LabRats #091: Give new muscle to old computer
The easiest – and most efficient – way to make your computer run faster and do more things at the same time is to upgrade your Random Access Memory (RAM). It’s better (and safer) than upgrading your Central Processing Unit (CPU). Here’s a detailed description of how to upgrade your RAM.
There’s a web site that can help you figure out what upgrades you need and whether your machine will accept them. It’s called Crucial – The Memory Experts. A word of warning: to use it, you will need Internet Explorer.
Of course, you can always crack open your system, provided you don’t start poking around with your screwdriver inside the box. One look will tell you, for example, how many slots you still have available for more RAM.
There’s one thing you should remember: adding RAM just for the fun of it doesn’t make much sense. But if you’ve decided to do some photo editing or work with video, even, then, the more RAM, the better.
Speaking of changing your processor, one thing that’s really dangerous is that it may require changing a lot of other stuff, from motherboard all the way to video card – might as well buy yourself a new computer. Besides, while you can change your video card on your desktop, your laptop is off limits.
In this installment of LabRats, Andy Walker and Sean Carruthers explain also whether you win much by upgrading your hard drive. This depends on what you need, but generally speaking, if you decide to get a new hard drive, make sure it’s not only bigger but also faster than the one you have now.