It's been a long time since I saw any (AI) system say exactly nothing in this many words.
Let's break that down:
- CPU upgrades make sense, when the CPU is the bottleneck. For most games, it usually isn't. Again: You may want to prioritize context switches (and thus L0/L1/L2 cache) over pure shiny GHz-numbers. Check that the cores work well together and don't get distracted by bling-bling. Your game will only profit from the physical performance cores of the CPU, the remaining low(er)-performance CPU cores are just for show (and highly parallel desktop applications).
- RAM helps with running multiple applications simultaneously. If you are running one game, it won't provide extra "speed" as long as your system isn't swapping at the moment. It will, at best, allow simulation heavy games store more objects in RAM. Meaning: If you want single-application performance, prioritize quality over quantity. For multi-application support, quantity over quality. Pick what you need.
- water cooler: Only if your fans are getting too loud for your taste, you are into overclocking your system (in which case, your choice of hardware should reflect that), or you want to have the "coolness effect" (pun intended) of a water cooling unit. Otherwise, a classic fan setup will do the trick. But, sure. If you feel like it, why not? It certainly feels good to have a water cooler. I totally get it!
- SDDs, you don't need two (let alone three), unless you have a database and use sharding. Otherwise, it won't help your performance. I know, it's a laptop SSD and there's that. Not judging, just talking about performance.
- Graphics card: Depends on what you want to drive with it. Some cards are better with multiple external monitors, which won't see much use in gaming. Some have worse performance, but longer battery life. Others provide better performance for 3D, but suck your batteries dry like nothing. Some have more memory, meaning, the expensive GPUs will have less idle-cycles. There is no such thing as "the best" card. Pick and choose based on your priorities. Just make sure that what you buy fits your needs. If all you are packing is a 1920x1080 laptop monitor, your "beast of a card" will be twiddling its expensive thumbs.
- A dedicated sound card is an absolute must-have for studio recordings. Because the on-board sound will have a terrible residual background noise, even when you are recording "silence". I was recording live radio shows for 10 years, and I absolutely needed those fat gold-plated connectors for my microphone, because the sound reproduction was crap and the noise floor was horrible with the onboard card. Likewise, if you are musician recording via a MIDI interface, you want those sound banks. I never used any of that stuff, so better ask a musician for feedback about what setup works best together with your music input and/or external recording hardware. HOWEVER: If all you do is listen to music, the internal card is perfectly fine, and you won't get any noticeable advantages by investing in a dedicated card.
Pick the best tool _for_the_job_, not "the best tool". The better you understand the job your tool is supposed to handle, the better you will understand what you are looking for--and ultimately make an educated, optimized decission that you can be happy with.
Don't focus too much on single component performance, but look at the bigger picture. Pick components that complement each other well, to get the best combo for _your_ needs.
