The Skinny On - Computer Upgrades

Computer getting old and slow? Read on to find out the right things to upgrade and why.

Memory (RAM). This is what most people ask for, I don't know why. Somewhere, sometime, this was the default answer to most people's "slow running" computer. Did it work? I guess. It's probably more a mental thing though. More RAM in your computer basically means you're able to have more applications open and do more things, before it starts to hit its limit. Before super-fast hard drives (SSDs) were a thing, hitting this limit felt like slamming on the brakes! Buying more RAM doesn't make your PC any faster, it just gives you more headroom to run more programs. Basically, rule of thumb, the more the better, and buying it when the technology is in its sweet spot (not too new, not too old) means it can be relatively cheap too.

Hard Drive. This is 1, about storage space and 2, about hard drive type. If you're upgrading from an old spindle hard drive to a Solid-State Hard Drive (SSD) the performance increase is immediate. This is arguably the only upgrade that will "speed up" your computer and it will be running better and faster than when you first bought it (provided you've not riddled it with viruses and malware beforehand....). Whilst you're at it, make sure you increase the storage capacity too. The prices are coming down for SSDs and the speeds that they can read and write from is stupidly fast. Leave this upgrade to an expert though otherwise you'll buy the wrong thing or worse, you might lose all your stuff.

Video Card. This upgrade is best for graphical work, 3D stuff, videos, etc. If all you do all day is looks at spreadsheets, emails and footy tipping, upgrading this on your computer isn't going to be a life changing moment. In many cases, it's expensive too ($3K for one isn't unheard of) and the people that want to upgrade these, already know what they are and what they do. So if you're a little lost here about what I'm talking about, this upgrade isn't for you.

Power Supply. Worthy of a mention on the coat tails of the Video Card. If you're upgrading your video card, it's a good thing to look at upgrading your power supply too.

Considerations. IMPORTANT! Computer upgrades are low key smoke and mirrors. So many things need to be taken into consideration before a nerd even picks up a tool for this. Age of the computer, availability of parts (again pending age), the cost of the upgrades, how long you intend to keep the computer, etc, etc, etc. This is one of the main reasons why many IT companies will flat out just replace a computer instead of upgrading it. A $500 upgrade for an extra 2 years, or a $1500 new computer for 5+ years makes for a compelling argument.

So when your IT mob tells you to "just replace it" it's not just because it's more financially rewarding for them, it's a comment spawned from literally millions and millions of like requests, all around the world that IT nerds honoured and completed, and where the computer upgrade just didn't do the job.

Ask me how I know. Actually, dont.

But if you want to ask me something else? By all means.

dEx