The best upgrades for your PC to make it run faster

Is your PC running slower than usual? Are you having trouble editing videos and playing the latest games? Click on the links and you will be shown how to build a new, affordable PC that can fix your problem. However, before you can do that, you need to know what to buy. This guide will guide you through the best upgrades for your PC to make it faster.

That said, these are tough times to build a new PC. In particular, the graphics card is in short supply and things are not much better when it comes to the CPU. Intel will roll out its new Rocket Lake CPUs in March 2021, and AMD’s Ryzen 5000 CPUs are expensive and in short supply. While you may like the idea of ​​building a new PC, it might be a good time to tweak your existing PC or laptop with the intention of going back for a major overhaul or new entry. Last year. Many PCs from recent years can be rented out if you upgrade specific components and some of them are also easy to install at home. To get your system up and running again, here are the best upgrades you can make to your PC.

The best upgrades for your desktop

Desktops are much easier to upgrade than their laptop cousins, as they are usually ATX compliant and you have space to work inside the case. Provided you do research and conduct with caution, you’ll find it easy, for example, to upgrade your CPU cooler from a small air cooler to an all-in-one liquid cooler. . In contrast, the cooling system inside the laptop is a black box that gives you much less options. If you know what you’re doing (or want to learn how), you can technically upgrade everything in your PC, from the motherboard to the processor, and more. But in this guide we’ll focus on upgrades that provide quick, simple performance improvements.

Identify the problem

Most games include a built-in benchmark test. This screenshot from Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands shows that a test PC running Intel Core i7-7820X with RX 5700 XT graphics can handle the game at 1080p with ease, which gives you peace of mind. That doesn’t tell you whether your PC is dying on its own or is flying unattended in the world.

For a clearer picture of what your PC is up to, you can also download it for free CPU-Z and GPU-Z applications. When you run them with the Task Manager app that comes with Microsoft Windows, you’ll find yourself with chapters and sentences about the internals of your PC or laptop, including clock speed, temperature, and memory usage. This will show you the biggest problem your PC has, which could be CPU overload, weak graphics, full memory, insufficient cooling, or memory crash. Let’s turn that sentence around: If your hard drive or solid state drive is full, a faster RAM installation won’t have much of a mark.

Upgrade your RAM

RAM, or memory, as it is often called, is one of the easiest ways to speed up your system, as these sticks can be put in and out of slots with little effort. Adding more RAM, or even replacing DIMMs (the technical term for memory stick), takes seconds and if your system doesn’t have enough for what you’re trying to do or it’s exceptionally slow and You upgrade to something faster, and you’ll notice a significant increase in system performance.

Almost every modern PC runs DDR4 memory unless you’re working with a very old system that uses DDR3. Once you have identified your motherboard and CPU, you should know which memory is supported by your system. The best way to determine your exact options in terms of speed (usually expressed in megahertz) and number of DIMMs (anywhere between two and eight) is by reference. Crucial’s Mentoring Tool. You can then choose equivalent memory from memory like Corsair’s. If you’re not sure how much you should buy, check out our guide on how much RAM you really need. We also have the best RAM guides you can buy.

Add SSD

Arguably the most notable upgrade anyone can make to any PC is to use an SSD for the primary drive. They are significantly faster than traditional hard drives and can make your system perform fast and responsive, and boot up and load games a lot faster.

Like memory, prices have dropped dramatically in recent years, so you can choose Fast 1TB drives for no more than $ 100. Installing them is as easy as plugging in the required power supply and data cable if it’s a SATA drive or connecting it to the associated slot on your motherboard if it’s an M.2 or NVMe drive. Every motherboard we’ve seen supports some SATA connections, while M.2 is a bit more complicated. Crucial’s Mentoring Tool includes both RAM and SSD and will help you avoid buying an incompatible SSD, but our advice here is to keep an eye on the connections on your motherboard, along with the drive bays in school. Connect and connect on the mains before purchasing.

If you are replacing your boot drive, you will need to either switch your operating system to a new drive or install it from scratch. It’s a great idea to back up your important files to an external drive or a cloud storage service like Dropbox, before starting the installation process.

If you don’t want to do that, you can still benefit from an SSD by adding it as an extra drive and installing your game on it. That way, they’ll load much faster, but you won’t see much benefit in terms of overall system performance.

If you want more help with setup, we also have instructions on how to install a SATA drive.

Add or upgrade your video card

While we’d recommend upgrading from integrated graphics to a dedicated graphics card or dropping $ 500 or $ 1,000 for an example of one of the world’s most powerful cards, the reality of the problem early 2021 is a terrible time to buy a graphics card. Prices have gone up significantly while supplies are scarce, and you can actually spend more on a graphics card than the new Sony PS5 or Microsoft Xbox – except for the consoles. also in a state of shortage. By all means check our guide to building 4K gaming PCs, but graphics are a big deal right now.

If your PC already has a graphics card, but it’s a few generations old or doesn’t quite manage the frames per second you want, there are some bigger and worse options to consider, but make sure Use the site like RealHardTechX to check if your power supply can handle it.

Installing a graphics card is a bit laborious for some components, but it’s mostly a matter of plugging it into the correct socket and connecting the power cable. Here’s a quick guide on how to do it.

The best upgrades for your laptop

Laptop upgrades are both easier and harder than desktops. Many modern laptops don’t give you many upgrade options or are strictly limited – you won’t be swapping out for a new graphics chip. But the upgrades you can make to some laptops tend to be pretty quick and easy. All you need is a screwdriver and a pair of solid hands.

Note: If your laptop does not have a simple path for a component upgrade, such as a detachable lid, we suggest you try to upgrade it. Chances are your warranty will be void if you try to take out the laptop and they can be very difficult to use while inside. The risk of damage is also much higher than with desktop computers.

Bill Roberson / Digital Trends

Upgrade your RAM

Just like with desktops, adding additional or faster RAM can significantly affect a laptop that doesn’t have enough RAM. You will need to ensure that your laptop is not only upgradable via the easy-to-access panel on the underside, but also able to support higher speed / capacity modules you want to order. Inside. Make sure you do it before you buy anything and double-check that you are buying the right club size for your machine.

To install it refer to your laptop’s manual for instructions on how to access the RAM slots (or check manufacturer’s website), then add new modules. slot into the empty slots or remove the root bars before performing.

Add SSD

Before starting with any storage upgrade, we always recommend backing up your most important files and folders to another platform. It could be an external drive or a great cloud backup service.

Adding an SSD to a laptop is a bit harder than a desktop computer, as there are usually no wires involved, so you’ll need to fold it up before you install it. It still offers a significant boost in performance compared to a traditional hard drive, but you should also consider if you can.

As well as memory upgrades, refer to your laptop’s instruction manual or the manufacturer’s website on how to access the holder. If there is space for a second drive, add an SSD in it (or place the original drive in that slot so the SSD can act as the primary drive) and copy or install your OS to the new drive.

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