Moore’s Law is still in effect. That’s the observation that computers double in power roughly every eighteen months. It’s held true for as long as computers have been around, and there’s no end in sight. Just when journalists begin to think otherwise, some new advance appears that extends the run again.
Because computers become obsolete so quickly, you may be tempted to ditch your old equipment and buy something new. That certainly is an option, but components have significantly decreased in price over time, and there are three upgrades you can make to your aging system to extend its life, increase its speed, and provide a huge bang for the buck.
RAM
Your computer can almost never have too much RAM. Today’s operating systems require huge amounts of it, and there are a number of popular programs that can be memory hogs too, especially anything dealing with graphics (Photoshop, Paintshop Pro, GIMP, etc). The more RAM the better, so before you scrap your old system, max out your RAM, to provide a significant and noticeable performance boost to your system.
SSD
An SSD or solid-state drive is a hard drive with no moving parts and increased speed. They’re not just faster, but they tend to be more reliable too. If you want to get a notable performance boost, do this. You’ll be amazed at the difference. Your system will boot faster and your applications will also show a noticeable difference. Think of your old hard drive as a rusty but reliable station wagon and your new SSD as a Tesla; this should give you a good idea of the performance difference.
Graphics Card
Using one of your expansion slots for a new graphics card is almost always a win. Yes, you tie up one expansion slot, but many of today’s applications are pretty graphically intense, and the graphics card handles all the graphics processing, taking pressure off of your CPU and RAM. This upgrade can increase overall system speed and some cards even provide support for multiple monitor setups, which can increase productivity. A graphics card is definitely a good way to get a nice performance boost.
If you do any one of these upgrades, you’ll notice the difference the very next time you boot your machine up. If you do all three, it won’t even feel like the same computer. These are highly recommended upgrades that can dramatically increase the useful life of your machine. Our team can help you with evaluating your system to see if these upgrades are necessary and providing any necessary help to speed up your computer.
