Upgrading Your PC is not that Expensive Part 2

By Kristen Brown
13 December 2018

In the previous article, we discussed that upgrading your PC is not that expensive in terms of performance. You don’t have to replace your aging PC right away to keep up with operating system updates, games, and other apps. We’ll continue with the discussion on upgrading your PC’s performance as well as improve on the overall experience is you have some money to spare.

- Cleanup and Cooling – Your PC was relatively state of the art around three years ago but you noticed that it has slowed down quite a bit and wish for an upgrade. Before you spend some money, you may want to consider cleaning up first and perhaps even cooling your PC down. Internally, heat is a big factor when it comes to performance. You may have a good i7 processor but modern system safeguards will slow it down to an i3 if you don’t have the proper cooling. Your PC performance throttles down when it becomes too hot so one thing you can do is to clean up your computer’s dusty internals first. Purchase a compressed air can and blow away the dust that accumulated inside your computer’s case after years of use. Dust on your cooling fans can drastically slow them down as well as interference from dust in the other internal parts. You can also purchase a better cooling fan and thermal paste to replace the fan that came with the PC. Hardcore gamers even purchase liquid cooling systems so they can overclock their processors to work a little harder but hotter. You can purchase a better fan system, attach it with properly applied thermal paste and research on how to overclock your processor for better performance.

- Purchase a new processor – You can upgrade to a new processor if you wish to improve your computer’s performance instead of doing some risky overclocking. If you have let’s say a 6^th-generation Intel i3, you can replace it with a 6^th-gen i7 of the same type. They should share the same number of pins and work on your board. You may need to do some research before doing so when it comes to motherboard settings and it would be just as good as replacing or adding more RAM.

But if the research is a bit tedious and risky, you can just purchase a new processor and motherboard as long as it’s compatible to your existing RAM if you’re still much concerned about costs. The downside to replacing processors is that you often have to replace the motherboard and RAM as well and would have to reformat your hard disk as well to re-orient your operating system.

Replacing your board and processor is still more affordable than purchasing a whole new system.

- Input / Output Devices – this upgrade may not upgrade your computer’s performance but it could give benefits in terms of experience and usability. If your computer came with a wired mouse and keyboard, you can improve your computer’s usability as well as able management by going wireless. Your mouse and keyboard will no longer be limited and tangled by wired and your PC will have a more modern feel. But before purchasing a mouse and keyboard wireless or not, consider how they feel. Are you satisfied with your keyboard layout because layouts from some manufacturers tend to be lousy with odd placements to Backspace, Delete and Power buttons as well as awkward arrow keys. You may have to get used to the new orientations again but you’ll be able to work, or game a bit faster. You can also get backlit keyboards if you like to work in the dark while everyone else is sleeping. You can also improve on your work experience by purchasing a new monitor. If your machine came with a smaller monitor, you can purchase a larger one, brand new or better yet used and refurbished to cut down on costs. A larger monitor with better resolution will definitely feel like an upgrade without messing with your computer’s internals. If you have a 1280 by 1040 screen, you can replace it with something larger and longer to support two simultaneous screens to better multitask. Or, you can simply purchase another monitor and have two screens at once. Just be sure your board can support two displays or you might have to purchase an additional graphics card.

Hopefully, these tips will help you with your overall PC experience without having to spend much. You don’t have to replace your trusty PC right away because upgrading your PC is not that expensive.

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Upgrading Your PC is not that Expensive Part 2

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Kristen Brown

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