When every little thing costs a small (or big) fortune, now’s not the time to go shopping for a new PC. It’s more important than ever to stay on top of maintenance and to keep an eye on the state of your computer. This helps you step in before anything ever goes south, and can save you lots of time and money on unnecessary repairs, replacements, and upgrades.
But what is it exactly that you should check or do, and how often do you do it? To make this whole process easier, I’ve made myself a useful checklist that I update every so often. Here are all the things I check in my PC on a regular basis.
It’s less about maintenance and more about spotting problems before they arise
Small changes are often the first warning
When a PC starts to age, it’s not like it spontaneously combusts (ideally not, at least). The process is subtle, easy to miss, and in many ways, very avoidable.
In my own experience, the first signs often show up in gaming, but it’s hard to care much if the drop in frame rates is small, or if the stuttering only rarely happens, or if the loading screens are suddenly a few seconds longer. You might notice it in passing, but you’ll get right back into the game and forget. Finally, something will make you investigate, but at that point, the issues might be more advanced and more difficult to clear up.
Quiz
DIY PC building
Trivia Challenge
From socket types to cable chaos — test your knowledge of building computers from scratch.
HistoryHardwareTroubleshootingQuirksTips
What year did Intel release the first consumer processor that popularized the DIY desktop PC market — the Intel 8086?
Correct! The Intel 8086 launched in 1978 and gave birth to the x86 architecture still used in PCs today. It was a 16-bit processor running at 5–10 MHz — a far cry from today’s multi-GHz giants. This chip laid the foundation for decades of DIY computing.
Not quite — the Intel 8086 debuted in 1978. It introduced the x86 instruction set that still underpins virtually every desktop and laptop processor sold today. IBM later used the cheaper 8088 variant for its first PC in 1981, which is sometimes confused as the origin point.
When building a PC, what does ‘POST’ stand for in the context of the boot process?
Correct! POST stands for Power-On Self-Test, a diagnostic routine your motherboard runs every time you boot up. It checks that critical components like RAM, CPU, and GPU are present and functional. If POST fails, you’ll often get beep codes or LED indicators to help diagnose the problem.
The correct answer is Power-On Self-Test. Every time you press the power button, your motherboard runs POST to verify that essential hardware is connected and working. Failed POST is one of the first hurdles new PC builders encounter, often caused by unseated RAM or a forgotten power connector.
Why do experienced PC builders recommend touching a metal part of the case before handling components?
Correct! Static electricity built up on your body can silently destroy sensitive PC components in an instant — a phenomenon called electrostatic discharge (ESD). Touching bare metal grounds you and neutralizes that charge before it can zap your CPU or RAM. Anti-static wrist straps work even better for extended build sessions.
The answer is to discharge static electricity. Your body can carry thousands of volts of static charge without you feeling a thing, but that invisible zap can permanently damage a CPU or RAM stick. It’s one of the oldest and most important safety habits in PC building — cheap insurance for expensive parts.
A newly built PC powers on, fans spin, but there’s no display output. What is the MOST common first thing to check?
Correct! This is arguably the most common rookie mistake in PC building — plugging the monitor into the motherboard’s video output when a dedicated GPU is installed. The motherboard’s HDMI or DisplayPort is disabled by default when a GPU is present. Always connect your display directly to the graphics card.
The most common culprit is having the monitor plugged into the motherboard’s video port instead of the dedicated GPU. When a graphics card is installed, most systems disable the motherboard’s integrated video outputs automatically. It’s such a frequent mistake that it has become a running joke in PC building communities.
What is the purpose of thermal paste when installing a CPU cooler?
Correct! Even finely machined metal surfaces have tiny imperfections and air gaps at the microscopic level. Thermal paste — also called thermal interface material (TIM) — fills those gaps to ensure maximum heat conduction from the CPU to the cooler. Without it, air pockets act as insulation and temperatures can skyrocket dangerously.
Thermal paste fills microscopic gaps between the CPU lid and the cooler’s base plate. Metal surfaces may look flat and smooth, but at a microscopic scale they’re riddled with tiny ridges and valleys that trap air — and air is a terrible heat conductor. A thin, even layer of thermal paste eliminates those gaps and keeps temperatures in check.
The ATX motherboard form factor, which became the standard for DIY desktop PCs, was introduced by which company and in what year?
Correct! Intel introduced the ATX (Advanced Technology Extended) standard in 1995, replacing the older AT form factor. ATX standardized component placement, power supply connectors, and airflow direction — making DIY builds far more practical and interchangeable. Nearly 30 years later, ATX and its derivatives like Micro-ATX and Mini-ITX still dominate the market.
ATX was introduced by Intel in 1995. It was a major leap forward from the previous AT standard, defining a common layout for motherboards, cases, and power supplies that made mixing and matching components from different vendors straightforward. That standardization is a huge reason DIY PC building became so accessible.
When installing RAM into a motherboard with four slots, where should you install two sticks to enable dual-channel mode on most boards?
Correct! Dual-channel mode requires RAM to be installed in matched pairs on alternating slots — typically A2 and B2, or slots 2 and 4. This allows the memory controller to access both sticks simultaneously, effectively doubling memory bandwidth. Your motherboard manual will show the exact recommended slots, usually color-coded for convenience.
To enable dual-channel mode, RAM should go in alternating slots — such as slots 2 and 4, often color-coded on the motherboard. Placing both sticks in adjacent slots (like 1 and 2) forces single-channel operation, which can noticeably reduce performance in memory-intensive tasks. Always check your motherboard manual for the exact recommended configuration.
What is ‘coil whine’ in the context of a newly built gaming PC?
Correct! Coil whine is a high-pitched, sometimes whirring or buzzing noise caused by tiny electromagnetic coils (inductors) on a GPU or PSU vibrating at audible frequencies under heavy electrical load. It’s technically a defect in manufacturing tolerances but is extremely common and not usually harmful to the component. Ironically, it’s often loudest in high-end GPUs under uncapped framerates.
Coil whine is that annoying high-pitched squeal coming from inductors on your GPU or power supply vibrating under electrical load. It tends to be loudest when framerates are uncapped or during heavy computational tasks. While alarming to new builders, it’s usually harmless — though some manufacturers will replace components with severe coil whine under warranty.
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Outside of actual hardware failure, many PC issues just tend to sit there and fester. They don’t result in anything catastrophic, but they slowly eat away at your computer’s stability and performance.
Instead of constantly guessing, I decided to make myself a monthly maintenance checklist that helps me verify some of those common weak links that don’t show up in daily use right away. Thanks to these easy steps, I keep constant tabs on the state of my PC.
It takes me less time than having to fix it when it breaks
I know how it is. You probably already have a to-do list that’s a mile long, so adding even more to it doesn’t sound fun. But trust me when I say that doing the following will take you less time than it would take you to troubleshoot and fix actual PC problems, so it’s very much worth it.
Here are all the things I always keep tabs on in my own PC.
1. CPU and GPU temperatures
I regularly check my CPU and GPU temperatures, and I actually have a spreadsheet where I note them month to month. Yes, it might be a bit overkill, but it takes me all of 20 seconds to do, and it lets me look back at the state of my PC over the months.
Heat is one of the easiest ways to spot that something is starting to go wrong, and all of your components hate it. It’s pretty universal. So, I use software like HWiNFO to monitor temperatures under load and without it. This helps me notice if there’s an upward curve.
2. SMART status and a quick drive health pass
While an SSD can fail at 100% health, drive health tools like CrystalDiskInfo are still very relevant and worth checking on a regular basis. They can give you some important warning signs before anything fails, potentially protecting you from data loss.
CrystalDiskInfo gives me an easy way to check the SMART health status on my SSDs without digging through raw data. If you want to do the same, you don’t have to analyze every attribute by hand every month; just look at the health percentage and error counts. If nothing changes, you’re in the clear.
3. Free space on your main SSD
I’m not a fan of filling your SSD up to full capacity, and neither is my PC. But with game installs being massive these days, it’s easy to miss the moment when you cross that recommended 80 to 90% capacity threshold and start veering into dangerous territory.
Having little storage capacity is not going to kill your SSD, but it might make your whole PC feel slow, and over time, the extra strain on the drive can lead to corruption or crashes. It’s just not worth it.
To keep my main SSDs tidy, I’ve created a so-called “abuse drive” where all the mess ends up. This helps me both from an organizational and a PC health standpoint.
4. Fan, dust, filters, airflow, and cables
I’ve recently said here on How To Geek that the best PC upgrade is one that costs exactly zero dollars, and I stand by it. The upgrade in question is simple: just clean your PC. Honestly, it helps more than you’d think.
With that said, I don’t do a thorough clean once a month, as that’s overkill and takes way too much time. Instead, once a month, I open the PC, check the dust filters, look for buildup on fans and heatsinks, and make sure airflow has not been obstructed by a layer of dust or a cable that shifted into a bad spot. I also check that nothing looks loose around the GPU power cables, motherboard connectors, or storage drives.
If you only end up doing this one once every two months, with a clean when needed (probably three to four months), you’ll be just fine.
5. Backup status checks
I regularly check on my backups, as dealing with data recovery is a lot harder than dealing with a quick glance at a list of backup states once a month. I verify when the last successful backup happened, and I like to verify that it’s usable.
I also do spot checks on some of my important files to make sure they’re all running without a hitch, as data corruption is often silent. Ultimately, other than verifying your backups, the best way to make sure your data is alright is to keep it on three separate storage devices.
Most PCs will give you some warning signs
You just need to be ready to notice them
Over all my years of using a PC, I’ve (luckily) had very few instances of massive failures. The times it did happen, it wasn’t due to neglect, but rather due to hardware failures. But some of those issues could’ve been spotted and prevented if I were more diligent with my checks back in the day.
For instance, I had a PC that crashed due to overheating. If I had taken better note of temps, I might have noticed that they were rising before I ended up with a PC that needed an urgent cooling system replacement.
Establish a routine that’s simple enough to repeat
I weave this PC health checklist into my regular to-dos, so it never sneaks up on me. I set calendar reminders and set aside an hour on a weekend once every few weeks. If you do something similar, you’ll hardly even notice it, but you’ll still be keeping your PC healthy with minimal effort.
Stephan is the sports journalist for the Maple Grove Report.
