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Your PC's hardware might not age badly, but the default settings can
When it comes to PC hardware, we often treat our rigs like evolving organisms. We swap GPUs, add more storage, and upgrade CPUs in a quest for cutting-edge performance once every couple of generations. While the silicon that powers the PC changes, the software and the firmware powering it often remain 'time capsules' of the era when the machine first POST-ed.
What needs to be better understood is that default settings are designed for broad compatibility rather than peak efficiency, and legacy configurations on both the OS and BIOS levels can act as a 'performance debt' that accumulates over time. So, while you're keeping your rig fresh with regular hardware upgrades, it is worth checking if the software is silently keeping your system from reaching peak performance.
BIOS-level culprits
Most frequently overlooked bottlenecks are found here
The BIOS is where the first handshake between your hardware and OS takes place, and it is responsible for governing how a number of your high-end components function and deliver output. Despite this, the average user only ventures into these menus during the initial POST (Power-On Self Test), toggles their XMP/EXPO profile, and proceeds to never revisit the settings again.
While this is perfectly fine for most gaming or productivity-focused workflows, it can lead to stagnation and a fair bit of oversight, especially if you're running an older motherboard with newer components you've installed over time. Whenever you swap a CPU, GPU, or RAM kit, many motherboards detect the hardware change and revert to the defaults to ensure the system boots. When this happens, it's not really a problem, but the settings are likely not tailored well to make the best of your hardware.
For example, if you've just upgraded your old GPU, you're more likely to hit a performance wall imposed by the BIOS. In the past, keeping the Compatibility Support Module (CSM) ensured that you could boot into older OS versions. Today, it acts more like a gatekeeper. Keeping CSM "enabled" forces your motherboard into a legacy BIOS mode that prevents a suite of modern features like Resizable BAR from functioning, which compels your GPU to access memory in 256MB chunks rather than being able to access the entire VRAM buffer at once, resulting in a significant performance loss.
While some BIOS settings can keep you from accessing quality features, others can actively sabotage your system if left unchecked. Say you've got a powerful, high-end CPU that caters to your intensive hardware needs, but your motherboard is trying to "help" you by removing important safety limiters by default. Such was the case with some ASUS boards, wherein the default Multi-Core Enhancement (MCE) settings acted like an aggressive overclock by pushing all CPU cores to their max turbo frequency, all the time. This auto-override affords you some performance, but at the unacceptable cost of the longevity of your hardware.
OS-level gremlins
Where defaults come to die
Operating systems are designed to work on $200 laptops and $5,000 workstations and everything that comes in between, so you can count on their defaults to be a tad ill-suited. As you'd expect, Windows and Linux both have some legacy-minded settings that can become a bit of a misfit for your system as it ages.
One example of this is Fast Startup on Windows. Mostly enabled by default, this setting instructs your system to save a snapshot of the kernel and drivers to the disk instead of performing a full shutdown. On old HDD-based computers, this setting could save you a few minutes on startup; however, if you've already transitioned to flash-based storage, it doesn't save a lot of time since SSDs are already fast enough. The setting, instead, works against you on flash storage. Because the kernel never truly refreshes, your system's uptime can reach hundreds of hours, leading to driver instability, causing memory leaks due to secondary driver issues, and creating "phantom" lag.
On Linux machines, a notable mention is the aggressive swappiness that adds to your I/O overhead and slows down your processes. The vm.swappiness parameter governs how aggressively the Linux kernel moves data from the RAM to swap partitions. While a high default value was sensible when RAM was scarce in consumer PCs, on a modern machine with anywhere between 16-32GB of RAM and a fast SSD, aggressive swappiness can create unnecessary I/O overhead.
Driver and the user interface
Are they driving your system crazy?
If you've checked both your BIOS/UEFI and OS settings and are perfectly happy with them, the final set of settings to watch out for pertains to the drivers, which govern how your components communicate with one another and with the OS. This shapes how your hardware ecosystem 'feels like' on your device and plays a large role in your user experience.
The likelihood of missing important driver updates is the lowest of the other two categories I mentioned, as most of your newer, frequently updated components, like GPUs, come with their own software suites that are quick to notify you when you're missing something game-changing. That being said, you may still have to watch out for some things that aren't as loud, but still confidently incorrect.
Even if all looks fine, an outdated driver in the background could be holding your performance hostage until it's tweaked with a timely update. An example that comes to mind is the Windows native NVMe driver. Recent testing has revealed that the default driver can leave a lot of performance on the table, and Tom's Hardware has recently reported that, through the use of a new native NVMe driver, the uplift can be as high as 85% in random I/O performance.
It is important to note that the development outlined above relies on a manual registry workaround sourced from Windows Server 2025 and is not yet an official update for consumers on Windows 11.
Performance is more than just hardware
Your PC's performance is a product of the parts you buy, just as well as it is a product of how you manage them. By delving into the software side of things, you stand to reclaim a surprising amount of power over your hardware. An unspoken rule of PC building that I subscribe to is "don't let the defaults decide your performance," because they're designed for safety and scale, and not your workflow. Taking a little time to tune drivers, firmware, and system behavior is what puts the personal back in personal computers.