u/Soevil11

^(Disclaimer: I'm a complete newbie to the actual maintenance of computers)

I've come to the conclusion that I need to do a deep clean of my GPU as dust has stopped the fan from working and it's been several years without replacing the thermal paste and I've also decided to replace the paste on my CPU too. I've never done any work that could cost me hundreds of dollars like this before. Should I carefully study over and over in preparation to try and do it myself or take it to a PC Repair shop?

^(Disclaimer: I'm a complete newbie to the actual maintenance of computers)

I've come to the conclusion that I need to do a deep clean of my GPU as dust has stopped the fan from working and it's been several years without replacing the thermal paste and I've also decided to replace the paste on my CPU too. I've never done any work that could cost me hundreds of dollars like this before. Should I carefully study over and over in preparation to try and do it myself or take it to a PC Repair shop?

With the release of Subnautica 2, I have begun to reconsider my hardware. Currently, I can only play the game in 10 minute bursts before it becomes too choppy to play and I need to wait for my computer to cool down some more (I presume that's what causes it to go from smooth to choppy). My computer is a few years old I need to know if the included components (sorry, I'm a prebuilt guy) have been rendered obsolete.

CPU: Intel Core i7-11700K @ 3.60GHz

Memory: 15.8 GB

GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060

I would prefer to keep the budget below $350 or so. If I'm just overreacting and need to wait for some new optimizations or something, please say so.