How can you tell if your computer hardware is outdated?

Poor performance. If your computer takes a long time to boot up, load programs or perform tasks, it may be due to insufficient or incompatible hardware .

Removing dust and reapplying thermal paste to the CPU cooler are important maintenance tasks for a computer. Dust buildup can hinder the cooling system's effectiveness, leading to overheating and decreased performance. Replacing thermal paste is also crucial as it helps maintain good heat conductivity between the CPU and the heatsink.

Keeping the operating system up to date is crucial for several reasons. Firstly, regular updates can add new features to the operating system, but more importantly, they are the main way that exploitable vulnerabilities are patched Vulnerability patches close bugs and loopholes that could be taken advantage of by malware creators and other bad actors trying to gain access to your computer or its data. Secondly, using an out-of-date operating system version can result in compatibility problems with new software that expects the features and filesystem layout that go with the version of the operating system it’s been built to run on.

Good idea to run once in a while Memtest86 is a stand-alone memory testing tool for x86 and x86-64 architecture computers. It provides a more thorough memory check than that provided by BIOS

By comparing your current hardware specifications with the latest hardware trends, you can see how well your computer matches up with the current trends. Some of the trends that you can check are: Processor speed: The average processor speed in 2023 is 4 GHz. If your processor speed is significantly lower, your computer hardware may be outdated. Memory size: The average Memory size for desktop computers is 16 GB & laptop computers is 8 GB in 2023. If your memory size is significantly lower, your computer hardware may be outdated. Storage capacity: The average storage capacity for desktop computers is 1 TB & laptop computers is 500 GB in 2023. If your storage capacity is significantly lower, your computer hardware may be outdated.

Very often it's not the computer that's too old, it's rather that OS and middleware software versions are increasingly resource-hungry and your computer becomes slower in its actions. Electronics have become very reliable (the lifespan of hard disks remains to be taken into account, as these are also mechanical devices).