People often want to know how they can make their PC faster
or upgrade existing parts. When you use a PC, it naturally becomes
cluttered and more resources are used over time. In our last
article (Spyware and Adware Removal),
we discussed removing spy ware which will free-up many precious
resources and make your machine faster.
In this article we will discuss some common upgrades to PC’s
that most users will want to perform at some point.
The most obvious upgrade that anyone should perform to gain
system speed is a memory upgrade. Memory, or RAM, (not to be
confused with Hard-drive space) is the temporary space where
all processes in a computer are run. The more memory you have,
the faster the PC. Memory is measured in Megabytes (MB). Most
computers have anywhere from 128MB – 512MB. Older PC’s
have less, but memory can generally be upgraded. The best way
to find out how much memory you have is to go to System Information:
(Start > Programs > Accessories > System
Tools > System Information)
Then, the best place to go and buy memory is Crucial Technology.
They have the best prices and make buying memory VERY simple.
Bottom line: more memory means more speed.
Other things to be upgraded are:
- video cards,
- CD-RW drives, and
- hard drives.
| I
think the most important upgrade a user can perform
is a memory upgrade. This inexpensive upgrade can
make your computer feel and perform like new for as
little as $40 or $50 dollars. |
|
| |
|
Adding additional drives to a PC (CD ROM or Hard Drives) is
not that difficult, but sometimes it can get tricky. There are
small pins on the back of the drive that need to be changed
to reflect which drive is the master and which is the secondary,
or “slave” drive. If you put an additional hard
drive in your PC and incorrectly set the NEW drive to master
and the original drive to slave, the PC will not boot since
the master drive is blank. With CD ROM drives, there is no risk
of the PC not booting. All you need to do to connect either
type of drive is connect an extra power cable and IDE cable.
Both of these cables can be found inside the PC case and there
are almost always extra connections available for upgrading.
Simply mimic the way the current ones are plugged-in and you
should be fine.
Video cards are often upgraded when a person is an intense
“gamer”. An upgraded video card will provide better
resolution, more detail, and sharper images. I do not recommend
upgrading the video card for most users as the gain is negligible.
For gamers, the gains can be an increase of performance in the
display of the game, making screens appear and refresh faster.
For an average user, there is no difference.
CD-RW drives can be upgraded to a faster drive, but unless
you burn a lot of CD’s, this is often not worth
the upgrade either. If you are using an old 4X (read: 4 times)
CD-RW drive, the difference between that drive and a new 52X
CD burner is huge. But the difference between a 24X and a 52X
drive is not that great and I would not recommend changing drives.
I think the most important upgrade a user can perform is a
memory upgrade. This inexpensive upgrade can make your computer
feel and perform like new for as little as $40 or $50 dollars.
A fun website to check for additional parts and upgrades is
http://www.pcupgrades.com/. Again, I would recommend http://crucial.com/
for memory upgrades since the pricing is good. But pcupgrades.com
can give you many ideas, too.
Happy computing!
Lou Costa is a Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator.
He can be reached at lou@ArcBusSol.com
