Over the last decade, I've upgraded from a budget to a high-end GPU, a 6-core to an 8-core processor, and 16GB RAM to 32GB RAM. The most impactful upgrades, however, didn't come from any of them. These seemingly routine upgrades were natural progressions in my PC journey, but they ended up delivering a performance jump that I hadn't quite anticipated. Looking back, some of these upgrades rank among the cheapest things I've ever bought for my PC.

5 Aftermarket thermal paste

Insane thermal improvement per dollar

For the most part, the stock thermal paste that comes pre-applied on your CPU cooler's heatsink is adequate. This is what I believed before I saw unusually high idle temps on my CPU despite using a 240mm AIO liquid cooler. I reseated the heatsink, messed around with the fan curves, and investigated background processes, but nothing seemed to address the issue. That's when I decided to spend on a tube of Arctic MX-4, and the results were unbelievable.

The idle temps on my CPU came down by not 1–3℃, but a full 7℃. The new average temps were still quite high for a 65W chip (Ryzen 7 5700X), but that was the moment I stopped discounting the value of decent thermal paste. For just a $7 investment, the thermal improvement I got was more than impressive. Besides, I don't need to think about repasting the CPU for the next few years, which is what I would probably have had to deal with if I had continued with the stock paste.

4 My first mechanical keyboard

It was everything I could have wished for

The Aula F87, while not technically my first mechanical keyboard, made me forget about everything I had used before. While I started with a Cosmic Byte keyboard, and moved to a Royal Kludge board soon after, the Aula F87 was the one that truly made me fall in love with mechanical keyboards. Despite being a budget mechanical keyboard that costs less than $70, the Aula F87 felt like a premium offering, primarily due to its soothing sound signature, making for a smooth, creamy typing experience.

Besides the thoughtful internals and pre-lubed switches, the F87 also features PBT keycaps, tasteful RGB lighting, and 2.4GHz wireless connectivity. At the time, it felt like my dream mechanical keyboard, and I still keep returning to it once I'm done reviewing a new one. I had researched a lot before buying this board, but I still couldn't have anticipated how much it would impress me. My entire outlook on mechanical keyboards changed overnight, and I have the Aula F87 to thank for it.

3 A budget air cooler

The performance wasn't budget at all

The 240mm AIO that I currently use on my gaming PC has been disappointing, to say the least. It has failed to keep my Ryzen 7 5700X below 60℃ even when I'm not running a game or other intensive applications. So, when it came to upgrading the cooler for my secondary build, I chose a budget air cooler instead. This $50 Arctic Freezer 36 A-RGB gave me more peace of mind than the $80 AIO ever did on my main PC.

Installing the air cooler was much simpler, and the idle temps on my secondary PC are right where they should be. Air coolers have gotten way more competitive than ever, and most people don't even need to consider a liquid cooler. Unless you're using a power-hungry Core i9 or Ryzen 9 chip, you'll be fine with a quality air cooler. You don't even need to sacrifice esthetics by switching from a liquid cooler to an air cooler. And due to the simpler hardware, you don't have to worry about unwanted accidents.

2 A high-refresh-rate monitor

It was about time

Before 2021, I had only used monitors with refresh rates of up to 75Hz. My 1080p 75Hz "gaming monitor" that I bought in 2017 was due for an upgrade when I switched to the GTX 1660 Ti in 2019. When I eventually bought the LG 27GL850 in 2021, I didn't really expect a massive upgrade to my gaming experience. Sure, I was switching from a 22" 1080p 75Hz screen to a 27" 1440p 144Hz one, but more than anything else, it felt like I was buying the bare minimum for the time.

However, when I started using the new monitor, I felt like I had truly stepped up a notch. The 5-inch upgrade felt way more than I expected, and it took a while for me to adjust to the additional screen real estate. Even outside of gaming, where the 144Hz refresh rate finally introduced me to the smooth visuals everyone was talking about, the extra pixel count enhanced everything I did on my PC. After nearly 5 years, I'm still using the same monitor, and I don't intend to upgrade anytime soon.

1 My first SSD

Nothing could have prepared me

I upgraded from hard drives to an SSD for the first time back in 2018. I had built my PC a year prior with a 1TB hard drive because SSD prices had still not become affordable. A year later, a SATA SSD still cost a lot, but I couldn't wait any longer. I got a 240GB Samsung 860 EVO for around $60, moved my OS to the SSD, and took it for a spin. Needless to say, I was shocked at how fast my PC would have felt if I had upgraded sooner.

The first things that stuck out were the accelerated boot times and general snappiness of the system. Launching applications and navigating Windows felt like my PC was on steroids. And the loading times in games were no longer something I had to sit through. I always heard people recommending SSDs to almost everyone, but I wasn't prepared for the impact the lightweight SATA drive had on my PC.

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The most game-changing upgrades aren't always expensive

Sure, my RTX 3080 was a massive upgrade over my GTX 1660 Ti, but that was something I knew going in, and it was a $700 card, after all. My $60 SSD and $70 mechanical keyboard, however, delivered far more than I expected. Even my $450 monitor upgrade managed to surprise me, and I still haven't found something that justifies an upgrade, at least in terms of performance per dollar. PC upgrades never stop, but I can at least focus on the ones that have the potential to deliver more than their MSRP would suggest.