Computer Speed Upgrades

Upgrading the hard drive to SSD (Solid State Drive)
This is the classic rudimentary upgrade that makes a dramatic difference – especially for aging systems. If your laptop or desktop computer is running off a hard drive, then upgrading to an SSD drive will make a big difference. Your PC will feel more responsive, and boot times can shorten dramatically. We have noticed at least a 25% increase in performance even on older computers.

Add more RAM (Random Access Memory)
Should you add more RAM to your setup, or will it be a pointless exercise? That depends a lot on what you’re doing. If you use a PC to stream video, write documents in Microsoft Word, and edit the occasional photo, then 8 gigabytes (GB) might be all you need. Gamers will often be happiest with at least 16 GB, especially when playing modern AAA video games.

Then there are media-rich tasks. If you’re getting into serious video editing as a hobby, 32 GB of RAM might be ideal. The bottom line is there’s an optimal amount of RAM your system needs to do its job. If you add more RAM beyond that, you won’t see much improvement, if any. There are limits on your motherboard and CPU. They can handle only a certain amount of RAM—though it’s usually quite a bit. We will confirm RAM support before making recommendations.

GPU Upgrade (Graphics Card)
If you have the right amount of RAM in your system and your games are running off an SSD, the next step to improving performance is to upgrade the graphics card. Before you swap your GPU, ask yourself what resolution your monitor is. If you get a graphics card that’s awesome for 4K gaming but you only play at 1080p, then you could’ve done with a far cheaper graphics card.

If your CPU is particularly old, you might need a newer one before upgrading your graphics card. However, you can get surprisingly far with an older CPU combined with a newer graphics card. Besides, if it’s time to upgrade the CPU, then it’s likely time for a total system overhaul.

CPU Upgrade (Central Processing Unit)
Upgrading the CPU is a bigger upgrade in terms of complexity level in comparison with Drive, RAM and GPU upgrades. This would normally be done on an older computer which is still in excellent condition, but still runs slow after doing the other upgrades.

This exercise may be expensive as older CPU`s that will be compatible with the older PC may be hard to find. We do not recommend this upgrade unless the computer in question is e.g. the very unique Dell Inspiron One 2320 touchscreen all-in-one released in 2011.

We have a customer who is still using their Dell Inspiron 2320 on a daily basis and over the years we have upgraded the RAM, CPU and recently upgraded the drive to SSD and OS (Operating System) to Windows 10.