… Hardware still matters for real performance But upscaling and frame generation let you hold onto your GPU longer No matter how much upscaling and frame generation have improved in recent years, there's no getting around the fact that hardware still sets the ceiling for what your PC can actually do. …
… Related 8 trends that will sound the death knell for gaming PCs The road ahead for PC hardware is dark and full of terrors Software is starting to matter more than the hardware itself Free upgrades are good, until they become the main selling point As much as I appreciate getting free performance a… …
… Outside of work, he enjoys exploring new gaming hardware, testing system performance, and keeping up with developments across the broader tech landscape. …
… Related 5 reasons to overclock your GPU instead of buying a new one Consider overclocking your GPU before rushing for another GPU upgrade It is always easier to assume that better performance only comes from newer hardware. …
… This way, any major upgrade will actually deliver the kind of performance you expected for the money you spent. Related The best gaming upgrade in 2026 isn't hardware, it's AI upscaling and frame generation DLSS and FSR are improving faster than hardware right now.
… Hardware upgrades aren't essential for many If you think hardware upgrades are the only solution, that's often not the case. …
… Related An RTX 3070 is living proof that software now matters more than hardware AI upscaling changed GPU aging forever, and the RTX 3070 is proof What Nvidia's software-first strategy is Modern GPUs are now defined by their feature stack For most of PC gaming history, graphics cards have been sold… …
… Motherboard manufacturers frequently offer free performance boosts Better performance on the same hardware, at no cost For a while now, the general rule of thumb when it comes to BIOS updates has been that, unless something is broken, you shouldn't update it. …
Jasmine Mannan Jul 5, 2026, 12:00 PM EDT Jasmine is Software and PC Hardware Author at XDA with years of tech reporting experience ranging from AI chatbots right down to gaming hardware, she's covered just about everything. …
… PC hardware evolves too quickly, and performance gains don't scale as well as they used to. …