computer hardware Archives - Logical Increments Blog

The Slow and Steady PC Building Apocalypse

Student fire fighters extinquishing dumpster fire

(Fire fighters working to extinguish the dumpster containing the global computer hardware market)

In one form or another, the Logical Increments PC Buying Guide has existed for approximately 17 years now, which is quite a span. During this time, we have maintained a policy of never venturing outside the very strict scope of the guide: Consumer PC hardware. The only times that this rule was broken was when there was simply no alternative. PC hardware exists in real life, and real life sometimes throws the world into situations where PC hardware is affected, and we must acknowledge these situations.

We discussed the cryptocurrency hurricanes when they were the biggest determinant of GPU prices, and we acknowledged the *cough* global situation *cough* in 2020-2021 when it affected shipping and availability of all PC hardware.

As we head into the second quarter of 2026, we face some unavoidable and uneasy realities once more. There are two issues that are pointing towards dire times ahead:

What Logical Increments Tier is Required to Run the Most Popular Steam Games?

Nigel Delmore
17th Nov 2023
Guides

(Information on Steam’s top games were gathered for this article from Steam Charts)

Back in January 2020, I crafted a neat little piece discussing the Logical Increments tier needed to enjoy each of the top games on Steam at the time. Fast forward to now, and oh, how the scene has shifted! Back around that period, we were seeing trade tariffs causing a good bump in prices for PC hardware. As we ventured into late 2020, high demand meant the cost of PC parts kept climbing, and 2021 brought even higher prices—especially for graphics cards due to a cryptocurrency boom. Oh, and let’s not forget, the world was just getting acquainted with Covid-19, adding a whole new level of complexity to tech market dynamics through supply chain issues.

Now, at the tail end of 2023, with prices and availability having normalized in some (though not all) component categories, and just a week left until Black Friday and Cyber Monday, it’s about time we take a fresh look at what Logical Increments PC building tier you’d need to dive into the most popular Steam games today. Let’s see what changed in the last few years, and whether that ol’ system still has some life in it, or whether it might be worth a little upgrade. Stick around as we unpack the current gaming demands and discuss today’s tech landscape.

Best Beginner’s Guide to GPU Specifications

Boaz
16th Nov 2021
Guides

You want to get the best GPU for your money. That’s natural, because your graphics card is probably expensive, and you want your money to be well-spent. But how do you know what to look for? What GPU specs should you look at? What do the numbers mean?

In this article, I will explain what certain key GPU specifications mean, and roughly how they translate into actual in-game or program performance.

Best Beginner’s Guide to CPU Specifications

Boaz
9th Sep 2021
Guides

Credit: Logical Increments

When buying and picking your CPU, you want to get the best you can get for your money, as well as the CPU that best fits your needs. When sifting through the available CPUs to satisfy those goals, you are bombarded with numerous technical terms and specifications.

In this article, I aim to clear up what those terms mean, and (roughly speaking) how their specs translate into performance.

5 PC Hardware Releases Coming in 2020

A new decade means lots of exciting new technology to spend your hard-earned money on! If you’ve got the itch to upgrade your PC, it might be worth checking these things out. Then you can either wait to see what improvements are in store, or be confident that a purchase made right now won’t be obsolete in six month’s time.

Keep in mind that a lot of the following information is based on rumours, conjecture, and leaked information. Until it comes direct from the manufacturer in question, take this information with a grain of salt.

How Many CPU Cores Do You Need?

Whether you’re building a new computer or just upgrading your current one, the CPU (central processing unit)—being the ‘brain’ of the computer—is an important component to get right.

But, with all the improvements and advancements in recent years on both the hardware and software sides, how many CPU cores do you need?

What the Heck Are CPU Threads, Anyway?

So-called “threads” have been a frequent source of confusion for those comparing or buying CPUs, even among people using our main build chart. What they are is never really explained, and most explanations that do exist only give a rough idea or mix it up with other things.

In the end, the basic explanation is surprisingly simple, so let’s clear this up once and for all.

RAM Channels Guide: The What, and The How

If you’ve ever taken a look at a product page for sticks of RAM, or at the specifications for a CPU or motherboard, you’ve probably seen “memory channels” mentioned.

For many beginners, this sparks questions like, “What’s the deal? Does dual-channel mean I can only use two sticks? What do multiple channels do that one channel doesn’t? Can I use quad-channel RAM on a dual-channel motherboard?”

The answers to those questions and more can be found below, so read on!

Motherboard VRMs: What are Power Phases, and How Many Should I Have?

Often, motherboard product pages and online forum users mention a motherboard’s VRM and how many power phases it has. Being a somewhat technical topic, VRMs aren’t an easy topic to get into. So today, we will introduce the concept of the VRM and these so-called power phases as simple and straightforward as possible, so that you can easily discern what a motherboard product page is telling you (and when it matters).

Building a PC with AMD Ryzen 3

With the launch of Ryzen 3 1200 and 1300X, we finally have a full range of Ryzen CPUs to choose from. Before you get building, you need to know what these new Ryzen 3s can do, and that’s where I come in. So read on to view some awesome PC’s for a tiny cost!

Posts Tagged Under: computer hardware