Even the mightiest gaming rig needs a regular checkup. Sometimes a little dusting and TLC are all that your PC needs, but other times the circumstances call for a more direct intervention. Whether your CPU is running a fever, your wireless router is on its last legs, or your elderly GPU makes modern games run like a slideshow, we’re here to break down common problems faced by today’s gamers and provide straightforward treatment plans. Best yet, the gaming hardware prescriptions that we’re writing today are all for products currently available at tempting discounts over at Micro Center, so these solutions are both effective and affordable.
Symptom: You can’t rely on your WiFi connection
Does intermittent latency always seem to hit at the worst moments during your online play? Is there a room in your home where you’d prefer to game, but you just don’t have a consistent signal in that space? Is your gaming experience disrupted when your housemates are all online? Are you only able to play online with any consistency when you’re connected to the internet via an Ethernet cable?
Treatment: Whole-home mesh WiFi
These symptoms suggest that your home network is on life support. You might benefit from re-evaluating the connection options provided by your ISP, but for a whole-home WiFi upgrade, you should consider a router replacement.
The easiest solution is a mesh WiFi system. Instead of relying on one router to reach every room, a mesh WiFi system uses multiple units that you can space around your house to ensure a great signal to every device.
Right now, you can score a great deal on the ZenWiFi XT9 mesh WiFi system over at Micro Center. You’ll get all the congestion-busting tech of WiFi 6, 7800Mbps of aggregate bandwidth, and up to 5,700 square feet of network coverage. As a tri-band router, it gives you one 5GHz band to use as a wireless backhaul and a second to 5GHz band for your devices. It even offers a USB port ready for mobile tethering. Grab one at Micro Center for only $259.99 (USD) while this promotion lasts.
Symptom: You suffer from frequent misclicks and misfires
It happens to the best of us: sometimes you go to hit your ultimate in League of Legends and you hit “E” instead of “R.” Or you’re trying to nail a dodge roll in Elden Ring, but your timing is off by just a heartbeat — and Malenia makes sure that it’s your last.
Treatment: Precise and accurate gaming peripherals
For these problems, your doctor recommends a dedicated regimen of training and practice, but if they crop up frequently it’s time to investigate your mouse and keyboard for an underlying condition. An aging membrane keyboard with mushy keys won’t give you the precision you’re looking for, nor will a worn-out mouse with a bargain-bin optical sensor. If you’re still using these vital peripherals well past their expiration date, or if they were never made for competitive gaming to begin with, you should look for an upgrade.
Here’s a dynamic duo that’s easy to recommend to just about any gamer: the ROG Strix Scope II 96 Wireless gaming keyboard and the ROG Harpe Ace Aim Lab Edition gaming mouse. The Scope II 96 Wireless gives you the full-size keyboard experience, numpad included, in a surprisingly compact 96% layout. Tri-mode connectivity lets you enjoy the cable-free convenience of a wireless connection at blazing-fast speeds that keep you in command of the action. Co-developed with esports professionals, the Harpe Ace Aim Lab Edition is a lightweight, highly durable mouse armed with low-latency ROG SpeedNova wireless technology and a next-gen 36,000 DPI ROG AimPoint optical sensor.
During this limited-time event, you can get an ROG Scope II 96 Wireless at Micro Center for a mere $149.99 (USD) and an ROG Harpe Ace Aim Lab Edition for only $99.99 (USD).
Symptom: Your opponents always seem to react faster than you
God-tier reflexes separate champions from mere mortals on digital battlefields. But that’s hardly the only advantage that pro gamers rely on. They use highly optimized setups that allow them to take full advantage of their lightning-quick reflexes. If it seems like your opponents are always getting the drop on you, even in circumstances where you had a very similar time to react to each other, then it’s quite possible that a gear upgrade could make a big difference.
Treatment: A high-refresh-rate gaming monitor
A gaming monitor with a speedy refresh rate is your prescription for success in fast-paced games. The potential gains can be quite substantial: NVIDIA found that gamers playing PUBG and Fortnite on a system capable of cranking out 180 FPS — and a monitor capable of drawing each of those frames — had a 90% higher kill/death ratio than players at 60 FPS. If you have a powerful PC, but you’re holding on to a last-gen display, you’re quite possibly limiting your own chances of success in your favorite games.
These days, you have strikingly affordable options for getting a 240Hz display, so that’s a great starting point for a new gaming PC build or upgrading an old one. But for a limited time, you can get a great price on a display that cranks the refresh rate all the way up to 360Hz: the ROG Swift 360Hz PG27AQN. This tournament-caliber monitor gives you a 1440p resolution on a 27-inch display for a great balance of size and resolution, and it’s armed with G-SYNC, NVIDIA Reflex Latency Analyzer, and ASUS Ultrafast IPS technology to give you a commanding view of the action. Nab one at Micro Center for $699.99 (USD) while the promotion lasts, 26% off MSRP.
Symptom: Games feel jerky and slow when you play
Have you fired up a new game recently only to find that it doesn’t run well on your current system? When a game isn’t running at a comfortable, consistent FPS, it won’t have the comfortable, smooth animation that you’re used to. It might feel jerky, stuttery, or slow. If your system really can’t keep up with the demands of the title, it might look more like a slideshow than a game.
A game might even look okay when you first load it up, but get choppy at the worst possible moments. Since FPS varies based on the complexity of the scene being rendered, it typically dips downward during action-packed sequences. That means that you’ll be the most frustrated by the performance of your machine at the times when you need it to secure victory.
Treatment: a next-gen upgrade or a brand-new PC
The component of your PC most responsible for boosting your FPS in games is your GPU, so if you’re looking for a surgical upgrade, this is where to start. For a limited time at Micro Center, you can get a great deal on the ProArt GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 16GB. This powerful graphics card boasts a triple-fan cooling array, and it’s slim and compact enough to fit into a wide range of today’s PC cases.
Don’t ignore the rest of your system while you’re upgrading your GPU. You don’t want your new hardware to be bottlenecked by a CPU that can’t keep up. We’re knocking down the price of the TUF Gaming Z790-Plus WiFi motherboard for this event with Micro Center. Engineered with military-grade components, an upgraded power solution, and comprehensive cooling options, this well-appointed board will unleash your Intel CPU for a great price.
Speaking of that CPU, let’s set it up for cool operation at quiet noise levels with an all-in-one liquid cooler. Right now, you can pick up an ROG Strix LC II 360 ARGB AIO liquid CPU cooler for only $149.99 (USD). With its beefy 360mm radiator and finely tuned fans, it’s built to deliver exceptional cooling, and it’s fully compatible with the latest generations of Intel and AMD CPUs.
Building a brand-new PC is a fantastic way to get the exact features, performance, and style that you prefer. But there’s a lot to be said about the out-of-the-box convenience of a gaming laptop or a prebuilt PC. During this limited-time event with Micro Center, you can fix your floundering FPS with the beastly ROG Strix SCAR 18. Equipped with an Intel Core i9-13980HX CPU and a top-of-the-line GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop GPU, this gaming laptop takes no prisoners. We’re also offering a tempting discount on the ROG Strix GA15 G15DK gaming desktop. This lean machine is powered by an AMD Ryzen 7 5800X CPU and a GeForce RTX 3080 graphics card, and it can be yours for only $999.99 (USD) while the offer lasts.
Symptom: You’re not gaming as much as you’d like
So far, we’ve talked a lot about your PC hardware. Let’s take a moment to review your medical chart. Perhaps you haven’t had much time for gaming recently. With everything else on your schedule, it isn’t always easy to block off time to hang out in your gaming den.
Treatment: Premium portable gaming
While we can’t fix your busy schedule, we can help you squeeze in high-quality gaming experiences while you’re on the go. With the ROG Phone 8 Pro, you can game anywhere, anytime.
Smaller, thinner, and lighter than previous-gen ROG Phones, this premium device is ready to travel, yet it’s built for a console-like gaming experience with built-in AirTrigger Controls, high-end cooling, and the supreme performance of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Mobile Platform.