Overheating, crashing mid-game, or need a custom build? I've got you covered. Evenings and weekends.
Gaming PCs are a different beast to regular computers. They run hotter, push hardware harder, and need someone who understands thermal management, GPU diagnostics, PSU requirements, and component compatibility. That's what I do.
If your gaming PC is crashing mid-game, showing visual glitches, thermal throttling, or just not performing like it should, I can diagnose the exact problem. Whether it's a dying GPU, insufficient cooling, a PSU that can't handle the load, or a driver issue, I'll find it and fix it.
I also do upgrades — new graphics cards, CPUs, RAM, NVMe SSDs, better cooling solutions — and I can advise on what's actually worth upgrading versus what would be a waste of money for your specific setup.
Want a new custom build? Tell me your budget and what games you want to play, and I'll put together a parts list, build it, test it, and hand it over ready to go. No shop markup — just the cost of parts plus a fair build fee.
PC freezing, black-screening, or rebooting during games? Could be overheating, failing RAM, unstable overclock, or a PSU issue. I'll find the cause.
Weird colours, flickering textures, or visual glitches? Your graphics card may be overheating or failing. I can diagnose and advise on repair vs replacement.
Temperatures spiking during gaming? Poor airflow, dried thermal paste, or insufficient cooling. I'll sort the thermals and get temps back under control.
Built a PC and it won't show anything? Or an existing rig that's suddenly dead? I troubleshoot POST issues and get systems booting again.
Not getting the frames you'd expect? Could be a bottleneck, driver issue, background processes, or hardware not running at full speed. I'll optimise it.
Want a new gaming PC built to your budget? I'll help pick parts, assemble everything, cable manage, test, and hand it over ready to play.
GPU faults are some of the trickiest things to pin down on a gaming PC, because the symptoms — crashes, artifacts, black screens, sudden frame drops — can just as easily be a driver issue, a PSU that can't deliver enough current under load, dodgy RAM, or a card that's quietly cooking itself. Throwing a new graphics card at the problem before you've actually proven it's the GPU is a great way to spend £400 and still have a broken PC.
My process is methodical. First I run a stress test — FurMark or a heavy gaming workload — while monitoring temps and clocks live in GPU-Z and HWiNFO. If the card is thermal throttling, you'll see it: clocks drop, frame rate tanks, junction temp pegged at 100°C+. Modern Nvidia and AMD cards generally throttle hard before they crash, so a card that's crashing without hitting throttle limits is usually a power, driver, or VRAM problem rather than a cooling one.
From there I'll reseat the card, clean the PCIe contacts with isopropyl, try it in a different slot, and swap in a known-good PSU if there's any doubt about the power supply. Artifacting — weird coloured pixels, checkerboard patterns, vertices flying off into space — is classically VRAM failure or thermal paste that's pumped out from under the GPU die. A full re-paste with a quality compound, fresh thermal pads on the VRAM and VRMs, and a proper clean can genuinely save a card that looks dead. I've revived a fair few that way.
Drivers matter too. A normal Windows uninstall leaves heaps of registry entries and old files behind. I use DDU (Display Driver Uninstaller) in safe mode to strip every trace before reinstalling fresh — it solves a surprising number of "failing GPU" cases that turn out to be a driver conflict from an old card. And when a card genuinely is dead, I'll tell you straight rather than nurse it along — sometimes the honest answer is replacement, and I'd rather say so than charge you for a repair that won't last.
When someone asks me for a custom build, the conversation starts with two questions: what's your budget, and what do you actually want to play? Targeting 1080p high refresh in competitive shooters is a totally different build to 1440p single-player AAA at max settings, or 4K with ray tracing. Once I know that, I put together a parts list matched to current UK prices and stock — not a YouTube build from six months ago that's now either out of stock or worse value than newer alternatives.
The pricing is honest. I don't add margin on parts — you pay what they actually cost from Scan, Overclockers, Amazon or wherever the best price is on the day. On top of that there's a flat build/labour fee for my time. That covers the full job: assembly, proper cable management, CPU paste application (I use a quality paste, not the sachet that came in the box), BIOS update and XMP/EXPO setup, fan curve tuning, Windows install on the NVMe, drivers, and a proper round of stress tests on first boot before it leaves the workshop.
Rough budgets, current ballpark: around £500 gets you a solid esports/1080p machine with a current-gen budget GPU. £800 puts you firmly in 1440p territory at high settings. £1,000–£1,200 is the sweet spot for high-refresh 1440p with headroom. £1,500+ moves into 4K or top-tier 1440p with future-proof components. These shift constantly with GPU pricing.
One thing worth knowing: pre-built gaming PCs from PC World, Currys, Scan's bundled systems and similar tend to cut corners where you can't see — cheap unbranded PSUs, the bare minimum case airflow, single-channel RAM kits, no-name SSDs. At the same money, a build from sensibly chosen parts is almost always better specced and lasts longer.
Gaming PCs are big, heavy, awkward things — full-tower cases packed with glass panels, AIOs and three-slot GPUs aren't really suited to being lugged around in the back of a car for an on-site visit. For that reason, drop-off at my workshop in Laffak is the norm for gaming work. The bench is set up properly for it: anti-static mat, decent lighting, all the testing kit and spare parts I need to actually diagnose things rather than guess.
If you can't easily transport it, I can collect from nearby — Haydock, Newton-le-Willows, Prescot, Billinge, Rainhill, Eccleston, Rainford, Sutton and Thatto Heath are all close enough that picking up isn't a problem. There's a healthy gaming community across St Helens and the surrounding villages, but not many local options for proper specialist help once you outgrow what the high street can offer.
For custom builds, most of the planning happens over WhatsApp before anyone needs to travel anywhere. Send me a few photos of your existing setup if it's an upgrade, tell me what you're aiming for, and I'll come back with a parts list and a price. Easy.
It depends entirely on what you want to play and at what resolution. As a rough guide: around £500 for a solid 1080p esports machine, £800 for capable 1440p high settings, £1,000–£1,200 for high-refresh 1440p with headroom, and £1,500+ for 4K or top-tier 1440p builds. You pay parts at cost (no shop markup) plus a flat build fee for my time, which covers full assembly, cable management, BIOS setup, Windows install and stress testing.
Honest answer: it depends on the age of your platform. If your CPU and motherboard are within the last two or three generations, a GPU upgrade alone often transforms gaming performance and is far cheaper than a new build. If you're on something genuinely old — DDR3, a CPU from before 2018, an older socket — you'll hit bottlenecks that no GPU upgrade can fix, and at that point a fresh build usually makes more sense. I'm happy to look at your current spec and give you a straight answer rather than just selling you a build.
I work through it methodically rather than guessing. Stress test the GPU under load while monitoring temps and clocks, check for thermal throttling, look at event logs for clues, test memory with MemTest86, swap in a known-good PSU if power delivery looks suspect, and do a clean driver reinstall with DDU to rule out software issues. Most crashes come down to thermals, power, RAM or drivers — the trick is proving which one before spending money on parts.
I don't need to match — I just buy the parts at the same price you would. There's no markup on hardware in my pricing. If Overclockers has the best price on a GPU that day, that's where it comes from. You pay what the parts cost, plus a separate fee for my time to spec, build, test and set the system up. It works out cheaper than a pre-built and you get someone local to call if anything goes wrong later.
Usually about a week from go-ahead to handover, depending on parts availability. A day or two to get everything ordered and delivered, an evening to assemble and cable manage properly, then a day of Windows install, driver setup and stress testing before I'm comfortable handing it over. I won't rush it — I'd rather take an extra day and know the thermals and stability are spot-on than get it out the door quickly with something half-tested.
Whether it's a repair, an upgrade, or a full custom build — drop me a message and we'll sort it out.