5 Effective PC Upgrades to Improve Performance

December 10, 2022 By Monica Green

(Image Credit Google)

Changing a PC? You have a variety of options, such as adding more RAM or creating a bespoke chassis for a DIY liquid cooling system. Your PC will determine the optimum improvements. What specs does it currently have? Are you perusing the web, playing a game, or editing 4K videos? Here are five typical PC upgrades along with which systems will benefit the most from them. Additionally, we are rating how difficult we believe each upgrade to be. Though some may require a bit more thought and preparation than others, the most are simple to complete.

Place a Solid-State Drive there

This is the typical basic upgrade that has a significant impact, especially on outdated computers. Get a 2.5-inch SSD if your laptop or desktop computer is using a hard drive; it will make a significant impact. Your computer will feel more responsive, and boot times may be significantly reduced. Given the status of flash storage today, a triple-level cell (TLC) drive is generally preferable than a quad-level cell drive (QLC). Upgrading to an NVMe M.2 drive is the next step if you currently have a 2.5-inch SATA-based SSD. The general responsiveness and boot times will also improve as a result, though not as significantly as with a hard disk. ssd

One restriction applies to M.2 drives: Your PC must have a dedicated M.2 PCIe slot. The majority of contemporary desktop motherboards ought to include it, however laptop capabilities will differ greatly. To see if your system supports these drives, check the handbook for your motherboard or other device. Should you upgrade your system's RAM, or would doing so be useless? What you're doing determines a lot about it. 8 gigabytes (GB) may be sufficient if you only use your PC to watch videos, compose papers in Microsoft Word, and occasionally edit photos. With at least 16 GB, gamers are frequently content, especially when playing current AAA video games. Then there are tasks with lots of media. 32 GB of RAM can be ideal if you're starting to take your hobby of video editing seriously. How Do RAM Speed and Timing Affect the Performance of My Computer? The simple conclusion is that your system requires a specific amount of RAM to function at its best. Beyond that, adding RAM won't likely result in much, if any, improvement. RAM

You should be able to determine how much RAM you require using these rough recommendations. Try double it if it isn't enough and see how it works. Think about your motherboard and CPU's limitations as well. They have a limited capacity for RAM, albeit it is typically quite a bit. Keep in mind that any fresh RAM purchases must be made at the same speed (measured in MHz). Our guide to upgrading the RAM in your PC has more information. Once everything is set up, upgrading the RAM on a desktop computer is as easy as installing the new RAM modules and turning on the computer. An access panel on the bottom of laptops must typically be opened, and the keyboard may occasionally need to be taken off. Be warned that certain laptops cannot even accept RAM upgrades due to the RAM being soldered to the PCB of the motherboard.

Replace your graphics card

The next step to enhancing speed is to update the graphics card if your computer is configured with the appropriate amount of RAM and your games are running off an SSD. Ask yourself what resolution your monitor is before changing your GPU. If you get a graphics card that is excellent for 4K gaming but you only play at 1080p, you may have done without it.

Before changing your graphics card, you might need to get a newer CPU if yours is extremely old. But if you pair a more recent graphics card with an older CPU, you may go surprisingly far. Furthermore, if the CPU needs to be upgraded, the entire system probably needs to be redesigned. When you have a new card, slip it into the slot by unlocking the latch, removing the old card's power cable, replacing it, and then reconnecting the power if your new card calls for it. The new drivers for the card must then be installed before you can start using it. Visit our tutorial on how to upgrade and install a new graphics card in your PC for a more in-depth look at the upgrade procedure.

Upgrade Your CPU

Although it's not difficult, replacing your CPU is more challenging than adding extra RAM or upgrading your graphics card. Before you decide to get a new CPU, check which models are compatible with your motherboard. The motherboard CPU socket must be compatible with the processor you want—the socket is the space where the CPU fits on a motherboard. Beware, however, that CPU makers (particularly Intel) can have different versions of the same socket type. For instance, Coffee Lake processors use LGA 1151 sockets that are incompatible with SkyLake processors. CPU

It's generally preferable to upgrade your motherboard and CPU simultaneously. Sometimes, though, it makes more sense to simply upgrade the processor. For instance, you might come across a great CPU sale. There are frequent trade-offs if you replace your CPU without upgrading your motherboard, especially if the newer processors have more sophisticated features. Anyone with an AMD X470 motherboard, for example, could use a Ryzen 3000 CPU. They would, however, be excluded from PCIe 4.0, which both the motherboard and the CPU must support. Depending on whether you have an AMD or Intel motherboard, changing the CPU is a little bit different. Essentially, however, all you do is remove the old CPU, gently drop in the new one, and secure it. Then it’s just a matter of attaching your CPU cooling fan or liquid cooling solution. Heat: It’s what keeps custom PC builders up at night, or at least awake enough to contemplate how to keep computer temperatures lower. Keeping your PC cool helps your components last longer, and makes it easier to overclock your system. Standard air cooling fans are great, but there’s nothing like a liquid cooling system when you want to get serious about overclocking or your PC is generally too hot all the time. An all-in-one (AIO) cooler is a good first step. These are pre-built devices that circulate liquid from a radiator to a block over your CPU. Installing an AIO cooler into an existing PC requires you to remove the current cooling fan and then get rid of any existing thermal compound on the CPU. Next, install the radiator into your case and place the cooling block over the CPU—thermal compound is usually pre-applied to the block. Fit a few cables onto your motherboard or the power supply and you’re good to go. Make sure your case can hold your AIO cooler. The four typical AIO sizes are 120 mm, 140 mm, 240 mm, and 280 mm. These are all based on radiator fan sizes. A 120 mm AIO has one 120 mm fan; a 140 mm has one 140 mm fan; a 240 mm has two 120 mm fans; and a 280mm has two 140 mm fans.

Add a liquid cooler to your system

Whether or not a liquid cooler is right for your PC depends on how hot your machine tends to get. If you can find an AIO on sale, there’s something to be said for how nice a liquid cooling system looks, especially if it’s packing a little RGB razzle-dazzle. [caption id="attachment_70406" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] liquid cooler to your system

Corsair[/caption] You could carry out many other PC upgrades, but those are some of the most common that don’t require much in the way of expertise to do well.

By Monica Green

I am specialised in latest tech and tech discoveries.

5 Effective PC Upgrades to Improve Performance

Place a Solid-State Drive there

Replace your graphics card

Upgrade Your CPU

Add a liquid cooler to your system

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