Going from DDR 3 to DDR4 memory was a big deal. Switching to a smaller case was nice. I realized I could put 3 NVME drives in a smaller case with no HDDs and save a lot of space on my desk. Same thing with switching to monitor arms and getting rid of the manufacturers monitor stand.
BillW87@reddit
Not applicable to everyone, but as someone who plays a lot of more CPU-bound games (4x/strategy), investing in a good CPU. Generally the advice is right not to go crazy with your CPU budget and focusing on getting up the next GPU tier for most gaming, but there are situations where CPU bottlenecking is real.
Bleezy79@reddit
My top 3 "must haves" for gamers are: SSD, minimum 120hz monitor, 1440p resolution. SSD's halved my load times, and having at least 120hz gives you a huge advantage in FPS shooters vs someone on a 60hz monitor, and you really can see a lot more detail with 1440p compared to 1080p.
Warcraft_Fan@reddit
dialup to cable internet. Downloading Linux went from several hours to several minutes, and back in early 2000 Linus wasn't that big.
313Wolverine@reddit
OLED Monitor
faruquei@reddit
HDD to SSD
Mechanical Keybord to Hall Effect Keyboard
Hazel2468@reddit
I am... Very inexperience with PCs. Just barely breaking into doing my own work on mine. But I recently upgraded my case from the compact Corsair that it's been in since I had it built (and I helped some) back in 2020. I upgraded to the Hyte X50, and let me tell you. It is AMAZING how much cooler my PC is now.
I installed some more fans recently, and the difference between doing that sort of work in this case versus the old one is night and day. Everything on this new case is magnetic, there's SO much room to work inside. The cable management is easy. I didn't think I would notice the difference this much, but it's been awesome.
I'm currently looking into changing out my liquid cooler, since that's been in there since the PC was built, and with how much space there is, I think it'll be easy enough that even I can manage it. Hopefully I won't need to pull out too much other stuff.
Sheyko@reddit
Wireless mouse & keyboard was a HUGE change for me.
SY_Axsha@reddit
Switched to the ꓖamo series ꓖX7 Pro after dealing with constant discord complaints. The mic quality alone made it worth every penny.
prince_0611@reddit
Besides an ssd I noticed the biggest upgrades from a second monitor and going from 16 to 32gb of ram. I could do so much more at once without lag.
SmoothCollieguy2@reddit
As a video editor who does freelance and just about anything. A 49inch ultra wide. The amount of screen i have is so nice saves scrolling time and having to open multiple windows or look a several different tabs. Additionally I would say getting a tank ass CPU and holy hell a Mouse with horizontal scroll and buttons. Makes video editing like 10x easier mx3s the goat
nesnalica@reddit
in my early years of PC building I was really into miniITX builds. going low in volume and thinking portability would be helpful when I go to university.
now many many years later I went back to regular ATX and this was probably the best decision.
with more PCIe ports you can do so much more with your PC than just "installing a GPU".
you can install raid cards for more NVMe slots.
you can install multiple graphicscards.
hey if you go even further you can use virtualization and make a 2 gamer 1 PC setup.
my r/homelab is using an old PC but its banging.
Zatchillac@reddit
You can do more but I think a lot of people have a good idea of what they're going to be doing with the computer before they build. If I only want to game and absolutely nothing else then ITX would suffice, but if my goal is to run some local LLM's and need multiple GPU's then I would build accordingly. I personally go for mATX because it gives me some extra PCIe but also keeps the size down
OxygenCrisisHotline@reddit
Been building for a long time. Biggest impact upgrades over the years for me have been: -SSD for boot drive. Nothing else comes close in terms of single step massive upgrade to responsiveness. -NVMe M.2 SSDs are another step in responsiveness. -going from 24" 1080p IPS to a 34" 3440x1440 curved OLED for immersion. -getting an x3d chip. Did not realize how huge an impact it would have on framerate stability in games, no stutters or hangs or drops anymore. Also killer for many work tasks. -high quality air cooling. A quiet pc is so nice, will last longer, and is better for immersion. -also, not so much because of performance impact as market timing: getting 32Gb ddr4 3600 for like $90 CAD just before things started going insane.
WizardMoose@reddit
Depends on the timeline.
When SSDs were first being adopted, the price didn't seem worth it. I finally decided to do it, and it was mind blowing.
When higher hz was becoming a thing. It felt stupid for the price. But again, I got it anyway then spent $400 on a 144hz 1080p monitor at the time, and it was again mind blowing.
As a gamer, I was always against wireless mice. But then in 2020 I decided to get one since the latency concerns were mostly addressed. Now I can't go back to a wired mouse.
Most recently, going to 1440p was a nice change, but it wasn't mind blowing like going to an SSD for the first time, or going to a monitor above 60hz for the first time. It's noticeable. It's nice. But if I had to go back to 1080p, I could without any complaints.
8000RPM@reddit
45", Oled, glossy, 1440p, 240hz.
moopflip@reddit
upgrading from IPS to OLED. i was blown away immediately and upon seeing it in person, all 3 friends also bought the same monitor i have now
BingGongTing@reddit
5090, impulse buy but has been LLM dreamboat.
lingonberryyyyy@reddit
Spending 950€ on an 4K Oled
FutureRamen@reddit
Woodgrain veneer. Turns plain black box into a pleasant appearance.
TheArmchairSkeptic@reddit
Whenever this question comes up there are tons of people talking about SSDs, refresh rate, resolution, and so on. And of course those are all great things, but there's one that I rarely see getting the love that it deserves: going from a single monitor to two monitors.
I expected it to be a nice little QoL improvement, but it was a complete game changer. Made everything from gaming to spreadsheets to shitposting on Reddit feel 10x more convenient.
The returns on additional monitors rapidly diminish from there, though. Going from two monitors to three was nowhere near as beneficial. It's still nice to have the 3rd for some things, but two monitors is plenty for the vast majority of my normal PC use cases.
_asciimov@reddit
It was 2004, a buddy of mine had advanced access to a university surplus computer sale. I picked up a 20in CRT that did 1600x1200 at 85hz for $20. It was so much better than the shitty 1024x768 that ran at less than 60hz.
What you don't really appreciate now is that CRTs strobe. For me anything below 72hz causes headaches and eyestrain with prolonged use. That monitor was such a lifesaver, I kept that thing for 4 or 5 years till a move forced me to downsize.
I miss that heavy ass monitor.
nitrogenlegend@reddit
SSD, ethernet, dual 1440p monitors with 120hz+ refresh rates, an oversized mousepad/desk mat, a good wireless mouse, good comfortable headphones, a good comfortable chair, a big enough desk that you can have all the stuff listed above and still have some room for a drink, some paperwork, etc.
Beyond that, it comes down to what you actually use your computer for. I could say better gpu, but if you have a half decent dedicated GPU already and you don’t do anything relatively demanding of your GPU, upgrading doesn’t make much sense. Same goes for cpu.
AlertParfait6185@reddit
good cooling design. this is 10-20% performance in stock.
On_The_Warpath@reddit
The answer is always SSD. The 2nd best is jumping from 60hz monitor to 165/180hz.
Rabbidscool@reddit
Going from i7 4770/GTX 950 to Ryzen 5 5600/RTX 5060 Ti 16Gb.
Night and Day
SoapilyProne@reddit
I just upgraded my GPU from a 3090 to a 5090. Never paid much attention to CPU bottlenecks until I upgraded my CPU. With the GPU everything was amazing already. Upgraded CPU smoothed things out even more
D33GS@reddit
SSD to run the OS on was the single biggest upgrade I’ve ever done.
lijo1990@reddit
OLED monitor hands down. It blew me away. Go to the r/OLED_Gaming sub and you're gonna findd so many "I should have done this sooner" or "it blew me away" posts. It was to the point where I just unsubscribed.
hooj@reddit
Two ultrawide monitors… absolutely bonkers but I love it.
AlgoDip@reddit
Cool setup, congrats. I run 5x 28in 4K @60hz in a 2top 3bottom setup for office stuff, no games. It is completely unnecessary and looks absolutely ridiculous … and it is glorious :)
hooj@reddit
Yeah gaming is pretty important for me so 1440 is the sweet spot in terms of higher res than 1080 but still able to push higher frames unlike 4K.
aslmate@reddit
Are they stacked, with one on top of the other? Or are they side by side? Stacked would be sick
hooj@reddit
I actually have them side by side on monitor arms. I could probably stack them but I kinda prefer the total horizontal real estate.
Xaan83@reddit
Stacked is fun
https://i.imgur.com/52tEG0R.jpeg
rang14@reddit
I was gonna say going ultrawide from a 27" 1440p.
Maybe 2 ultrawides is the upgrade I should be going for.
TheOriginalKrampus@reddit
New mouse and keyboard.
There’s a lot of really high quality Chinese gaming mice and fully hotswappable, Bluetooth/usb/wired keyboards. For keyboards, you have a ton of different layouts. I went with a 75% layout that kept Del, Home, End, PgUp and PgDown, and it feels great to use. Not to mention all the options for key switches! I work from home and my partner can’t stand the sound of audible switches. So I bought some Outemu Yellow Jades and they’re dead silent while still feeling satisfying to use.
As someone who primarily uses my setup for working, these were two big changes after multi-monitor. Having really comfortable and satisfying inputs for doing office work make a big difference.
valdocs_user@reddit
From a laptop back to a desktop.
naughty_fishy@reddit
High end RGB.
silcerchord@reddit
My IC Graphite Thermal Pad. Bought it because it was on sale at microcenter. Kinda nice not having to clean up thermal paste especially since I've upgraded my CPU/whole desktop a couple times since I got it.
Buflen@reddit
10850k -> 9800x3D
ProvoAlone@reddit
32gm ram
autobulb@reddit
Honestly I think I'm done with full sized desktop parts. The biggest upgrade for me recently going from a desktop Ryzen 3700X to a mobile H255 which is essentially a rebadged 7845HS. Even though it's an older mobile part, it's better performing than the 3700 which of course is even older. But the biggest upgrade has been the size, noise, and power usage change. I've managed to keep the desktop fairly quiet running because it's not a high end system, but you could always tell when it was on. The new mini PC turns its fan off when it's under a certain temp which is most of the time actually. Much more space on my desk too, and seeing the power meter at 10W when doing desktop tasks compared to like 80+ before is just great.
The 780M seems to be managing my indie games just fine so far. Whenever I need the extra GPU power I'll consider getting an enclosure for the GTX1070 I had in the desktop. Not a high performer by any measure but I'm just tired of getting gouged by modern hardware prices. For general computing mobile part performance has gotten really goooooood.
fake_plastic_peace@reddit
When I was playing a lot of valorant, a proper lightweight mouse was huge. Much more impactful than my Wooting keyboard or artisan mousepad, both of which are highly recommended for competitive tac shooters. The mouse itself was the only noticeable difference both in feel and performance.
thelingletingle@reddit
Turning off raytracing.
AverageRedditorGPT@reddit
For me, turning on ray tracing was a huge upgrade. 🤷
LenDear@reddit
I've had the same 1440p 144hz monitor since 2019, it probably could be upgraded tbh but man was it a good monitor and still is. It was $699 in 2019 money and I've gotten my money out of it easily just in 2019, I think it's a little power hungry so upgrading will probably be focused around power savings or visual clarity
Spiritual-Spend8187@reddit
The two biggest jumps in ever experienced was going from hdd to ssd even sa5a ssd are so much faster than hdd at everything its not even funny, and going from 1 screen to 2 when I got a ultrawide oled to use along side my lcd the difference from 1 screen to 2 is nice and ultrawide is amazing for gaming and content consumption when it works.
TalkingRaccoon@reddit
SFF. So much more desk space.
No-Actuator-6245@reddit
Moving away from gaming headsets and getting proper headphones.
whellz@reddit
Not much, upgraded to rx 9060xt coming from rtx 2060 earlier this year, didnt really feel like a big leap, recently bought a 26,5 inch oled, not really worth the price tbh, theres a difference coming from 25 inch 1080p IPS but not nearly as much as people say and definitely not worth the price. Biggest difference was propably when i went from 60hz display to 144hz couple of years back.
Shot_Lawfulness1541@reddit
Going from 60hz to 240hz is crazy, the difference between both is astonishing
Davidisaloof35@reddit
Normal IPS to a 5K2K OLED.
Difference between a planet and a star.
Orders of magnitude.
dorting@reddit
HD to SSD was the biggest jump ever
maximus129b@reddit
Oled with 240 refresh rate
Salt_Reputation1869@reddit
Knighthawk Router from Netgear.
PTM7950 thermal pad on my GPU.
bir_iki_uc@reddit
from a crappy 11-12 year old laptop to 7900xtx 7950x3d 64gb ram 4tb ssd. Now pc turns on in 13-14 seconds, before that I could boil the water and make a coffee and go to toilet while pc was turning on : ) I didn't expect this much difference.
katzengoldgott@reddit
Same, except I upgraded from a 2012 MacBook Pro to a PC that had an internal HDD at the time that was just faster than the one of the MacBook hahaha
From that old PC only the Windows license is left though. It now turns on in about 5 seconds :)
bir_iki_uc@reddit
5 seconds is even better. I didn't even know this startup time is so important, these little things make you feel good. Although, I guess you have to experience absurdity first to appreciate it.
katzengoldgott@reddit
Yeah when my brother recommended me to upgrade my old SATA SSD to a Samsung 980 Pro 2 TB a few years ago I went from 15-20 seconds of boot time to 3-5 seconds, it’s truly insane when you can get your hands on a quality NVMe SSD.
This was of course before the ramageddon started, the same SSD costs more than twice its original price here in Germany today 🥲
g0nk73@reddit
Honestly, not one piece, but my newest whole build. I got nervous and pulled the trigger building a whole new system when RAM and other component prices started to skyrocket. I paid probably about a 25-30% premium, but in the end everything I bought is now at least double the cost, or more. Incredibly worth it to me, as I now have a new PC that will last me 4-5 years with 4K gaming. I was originally planning on building a new system at the end of this year.
Lephas@reddit
back in the early 2000s i bought a xifi soundcard. it was so much better than my motherboard.
t1nman01@reddit
Not an upgrade to performance but an upgrade to aesthetics.
RGB LEDs.
I got a good deal on really good RAM that had RGB back in 2019. Before that I had a silent black monolith of a PC, it started the ball rolling on getting more and more.
Now I have a very pretty PC but damn I did not expect to pay the sums I did just for some lights...
Yanzyzs@reddit
16gb -> 32gb of ram was a noticeable improvement for me while running games and stuff in the background, music, chrome tabs etc
divinethreshold@reddit
Upgrade your contact points. Mouse, keyboard, monitor, desk pad, chair.
I bought a quality he keyboard, ultralight mouse, quality mousepad and desk pad recently for “gaming” but now use them for work.
stoke-stack@reddit
in order: oled + high refresh rate, a nice chair, mechanical keyboard, 7900xt from a 3060Ti
Content-Purple-7731@reddit
Going from some old cheap-ass Steelseries wired headset -> Beyerdynamic MMX 230 wireless. Amazing difference in sound quality and I just fell in love with wireless.
Also 1080p -> 1440p.
Old_Resident8050@reddit
Going from 2080 to 4080 was on of the biggest leaps in power i ever experienced.
Also from a decent 32" ips 1080p monitor to 43" VA 4k, the diff was night and day.
Everborn128@reddit
Ya, 1080p isn't good enough for 32" so I can see this being a huge difference
Chehalden@reddit
second monitor same size & resolution as the first
Financial_Resort6631@reddit
Switching from a HHD to SSD.
Everborn128@reddit
Been gaming for 30 years on PC, the biggest upgrades I've noticed over the years that made me go whoa have been 60hz > 144hz, SSD from old school hard drives. 1080p to 1440p (in on 4k now but 1440p from 1080p was a bigger difference IMO) & Gsync/freesync. All the rest have been solid upgrades as well but felt standard as far as upgrades go.
UnCommonSense99@reddit
HDD upgrade to SSD
1080p 24" monitor upgrade to 1440 32"
Buying a black edition phenom ii cpu. It was sold cheaply as 2 core 3.3Ghz. Unlocked and overclocked to quad core 4Ghz
MrWhiteford@reddit
SSD, and moving from 1080p60 to 1440p144
Scarabesque@reddit
Wireless peripherals, particularly good lag free wireless headphones.
A wireless mouse and mechanical keyboard (both with 2,4Ghz dongle) are just nice; it's not exactly a pain do deal with cables, but once they are gone you'll never want to go back.
But good 2,4Ghz noise cancelling headphones were the biggest game changer for me. Lag free audio (mostly a benefit to gaming in all honesty, but since I also frequently do work that needs to be synced to audio it's also a work benefit for me). I used to have decent entry level audiophile wired headphones, but now that I am wireless I can just get up without having to take them off to go make a coffee/lunch/bathroom or anything really. Them being noise cancelling also just makes the experience so much nicer.
loliii123@reddit
Monitor arms, more desk realestate for junk lol. I have like 7 in the home now.
Prestigious_Day1232@reddit
A nice desk as well as nice peripherals. Making my PC super comfortable to use really improved my productivity and just all around enjoyment doing anything on it.
asp303@reddit
OLED
Psamiad@reddit
Peripherals and monitor. A quality keyboard and mouse, with a quality monitor hugely impacts the user experience.
ArseholeryEnthusiast@reddit
Upgrading your network solution. Being it better wifi or an Ethernet cable. High refresh rate over pixel increase. So I think going 1080p 60hz to 1440p high refresh rate instead of 4k 60 is a nicer feeling upgrade. Better headphones makes a big difference.
Roarkindrake@reddit
Got a protectali vault and built a home router not on xfinitys bs system. I wfh overnight and the amount of times the dam thing used to reboot and cost me a half hour of work nearly got me fired. Plus it shared your internet with anyone in the area as part of their 5g free wifi network. Really wasn't to bad to get setup on opnsense.
I upgraded to ultrawide but I kinda wish I had done 2 34s instead of a 49in. But I impulses purchased it after my main gaming monitor died and its great for work. But gaming can be frustrating at times lol
CashewNuts100@reddit
switched from wifi to ethernet
No_Spare1827@reddit
Now its not as big of a thing now but like 3+ years ago before HMBs got really good an SSD with a DRAM made a huge difference and even today its a nice to have thing. Making windows so much smoother, opening files was insanely fast and load times for some programs and games went away because the SSD was less stressed
Moving4Motion@reddit
For me recently going from 27inch to 32inch curved. Just an affordable LG VA, but it's beautiful.
Impressive_Fruit8228@reddit
Monitor quality