PC Upgrade

PC Upgrading

When it comes to upgrading your computer there are some things you should take into account. The main one will be, is it cost efficient to upgrade your computer or is it just as cheap to buy new parts and replace the old parts in your case.

If you are just upgrading RAM (memory) then this normally a cheap fast and easy way to improve the performance of your computer. They are many types of RAM so when buying memory make sure that it's compatible with your motherboard. RAM is normally backwards compatible, meaning that if you place new "faster" memory inside your computer, it will just slow the RAM down and still work. Also when installing new RAM you can to take into account that most memory in this day and age supports duel channel, which means it works better together with the same make/type of RAM running side by side then having different speeds or size memory plugged into your motherboard.

Also most motherboards have a limit on how much RAM can be installed into them. This is something to beware of when installing extra memory inside your computer.

When upgrading your HDD (hard drives) in most cases its simple task of making sure your motherboard has the right connections to plug it into, they are two main types of connections which are SATA and IDE, IDE isn't as common as SATA due to being phased out because SATA connection can send data faster. Most motherboards can handle up to 6 SATA devices being plugged into at any one time. Also SATA drives can be plug and play, meaning that they can be swapped out on the go, whiles your computer is on, this means a SATA hard drive can act like a giant portable storage unit.

Graphics /Video Cards are just like hard drives but most common motherboards will allow one or two cards to be installed, if your motherboard only allows for one to be install then a simple replacement by taking the old one out and placing the new one in, but if you motherboard is capable of having two cards install into it, then maybe the better choice is to get two of the same brand/model cards and link them together with either ATIs Crossfire or NVIDIAs SLI, this will increase the performance of the two cards when working together to share the video processing load.

Upgrading the CPU (Central Processing Unit) this is normally the least component to be updated inside a computer this is because the component can be costly and the improvement isn't that much gained alone, the best way to upgrade the CPU is to upgrade the motherboard at the same time to allow for a much more powerful CPU to be installed onto the new motherboard. In this case it would most probably be best to look at the other components of the computer to see if they would still be compatible with the new motherboard or if they would have to be upgraded at the same time.

Sound cards can also be upgraded but in most cases this is never done because most motherboards have built in sound cards, but you can install a separate sound card to lower the load on the CPU but there isn't must of a gain in performance just a increase in the sound quality that comes out of the speaks, this type of upgrade is normally done my computer gamers to have better sound in games and also by people wanting to use their computers as a home multimedia system.

Advice provided by Nick Hatton of L1 Computers providing Liverpool PC repair and Liverpool laptop repair with a service you are sure to be pleased with.