Hardware bench

What are you working on?

Pick the job. You get the steps, the right tool and a source for every figure. No shop, no prices.

Upgrade Add RAM, swap a drive, a graphics card or the PSU. 6 steps · tool on the bench: Power supply (PSU)
Repair Clean it, fix it, or decide whether it is still worth it. 6 steps · tool on the bench: Upgrade?
Buy Pick a laptop, a monitor, or parts that fit together. 5 steps · tool on the bench: Compatibility
Connect Monitor, charger, USB, Wi-Fi: what plugs into what. 5 steps · tool on the bench: Connector atlas
Back up Copies of your data, external drives and the 3-2-1 rule. 5 steps · tool on the bench: Interfaces

Or go by part

Know which part you are dealing with? Open its drawer.

Last on the bench

Guides most recently checked against their sources.

12 October 2026CPU and motherboard – sockets, chipsets and what fits together
12 October 2026RAM – DDR4 vs DDR5, capacity, channels and speed
12 October 2026SSDs and HDDs – NVMe vs SATA, M.2 and PCIe generations
12 October 2026PC power supply – wattage, headroom and connectors
12 October 2026Graphics cards – size, slots, power and outputs

Every guide, by part (16)

Dates that affect your computer

14 October 2025end of regular support for Windows 10 (ESU for home users until 12 October 2027)Microsoft
28 April 2026USB-C and USB PD for laptops placed on the marketDirective (EU) 2022/2380
31 July 2026rules promoting the repair of goodsDirective (EU) 2024/1799, Slovak Act No. 310/2025 Coll.
18 February 2027removability and replaceability of portable batteriesRegulation (EU) 2023/1542, Article 11

Right to repair, chargers and e-waste

How we work

Figures come from makers, standards bodies and the text of the law. What we cannot check, we leave out. Every guide shows the day it was last checked on the bench.

Sources, checks, corrections, who writes this

The tool shelf

6 tools, all running in your browser.

The tool shelf