Best Budget Upgrades for a Teenager’s Gaming PC

I'd be cautious with the upgrades! Sometimes, a fresh install of Windows can solve crashing issues more than hardware changes. I'd also recommend checking the temperatures inside the PC; overheating could be the culprit. If it’s strictly gaming on one monitor, 16GB RAM is often plenty, but that NVME SSD would surely boost loading times!

If you’re looking to make the best impact, prioritize that new NVME SSD and the PSU. The SSD will significantly reduce loading times, while the PC crashing could be linked to power issues. It’s also worth considering possible overheating or loose connections—give everything a good check-up. If you have time, maybe a professional could look at it to avoid repeated upgrades that won't help.

Honestly, I think those upgrades will help but might not revolutionize his gaming experience. The PSU upgrade should be the first priority, given the crashing. With 16GB RAM, he should be set for a bit longer unless he's using lots of other applications. If in the future he could stretch the budget a little, looking at used GPUs like the RTX 3070 would be beneficial!

I agree with the others! The PSU is crucial if a crash happens. The RAM upgrade might not yield big gains, and he likely won’t see much difference gaming-wise unless he’s multitasking a lot. Definitely get that new SSD and consider doing a clean install of Windows; it might breathe new life into the system!

Those upgrades are definitely good moves! But just keep in mind that while they’re necessary for future improvements, they might not make his games run faster right away. Have you thought about whether your son might be able to save up for a new CPU or GPU in the future? That could be a bigger leap in performance in the long run.