Why upgrade the hardware on your computer?

There are many reasons why you might want to upgrade your computer hardware and its worth looking at these reasons before you spend your hard earned cash. If money is no option then you could simply go and buy a new computer but that might be considered a waste and then you’ve got the headache of transferring your data. There are four main ways to upgrade the hardware on your computer, they are:

  • Memory
  • Hard Disk
  • Video Card
  • Processor

Memory Upgrades

The memory in a computer is known as the RAM and comes conveniently in modules designed to be upgraded. Some people mistakenly refer to memory when they are actually mean Hard disk storage. I like to think of RAM as the consciousness of the computer, its what the computer is ‘thinking about’ when you start a program or app. The processor loads the software into RAM and then starts computing with it. Obviously the more RAM memory you have the more the computer can think. RAM memory is made up of Solid State chips and they work very quickly compared to mechanical hard disks. If your computer is slow to start up, slow or laps when you start programs or has difficulty in running several programs at once you probably need more RAM. Another symptom of a lack of available memory is a fragmented hard disk, because if the RAM is overloaded the processor constantly writes to a temporary memory ‘cache’ on your drive and this can cause your data and temporary files to be scattered all over the disk. RAM memory is relatively easy to upgrade and the cheapest option to upgrade, however it is not always possible or straightforward on Laptops.

Hard disk Upgrades

The hard disk in a computer is for storage, its where your all of the system files for the operating system, programs and data are stored. So the larger your disk is the more data you will be able to keep. These days with computers being used to access all types of media, hard disks can get full very quickly. Therefore, having a larger hard disk or even better having a second hard disk in your computer is a good upgrade. This should not be confused with having a second partition which just divides your disk into two.

Solid State Hard Drives

The conventional Disk is a mechanically device, consequently is relatively slow compared to the processor and RAM memory. In short it is the main bottle neck for more computers. What is more, it is also the most fragile and vulnerable part of your computer. Therefore, you should consider upgrading your computer with a Solid State Hard drive. These drives use the same technology as RAM memory with no moving parts; they have fallen in price and are now relatively quite large inside. If you have a desktop computer you should at least install Windows and your programs on the Solid State drive to make it lightning fast and then keep your data on another drive. If you have a Laptop then you can still use these drives to dramatically upgrade your computer.

Video Card upgrades

If you're a gamer, then upgrading your video card is probably what you want to upgrade. Nothing boosts your gaming performance like a new video card. However, this is only really suitable for desktop computers. If you are not into gaming then upgrading or installing a dedicated video card can still be beneficial, by freeing up your RAM for other processing. Installing a Video card is not that difficult but you will need additional drivers and you may have to disable the on-board video card if you have one.

Processor

Processors are not as easily upgradable as RAM and hard drives. Many Laptops and Pre-built desktops are sometimes not upgradable. But if you built your computer yourself, you can always upgrade to a faster processor with the same socket type. This upgrade would be most useful for those doing processor intensive tasks, like working with images, video or audio. Multi-core processors will help with multitasking, especially when these intensive processes are involved.