PC gamers are notorious for overspending on their gear. Honestly, I get it. Once you start planning your build, you want to make sure you’re getting the best-in-class components. However, there are a few items that builders tend to overspend on when that money could have gone toward a better CPU or GPU. Here are some of them.
High-end CPU coolers
I believe it’s almost common knowledge by now that most AIO coolers aren’t as good as air coolers. They’re noisy, fail more frequently, cost a lot more money, don’t always outperform similarly priced air coolers, and even carry a very small but real possibility of leakage.
Not to beat a dead horse, AIO coolers are something most gamers should stay away from, the only exception being people building ultra high-end systems that are already maxed out and can legitimately benefit from a few degrees of extra cooling to achieve a higher overclock.
What I’m actually here to advocate against are high-end CPU coolers in general—both air and liquid. If you’re spending $1,000 to $1,500 on your PC, chances are you have a decent Ryzen 5 or 7 (or Intel i5 or i7) chip in your cart, and a $100+ brand-name air cooler, such as a Noctua NH-D15 or be quiet! Dark Rock Elite.
However, let’s face the truth: as cool, powerful, and quiet as those coolers are, you don’t really need one—yes, even if you’re doing a bit of overclocking through PBO. A much cheaper high-quality air cooler is all you need, like the phenomenal $30 ID-COOLING FROZN A620 PRO SE that I used in my brother’s PC, or the slightly more expensive and popular Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE. These coolers are a fantastic upgrade over the stock cooler and will provide all the thermal headroom you could possibly need on a consumer CPU.
- Brand
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ID-COOLING
- Cooling Method
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Air
The ID‑COOLING FROZN A620 PRO SE is a dual-tower air CPU cooler with six 6mm heat pipes and two quiet 120mm PWM fans, offering efficient cooling for Intel and AMD processors. Its 157mm height and blackout design make it compatible with most cases while blending seamlessly into darker builds.
Overbuilt PC cases
PC cases have their practical benefits. At a minimum, you need a chassis that can house your components, provide enough airflow with room for case fans, and include a front I/O with a few fast USB ports plus headphone and microphone jacks. However, once you go beyond that and start spending more money, you’re not getting any substantial practical or performance benefits.
Let’s be honest: expensive PC cases are mostly about build quality and style, and neither will make your computer run faster. Exotic materials like wood or elaborate built-in RGB light bars are cool, but if you’re compromising elsewhere in the build to get a nicer case, you’re wasting your money.
Don’t get me wrong—I love cool cases as much as the next gamer, which is why I’d love to get an ASUS Prime AP202 ARGB. But if we’re being truthful here, nobody needs a $300 case like the NZXT H9 Flow RGB+ or Fractal Design North XL. Something more basic, like the NZXT H5 Flow, is more than enough for most people. By the way, it makes sense to spend a bit more for a modular PSU.
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Overpowered power supplies
You need to spend a certain amount of money to get a nice PSU. It’s responsible for power delivery, making it one of the most essential parts of your system, but this fact often misleads PC builders into blowing through their budget to make sure they get the most powerful PSU on the market.
While there are some inherent efficiency benefits that large power supplies bring with them, you’re unlikely to get your money back through electricity bill savings, especially if your PC only runs at maximum load for a few hours a day when you’re gaming.
The truth is that most people overestimate how much power their PC draws, so they opt for a more expensive 1,000W+ power supply when even a 650W one could’ve done the trick. Now, this doesn’t mean that opting for a 650W PSU is always the right move either—it makes sense to spend a bit more now to ensure you can upgrade to a more powerful graphics card and processor later. A good rule of thumb is to size for your actual power draw and then add 20–30% headroom, or slightly more if you plan to upgrade to a more power-hungry graphics card a few years down the line.
Overkill motherboards
Motherboards are one of the most common parts people love to splurge on. Just like the power supply, it’s a supporting piece of hardware, so you need to get a motherboard with good VRMs and plenty of expansion for future upgrades.
However, my counterargument to that is that even budget motherboards now come with decent VRMs and offer all the expandability that you could possibly need. For instance, how many of us need both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth built in, when it’s relatively easy to add it after the fact, should the need ever arise? Plus, a good chunk of PC builders never end up doing anything with all that extra expandability, anyway. When I look at motherboards that cost $500+, I can’t help but wonder who they’re even for.
That said, don’t go straight into the other direction by opting for the cheapest motherboard on the market—I made that very mistake in my previous build and regretted it for years. Aim for a decent mid-range motherboard that has all the slots and I/O ports you could possibly need in the next five years, and you’ll be fine. For instance, if I were building an AMD-based PC now, I wouldn’t look further than the ASUS TUF Gaming B850M-PLUS WiFi.
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RGB case fans
Just like fancy PC cases, RGB fans are another popular luxury item in the PC building community. However, as cool as they look, they don’t always cool your components very well unless you start spending serious money. Adding RGB increases manufacturing costs, so generally speaking, when comparing a standard $10 fan to a $10 RGB fan, the one without lights tends to perform better.
So, if you want to get both good cooling and a more elaborate RGB design, you’ll have to spend a lot of money. While cheaper RGB fans are always an option, the aforementioned concerns with cooling apply, plus they don’t always look as cool as the more expensive ones. If we’re comparing apples to apples, the non-ARGB CORSAIR RS120 costs $15, whereas the ARGB version is $20. This doesn’t sound like much, but if we’re talking about six case fans, that’s a $30 difference—enough savings to buy two extra non-RGB fans or invest in higher-end ones that perform better with less noise.
On that note, many PC builders tend to go overboard with fans. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. More airflow is always welcome, but after adding a couple of intake and exhaust fans, you’ve likely already reached the optimal threshold for an average mid-range PC.
If you’re trying to get the most value for your money when building a PC, these are some components you should avoid splurging on. That said, your build is ultimately yours, so if you want to spend extra on a fancy case, RGB fans, or even an AIO cooler with a display, I won’t judge.
