What to Consider When Upgrading Computer Components
In the past, when we thought about boosting the performance of our computer , the thing we focused on was the Random Access Memory (RAM). But nowadays, RAM is no longer the real issue. There are many elements that are worth considering before buying any new computer. Now, let’s learn about them in detail.
Do you really need to increase the RAM capacity?
Before you think about increasing the capacity or size of the RAM, you should first make sure that your daily uses will actually benefit from the new increase. Do you browse a lot of websites every day and open many tabs at the same time? Do you work intensively on the Microsoft Office application package? Do you play modern games? Do you work on productive and professional business programs such as design, editing and video modification programs? These are the tasks that thirst for RAM memory, and the more RAM your computer contains, the more smooth and fast its performance will be during use.
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If you currently only have 4GB, upgrading to 8GB might be a great idea and will help greatly in boosting your computer’s performance levels. If you have 8GB and are experiencing slowdowns and RAM filling up with instructions while working on business programs, then upgrading to 16GB is a must. If you are thinking of increasing the RAM capacity on your laptop, you should first check your laptop’s manual and see if the increase is allowed or not and what types and frequencies of RAM the manufacturer recommends.
Therefore, we recommend that you do not buy any laptop at the present time with less than 8 GB. If you are a fan of playing modern AAA games, you will need 16 GB, unless you do not care about the quality of the graphics and can enjoy medium and low video settings. However, if you deal with editing programs and among your work is editing high-quality video resolutions such as 4K, you will need a RAM of no less than 32 GB, especially if you want to be able to do the rest of your other routine work at the same time as executing the video editing process.
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For desktops and home consoles, you have a good chance to increase the RAM capacity and buy one that has high clock speeds and low timings. Low clocks and high frequencies help in responding quickly to CPU commands when trying to request operations from the RAM and access them in a faster period of time, and they also help in storing operations in shorter periods of time, so they make a big difference during overclocking operations and some other work and with some games. But if your budget does not currently allow for buying high frequencies, there is no need to burden yourself with their high costs, because the difference in performance on the ground is imperceptible and does not help in changing the real experience for any user.
Consider buying an SSD
If we put all the components and hardware of the computer on one side, and put one of the solid state storage solutions (SSD) on the other side, the SSD will win, as it is the first and last responsible for increasing the speed of the entire system’s performance in most tasks.
Don’t expect it to achieve a higher number of frames inside games, nor does it help in completing complex 3D modeling and editing work in faster periods of time, but it helps speed up everything else, starting from the stages of booting and running the Windows system, through opening and running programs and applications in faster periods of time and dealing with tools more smoothly inside programs, and even saving new work and loading stages, levels and pages inside games in faster periods of time.
It is the only piece that brings the pulse of life back to any computer, even if it has been destroyed by time. It is not necessary to buy one of the leading models from Samsung or Crucial, but any storage disk that suits your budget from Adata, Intel, Kingstone or others will suffice.
You can also change the laptop hard drive to an SSD hard drive, and be sure that you will never regret this upgrade. You will feel that the process of installing a new Windows system has become a routine matter and you will not feel its difficulty after that because setting up a new system and installing all your routine and necessary business programs will not require more than 15 minutes maximum.
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If you have a SATA 6Gb/s SSD, there is no need to think about PCIe 3.0 even if your motherboard has an M.2 PCIe slot. Because the real-world performance difference will not be noticeable, it is better to think about upgrading something else first, and then you can think about M.2 PCIe storage solutions.
Stronger CPU or stronger GPU
It depends a lot on your business and usage patterns. If you are planning to upgrade your computer for gaming, you should consider both. Most modern games now require a CPU with at least 4 to 6 cores, but the idea of buying a CPU is always to try to find the right CPU that doesn’t cause any noticeable bottleneck to the graphics card.
Meaning you don't need a 16-core processor for gaming unless you're planning to buy a 4K platform and considering buying one of the latest high-end cards. Although some 8-core processors may be more than enough for this platform.
But for editing, content creation or engineering design work, they crave more CPU cores, and the more cores a CPU has, the faster it can get work done. Some engineering design and 3D modeling work requires more CPU core speed than it does cores, it always depends on the type of work and programs used and how they are developed by their developers in the way they utilize hardware resources.